Every move in the NBA is hardly made in a vacuum. If the New York Knicks give money to one player, they can’t give it to another. Trading for one star means missing out on the next one. Drafting a promising young prospect means missing out on the next one.
NBA teams have to hope they are making the right calls, spending on the right players, and ultimately building a roster that can compete for a title. When the Knicks entered the offseason with very limited team-building resources available, the decision tree was that much more narrow.