Slowly, we’re inching closer to training camp.
Before long, the Knicks will be together again, preparing to build off their best season in a decade.
Last year, several players arrived early for workouts at the team’s practice facility, so expect to see that happen again in the coming weeks.
There is still work to be done, unanswered questions before the Knicks are whole again, questions that may not be answered by the time preseason begins.
Let’s take a look at what to watch for before training camp begins:
How long will Evan Fournier remain with the team?
Evan Fournier is still a Knick as he enters the final guaranteed year of his contract.
The veteran sharpshooter repeatedly has spoken out about his unhappiness after he became an expensive cheerleader for most of last season, only receiving rotation minutes due to injury and not getting off the bench for the entire postseason.
After the team was eliminated by the Heat, Fournier said he didn’t expect to be back.
But just a handful of weeks before training camp, he’s still a member of the orange-and-blue.
It is a strange situation. Clearly, Fournier won’t be a contributing member of this team barring something very unexpected.
But the Knicks also don’t want to just give him away, because his $18.8 million expiring contract could be valuable to make salaries match up in a trade at some point.
Fournier was a good soldier last season. Coach Tom Thibodeau raved about his professional attitude.
Would he remain that way, however, if he remained inactive for another season? Fournier has been vocal about wanting to play.
It is possible the Knicks excuse the 30-year-old Fournier from attending camp as they look to move him.
However, if they did trade him prior to the season, it’s unlikely they would get much back in return.
This is obviously worth monitoring. Fournier sacrificed for the good of the team last season. Asking him to do it again for a good portion of this season would not be fair to the player.
Does Immanuel Quickley get a contract extension?
Only one member of the Knicks’ young core, a group that includes Julius Randle, RJ Barrett, Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart, Donte DiVincenzo, Mitchell Robinson and Quentin Grimes, isn’t under contract past the 2023-24 season.
And he is one of the Knicks’ most valuable players: Immanuel Quickley, the Sixth Man of the Year runner-up, will be a restricted free agent after this season.
He is eligible for a rookie-level extension up until the day before the regular season begins on Oct. 25.
The Knicks can let the market dictate how much money Quickley receives and match whatever offer he garners in restricted free agency.
But you would expect them to lock him up, particularly after he was one of their best two-way players a season ago, their leader in defensive rating (108.1) and third in net rating (plus-6.2 — the Knicks outscored the opposition by 6.2 points per 100 possessions when Quickley was on the floor).
It’s hard to see the 24-year-old Quickley getting more than $100 million from the Knicks, as his camp reportedly is seeking, but something in the range of four years and $90 million-$95 million could work for both sides.
The Knicks reportedly have wanted to pay him $20 million per year.
However, it has been relatively quiet between the two sides of late.
What happens if the USA plays Canada?
We soon could get a Knicks-on-Knick battle with everything on the line.
Team USA and Canada have advanced to the FIBA World Cup semifinals on opposite sides of the bracket: USA faces Germany, and Canada meets Nikola Jokic-less Serbia.
Brunson and Hart against Barrett would be fun.
Barrett has mostly played well, albeit with a few clunkers, for Canada. He was particularly good in Wednesday’s victory over Slovenia, scoring 24 points and adding nine rebounds.
Brunson hasn’t been a star in the World Cup, averaging just 10 points on 53.7 percent shooting, but he has run the team well and has it within two wins of a gold medal. The guy wins.
At the least, USA-Canada would create bragging rights for these Knicks, an added wrinkle to training camp. Maybe a playful bet is made if USA and Canada handle business in their next games.