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The New York Knicks' offer sheet to restricted free agent Moussa Cissé was matched by the Dallas Mavericks, rendering their pursuits of the center fruitless. The willingness of Leon Rose's front office to tie up their final open roster spot for up to 48 hours, though, sends a clear message with regard to the free agency of LeBron James.
The superstar is in the midst of deciding where he'll start his 24th season in the NBA, the likely end to an all-time great career as an athlete in any sport. His agent, Rich Paul, said the Knicks would have been the easy choice had they not just ended their 53-year title drought in June. Sure. Either way, the Knicks seem to have their sights set elsewhere.
The fact of the matter is that New York was willing to use their last roster spot on Cissé, forgoing the opportunity to add James, DeMar DeRozan, or any other free agent.
Knicks' quest for center depth crosses LeBron James off their target list
Rose's front office was never going to have an easy time replacing the impact of Mitchell Robinson in the Knicks' second unit. The center, as Karl-Anthony Towns said himself last season, is good enough to start on other teams. Now, he's helping Neemias Queta give the Boston Celtics that same kind of cushion for 48 minutes each night.
New York started trying to supplant his impact with their signing of Andre Drummond, who certainly lacks Robinson's defensive chops — but might be able to come close to matching his production as an offensive rebounder.
The Knicks also lost Ariel Hukporti to a divisional rival, though, with the Philadelphia 76ers offering him $1 million more than his minimum contract to secure his services. The move was certainly a tad confusing, with the Sixers already having Joel Embiid and Adem Bona at center, but left New York without another big man regardless.
Unless New York has surprise plans to trade someone on their roster to make room for James, their attempt to use their final spot on a center should take Madison Square Garden out of the running as the home base for his likely retirement tour. It won't be Cissé that takes up the last bit of room on their roster, given his new commitment to the Mavericks spans over the next two seasons. But it's going to be someone, even if it takes training camp to figure out exactly who.
Today's best reads
- Knicks' resort to rare free agency strategy shows true state of center market
- Knicks' Moussa Cisse move is exactly what Karl-Anthony Towns needed
- Knicks quickly learning painful Mitchell Robinson lesson regarding their depth
- Mavericks finally learned valuable lesson from their past Jalen Brunson debacle
- Knicks' revamped depth chart reveals next challenge for Mike Brown and Leon Rose
This article was originally published on dailyknicks.com as Knicks' failed signing proves they have their LeBron priorities straight.
