(Tuesday, January 23, 2018 10:34:46 PM)
OAKLAND, Calif — There’s another one to vouch for the Knicks new scoring machine, Michael Beasley. None other than Kevin Durant, who believes his buddy from D.C. never “got a fair chance.’’ Sure, Durant and Beasley are from the same area, but the Warriors superstar said he believes deeply in the often-misunderstood Knicks forward who…
(Tuesday, January 23, 2018 8:10:10 PM)
OAKLAND, Calif. — Someone didn’t get the message the Knicks were sacrificing their lone appearance at Oracle Arena against the defending champs. Despite resting Kristaps Porzingis’ irritated knee and keeping out backup center Kyle O’Quinn (calf), the spry Knicks led the entire first half — even by as many as 10 in the second quarter….
(Tuesday, January 23, 2018 1:23:53 PM)
OAKLAND, Calif. — Call him Mr. February. In his third season, Knicks star Kristaps Porzingis was named to his first All-Star Game — likely the first of many — as a frontcourt reserve. He was voted in by the NBA’s coaches, fulfilling a lifelong mission as the first Latvian to play in the premier event….
(Tuesday, January 23, 2018 12:29:04 PM)
SAN FRANCISCO — As the Knicks approach the Feb. 8 trade deadline still with an eye on future assets, veteran shooting guard Courtney Lee is a natural trade piece for a contending team looking for extra pop on both ends. Lee is just about having a career year, with his 13.4 scoring average, and he…
(Tuesday, January 23, 2018 9:36:30 AM)
SAN FRANCISCO — There’ll be no Kristaps Porzingis-Draymond Green rematch Tuesday at Oracle Arena. Porzingis will sit out the Golden State game with a left-knee irritation, the Knicks said. Coach Jeff Hornacek said Porzingis hurt his knee at practice Monday at the Olympic Club. Porzingis, who could be named to the All-Star team for the…
(Tuesday, January 23, 2018 8:13:19 AM)
SAN FRANCISCO — This isn’t his revelatory rookie season, but undrafted Ron Baker has found a way to make his mark in a mask. While Baker has been invisible offensively, Knicks coach Jeff Hornacek still has him in the rotation while the likes of young center Willy Hernangomez and veteran Joakim Noah sit. Injuries from…
(Wednesday, January 24, 2018 2:01:14 AM)
OAKLAND, Calif. — The Warriors had their four All-Stars on the floor Tuesday night. The Knicks had their lone All-Star on the bench in a suit.
(Wednesday, January 24, 2018 1:54:33 AM)
Courtney Lee is one of the attractive players the Knicks could deal to a championship contender before the Feb. 8 deadline.
(Tuesday, January 23, 2018 10:13:11 PM)
Kristaps Porzingis will miss Tuesday night’s Knicks game against the Golden State Warriors with a left knee injury suffered on Monday in practice.
[NYTimes] Keeping Score: LeBron James Celebrates 30,000th Point and Then He Scores It (Wednesday, January 24, 2018 4:45:39 AM)
James was so confident that he would score the 7 points he needed to reach the mark that he congratulated himself on Instagram hours before Tuesday night’s game.
[SNY Knicks] Knicks can’t solve Warriors’ second-half defense in 123-112 loss at Oracle (Wednesday, January 24, 2018 12:47:41 AM)
[SNY Knicks] Tonight’s game: Knicks vs. Warriors, 10:30 p.m. (Tuesday, January 23, 2018 8:32:23 PM)
OAKLAND, Calif. — Stephen Curry gets a first-hand look at a probable All-Star he might have the option of drafting for the Feb. 18 showcase when Kristaps Porzingis and the New York Knicks visit the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday night.
[SNY Knicks] Kristaps Porzingis selected to first All-Star game (Tuesday, January 23, 2018 6:57:16 PM)
Knicks F Kristaps Porzingis has been selected as a reserve in the upcoming NBA All-Star game, marking the first time in his career he has been named to the All-Star game.
[SNY Knicks] Knicks hoping refined fundamentals helps against NBA-best Warriors (Tuesday, January 23, 2018 11:30:54 AM)
After a 127-107 rout by the Lakers in their last contest, the Knicks know they needed to figure out their problems defensively before they face the Warriors on Tuesday night.
