Comments on: ESPN.com: Sources: Mario Hezonja agrees with Knicks on one-year, $6.5M deal

By: Silky Johnson, Fleet Admiral of the Tank Armada

Silky Johnson, Fleet Admiral of the Tank Armada — Mon, 02 Jul 2018 16:19:53 +0000

Dws is pretty much not at all representative of actual defensive contribution. It’s a measure of the teams defense more than anything. O sure Hezonja ranked poorly on all the DPM stats which do a much better job measuring defense (still flawed tho) but I need to recheck that

By: Ntilakilla

Ntilakilla — Mon, 02 Jul 2018 16:10:08 +0000

and anyone who thinks he is a good defender because his defensive win shares look solid is in for a surprise.

Why? You make this claim but do not provide evidence to support it.

By: hoolahoop

hoolahoop — Mon, 02 Jul 2018 11:58:55 +0000

It seems like Fizdale likes athletic guys than can score the ball, and feels he can turn them into tough defenders.
Herzonja looks like a good pickup. As was stated, low downside with re-signing possibilities going forward. And maybe make knox up his game to get minutes.

By: Z-man

Z-man — Mon, 02 Jul 2018 11:24:23 +0000

Assuming we trade Lee for players we can waive, the rotation might look something like:
Starters: Kanter, Knox, Hezonja, TH2, Frank
Bench: Kornet, Robinson, Lance, Dotson, Burke
Also in mix: Baker, Mudiay
Non-rotation: Noah, Trier, Hicks

Assuming KP comes back mid-season (and I think he will) I would love to see a rotation of something like this:
Starters: KP, Kanter, Hezonja, TH2, Frank
Bench: Robinson, Knox, Lance, Dotson, Burke
Also in mix: Kornet, Baker, Mudiay
Non-rotation: Noah, Trier, Hicks

That’s an athletic young team with upside, the likes of which we haven’t seen since the Amare signing. I really like the second unit’s potential. You could even put Baker in and move Dot to the 3 and Lance or Knox to the 4. We may not win many games, but I’m down with the youth movement!

By: kevin5318

kevin5318 — Mon, 02 Jul 2018 11:14:08 +0000

Hezonja is pretty terrible on defense. Only reason he has good defensive stats is probably because of his high steal count.

He seems to really like New York/Fizdale so if we whiff on the Kyrie/Kawhi plan then hopefully we can sign him to manageable contract if he plays well.

By: Z-man

Z-man — Mon, 02 Jul 2018 11:05:32 +0000

The other thing I really like about this deal is that it’s in the context of having a coach with a strong (although not necessarily well-deserved) reputation for developing young players. One of the most frustrating aspects of the last zillion years is how poorly the Knicks have done in this regard. It’s kinda refreshing to consider that Fizdale is at least theoretically a “Brad Stevens-like” coach in regard to the team we have right now. Ditching Lee, benching Lance, banishing Noah, and losing O’Quinn would make the oldest rotation player on the team Tim Hardaway Jr. at 26, with no pressure to play vets to win meaningless games. And Lee and Lance are consummate pros who even if they remain will be a good influence on the young guys.

By: Z-man

Z-man — Mon, 02 Jul 2018 10:44:24 +0000

You can’t really compare this deal to those. While there were many who felt that the team should have used the cap space to rent bad contracts in exchange for assets, Phil was not in the tank mindset at the time so that point was moot. As far as the merits of the deals in the context of the ill-conceived non-tank mode, the major outcry about those deals at the time was the player option (which neither player exercised.) Then there was the quality of players themselves. Many (including me) thought that DWill was a Bargnani-level bust and that Afflalo was at best overrated and not worth the salary and at worst washed up, so they weren’t worth anything above the minimum, much less a two-year mid-level deal with a player option. The fear was that they would most likely both suck and opt in, or in the unlikely situation that they (actually DWill) figured it out and vastly outperformed his contract, they would opt out and become vastly more expensive. As it turned out, DWill played well enough to opt out, although he got virtually the same deal in his next contract, and Afflalo opted out due to being a persona non grata who got a slightly better deal that grossly overpaid him.

The Hezonja signing is nothing like that because both the context and the terms of the deal are vastly different, as is the level of hubris of management and the makeup of the team. This is simply a flier on a young player with a use-it-or-lose-it exception and a smart decision to not extend the deal when cap space might be used more strategically. It’s a nothing deal at worst, and a “first dibs on building a relationship with a newly promising player that might be a good investment at the right price going forward” deal at best.

By: ptmilo

ptmilo — Mon, 02 Jul 2018 10:08:10 +0000

Well, the likelihood of resigning him is much greater if he is already in your team. Look at Paul George, who was supposedly decided to go to the Lakers.

this is really a nothing deal. no upside no downside. the likelihood of resigning someone to the max is greater if they’re on your team but that doesn’t really apply to a player without bird rights who won’t get the max.

and anyone who thinks he is a good defender because his defensive win shares look solid is in for a surprise. his upside is shooting much better and becoming a decent offensive player, which does seem possible. his trademark team-defense move is the sad headshake generator.

It’s definitely not in the category of the DW or afflalo deals when the strategy was to become a premium free surety.

By: Brian Cronin

Brian Cronin — Mon, 02 Jul 2018 09:58:59 +0000

In reply to english_knick.

We also can’t really trade him unless he literally goes off enough to be a major playoff contributor. Anyone acquiring him gets no bird-rights advantage, they’ll just be in the same position as us. So it’s conpletely only a rental.

True, but there have been some pure rentals who netted first round picks in recent years. But yes, he would have to play very well for that to be a possibility, which is why, again, I don’t think there’s a whole ton of upside to this deal.

By: Brian Cronin

Brian Cronin — Mon, 02 Jul 2018 09:57:53 +0000

In reply to iserp.

Well, the likelihood of resigning him is much greater if he is already in your team. Look at Paul George, who was supposedly decided to go to the Lakers. After a year in the Thunder, he decides to resign there… and it is not a great situation (although not terribly bad, 4th in the west, likely to stay more or less the same for the next couple of years).

The Thunder had his Bird Rights, though. If they didn’t, he would not be signing there (like, literally, they could not have afforded to re-sign him). If a team gets his Bird Rights, then yes, there will always be the chance of getting the player the resign there.