Knicks, Pacers discuss Obi Toppin trade
The Knicks and Pacers have touched base recently to discuss trades involving Obi Toppin.
The Knicks are currently seeking draft compensation in any deal that sends Toppin to Indiana. When the new league year starts, the Pacers can absorb Toppin’s $6.8 million salary into its cap space. So the Knicks could trade Toppin without receiving a player in return.
This would allow the Knicks to trim $6.8 million from their 2023-24 salary totals.
Trimming that money could give the Knicks a financial cushion to use its non-tax payer mid-level exception without exceeding the luxury tax. The Knicks were pursuing at least two players who could command the non-taxpayer exception: Bruce Brown and Donte DiVincenzo. Brown agreed to a two-year, $45 million deal with the Pacers shortly after free agency began at 6 p.m., according to ESPN.
Trading Toppin would also clear a spot in the Knicks’ nine-man rotation for any free agent they sign.
It’s unclear what kind of draft compensation the Knicks would seek from Indiana in a Toppin trade.
If the return is paltry, the trade will be the final stage in a wholly disappointing three-year stint for Toppin in New York.
The Knicks selected Toppin with the eighth overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft -- team president Leon Rose’s first draft with New York.
At the time, teams in touch with the Knicks expected New York to pursue avenues to trade incumbent power forward Julius Randle over the course of the 2020-21 season.
Randle, though, played at an exceptional level that season. He earned a spot on the Eastern Conference All-Star team and All-NBA honors while leading the Knicks to the playoffs.
So Toppin, a Brooklyn native who played high school basketball in Westchester, received limited playing time in his rookie season.
Randle remained a focal point for the Knicks over the next two seasons; Toppin, in turn, played a mostly-limited role over those two seasons.
He’s played 14.7 minutes per game in his Knicks tenure.
If Toppin is moved to Indiana, he should have an increased role. The Pacers are an up-tempo team, which would seem to suit Toppin due to his ability to run and finish in transition.
If a deal is consummated, it would likely be finalized in the new league year so the Pacers could absorb Toppin into cap space. Toppin, 25, is extension eligible this offseason and would be a restricted free agent next summer.
The Knicks and Pacers talked about potential Toppin trades prior to the 2023 trade deadline. But Indiana declined to meet New York’s asking price.
NBA reporter Marc Stein reported earlier Friday that Indiana emerged as a leading trade destination for Toppin.