[NYDN] Knicks fall to Warriors, Porzingis sits due to ‘knee irritation’ (Tuesday, January 23, 2018 7:54:23 PM)
The Knicks essentially conceded defeat before tipoff at Golden State.
[NYDN] Kristaps Porzingis named an All-Star first time in his career (Tuesday, January 23, 2018 1:40:33 PM)
Kristaps Porzingis is an All-Star.
67 replies on “Knicks Morning News (2018.01.24)”
This “Courtney Lee at peace with trade rumors” bit is pretty interesting — it’s not the “I’m committed to this team and don’t want to leave my guys” general media-nonsense that you usually hear.
The KOQ to Warriors thing makes zero sense, although I guess he would be a pretty big upgrade over Pachulia in the starting lineup, allowing David West to continue to anchor the 2nd unit. I highly doubt there is a matching trade there unless the Dubs are willing to give up their 2018 1st — which, considering it’ll be #30 with more guaranteed $/years than a 2nd round pick, might be something they’d consider. Would they consider #30 for the Bulls 2nd round pick +KOQ and another player to make the $ work? Now that the Bulls aren’t that bad, that would be a significant upgrade in terms of pick value. McCaw is sort of interesting as a prospect but he’s a (Arenas-limited) RFA this summer which is suboptimal. Not sure there’s anyone else on the Warriors roster that I’d be interested in (that GS would even have a thought of giving up, like Jordan Bell for instance).
Just two more losses before the #tankszn probably begins again…
Speaking of #tankszn — assuming we don’t win the lottery and jump into the top 3, and that we hopefully end up in the 8-10 range, I wonder if there’s any chance Jaren Jackson might be available for us. Figure the top 5 will go in some order Ayton, Bagley, Doncic, Trae Young, Michael Porter — and then the next group will be some combo of Bamba, Jackson, Collin Sexton, Mikal Bridges, and Jackson. Jackson seems literally the perfect 4 to play next to Porzingis — averaging 5.7 blocks and 11.1 rebounds per 40, can guard the perimeter, and shoots the 3 — 44.6% (on only 56 attempts so far).
Who am I kidding. We’re definitely drafting Miles Bridges (Which by the way would not be a bad thing. He’d be a pretty reasonable small ball 4 or traditional 3). 23/9.5/3.8 with 1.5 blocks per 40, TS of 60 on 27 usage. 3P% trending up after a slow start)
I think GSW looks at KOQ @7m/yr as a replacement for 34yo Zaza and 38yo West for the next 3 years. Warriors no doubt look at stats like BPM and are very impressed by KOQ who’s now in his prime. Click HERE to find KOQ’s ranking over the last 2 seasons compared to other players categorized as F and/or C.
I think the deal might be Looney/Young for KOQ. GSW would save some money off the luxury tax this year I believe. Warriors probably also would prefer not to have to pay Looney (luxury tax) and probably believe KOQ is more of a sure thing since they are in “win now” mode the next 3 years.
I’d probably prefer to trade Willy and Kanter and keep KOQ if possible (depends on trades) but Looney is the type of young player with potential you want in any deal. He’s an excellent defender able to play 3 positions. He needs to improve his 3 ball but bigs are the ones who are most likely to do that so there’s hope on that front.
Future Knick Trae had a different kind of game last night. 26 pts on only 9 shots (made 7). Only 2 of 3 from 3. 9 assists. Nice controlled game. Teams are really attacking him at the 3 pt line and he just blew by people (10 of 12 from the line) rather than forcing it. Potential signs of growth.
Per Steve Kerr, our offense is good:
We didn’t get much traction defensively. They shot 52 percent for the game. We knew coming in they were a good offensive team, are hard to guard and run a lot of good stuff.’’
