From the great Ian Begley:
The offseason is here, so here’s a look at a few options at point guard for the Knicks and a few things they may consider as they approach the position during free agency:
HOW DOES DERRICK ROSE FACTOR IN?
As noted last month, some teams keeping an eye on the point guard market feel that Derrick Rose’s strong play for New York will factor in to their approach at the position. Since Rose showed that he’s more than capable of handling 20 minutes per game, those teams wonder if the Knicks will be less inclined to pursue a big-money guard that plays significant minutes. Those teams are speculating, of course. But it’s informed speculation, based on the idea that New York will re-sign Rose and play him at least 15-20 minutes per game. Rose averaged 15 points on 49 percent shooting for New York in the regular season.If the club eschews the traditional ball-dominant guard this summer, options include Devonte Graham, Lonzo Ball and Kendrick Nunn. All three guards are restricted free agents. The Knicks spoke to New Orleans about a potential Ball trade prior to the deadline but nothing materialized. As recently as late in the regular season, there was no consensus on Ball among Knicks decision makers.
Nunn, per sources, is among the guards who have been on the Knicks’ radar as they consider their offseason plans. Nunn shot 38.1 percent from beyond the arc on nearly six attempts per game this season and shot it remarkably well in the second half of the season. One member of an opposing organization analyzing the market drew a comparison between the 25-year-old Nunn and Terry Rozier, who averaged nine points per game in his last season with the Celtics before signing a three-year, $56 million deal with Charlotte. Rozier’s role increased. His production also increased. The opposing team thought Nunn, who averaged 14.6 points per game last year, could follow a similar path if his opportunities increased.
What could the market be for Nunn? The Athletic’s John Hollinger recently wrote that Nunn should command a contract in the 15 million per year range.
The rest of the post suggests Chris Paul, Dennis Schroeder and Kyle Lowry
I guess things could go worse than signing Kendrick Nunn and hope that he’s ready to take that next step.
If I had to bet on it, I think the Knicks end up with Kyle Lowry on a short-term, big money deal.
107 replies on “SNY.com: Potential Knicks’ options for point guard next season, including Chris Paul”
I wonder whether Vildoza will impact the PG picture at all. If you sign any of the above PGs and keep Rose (very likely) then either one of them is not in the rotation or is going to play off the ball. I suppose you could play a 2 PG lineup with role sharing (TOR dis some of that with Lowry and FVV) so maybe Nunn, who strikes me as more of a combo guard, makes the most sense of the younger guys.
New thread! New thread!
Continuing my role as Vildoza curmudgeon, my expectations for him are pretty modest. Maybe he winds up in the rotation — particularly if the revamped roster lends itself to more lineups where two point guards play together (or, at least, where he plays alongside a combo guard like IQ) — but I don’t think he’s going to be a factor in which point guards we pursue in free agency or trades.
I don’t pay a ton of attention to Miami, to be honest. What kind of player is Nunn? True point guard or more of a spot-up shooter type better suited to play alongside a ball dominant wing? Our top priority this offseason should be injecting more playmaking into the roster, and especially into the starting lineup. But it doesn’t necessarily have to come from the PG spot. If, for insance, the Bulls were to make LaVine available, for instance (and I do not believe they will, due to being all-in on trying to win after the Vuc trade), he would be a pretty damn good fit alongside Julius and RJ.
That said, Lowry on a 1-2 year balloon payment may be our best option. He only costs money at a time when we’re swimming in cap space, which allows us to hold onto our other trade assets for when a more long-term piece shakes loose, he’s still really good, and he could also share the backcourt with a young point guard if we should happen to find one (or if IQ should happen to evolve beyond instant offense guy).
Nunn had a domestic battery incident in college which hurt his draft stock. He’s limited as a playmaker so I would consider him a combo guard with a shooter’s mentality, even an undersized 3-and-D wing at times. He definitely has upside, very athletic, tough as nails on defense, can score in bunches, but he is not really the answer at PG in and of himself.
Can you imagine [redacted] with PG skills and (more than) holding his own on offense? That’s Vildoza. He’s going to be a factor, he’s the ultimate Thibs player, and he’s going to be our Ginobili. He can play off the ball easily, he played with Campazzo on some Baskonia teams. Last year Baskonia were Spanish Champions and Vildoza won Finals MVP. We weren’t paying a 2M buyout and then treat the guy like an UDFA end of bench filler. He’s going to be in the rotation and have a lot of fans among ourselves. If i’m the first Vildozophile, so be it, but he’s a winner and he’ll get to you guys also, sooner or later.
