I agree with your point in general, but I don't see why the Knicks would lose Smith's and Copeland's rights in this scenario. They'd actually end up with less committed salary for the season, and they'd still have all of the financial la ude they did before (or lack of it, rather). The timing is definitely the issue, but Copeland is restricted, which gives New York three days of leeway in the worst-case scenario (his QO may be too big, though, but I doubt it). And I doubt Smith is going to sign in the first two or three days of free agency unless it's for a contract the Knicks wouldn't have matched in the first place. Besides that, they're pretty much stuck with this roster for the next couple of years anyway, so it's not like they were going to be big players in free agency.