Report: Knicks have ‘done background work’ on Deandre Ayton

Report: Knicks have ‘done background work’ on Deandre Ayton

The Portland Trail Blazers may have entered the 2024 NBA Draft with four draft picks, but only exited with just one selection at No. 7 overall: Donovan Clingan, one of the best centers in the class who got some pre-draft buzz for being the top-overall pick. He added to their collection of bigs, which features former No. 1 overall pick Deandre Ayton, plus Robert Williams III and Duop Reath.

The New York Knicks, meanwhile, lost their top center last season in Isaiah Hartenstein, who signed a three-year, $87 million deal with the Oklahoma City Thunder. Mitchell Robinson, who missed most of the 2023-24 season with an ongoing ankle injury, reportedly won’t be ready for the start of the season after undergoing surgery for his ankle injury in May.

As a result, the Knicks have been in the market for a center. According to Ian Begley of SNY.com, they have done their due diligence on Ayton, who has two years and roughly $70 million left on his deal.

“The Knicks have had interest in him — and have done background work on him — in the past,” Begley wrote. “Ayton averaged 22.7 points and 12.5 rebounds (3.6 offensive) in 18 games played after the All-Star break last season. He shot 58 percent from the field during that stretch and has playoff/NBA Finals experience.”

Begley notes that he doesn’t know if the Knicks have spoken to Portland about Ayton. He only notes that there’s been previous interest there without knowing if New York plans to revisit a trade for the 7-foot big.

This comes over a week after previous reports of New York having talks with Atlanta for big Clint Capela, who’s been on the trade block for a while now. Capela, entering his age-30 season, is on an expiring contract worth $22.3 million, per Spotrac.

Without Robinson, at the time of this publishing, the Knicks are rolling with a Rolodex big rotation of Julius Randle, Precious Achiuwa, Keita Bates-Diop (?), Marcus Morris (??), Jericho Sims and rookie Ariel Hukporti, who’s on a two-way contract. It’s not top-heavy and it’s not deep, which is an issue. At this stage, expect plenty of small-ball configurations with Randle playing the 5 with Achiuwa getting center minutes behind him. Could Anunoby also get minutes at the 5 PJ-Tucker style, if Tom Thibodeau wants to go really small? Anything should be on the table.

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