The Knicks continued their roster reshuffling in their first offseason under team president Phil Jackson by making a minor swap with the Kings on Wednesday.
In the deal, the Knicks sent Wayne Ellington and Jeremy Tyler to Sacramento in exchange for Travis Outlaw and Quincy Acy, as well as removing all protections from their 2016 second-round pick — originally protected from 31-37 when the Knicks sent it to Portland in the Raymond Felton trade in July 2012 — in a move that allows them to have better balance across their roster.
“Phil and I have been looking at our roster ever since we made the [Tyson Chandler trade], and one of our goals was to balance the roster out from a position standpoint a little bit better than it was following the trade,” general manager Steve Mills said in a conference call with reporters late Wednesday afternoon. “Part of this was to make the roster better balanced, and also to provide us with depth across all the positions.”
Outlaw gives the Knicks another small forward, a position where they could use additional depth behind Carmelo Anthony. Before the trade, the only other true small forward on the roster besides Anthony was rookie Cleanthony Early. Outlaw averaged 5.4 points and 2.7 rebounds in 63 games with the Kings last season, and shot 35 percent from 3-point range.
It also could be taken as a sign Early isn’t necessarily ready to step in as Anthony’s full-time backup, following Jackson’s comment that Early is “looking good, but is still green,” during summer league last month.
“We really like Cleanthony, obviously, but he’s a rookie, and we wanted to make sure we have some veteran help at that position,” Mills said. “At the end of the day, [coach] Derek [Fisher] will look at how guys play during training camp as we move into the season to determine what the rotation is, but we were clearly heavier at the 2 and needed to strengthen up our situation at the 3, so this clearly helps us there.”
While the Knicks will pay Outlaw $3 million, their crosstown rivals will pay him $4 million. Outlaw is in the final year of the initial five-year, $35 million contract he signed with the Nets in July 2010, only to be amnestied after the NBA lockout ended in December 2011.
Acy gives the Knicks another big man, one that’s willing to do the dirty work and doesn’t need the ball, which gives them a different look on the front line. He averaged 2.7 points and 3.4 rebounds per game in 63 games last season with the Kings, his second in the league.
As part of the deal, league sources confirmed the Knicks will pick up the final year of Acy’s contract, which will become fully guaranteed on Aug. 15, pushing the team’s total current salary commitments for 2014-15 to roughly $90.8 million.
“[Quincy] adds a lot of energy,” Mills said. “He’s a high-energy player and he defends, he can play multiple positions, he runs the floor, blocks shots. He adds a level of energy that we think is missing when we look across the roster, and we think he can be helpful there.”
There had been rumblings for weeks the Knicks would like to move Ellington, who was part of the Tyson Chandler trade and is set to make roughly $2.8 million in the final year of his contract. Tyler likely will be waived by the Kings, because his contract is fully non-guaranteed if he is waived before Sept. 15. He averaged 3.6 points and 2.7 rebounds in 41 games with the Knicks last year, his third year in the NBA.
There were multiple reports Wednesday the Knicks still could look to move point guard Pablo Prigioni. Prigioni’s contract is only partially guaranteed, and the Knicks roster currently stands at 15 — the regular-season maximum.