Went to confirm it, and looks like i didn’t had my facts straight, Campazzo never played for Baskonia. But i read they shared the floor, so maybe it was on the Argentinian national team. Either way, he can play alongside a PG if that’s needed. He’s not very tall (6’3) but certainly can hold his own at the SG spot also.
About the article, i don’t think CP3 and Lowry sign for less than 3 years, and at that contract length i don’t think they fit here. Schroeder? No, thank you. He’ll be expensive and he isn’t worth it. Ball will also be expensive but at least he has potential, if it’s between 20M and 22M, i’d do it. If it’s more, then i’d look at Nunn and Graham. I like Graham a lot and he’s a PG, so i’d be inclined to sign him. With the plus that the Hornets won’t even try, they have LaMelo and Rozier. I don’t see Nunn as a PG, but to replace Elfrid he’d surely be an upgrade, just not the one i’d want.
Endless Possibilities
I’m with Alan. Although I really like the signing and think Vildoza will be solid rotation piece and backup, you absolutely cannot go into next season with the expectation that Vildoza will warrant big minutes. Vildoza is a great deal, but a great deal in no way translates to great player.
You hope Vildoza is good, but bring a 3rd PG. Ball & Nunn have some upside in case Vildoza can hold his own that it’d be easier for them to share the floor.
Yes, to continue the Prigioni comparisons, Pablo was not expected to be a significant part of that 12-13 Knicks team. He was a back of the roster player who wound up getting a lot of run as Kidd and some of the other vets on the roster started breaking down. If Vildoza is ready to play big minutes next season, that’s fantastic. But hope is not a plan, and we need to bring in some high-level playmaking somewhere on the roster, at either PG or one of the wing spots.
Prigs was super old when we got him. Villadoza is 27, at his athletic prime. And prigs himself said Villadoza is more talented. There’s no way he’s not better than Elf.
“Better than Elf” is an incredibly low bar to clear. We need more than that. A lot more. Can Vildoza play well for the Knicks next year? Yes. Should his presence be a significant factor in any other roster-building decisions in this pivotal summer? Absolutely not.
OK. I’m ready to talk. Gulp. Gotta hand it to the Hawks. They play great. Young, Capella, great three point shooting. Old grizzled punk Gallo. Collins is excellent. Sixers may go down.
While I’m praising athletes that break my heart, let me also say, that Kyrie is one of the most amazing players I’ve seen. He just makes the game so easy. Steph and Dame make hard shots. Kyrie makes easy shots. Kyrie just (carries the ball, lol) get’s near the hoop and finishes. Electric and incredible.
Fascinating off season in the offing…Don’t blow it NYK…
it’s probably a longshot but i really hope the knicks explore some trades with some teams with pg gluts…. i mean it’s crazy that we can’t even find one pg and some teams have 3…
like the grizz… Tyus Jones and De’Anthony Melton aren’t worldbeaters… well some might consider Melton the messiah… but they could absolutely start as ‘caretaker’ pg’s… esp if Randle/RJ are doing much of the ballhandling… and especially if we devote cap space towards a scorer like .. Norm Powell or something…. Melton is probably less of a pg than Jones but he comes with better defense but i like both very much…
or the Kings… Delon Wright is one of the most underrated players in the nba and part of that is because he continually gets traded into bad situations where there’s a pg glut or the team wants to rebuild… part of the reason why i didn’t like the Rose trade was because Wright was on the same team and he was both younger… better… and had one more year left on a very reasonable deal… a low risk low commitment move that wouldn’t have been that much more expensive than the deal we got for Rose…. and would have had immense upside.. he is seriously a good basketball player….
CP3 i see as a real difference maker and worth going after (altho with Dame looming i’m not so sure anymore)… I think the case for Lowry is much less so… and he probably wouldn’t be that much better than any of the three above mentioned names… in fact most of the pg names on the FA market aren’t any better than the above three names either… it’s just one costs only cap space (which may not be all that valuable)… the others would cost 2nds (which probably don’t have much value either)….
