How Pelicans’ Yves Missi decision impacts Knicks’ offseason

The New York Knicks keep looking for centers and big men in the free-agent and trade markets with no success to date.

New York’s pursuit of backups at both the center and power forward positions is starting to get concerning, and it only intensified after losing both sixth-man Mitchell Robinson and end-of-bench Ariel Hukporti in free agency.

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Robinson agreed to a three-year, $47.4 million deal to start at center with the Boston Celtics, while Hukporti inked a one-year, $3.4 million deal to become Joel Embiid’s backup in Philly. Both moves, obviously, were influenced by the Knicks’ need to remain below the second apron, as irrationally mandated by James Dolan.

Those financial constraints will continue to shape the Knicks’ options this offseason, with the franchise having roughly $8.5 million remaining to fill at least three roster spots.

That restriction has narrowed the market significantly, if not entirely, to a bunch of lesser, mostly aging bodies still available in the wild out there: Andre Drummond, Kevon Looney, Dwight Powell, Bismack Biyombo, Mason Plumlee, and the likes…

And on Thursday, we learned that the Knicks have been repeatedly denied in the pursuit of one of the few young, high-upside bigs considered to be both cheap (in terms of his salary) and available (if only for the right price) in New Orleans Pelicans center Yves Missi.

According to NBA reporter Chris Haynes, New York has “tried feverishly” to acquire Missi from the Pelicans, but multiple offers have been rejected of late. Haynes reported that New Orleans considers the third-year center a “core figure” and has made it clear he is not available.

“Sources: New York Knicks have tried feverishly to trade for New Orleans Pelicans center Yves Missi after losing Mitchell Robinson, but offers have been rejected multiple times. Pelicans view Missi as a vital core figure and the message is that he’s unavailable.”

According to SNY’s Ian Begley, who for some reason decided to wait more than a week to reveal the information he shared after Haynes’ report, perhaps to give us some false hope, New Orleans expressed a…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/pelicans-yves-missi-decision-impacts-133000683.html

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Publish date : 2026-07-03 20:00:00

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