No, the Knicks should NOT trade for Zach LaVine

The NBA's new CBA will reward teams with cap flexibility, which is why the Knicks should refrain from even entertaining the idea of giving up valuable assets to take on LaVine's contract.

As the regular season was winding down in early April, the NBA and National Basketball Players Association announced they had settled on a new seven-year collective bargaining agreement.

The news flew under the radar and didn't impact most fans much - other than allowing them to celebrate the fact that there wouldn't be a strike and/or lockout anytime soon. However, the introduction of a new CBA has colossal consequences for the individuals tasked with constructing NBA rosters.

The tentative deal is scheduled to start with the 2023-24 season but has yet to be ratified by league governors and players, so we are still awaiting the final details. Still, we have been informed of the critical changes and revisions. The most consequential adjustments of the new CBA are bylaws aimed at stifling the ability of the league's highest-spending franchises to accumulate excessive talent by dramatically outspending their competitors. In years past, teams such as the Warriors have been able to add top-tier players to an already-loaded roster, with the only penalty coming in the form of a punitive luxury tax.

However, starting next season, the league is implementing a second salary cap apron, at $17.5 million over the luxury tax line (roughly 53% of total basketball-related income divided across 30 teams). Any team that exceeds this pre-set amount will have their ability to round out their roster greatly diminished.

Teams whose total salary eclipses the second apron will:

• No longer have access to the taxpayer mid-level exception

• Not be able to send out cash in trades

• Cannot sign free agents via the buyout market

• Cannot trade first-round picks that are more than six years into the future

• Cannot take on more salary than is being sent out in trades

There are other important impacts stemming from the new CBA (including adjustments to contract extensions, which players are eligible for NBA awards, and the introduction of an in-season tournament, etc.). Still, for the purpose of today's post, I'll focus on the damaging effects of bumping up against that second apron.

In short, it will force teams to be far more conscious of taking on max-level salaries. Or, more specifically, trading for cap-crippling contracts (as there are expected to be exceptions for teams trying to retain their own players).

As I detailed last month, this was one of the primary reasons I argued that the Knicks would be foolish to consider trading for Karl-Anthony Towns.

One of the other big names rumored to be on the Knicks' radar this summer is Chicago's stud scoring guard Zach LaVine. At the trade deadline in February, the Chicago Sun-Times' Joe Cowley reported New York and Chicago discussed the possibility of shipping the shooting guard to NYC.

Like Towns, there is no denying LaVine's talent. After a relatively disappointing first few months of the 2022-23 season, LaVine caught fire in early January and remained red hot.

Over Chicago's final 43 games, LaVine averaged a whopping 26.7 points, 4.6 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game, while shooting 50.6% from the field and 37.3% from three-point range. In each of his two previous seasons, he was named an All-Star.

However, while there is no denying his offensive brilliance (in 2020-21, LaVine averaged a career-high 27.4 PPG and 3.4 made three-balls while shooting 42% from downtown), there are several red flags that are impossible to ignore.