Cole Aldrich’s contract is only guaranteed $2m next year. Hard for me to believe Thibs wouldn’t do a Lee for Cole/filler/2nd round pick given Crawford’s age and production. I know some people would prefer to just keep Lee if that were the deal but that trade would free up cap for the next two summers and allow Dotson and Baker to get minutes at the 2. BTW Dotson is shooting 40% from 3 in the G-League on 5.7 attempts per game. If we have about 17m in free cap this summer I’d throw a Timmy-like deal at Kyle Anderson who’s been playing really well. I suspect the Spurs plan to match and play lineups like Mills/Green/Anderson/Kawhi/LMA as Pau declines. I wonder if Spurs would do a Willy/KOQ trade for Anderson?
you answered your own question. they want to keep anderson
@1
It’s starting to look more and more like Lee will at least be shopped a bit over the next couple of weeks. It’s kind of like the Melo deal though in that there will be limitations. The only teams that will be interested in making a deal right now are teams trying to improve right now and our requirements (most likely something that includes a decent pick or young player) will make a match more difficult.
O’Quinn should be easier to move.
Somehow I think we are going to wind up taking the worst of both of these deals in terms of value if we rush to make them.
This is why Frank should be sent down for a few games.
I tend to agree. I think BOTH Frank and Dotson should be told to be aggressive in driving to the hoop in the G-League. I think a not so trivial part of their problem is somewhat psychological in that they never did much of this in college and that French league. Neither appears at all comfortable at this stage doing it. The G-league would be a nice intermediate step for both of them in that regard.
we have a few players that should make other teams interested; i can see Kanter, lee, KOQ, Beas, willy, even Lance getting interest
If we move Kanter in a decent deal, keep O’Quinn, and free Willy, I’m going to be a happy camper.
The Knick have the equivalent of “insider information” on Willy. If they believe he views defense as the perfect time to take a siesta or he’s just hopeless on defense for other reasons, they should sell high on him. If they could get a player like Bertans or Anderson, Knicks should pull the trigger. Bertans would have to be paid in summer of 2019 versus 2020 for Willy. Maybe Spurs believe his fellow Spaniard Pau could be an effective mentor.
I think all need to make peace with the 12th pick in the draft.
The closest teams to us are Charlotte, Utah, Chicago, Brooklyn, and the Lakers. Chicago and Charlotte are about to dump their best players. We have a pretty good head start on the other 3 and Porzingis and Hardaway are still good enough to win a few games like they did in Utah. We’d have to shut the two of them down, and I just don’t see it.
But we’ll always have November.
Rubio back on the market?
I’m not sure we have anything Utah would be interested in and he is having a subpar year there, but it looks like he’s available.
i don’t think the g league is a place for frank to work on things… the gleague doesn’t have the type of comp for him to get used to the speed of the game and can reinforce bad habits…. nobody there is into the team concept and everyone is just trying to get on a roster somewhere…. that’s not really a nurturing environment esp for a passive guy like frank…. he has plenty of opportunity here and costing us wins isn’t that big of a deal….
he needs to work on driving and finishing in the offseason…. that’s really where most of the growth is going to come from…. it is a lot of work but what’s in his favor is that he’s young so it’s possible to re-work his game… i don’t think he has issues with actually getting to the hoop but he has very weak finishing moves and he knows it… he just needs a decent floater and get used to adjusting to arms in his face… he also needs to incorporate some hesitation moves because he has just has one speed….
rubio def hurts the tank
this is one of those drafts where being in the teens isn’t such a big deal… this wasn’t like last year when there were a lot of top flight prospects… the guy you pick at #5 will essentially be the same as the guy as #14….
higher the better of course since i think the prospect rankings are still in flux but i don’t see it changing all too much….
at this point i dont care where we pick, more picks should be the priority
Rubio has been trash this year ever since Mitchell took over the backcourt. Rubio is pretty useless without the ball. He really needs to be traded if they’ve made a conscious decision to let Mitchell run amok, so I think Rubio’s price is at a low point. However, I see no match between the teams other than Kanter, who many have said left on bad terms.
Kanter and Willy for Rubio and Udoh.
Then we re-sign O’Quinn and draft Mikal Bridges and we may have a real team there.
This is a 10, maybe 11 player draft:
Doncic, Ayton, Porter, Trae, JJJ, Bagley, Bamba, Mikal Bridges, Sexton, Miles Bridges, (Wendell Carter)
Of those guys, really only Bamba and Carter are sub-par fits. If we could get into the 7-10 range, Mikal would be incredible. A defense built around him, Frank and KP has real potential–absurd length. I’d also be pretty happy with Sexton in that range, as he and Frank compliment each other well in the backcourt.
That said, if we win the lottery Bagley is basically the perfect fit next to Porzingis.