Lol KP has not yet been traded, but he gone
2021-2022 Starting PG requirements:
1.High Character and Balls
2.Health
3.Reasonable Contract
4.Playoff Gear
5.Star Magnetism
Lowry seems like a safe bet
I read a tweet about Porzingis and the replies are all Mavs bob neptunes saying he needs to get down in the post more
Not to re-litigate this (he lied), but there was a debate regarding whether Thibs could/should have screwed more with the lineup and schemes in Round 1. I partly tongue-in-cheek posted about Boban and KP starting as an example of how coaches do in fact mess a lot with these things in playoff combat. Here’s another example, same series, from Mohoney in the Ringer:
By the end of the series, Lue had taken two of the Clippers’ usual starters not just out of his first five, but more or less out of the mix entirely; had reformatted his team’s defensive coverages; and ultimately wound up pulling the plug on two-time champion Rajon Rondo for Terance Mann and Luke Kennard, who combined for a critical 24 points in Game 7.
Again, not sure anything would have really worked given our comparative talent level, but there’s still an argument for lack of creativity in trying.
I expect that Luca Vildoza can come in right away and be as productive as Facundo Campazzo was in his first season with Denver. Vildoza is younger, more athletic, and taller than Campazzo is so there’s a chance he’s even better, but I do agree that Vildoza shouldn’t be the reason we don’t draft Jared Butler, trade for Jalen Brunson, or anything like that. I’m confident that Rose and Vildoza for a full season is better than Payton and Rose (and replacing Payton with Campazzo probably makes us 4-5 games better in the win collumn), but if we can do better we absolutely should.
What the Knicks need, though, is more than just a good basketball player who can occupy minutes at point guard. The Knicks need a point guard who can get more touches in the P&R for Julius Randle/Obi Toppin and get the ball to RJ Barrett in transition who habitually beats guys downcourt but never gets the ball. If you can count on productive minutes from Derrick Rose for the next two seasons, there’s a chance you can fix our “easy bucket deficiency” issue with Lonzo Ball. Lonzo’s gonna get the ball out in transition, space the floor, and potentially build some real pick and roll chemistry with Julius Randle. This offense needs more dunks, and it’s not like we don’t have the athletes to do it. I’d love to do something like trade for Jalen Brunson, sign Lonzo Ball, and bring back Derrick Rose.
It’s also really hard not to get excited about Luca Vildoza after watching a four minute highlight tape of him crossing guys up and finishing with either hand. That guy is a baller.
I think vildoza replaces burks and the role he played…
so far leaning towards using graham as our starting point guard…maybe mcconnell…
I’m starting to move past the let’s sign a vet caretaker at point guard for a couple of years…
how dare you question the mighty Thibs…now bend the knee…
BTW, is there a chance that Derrick Rose isn’t back? He sounded less than sure in his presser after Game 5. If we do go all-in for another lead guard, and we have Vildoza and perhaps Quickley, maybe Leon Rose and company will decide that money needed for re-signing DRose could be better spent elsewhere?
I view lonzo much like how he was used in New Orleans… he’s basically a shooting guard…. or if reggie bullock had some passing vision…
yes he’s good in transition…. but he’s pretty one-dimensional as far as working in the halfcourt… and as we have seen…. it is very very tough to score once defenses figure out your one-dimension if you have the ball a lot…. and if he doesn’t have the ball a lot why are we paying him?
he does bring a different dimension to the team but i think it would be too expensive to find out how good that dimension would be…. it does have some upside tho but there is some significant downside to it as well…
If Lillard is available, what does it take to get him?
danvt, let’s let Gary Oldman answer your question.
I think you can never be too sure about what will happen in free agency. Rose and Thibs clearly have a bond but after the season he just had it seems like a decent bet that Rose might have pretty good offers at the midlevel for teams that are legit title contenders (Lakers, for example, make a lot of sense). You have to assume he’d love to get a real shot at winning a ring and barring some giant moves this offseason that’s probably not on the offing here in the next couple of years.
Given some of the extra-curricular unpleasantness, a part of me would be relieved to not have to root for Rose anymore. But given what a huge impact he had on the team’s play this year, we would need to import a whole lot of playmaking and shot creation to both make up for his loss from the bench mob and beef up the starting unit.
