(Thursday, October 11, 2018 10:51:06 PM)
The Knicks are set to give second-year player Frank Ntilikina a major defensive test in their next preseason game on Friday, a home contest against the rival Nets. Ntilikina, who’s known for playing most of his minutes at point guard, will have the chance to guard the power forward position when the two teams clash, […]
(Thursday, October 11, 2018 4:46:23 PM)
More important than the 30 minutes Kevin Knox played against the Wizards on Monday night might have been the 35-40 minutes he spent with Chris Bosh. The 11-time All-Star, who played under Knicks coach David Fizdale when he was an assistant with the Heat, sat down with Knox for a conversation about how to handle…
(Thursday, October 11, 2018 3:25:46 PM)
The Knicks aren’t back. There is no talk of making the playoffs or of a big name acquired in the offseason. The possibility of trading for Jimmy Butler at the expense of future assets was met with a shrug more than excitement. It has been replaced by the acceptance of the early stages of a…
(Thursday, October 11, 2018 1:50:08 PM)
David Fizdale was not kidding around about the Knicks playing position-less basketball. Coming Friday night to the Garden: Frank Ntilikina versus a power forward. “You might see that next game,” Fizdale said Thursday after practice, ahead of the preseason finale against the Nets. “In fact I guarantee it, how about that?” Ntilikina won’t be starting…
(Thursday, October 11, 2018 7:54:04 AM)
The NBA season is still a few days away from officially beginning. But because this is a league that draws just as many headlines from player movement as it does from actual games, the conversation has naturally jumped ahead to 2019. The league is likely to see one of the most loaded free-agent classes in…
58 replies on “Knicks Morning News (2018.10.12)”
With Herring gone from the beat, the best guy covering the Knicks daily is Mike Vorkunov over at The Athletic. Yesterday, he wrote about whether the Knicks still see Frank as a potential full-time point guard or not. Paywall (and the subscription’s very much worth it for me), but here’s an excerpt:
I still think the team’s best move is to play him at point guard, without Burke or Mudiay on the floor with him, as much as possible until they’re absolutely sure he can’t do it, just because his upside as a PG with that defensive ability is so much higher than if he’s in the Shaun Livingston (or latter-era Jason Kidd) role. Even if you don’t want to start him at the point, put him in charge of the second unit offense for a while.
As much as I’m still on board the Frank train, “He could become just like post-traumatic knee injury Shaun Livingston!” isn’t exactly what you’re hoping the coach’s spin on your lottery pick PG is going to be coming into year 2.
I love watching Frank play D. Really! Probably the most fun thing about the Knicks for me right now is focusing on him on defense. But I wish he could dribble above a high school level.
I like the Shaun Livingston comparison and I believe I have made it before re: Frank’s offensive ceiling as a “positionless” PG. However, if you look at film of Livingston pre-injury, there’s really no comparison. He might have evolved into a top-5 PG 10 years ago. It’s pretty amazing that he’s playing as well as he has, considering how his knee was literally blown apart.
https://www.theringer.com/nba/2018/10/12/17965926/kevin-durant-new-york-knicks
KD in a Knicks jersey? His jersey number should be 31 for how old he will be. 😉
I kid, I kid. Even I couldn’t complain about signing him.
I like the Frank : Livingston comparison too although Frank clearly has more defensive potential because he’s not built like a stick.
Funny how, right now, you could argue that Durant is the most underrated all-time great ever.
Frank, Knox, Durant, KP, MitchRob would be pretty freaking long and athletic.
Pinch me.
Durant is so ridiculously great he should come to NY just to prove it.
Not to mention RJ Barrett 😉
The thrust of that Ringer article is that KD should be (and wants to be) a primary ballhander. Theoretically, that would mitigate Frank’s primary weaknesses and allow him to stay at PG while not actually being the point guard, which is kinda perfect.
It would be perfect if KP came back strong and Frank finished the year breaking out. Then the fact that the team is so young might not be an issue for Durant. He’d more or less be giving up 1 year to get these kids some playoff experience and seasoning and then get serious the next year. It would be similar to Lebron in LA. Lebron doesn’t expect to be a serious title contender this year, but the following year they could get serious with a year of development and another addition.
Bleacher Report has us slated to pick Cam Reddish 4th overall with Atlanta, Boston, and Phoenix picking ahead of us. I love everything about Reddish but his demeanor, and to me he is without a doubt the most talented player in this draft. I don’t think Ainge and Stevens pass on him, but if he’s a Knick I will worry about him until he proves he’s more than a taller Devin Booker.
I don’t think the Knicks will add KD in free agency. I think it’s much more likely we end up striking out on everybody and going after Terry Rozier, which to me wouldn’t be the worst outcome ever so long as it’s at or under the TH2 contract. I could definitely get behind a team with Rozier, Trier, Ntilikina, Hardaway Jr, Knox, Ron Baker, any of the Duke frosh, Knox, Porzingis, and Mitch Rob.
I think we are way too concerned about trying to slot Frank into a position. I think with 30+ minutes a game, it’s realistic to think about him as one of the top defensive “guards” in the league within two years. His offense needs to improve only to ‘average’ for him to be a well above average player. I think we fall into the trap of offensive statistics and box scores.
So, my question is, not this season, but next…..if Frank is in the starting lineup, shooting 42% from the floor and 35% from 3, 5 assists and 2 turnovers / game, that prob rounds out to 12 -14 pts a game…are we happy w/ that, based on where he was drafted?
I honestly can’t believe anyone on this board would advocate adding another contract like that Hardaway disaster. He’s at best a mid-level free agent who doesn’t move the needle enough. $36mm tied up in a Rozier-Hardaway backcourt is lunacy.