I don’t agree that you can basically get the same player at 14 that you get at 5 in this draft:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcQ72QwaSfs
You’re not getting this guy at 14. You have a real good shot at 5, and maybe even in the next few picks after that.
There’s a long way to go before we can see where the dropoff will be. But if history is any indicator, it will be right in front of us.
It does seem like being at 10 would be fine. But we’re on pace for 35 wins. That’s not going to get it done.
I like Robert Williams game with KP as well. He’s like an upgraded version of KOQ who can cover the perimeter and play above the rim.
Enes Kanter will never play for Utah again. Both sides will see to that. Don’t even bother discussing it.
mikal is good.. i like him.. i think he’s the best sf in the draft… but he’s also a junior…. once you account for that the things that he’s doing now is slightly less impressive….
if you compare stat lines what he was doing last year is pretty similar to what troy brown is doing now…. and brown is a freshman and mikal was a soph last year… gun to my head i would probably still pick mikal but it’s closer than you would think….
I have no problem drafting a legit, rebounding 5 like Bamba. Jaren Jackson Jr. has also piqued my interest of late. Is he not supposed to go in the lottery?
edit: I see JJJ in there now
Jaren Jackson has been top 6-7 in a lot of mocks.
Jaren Jackson Jr, Wendell Carter, and Robert Williams would all fit pretty well IMO. One of them should be there around 10, but any lower than that and we may be looking at Sexton/Musa/Knox/Gafford, who aren’t the most exciting bunch.
Every loss counts.
How about Baker, McBuckets, Jack and Beasley?
They can clean the slate totally and we have a real PG.
Start playing Dotson instead of Baker.
Rubio instead of Jack.
Bring up some G League players to fill out the rest, tank the season, and start fresh next year.
http://www.espn.com/nba/tradeMachine
@26 Yes, Kanter has as much chance of playing for Utah again as he does playing for the Turkish National Team.
They need to tank enough to pick no higher than 10. If Hardaway can just have another 10 week injury, KP gets tired enough, trade a couple of the vets soon, and they just might be able to pull it off. Gettin another first rounder would be nice, that proposed trade to Golden State for their first sounds like it might be doable. The Warriors seem to view their first round picks as radioactive.
After 10 the drop off will likely be real. It would be nice if Chicago started sucking more.
Rubio might win us a few games, does that do anything to improve us long term?
I guess that depends on how you value him and where you think Frank’s game will be next year.
Rubio is having a rough year, but in the right system I think he’ll return to form. He’s still young. I’m going to guess that Frank is going to keep improving, but he probably won’t be a legitimate starting PG as soon as next year. So we will still need one if we want to make the playoffs next year. Of course some people here might already be ready to tank next year too (just kidding), but I think the team will DEFINITELY be trying to make the playoffs next year.
So let’s say Rubio is the starting PG.
That allows us to play Frank as his backup while he develops and also gives him minutes off the ball at SG with Rubio at PG. That’s not much scoring from the backcourt, but if Frank can at least improve his 3 point shot a bit so there is some spacing, that will be one hell of a defensive backcourt and one hell of a play making tandem with Hardaway at the SF.
If Frank improves faster that we expect, that’s hardly a problem. Rubio can be moved and is not locked up really long term anyway. If not, we stay with Rubio until Frank gets there and have a good PG getting KP and the others lots of easy shots.
All of that goes out the window if you think Burke is the answer, but I’m not buying it. He’s fine, but I don’t think he’s a starter. Maybe, but I want to see it.
“I love Beas…he said he was just as skilled as Lebron and myself…because he is. He can score from anywhere. He can score on anybody.” -Kevin Durant
In that case, Kevin, this trade works. Who says no?
http://www.espn.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=yatxbw8t
Thanks to all the well wishers in last nights thread. However, I seem to have ended up back in the hospital today. Probably will need a minor procedure tomorrow. Keep posting guys. You help keep my sanity and spirits up.
lol
I’m still wondering what we could get for Beasley in a trade.
He’s a walking bucket and rebounds well. but he gives a lot of the value back with TOs, foolish fouls, and inconsistent defense. He’s a bargain at the price but should we commit to him next year or try to cash in the chip. It’s hard to know because I couldn’t even guess what we could get for him or how much he will cost.
