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Looking At Free Agent To-Be’s On The New York Knicks, Part I

By Sean Linhares

Nov 10, 2015; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; New York Knicks guard Langston Galloway (2) drives to the basket as Toronto Raptors point guard Cory Joseph (6) attempts to play defense at Air Canada Centre. The Knicks beat the Raptors 111-109. Mandatory Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 10, 2015; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; New York Knicks guard Langston Galloway (2) drives to the basket as Toronto Raptors point guard Cory Joseph (6) attempts to play defense at Air Canada Centre. The Knicks beat the Raptors 111-109. Mandatory Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports /
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As surprising as the New York Knicks have been this season, this is still a franchise in rebuilding mode and the sight is still firmly set on the future. It’s important to see who may or may not be leaving the team after this season.

Nov 10, 2015; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; New York Knicks guard Langston Galloway (2) drives to the basket as Toronto Raptors point guard Cory Joseph (6) attempts to play defense at Air Canada Centre. The Knicks beat the Raptors 111-109. Mandatory Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 10, 2015; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; New York Knicks guard Langston Galloway (2) drives to the basket as Toronto Raptors point guard Cory Joseph (6) attempts to play defense at Air Canada Centre. The Knicks beat the Raptors 111-109. Mandatory Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports /

Since becoming team president two years ago, Phil Jackson has done an almost shockingly good job.

Despite only winning 17 games all of last season, Jackson went to work purging the franchise of supposed trouble makers J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert (All they want to do is party and rap, which personally I’m all for but to each their own). He also managed to drag a small bit of good out of what was an otherwise dreadful season in the form of Kristaps Porzingis, who Jackson selected fourth overall in the 2015 NBA Draft.

Kristaps, a relative unknown at the time, has skyrocketed in popularity this season, becoming one of the most discussed athletes in New York City. A genuine contender for Rookie of the Year already, Porzingis has given the Knicks something they haven’t had since the last time they drafted a big man and actually had it work out — Patrick Ewing.

While he failed to secure any of the big fish free agents, Jackson did ink Robin Lopez, Arron Afflalo, Kevin Seraphin and Kyle O’Quinn to relatively fair contracts and essentially all of those deals have worked out thus far.

With this season officially halfway over and the Knicks still firmly in the playoff hunt for the Eastern Conference, many are paying attention to what the Zen Master will pull out of his hat at the trading deadline. Brandon Jennings? Derrick Rose? What about beyond that, in the free agency market this offseason? Is Mike Conley going to be available?

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There’s a feeling that the Knicks are just a backcourt player away from being truly relevant in LeBron James’ Eastern Conference and almost all of the focus in New York is who Jackson will be bringing in.

And who could blame fans? This team is so close to being a real contender and after over a decade of being consistently disastrous, it’s nice to finally have the ship being steered int he right direction. Rather than being worried we’re going to fall off the face of the earth, there is finally a feeling in New York that hey, maybe there’s something good around the next corner!

But it’s also important to remember that Phil has built a solid foundation on this years team and as we move forward, that should be at least partially maintained. It’s fun to speculate on who the Knicks will be picking up, but it’s equally as important to question who they may have to lose this offseason in order to make those acquisitions possible.

So who on the Knicks will be a free agent this offseason and which of those should they keep moving forward? The following list is the group of players who have contracts set to expire at the end of this season, giving the Zen Master the choice of pursuing them or letting them go. It’s important to remember that it’s still only January and each of these players have plenty of time to change these verdicts. This is merely a current look at the next crop of Knicks free agents and where they stand today.

Next: Seraphin

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