Knicks Trade for Jose Alvarado from Pelicans, Updated Rosters and Salary Cap After Giannis Rumors

After being linked to Giannis Antetokounmpo at times leading up to Thursday's 3 p.m. ET trade deadline, the New York Knicks are reportedly bolstering their backcourt.

ESPN's Shams Charania reported Thursday that New York acquired Jose Alvarado from the New Orleans Pelicans. According to Ian Begley of SNY, the Knicks sent Dalen Terry and two second-round draft picks to the Pelicans as part of the deal.

Alvarado will join a Knicks team with $209.9 million in total cap allocations, per Spotrac, while the Pelicans have $205.7 million in total cap allocations.

Here are a look at the rosters:

New York Knicks

• Jose Alvarado
• Jordan Clarkson
• Miles McBride
• Josh Hart
• Pacôme Dadiet
• OG Anunoby
• Kevin McCullar Jr.
• Jalen Brunson
• Tyler Kolek
• Mitchell Robinson
• Mikal Bridges
• Karl-Anthony Towns
• Dillon Jones
• Landry Shamet
• Trey Jemison III
• Mohamed Diawara
• Ariel Hukporti

New Orleans Pelicans

• Dalen Terry
• Jeremiah Fears
• Zion Williamson
• Herbert Jones
• Jordan Poole
• Hunter Dickinson
• Dejounte Murray
• DeAndre Jordan
• Bryce McGowens
• Micah Peavy
• Karlo Matković
• Yves Missi
• Derik Queen
• Trey Alexander
• Jordan Hawkins
• Trey Murphy III
• Saddiq Bey
• Kevon Looney

While the Knicks surely would have loved to add Antetokounmpo like many other teams, Charania reported Thursday that the Milwaukee Bucks "indicated to teams" they are keeping the future Hall of Famer.

One team executive told NBA insider Jake Fischer the Bucks "were never serious" in their trade discussions regarding Antetokounmpo.

Yet the Knicks pivoted elsewhere and added a veteran guard who can improve their defense in Alvarado. He also provides important depth, as Fred Katz of The Athletic reported Miles McBride is scheduled to undergo surgery on a core muscle injury Friday and could be out until the playoffs.

The 27-year-old is averaging 7.9 points, 3.1 assists, 2.8 rebounds and 0.9 steals in 21.9 minutes per game this season while shooting 41.8 percent from the floor and 36.3 percent from deep. The solid three-point percentage should work well in New York when opposing defenses collapse on Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns and create space for others.

Alvarado has also been known as a pesky defender at times during his career as someone who can pick up ball-handlers full court, bother outside shooters and create turnovers with havoc.

New York is a solid-but-unspectacular 13th in the league in defensive rating, per NBA.com, so it can use someone off the bench who can help on that side of the ball.

While Alvarado isn't a headline addition, he improves the team's overall backcourt depth behind Brunson and could help that defense down the stretch as it chases a better playoff seed. 

The Knicks are second in the Eastern Conference and five games behind the top-seeded Detroit Pistons.