KFICL,
Get well quickly.
Quoting yesterday dtrickey’s comment:
“Discussing outlandish trades and unrealistic FA hopes is part of what we do here though ha ha”
🙂
Best wishes KFICL, get well!
How long have you been an active poster? I will give you one word of well-wishes for each year.
Not saying Burke is the answer. I’m saying Rubio is a vet and would instantly be the best pg we’ve had in years… that alone gets us a few more wins this season.
Better off trading for him in the offseason
How long Jowles? Probably a year or two before we had Jason Kidd. However, I wouldn’t call myself active. I mostly answer lower extremity sports medicine questions as that is my line of work. I was a past world class distance runner but that’s in the past. My WS (well-wish shares) is low so you probably have exceeded your word total already.
KFICL, I hope the procedure goes well. Get home soon!
I noticed that the Knicks announcers singled out some guys for defensive lapses more than usual last night. They regularly mention the defensive problems, but mostly just in general. However, Clyde called out Kanter and Willy for watching the ball (not the man) some, and both Beasley and Jack were called out for just standing aimlessly in a spot, guarding no one (Jack too appeared to be just watching the ball from a distance).
There are still lots of problems with pick and rolls, too, and is tough to know who to blame, the guard being picked, or the big who may or may not do the switch.
Rubio for Lee kind of makes sense, and Lee is shooting so well for the Knicks that that trade might actually help the tank just a bit, too. Seems like Utah would want to get younger, though, not older.
I, Cock Jowles, sincerely hope that you
Keep posting guys. You help keep my sanity and spirits up.
good luck. in the meantime knickerbloggers will be flooding you with knick-related restorative haikus.
too big to dream small
golden locks pulsing askew
he has opted in
also to kill time check out this guy’s visualization for NBA substitution patterns and watch Enes slowly lose his tan as the game progress.
https://alexwainger.github.io//NBASubstitutionPatterns/
It might be very interesting to plot that minutes color graph against some measure of productivity by quarter.
I love Rubio’s passing and handle. If he could only shoot. But then, I guess he wouldn’t be available.
If he learned to make a good percentage from behind the arc, he’d make himself another $5 million a year. Damn, he must have tried.
He’d be great for KP and THJ.
I just really don’t understand the Rubio fascination. Based on his play this year he doesn’t even represent much of an upgrade over Jack. Even if he returns to form he’s a total mediocrity. Having guards who can’t shoot at all requires so much accommodation in terms of how you build the offense, stagger rotations, value players at other slots, etc. I just don’t think he’s worth the trouble.
My fingers are crossed for you KFICL
the moniker: “knick fan in celtic land” has always made me think of that book: stranger in a strange land…
being around all those celtics fans must have been both strange and a challenge over the years…
get well soon doc…
I guess the idea from a Knicks perspective would be that that with KP and TH2, he would merely be a facilitator. That said, I don’t think there is a whole lot of value in PG’s that can’t shoot the 3 ball in this day and age. Still probably an upgrade over Jack.
Rubio is a low-end starting PG, but he may be useful for the Knicks. He plays good defense, which will make him valuable as a model for the young guys. He’s a good passer, which will put the young guys in better position to score and hopefully develop their games away from iso BS (I’m looking at you, Kristaps).
But he’s such a ghastly shooter that he won’t actually help us win games, which is good for the tank.
We should offer Lee + Baker and see if Utah bites.
Utah is looking to blow up their team and rebuild around Gobert and Mitchell. They won’t take Lee. The best we could do is send them some expiring contracts and contracts that are likely to come off the books to help them move on from Rubio.
I’m still a Rubio fan. I think he has been underrated because of the shooting issues and is further underrated now because of his down season in Utah. It’s not so much that I want him to be our PG of the future. It’s that I feel certain management is going to make some moves either now and/or into next year to prepare for a playoff run next year. They may clean out some contracts now, but no way in hell are they tanking next year. Moves will be made. If they do that, I think we are going to need a PG and SF. I don’t think Frank is going to be ready next year to be the starting PG on a playoff team and I’m not buying that Burke is the man for the job either even though he clearly has some talent on the offensive side of the ball.
Rubio could be pretty good stop gap answer.
He’s still young.
