The Knicks' salary cap has a lot to do with that mind state, because their hands are tied until the summer of 2015, when, as things currently stand, the contracts expire for Carmelo Anthony, Amare Stoudemire, Tyson Chandler and Andrea Bargnani. Until then, though, the Knicks will pay out $86.8 million in 2013-14 and $91.2 million in 2014-15. The Knicks are expected to re-sign Anthony, though, who can opt out of his contract this summer.
When the Knicks do have salary cap space to maneuver, they could use that newfound freedom to chase Minnesota Timberwolves power forward Kevin Love, who becomes a free agent in 2015, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports.
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The team has already started to devise a plan to lure Love from Minnesota to New York, Wojnarowski reported.
As Wojnarowski points out, LeBron James (2014), comes up before the Knicks can make a move and Kevin Durant (2016) is a year too late. Funny thing is, Love, who signed a four-year, $62 million extension, could fall in that 2016 category, if the Wolves had made the proper move at the time of his signing. Love wanted a fifth-year on his contract, but the Wolves decided to wait with the intentions of making point guard Ricky Rubio their designated player.
Now, if Love has interest in leaving, he has a suitor in the Knicks. And there will be no shortage of attention from other teams if Love continues to play the way he has thus far this season. Since returning from hand surgery, Love is averaging 26.4 points and 15.0 rebounds through eight games for the 5-3 Wolves.
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While they made a misstep in not signing Love for five years, the Wolves are doing all they can to retain him and create a winner. They signed Nikola Pekovic to a five-year, $60 million deal and added Corey Brewer and Kevin Martin on the wings. Now, the team is willing to trade young players Derrick Williams and Alexey Shved to add veterans to help their playoff push, one that appears like a real possibility at the moment.
The 2015 summer is a still ways away and the Wolves appear headed in the right direction, but the Knicks are lurking and there's nothing surprising about that.
