Knicks Morning News (2018.10.20)

  • [YahooSports] Report: Knicks, Lakers, Clippers will pursue Kevin Durant in free agency
    (Friday, October 19, 2018 3:00:17 PM)

    The Warriors are reportedly bracing for Kevin Durant to leave in free agency next summer. The New York Knicks, Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers will take a run at the back-to-back Finals MVP, league sources told Yahoo Sports. Durant already plays for the best team in a desirable location.

  • [NYDN] Kevin Knox shows promise with improved performance as Knicks fall to Nets on Caris LeVert’s winner
    (Friday, October 19, 2018 8:25:00 PM)

    It came down to one former Wolverine against another. And Caris LeVert beat Tim Hardaway Jr.

    LeVert polished off his exquisite 28-point night by driving past his former Michigan teammate in isolation and finishing an off-balance lay-in with one second remaining. It gave the Nets a dramatic 107-105…

  • [NYDN] Diplomatic Sam Darnold is not taking sides in the Knicks/Nets ‘rivalry’
    (Friday, October 19, 2018 6:55:00 PM)

    Sam Darnold is being very diplomatic.

    The Jets rookie QB was at Barclays Center Friday night to watch the Knicks battle the Nets in an eventual thrilling 107-105 victory for Brooklyn, but he was not taking any sides in the so-called rivalry.

    “Coming here to support the Knicks AND the Nets,” Darnold…

  • [NYDN] Courtney Lee remains on the bench with neck spasms as Knicks battle Nets in Brooklyn
    (Friday, October 19, 2018 4:30:00 PM)

    Courtney Lee still hasn’t played.

    The oldest player on the Knicks roster, who has two years and $25 million remaining on his contract, suffered further neck spasms and was inactive for Friday’s game against the Nets, according to coach David Fizdale.

    The Knicks have been trying to trade Lee since…

  • [NYPost] Knox drawing comparisons with emerging Celtics star he’s set to face
    (Saturday, October 20, 2018 1:30:11 AM)

    Even before Kevin Knox fell to the Knicks and became the ninth overall pick, his coach at Kentucky, John Calipari, predicted several teams ultimately would regret passing on the youngest player in this year’s NBA draft. Calipari easily envisioned a path to stardom for Knox because he believed he had just seen it, following the…

  • [NYPost] Enes Kanter’s big game hurt by questionable flagrant foul
    (Saturday, October 20, 2018 1:02:18 AM)

    Enes Kanter almost always has his way with the Nets’ smaller front line — he’s a menacing bull at Barclays Center. When the Knicks needed three points to tie Friday night, Kanter got them, barreling to the bucket after a pocket pass from Trey Burke off a pick-and-roll with 15.9 seconds left. Kanter scored the…

  • [NYPost] D’Angelo Russell: We’re ‘supposed to beat’ the Knicks
    (Saturday, October 20, 2018 12:24:54 AM)

    Spencer Dinwiddie, who boasted the Nets are better than the Knicks, nearly saw his mouth write a check his behind couldn’t cash. But after the Nets pulled the game out at the end, D’Angelo Russell called it a game his team is expected to win. “Get the wins you’re supposed to win,” Russell said after…

  • [NYPost] Knicks nipped by Nets thanks to LeVert’s bucket in final second
    (Friday, October 19, 2018 6:25:24 PM)

    Spencer Dinwiddie may have been right when he boasted during the preseason that the Nets are “better than Knicks.” If so, it’s not by much. After losing all four of last season’s games against the Knicks, the Nets needed every second of the first of four meetings to prove Dinwiddie’s point, with Caris LeVert’s driving…

  • [NYPost] When the rivalry will really get serious for the Knicks and Nets
    (Friday, October 19, 2018 4:20:17 PM)

    For a dead rivalry, this was compelling theater. In a thrilling second half, the Knicks rallied from an 11-point hole with a third-quarter blitzkrieg. They exchanged leads with the Nets in the final minutes, as Knicks rookie Kevin Knox snapped out of his funk, grabbing clutch offensive rebounds and sinking big buckets down the stretch….

  • [NYTimes] On Pro Basketball: What Will It Take for the Knicks and Nets to Have a Real Rivalry?
    (Saturday, October 20, 2018 2:59:32 AM)

    “They have to be good at the same time. Being bad at the same time doesn’t help,” Jeff Van Gundy, the former Knicks coach, said before the Nets won a thriller between the New York teams on Friday.

  • [NYTimes] On Pro Basketball: LeBron James Has Plenty of Patience. For Now.
    (Saturday, October 20, 2018 4:52:08 AM)

    In his first game with the Lakers, James worked hard to communicate with his teammates and build the chemistry they’ll need in the unforgiving Western Conference.

  • [NYTimes] Lakers Lose to Trail Blazers in LeBron James’s Debut
    (Friday, October 19, 2018 11:19:21 AM)

    In a 128-119 loss, James made some thrilling dunks but it was not enough against a strong finish by Portland.

  • [SNY Knicks] Knicks’ Enes Kanter ‘seriously considering’ a WWE career after basketball
    (Saturday, October 20, 2018 1:10:33 AM)

    Enes Kanter is a man of many interests, but one of his deepest passions lies in professional wrestling

  • [SNY Knicks] Knicks’ youngsters provide bright spots in Friday’s loss to Nets
    (Friday, October 19, 2018 11:20:40 PM)

    It was a disappointing last few seconds for the Knicks, and a game which saw some bad defensive mistakes, but New York’s two neophytes had good showings which is really all that matters.

  • [SNY Knicks] Shaq says Knicks will never win another championship
    (Friday, October 19, 2018 9:03:50 PM)

    Shaquille O’Neal doesn’t think the Knicks are going anywhere anytime soon — or ever.

  • [SNY Knicks] Knicks’ Enes Kanter eyes future as WWE star: ‘I’m actually talking to the people over there now’
    (Friday, October 19, 2018 2:48:14 PM)

    Enes Kanter spoke about his obsession for professional wrestling in a recent profile with Vice, in which he revealed he is already talking to WWE executives about becoming a wrestler.