His contract is 2 years more which could be perfectly timed for when Frank is ready.
He already has a relationship with several of our players.
He’ll help bring out the best in KP because he’s a great passer whose specialty is getting high quality assists and easy shots for others
Rubio, THJ, “SF X”, KP, Willy can make a playoff run if that SF is a player and we get any improvement.
I listened to the Dunc’d On podcast with the trade proposal with Charlotte. They did propose that trade, but under the assumption that Knicks management wanted to start winning now, or at least win next season. But they thought that the trade would only make us a lower tier playoff team and also tie our hands so that we couldn’t improve from that. They wouldn’t want to do it personally. It’s a wide open question what Knick’s management will actually decide to do, go for getting better next season or continue to go for youth and picks and have a longer term view. History suggests the former, but I hope it’s the latter. The Knick’s this year have been much more rootable than they have been for years. I hope they continue that trend and I think it’s correlated with having youth and the absence of players like Melo and Rose.
What were we theoretically giving up for Kemba again?
The thing I recall as being a problem was that we’d have to take on a really bad contract. If there wasn’t some nightmare contact tied to the deal, maybe I wouldn’t mind it.
Kemba + Batum for Kanter + Ntilikina + Baker + O’Quinn.
If Utah and Kanter can’t happen then there’s no match. They already have about 50 off guards so Lee makes no sense.
Rubio is a great passer and defender which is what I think would best compliment KP. We can afford a bad shooter at guard when we have a big like KP. It’s like the advantage Piazza and Jeter give you re: KP. You can afford to have shooting/hitting deficiencies at traditional shooting/hitting positions if u have those skills at non traditional positions.
They must be getting close to conceding we aren’t making the playoffs this year. They’ll take the lottery pick and move on from there. But there’s no way on earth they are going into next with the same general philosophy of “change the culture, develop the young players, and try to win”. They are going to make moves to make the team better next year. You can bank on that. There’s simply no way they are going to rebuild almost exclusively via the draft. Over and above it being foolish to limit yourself that way, they will have to show some progress next year or the job pressure will be on.
They need a starting PG and SF.
Only they know what kind of offers they are getting for some of our duplicative assets (like Kanter, O’Quinn and Lee), but serious moves are coming before next year.
Yes, the rebuild is over after the draft. It’s up to KP, Frank and the next draft pick as to what level of mediocrity we will settle at. Hopefully we get lucky in the lottery and get Doncic. He’s the only potential transformative player in the draft to me.
I’m not sure about this. I agree it would be very un-Knicksy to follow that philosphy, but they could decide they are going to still try for young players rather than skilled old ones. That would rule out Kemba Walker and Ricky Rubio, both of whom will be 28 next year, unless they plan to get one of them as a stopgap and let their contract expire. Trading for a young guy doesn’t mean they aren’t trying to improve the team. Of course, now that I say this, I have to concede that just saying it probably makes it unlikely.
Get well soon, kficl.
The minutes distribution is more regular than I was expecting.
Lonnie Walker from Miami is someone to keep an eye on. His numbers on the season are pedestrian, but he was recovering from a torn meniscus early in the season and has looked like a whole new player of late.
That line-up was sounding good. You really had me going until I got to Willy.
Who’s Willy? Is he last year’s steal with all sorts of offensive skills that would continue developing into a potential all star?
Or is he a third string center on a bad team that has limited upside because of poor rebounding and defense?
There’s only one way to find out. Free Willy.
Edit: I feel alone on this, but I think Kanter fits nice into that line-up.
if they are trying to sell the fact that they are trying to make moves in 2019 FA… then they can conceivably sell another rebuilding year… to dolan presumably…. it isn’t a horrible strategy since it also lines up with clearing cap space and i wouldn’t be too opposed to this….
if we lose the next two games i can’t imagine that we stand pat….
How are we making moves in 2019 if that’s the first year of KP’s $155M deal?
if we get rid of lee and thomas and don’t have more commitments past 2019 we will be around 72mm which leaves us with 25-30mm in cap room even with kp… if we find a taker for noah’s expiring or at worst stretch him… we’d be at about 40-45mm….
If I understand the timing correctly, we hire free agents before the season and then sign KP’s deal using his Bird rights. His cap hold will be a lot less than his actual contract.