James Wiseman is in a three-way fight with Drew Eubanks and Tony Bradley for the Knicks' third center spot, and the team may soon have to choose just one. Mike Brown said Monday that deciding which player to retain will be difficult, while the roster math points in the same direction: only one of the three is likely to make the opening night roster.
That is why Wiseman is drawing attention now. The Knicks are carrying 13 players on guaranteed contracts, and all three centers are on Exhibit 9 contracts that would convert to standard, non-guaranteed minimum-salary deals if they make the opening night roster. Brown made clear he does not see this as a camp for placeholders, saying there are no experiments and that all three are legitimate NBA players. He also said the group is so strong that, in his view, it is the best collection of centers he has been around, even if he was careful to add that he was not talking about raw talent alone.
The problem is the cap line the Knicks are trying not to cross. They can keep two of the three without making a corresponding transaction, but doing that would push payroll above the second tax apron. James Dolan has already said the Knicks will not go above that line, which makes the third-center race less about depth chart theory than about which player fits the financial limit. Brown said each of the three could help in some way, and he was blunt that it will not be an easy decision.
That leaves Wiseman, Eubanks and Bradley in a contest that is as much about contract structure as it is about performance. The Knicks have room to carry one, maybe two, but not two without paying a price the owner has ruled out. So the real answer is not whether the competition matters. It is which one survives it.
