What Knicks’ Preseason Cuts Mean for Their Opening Night Roster

The Knicks' training camp battle took a major turn on Thursday ahead of the preseason finale.

First, there was the news that center Drew Eubanks would be released after suffering a torn pectoral. That was followed by the reveal that fellow big man Tony Bradley and wing Ochai Agbaji are also being waived, per ESPN's Shams Charania.

This leaves center James Wiseman and wing Bruce Brown as the only two tryout players remaining, but it also creates even more questions about what moves Leon Rose might have up his sleeve. Let's break down what Thursday's moves might mean.

James Wiseman looks like a Knicks roster lock now after fellow centers are cut

The first takeaway from New York's trimming on Thursday is that James Wiseman, who appeared to be the frontrunner to win the third-string center job, seems to be under serious consideration to join the main roster.

Wiseman's flashed many of the skills that made him an alluring player to take a chance on in training camp. He has connections within the organization that set him up especially well to develop throughout an entire campaign. His 18-point, 10-rebound effort on Tuesday against the Raptors might've sealed the fates of his fellow big men, as none of them have come close to that kind of production or ceiling so far in the preseason.

However, Wiseman's future isn't secure just yet. As of this writing, he's still on a training camp deal and hasn't been promoted to the main roster yet via a standard contract signing. That could very well come in the next few days, especially since he has no other big men to fight with now.

But there's also a world where the Knicks can land a big man they like more than Wiseman between now and opening night, whether it's someone else who's cut or a potential trade target.

The chances of this don't seem to be staggeringly high since New York's trouble on the trade market, and Wiseman offers more upside than many players who'll be cut by the end of the preseason. But the possibility remains as long as the team isn't locked into a contract with the former No. 2 pick.

Bruce Brown is still in play for Knicks...which begs a trade question

It's not just Wiseman who's still around, though. Bruce Brown also survived Thursday afternoon's cuts, which is more than intriguing since he's not a center.

Now, the Knicks could be wanting one more look at Brown in Thursday's preseason finale before deciding his fate. He's shown some things for New York to like during these exhibitions, but hasn't put together a hallmark performance so far. However, the team could've kept Agbaji around for similar reasons, but didn't.

This begs the question of whether the Knicks might have main roster plans for Brown. He brings a lot for a contender to like, given his previous championship experience and multi-positional flexibility.

The one issue is that New York can't straight up sign Brown and Wiseman while staying under the second apron, which is a mandate from James Dolan. So, to fill the big-man need with Wiseman and bring Brown aboard, someone would have to be traded to free up a roster spot and cap space.

The ideal player to offload is Pacome Dadiet, who appears to be going nowhere for a third straight season. He's even making more than the veteran's minimum that Wiseman/Brown would sign for, which adds to the appeal of dumping Dadiet.

Of course, all of those negatives make Dadiet a hard player to trade, even with draft picks attached to make him more palatable. This, in turn, could put someone like Tyler Kolek on the chopping block, given he's a luxury as a third point guard and still has questions remaining in terms of his rotational viability.

Brown offers a more proven veteran talent who's stepped up under the brightest lights and gotten the job done, so it's no surprise Mike Brown doesn't want to let him go. The Knicks' bench hasn't been especially good in the preseason, either, so the ex-Nugget could inject new blood that hopefully keeps this unit from being stagnant or regressing.

Clearly, there will be at least a few Knicks moves made in the next few days before Tuesday's season opener. The number of possibilities, though, is quite substantial with the ever-active Rose calling the shots.

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