EVERYONE!!!
not great critic reviews, but – easily in the cult classic category…
here’s the link to nba point guard free agents for 2021-2022
draft a point guard, promote someone else’s under 30 back up point guard to start for us, re-sign rose for our backup, develop quik, see what vildoza can do…
i think we may actually be functional from the point guard position next year…
I mean, there’s some logic to that. The guy is 7’4” and is often guarded by way shorter players. The problem is it’s so damn easy to shove him out of the post (remember how Marcus Smart used to torture him?) , and he really never developed a strong post game to begin with.
So he’s relegated to a role of drifting around the 3 point line and maybe an occasional uncontested dunk.
Definitely a max player tho.
My guess is his ask is going to be something like 3/60. I don’t think he gets that but I think his market will start at the MLE and go up from there. Someone offering 3/45 won’t be a surprise at all. I’d offer 2/25 but I think he’ll get better offers.
I mean, Thibs did pull Payton, insert Taj, and we did throw a few coverages at Young. Young just dismantled all of it.
Rose has the same issue Burks has, they’re good on the Knicks’ anemic offense but teams have better offensive options. Plus, Rose needs a strict minutes limit.
I’m glad I come here for intelligent conversation (sometimes). Nowhere else do you really have a logical discussion about him. If Rose and Vildoza are your “platoon” point guards and you draft a third, is that enough? The Knick point guard problem this year was that after Rose, what did you have? So this becomes a really intriguing question. The film I’ve seen (highlights, of course) is encouraging. He shoots 37.6% from 3pt range, has a terrific handle, moves north-to-south, has excellent court vision and is a strong defender for Europe. The questions are whether he is physical enough for the NBA, can he improve his overall shooting (40% from the field) and can he really defend in the NBA.
The fact that the Knicks jumped on him with that vigor and gave him a 4 year deal for $13.6 means to me that he’s in the plans. Maybe he needs a year to develop, but all indications are he’s a lock for the rotation.
It’s funny (in a dark comedy sorta way) that in a city that appreciates good point guard play, we haven’t had an above average starter at point guard since…2005-2006 Marbury?
And we keep on passing or being one pick away from decent PGs in the draft
2020: passed on Halliburton (yes, dead horse)
2019: one pick away from Ja (I love RJ too don’t @ me)
2018: passed on SGA
2017: Donovan Mitchell (yes so did 12 other teams)
2016: Denver drafts Jamal Murray with our 1st rounder (real dk punch there)
2009: One pick away from you know who
At least we stopped trading away all our picks and we appear to have non-bozos running the front office right now. My hope is that by 2025, we’ll have an above average starting PG.
Both Rose and Burks are tier-3/4 (starter/rotation)players now . We need a tier-1/2 (All-NBA/Allstar) player at one of the point guard positions.
[Extremely fake Jerry Seinfeld voice]
That’s a shame.
Ha! Awesome. Yeah ok, I’ll see myself out…
I do think Carlisle did a bad job deploying KP. They look like a poor version of HOU Harden teams. One guy dominates the ball everyone else rebounds, plays defense and takes threes. KP, to me, has never looked comfortable in any scheme and that’s ultimately on him, but in that offense, he might as well be Dwight Powell and that’s not enough to beat LAC.
Team under Thibs looked like it took the baby steps of early development way too fast and maybe it’s time to go after bigger Dogs than very good promising young pgs.
even if we wanted to do this…are you cool with all these bigger dogs (Lowry, Conley, CP3) being past their prime?
#even if we wanted to do this…are you cool with all these bigger dogs (Lowry, Conley, CP3) being past their prime?#
I’m not excited tbh but it can turn out to be a bigger scale DRose move that could Up us to another level.
Well if Rose departs, we could go into next season with a replacement roster off this list of Elfrid, Frank, DSJ, and Rivers… plug and cringe…
Alan’s answer is much more hilarious than mine. 😀
But to answer you with possible trade scenarios, the problem is that probably Portland will ask for RJ, and that’s too much for my taste. If they accept to leave RJ out of the trade, something like Mitch + Obi + Quick + 4 1RPs (2021 to 2024) should get it done.
DRose was a pleasant surprise, but I hope the Knicks put a virtual Caveat Emptor sign on him.
