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Scotto: One thing I thought was interesting is the date that the Knicks acquired OG Anunoby gives them the possibility to still offer an extension by the end of the season. I never expected OG to take that with Toronto. I think if he did, it would be a little bit below market value. But do you see a world where he maybe looks at that extension possibility differently now with the Knicks? It’s roughly four years, $117 million.

Marks: Yeah, it’s almost an average of $30 million. When OG got traded on December 30th, which was the deadline since there’s a six-month restriction for players who get traded for when they can extend. I think it’s certainly worth talking about here. I think a lot of it had to do with getting him in the building for six months or getting him situated instead of doing a trade deadline deal. Everyone thinks the trade deadline is the halfway point of the season. It’s not. Teams have already played 50-55 games. New York could offer him four years, $117 million on June 30th, or he can decline that option and then become a free agent, and they can potentially sign him for up to five years.

Scotto: What’s interesting, I think with the OG talks, was that wasn’t necessarily the package the Knicks thought would get it done. They had different conversations from what I was told, certainly with RJ Barrett being the focal point as a Canadian guy going to Toronto. The thought originally was it was going to be multiple draft picks (with Barrett). Instead, Toronto valued (Immanuel) Quickley more than those picks. That’s how Quickley essentially ended up being in it, and I would say the equivalent of two first-round picks in the eyes of Toronto. You get him under restricted free agency control. They think he’s a starting-caliber guard for that team, and he’s thrived since.

The shift in thinking, instead of a rebuild with picks, it’s more of a retool, I would say, with those guys. For the Knicks, it made things interesting because they thought at the time they were going to try to get both Anunoby and Dejounte Murray. My sense was there was a thought that Quickley would be potentially going to Atlanta instead, but Toronto got him first, and the Knicks prioritized Anunoby first. Now, the Knicks have Evan Fournier’s contract they can dangle, and they’ve got a boatload of first-round picks.

Do you see them looking at trading more for a guy like Murray or a guy that happened to be in the building recently at MSG, Malcolm Brogdon, who would certainly be cheaper and a potential guard off the bench for them that could fill the scoring void of Quickley.

Marks: That’s a really good point. I think the players that are earning in that $20 million range have more value than Zach LaVine and possibly Pascal Siakam, just based on how this collective bargaining agreement is set up here. If you look at how the Knicks have structured their books, there’s no guy on the roster making more than $30 million. Eventually, when Jalen (Brunson) is extension-eligible this offseason, he’ll probably get to make a really good number here. If you’re looking at New York, you’ve got the Fournier contract. He’s got a team option for next year, around $19 million. You have up to eight first-round picks you can trade. You’ve got your own four, and then you’ve got Dallas, Milwaukee in 2025, and then the other two, I call them the 50 cents on the dollar picks, Detroit and the Wizards. The Washington pick maybe (comes to fruition) down the road. I don’t think Detroit will ever come to fruition.

For Fournier, I think there’s a timeline here because if you let the deadline pass, are you going to exercise his option and bring him back on a $19 million salary and basically use it as a trade chip? If you do, great, but then you’re going to have to pay OG. You’re going to have to probably pay Isaiah Hartenstein. Who knows what will happen with Precious Achiuwa, who could be a restricted free agent? Then it starts adding up. If you decline Fournier’s option and there’s no trade, then who are your tradable contracts? Then you have your value guys Jalen Brunson, Julius Randle, OG, Josh Hart, Donte DiVincenzo, and Mitchell Robinson, guys like that who are part of your core guys here.

There’s that business component of flipping that Fournier contract for a $20-22 million player. And you hit it right on the head, Mike, whether it be Dejounte Murray or Malcolm Brogdon. Murray just signed that extension, and he’s got four years left after this year. Brogdon’s got another year left and would fit in great in New York. Can you do it (acquire Brogdon) for Fournier, and it would probably cost you a one (first-round pick), and New York has nine second-rounders available?

I know we all get caught up on those big-name guys, but those $20 million players, Bojan Bogdanovic, maybe even Bogdan Bogdanovic. Who knows what’s going to happen in Atlanta here? I mean, basically it could be a fire sale down there. If you’re New York, you’re looking at that. I also read what people say that Murray is a Klutch guy and that the Knicks and Klutch aren’t going to do business. I understand that world, but listen, if you can go out and get a player that can help you and he’s under contract, you don’t have to sell him on free agency. You can go out and do it if it makes sense.

If Fournier’s not dealt by the trade deadline, I think there’s a good chance that option gets exercised, and then New York figures it out because there’s going to be somebody available who’s disgruntled. Someone is going to lose in the playoffs, and someone is going to want to break up their group. Who knows who it’s going to be. Is it going to be Donovan Mitchell? I don’t know.