The Knicks did not make Kevin Knox, Frank Ntilikina or any of their first-round picks available in the Derrick Rose trade on Sunday, The Post has learned.
Though Knox and Ntilikina are out of the rotation, the Knicks are saving as many young assets as possible for a future significant deal.
The Knicks — as well as several other teams — are monitoring the situations of shooting guards Bradley Beal and Victor Oladipo. The Knicks (11-15) get an up-close look at both players in a Friday-Saturday back-to-back.
The Knicks face Beal’s Wizards (6-15) Friday in Washington, then host Oladipo and the Rockets (11-13) on Saturday.
Beal always seems a step away from being put on the trading block, and league executives think it’s more a matter of when, not if, he will be dealt.
“Eventually I think the Wizards will [trade him],” one NBA executive said. “They want to treat Beal right. I think Beal will get frustrated enough to ask for a trade and they will accommodate him.”
One league executive also wondered whether the Wizards would trade Beal to an Eastern Conference team.
The player who is already available — and who would be much less costly — is Oladipo, whom Houston obtained from the Pacers in the blockbuster trade of James Harden. Sources contend the Rockets are amenable to trading Oladipo, since he’ll be an unrestricted free agent this summer.
If the Knicks were to seize Oladipo, it would show that general manager Scott Perry still has considerable power in the organization. Perry, while with the Magic, drafted the University of Indiana product with the No. 2-overall pick in the 2013 draft.
“The Knicks were definitely sniffing around Victor when he was with the Pacers,” one NBA source said.
Knicks president Leon Rose is said to be not as high on Oladipo’s future, but coach Tom Thibodeau still is looking for roster upgrades because of hhis team’s scoring woes, league sources affirm.
Oladipo, a 6-foot-4 shooting guard, is averaging 19.8 points, 5.5 rebounds and 4.7 assists. He is just 28 and trending in the direction of being over his January 2019 surgery to repair a ruptured quadriceps tendon in his right knee.
As it stands, Beal wants to remain in Washington, and the Wizards have no desire to move him. Beal, 27, won’t become a free agent until 2023. The drawback for Knicks is that Beal is repped by Mark Bartelstein and not by Creative Artists Agency, Leon Rose’s former agency.
If Beal is put on the block entering the March 25 trading deadline, the Knicks would be among the bidders.
Beal entered the Wizards’ game Wednesday against the Raptors averaging a league-high 33.3 points per game and shooting 47 percent. He is also averaging 5.1 rebounds and 4.5 assists.
RJ Barrett, the No. 3-overall pick in the 2019 draft, is part of the Knicks’ future, but still hasn’t shown enough to cement himself as a definitive future All-Star.
As much as Thibodeau likes Barrett’s two-way game, scouts around the league are concerned about whether the young Knick’s athleticism — and not just his 3-point shooting — is considered elite.
The Knicks would prefer not to put Barrett in any Beal deal, however, and feel they have stocked up enough futures.
Aside from lottery picks Knox and Ntilikina, the Knicks potentially will have two lottery picks in this year’s draft, plus the Pistons’ precious second-round pick. That potentially could be the 31st-overall pick in a draft that is considered strong.
In addition, the Knicks have two first-round picks in 2023 and multiple 2023 second-round picks.
When the Knicks were doing all their dealing before and after the draft in November, it was with the mindset of collecting extra draft compensation to use in a blockbuster for a player such as Beal.
If Washington waits to trade Beal this summer, the Knicks will have even more cap space to inherit his contract. Even now, the Knicks have $15 million of room following the Derrick Rose-for-Dennis Smith Jr. swap. That makes a trade for Beal or Oladipo easier to consummate because of cap mathematics.
Now that veteran point guard Rose is aboard and already has shown life in his 32-year-old legs, Thibodeau is going to want more.
The Knicks have made their win-now mentality clear. Patience went out the window when former team president Steve Mills was ousted a year ago. Leon Rose was hired ostensibly to bring in a win-now coach, Thibodeau.
Thibodeau and senior VP William Wesley, who steered Derrick Rose to John Calipari and the Memphis Tigers in 2007, engineered the trade for the All-Star. Thibodeau downplayed it, saying he was presented with a handful of names — with Lonzo Ball and J.J Redick probably among them.
With Rose no on the Knicks after getting his wish to leave Detroit, acquiring Ball no longer makes sense. The 36-year-old Redick seems like a lateral move with the more versatile and younger Alec Burks in place.
Sources confirm Redick would prefer a trade to either the Nets or Knicks, as his family still lives in the Dumbo section of Brooklyn.
“I think Leon and Wes and Scott, they’re in constant communication with all the teams in the league,” Thibodeau said. “That’s all part of this business. You talk about a number of possibilities, you look at it, the pros and cons, what it could add, but there’s a number of players that were discussed.”
If Rose continues to excel, as he did in Tuesday’s debut, the Knicks may consider moving Elfrid Payton or Austin Rivers to alleviate a logjam. Payton has increased his trade value and has drawn some interest, sources said. Rivers is out of the rotation until there’s an injury to Thibodeau’s new top 10.
“Austin’s been around, he’s a veteran,” Thibodeau said. “He’ll stay ready. He’s situational. Usually things work out. When he’s called upon, I know he’ll be ready to go.”
Rivers was also a teammate in 2018-19 of Beal, who will again have a chance to feast on the Knicks on Friday.