I agree. I’m just saying that the optimal roster construction probably involves letting him be a point guard while another player handles the primary ballhandling.
If you can get away with him being at that position offensively because you have enough playmaking and ballhandling from another position, then the upside of letting him hold that position defensively is enormous.
I think we are all underrating Frank’s ceiling. He’s an improved 3 point shot away from being a pretty darn good player already and he just turned 20. Defense is a big part the game.
@17 – I agree, defense is a big and overlooked part of the game. From what I’ve seen so far he is not close to being a starting caliber point guard, so they should just let him play a wing position, guard the best PG or wing on the other team, give him get a lot of burn, and hope for the best.
This speaks to the point I was trying to make. He’s not close to being a team’s primary ball handler. We’re conflating that with being a point guard.
This is where we’re heading, but the problem with it is it requires us to use precious resources to acquire a point guard, which inevitably robs us of something else.
I think the optimal roster construction for a team that has Frank is to have a primary ball handler at a wing position. That allows us to let Frank be a point guard but not the primary ball handler. That’s something (among 1,000 other things) that Durant would solve.
You could have, for instance, as that article suggested:
1-Frank
2-Reddish
3-Knox
4-Durant
5-Porzingis
or even
1-Frank
2-Reddish
3-Durant
4-Porzingis
5-Robinson
Thinking about that is…. nice (even if we don’t get a top pick and I have to substitute Hardaway for Reddish).
it’s been a while since i’ve been this eager to see a team play with a chance to win only about a third of their games…
i’m glad we’ve been able to put some good people (if not great basketball players) into knicks uniforms…the guys and coach are almost all easy to root for…
i did though cancel my nba league pass…between free nba league pass previews and a handful or so of televised games, i should be able to watch at least 15 or 16 games this year…
i’ll be following game threads here mostly…
yes, I think so. That’s a solid outcome.
The Knicks are not getting Durant, please stop.
Heh, too much optimism around here. I can’t wait for the season to start so we can get depressed as usual 🙂
31 year old KD isn’t going to be enough to save the Knicks.
Nope.
Likely true. But it sure would be fun.
Even with a young supporting cast, you’d have to think Durant’s individual greatness would put us in a position to contend with, and on a good day beat, Boston and Philadelphia in the East.
@15 I wouldn’t have too much of an issue with paying age 25-29 Terry Rozier a contract somewhere between what Schröder and Hardaway Jr make in terms of AAV, and there would only be an overlap of those deals for a year since Hardaway Jr has an opt out clause after his 3rd year. I also think Rozier is a better player than Hardaway Jr and most stats show that to be true.
If Boston ties Kyrie Irving up to a huge contract, I really hope we offer Rozier a 4 year deal.
While I don’t think the Knicks are getting Durant, he most certainly would “save” the Knicks. Durant is the second best player in the NBA and if LeBron ever starts to decline he could easily be the best player for the last two or three years of his next contract. I think Durant’s decline phase will start around the last year of his next contract or right after.
Any team in the Eastern Conference with Durant is instantly a top two or three team and if anything else breaks right for the Knicks they would be a true contender to at least make the finals. With that said, they are most likely not getting Durant.
I had a dream last night and this vision came to me:
http://www.espn.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=yb4pp4e8
Knicks uber tank this season and move THJr and Lee’s contract next year as well as lose 11M in salary this year.
Clips get Butler and a big upgrade at center and win a lot more games.
Mn gets the player they want in Harris
Yes…. the Moody Blues “Legend of a Mind” was playing in the background during the dream 🙂
Kevin Durant is available in 2019, but Anthony Davis is available in 2020 and Giannis is available in 2021. I’m not sure the win curvers would agree with the Durant pursuit.
@25 Why stop there – Maybe he’ll bring Curry and Thompson with him to New York too
u mean Eddie Curry and Keenan Thompson?
Giannis>AD>Durant
But if we get Durant he will immediately start taking only long twos.
How’s this?
Knox is a bust. Let’s trade him while he still has some value.
Knox needs to work on some things, like passing to an open Ron Baker
Knox needs to work on getting the ball in the basket.
“This is where we’re heading, but the problem with it is it requires us to use precious resources to acquire a point guard, which inevitably robs us of something else.”
Considering they’ve ignored putting any resources into the point guard position for 20 years or so any cost to obtain an above average one should be amortized over 20 years.
Frank!
Fucking hell, what a block!
I like our starting 5 except sub
Lance for frank, Baker for Burke,
And Knox for Vonleh , trier for thjr… lol
Extend Frank now! lol
Franks defense has been the highlight of the first halfand this is the best offensive game I’ve seen From him… he’s attacking the rim
I don’t like to get giddy about one non-game but I kinda want to buy a bunch of Frankie stock right now
Did Robinson just try to shoot a 3?
First half players MIA would include, the entire starting 5
Why can’t we defend threes or hit them?
Pretty brutal half. Knox looks abysmal.
Knox and Trier seem to have 0 court vision.
On the bright side, just focus on Frank when the Knicks are on D. It’s a joy to watch.
I wish fiz would experiment with thjr at point… It’s in his pedigree
Knox obviously has some ability but he doesn’t seem to know how to finish or be able to shoot NBA 3s.
I know most of us will agree with this but Frank should be starting this year, whether at PG or SG.
Much improved play from Vonleh, far more controlled.
Kornet wuz robbed!
Kornet got robbed!
Hezonja and Kornet!!
Folks Ron Baker entered this game with a TS% of 102 and increased it.
Saw the box score and came to the blog just to see what DRed would say about Scrappy Doo.
Knox seems to get worse every time he steps on the floor.
I was so pumped about Knox after his first training camp game. Now…not quite as pumped.