He probably should look for one last payday and just take whatever best money/years offer he gets, despite his relationship with Thibs.
And there’s his age and history of knee issues. Just seems like there’s a clock ticking on him… The 2/25 sounds about right.
The flip side is that the draft pick compensation in an RJ-centric package is much less painful, and the roster is much less gutted. I want to keep RJ and see what he can become. But if the trade is something like RJ + Knox (and/or other salary filler) and only 2 firsts for Dame, I’d have to at least think about that.
Agreed. It’s really close but, if possible, i’d prefer to keep RJ.
About the PG/SG situation, we’ll have a clearer vision after the draft. If we trade up and select just one guard, then Vildoza is 3rd stringer like that rookie, Quick is one of the backups, and we need 2 starters (Reggie+FA or two FAs) and 1 backup (DRose or one FA). If we don’t trade up, probably the best players available for our picks will be guards, so we’ll select 2 rookie guards. In this scenario, Vildoza and Quick will be backups, and we’ll only need (nice choice of words :P) two starters. One can be Reggie, if we can re-sign him, but DRose can’t be the other because he can’t start all season long (even in the playoffs he lost steam too fast).
So i’m waiting for the draft to start the big offseason plans. 😉
There’s some chatter that the Knicks are aiming for the 5th pick to get Kuminga. That’d be amazing, but i can’t see how it can be done. Are the people behind the chatter banking on the Cavs being that stupid?
Lot of names for the PG spot,
my least favorite by far is Dennis Schroeder.
Please Leon don’t waste money on him.
Quickley and both our firsts? Toppin and both our firsts?
Kuminga is interesting… i imagine the package would be a lot more than IQ/Obi + both firsts tho.. out of all the top 5 guy he’s probably the riskiest.. his shot is just not there and may need a rework… and he has trouble getting past people on his drives… the dude is a tremendous athlete tho so if you think you could fix his shot you probably have close to an allstar level player…
I would give a godfather offer for jalen suggs tho….
File this under Do Not Want, courtesy of Berman of the Post:
Can’t find where i read it, but yeah they said “picks” (which sounded like the 3 picks, including the Detroit 2RP), Quick and Obi. Maybe the reasoning was that with 2 trades we could get to the 5th, it didn’t had the details. Seems a bit too much for just one guy, doesn’t it? But Kuminga is only 18 and if our scouts think he can be a superstar, it’s worth it.
https://twitter.com/DrewHanlen/status/1401695784819691521?s=19
not breaking news or anything but some past remarks about RJ’s off-season seemed to emphasize pull-up 3s being worked on this offseason… this doesn’t preclude that but seems like the emphasis is on finishing instead… which is very good news…
Happy B’Day, Donnie! <:o)
If you bring up a comp to Manu and you mention a reference from Prigs, well, I am firmly and absolutely always going to be a Vildoza homer.
Happy Birthday Donnie!!!
And Alan, that was hilarious. I have to watch that movie.
Happy Birhday Donnie Walsh!
draft people what’s the story with Scottie Pippen’s kid? His stats look pretty good but I never see him mocked
huh I wonder if he’s done anything else in his career
In regards to Dame, if Portland decides they want to blow it up and trade Dame there’s almost no way a team with better assets than us like NO doens’t beat any offer we make.
This assumes Dame wants to go to the Pelicans or Thunder, of course.
dame is under contract for 3 more years I would just not listen if he demanded a trade to one specific team. He’s not going to refuse 135 million dollars.
He may not demand to come to New York. But the two teams that clearly have a richer asset base than us are in markets where he will likely not want to go. Say Dame has a list of a half dozen teams that could be legitimate contenders if they traded for him. Which of those can make a better package than we can?
The explanation for why Chris Paul is reported to opt out of $44 million for next season and is looking for a 3 year /$100 million deal is likely (in part) that next year’s salaries are going to be reduced by up to 20% to cover the losses from no fans in the stands this year. Under the 10-and-spread system, the usual 10% escrow will be increased to up to 20% this year and next year to allow the owners to recapture enough money so that the players do not get above 51% of BRI (basketball related income). http://www.cbafaq.com/salarycap.htm#Q17
This means that Chris Paul really would not make $44 million next year, more like $35 million. If he can spread his salary into the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons, the extra escrow should expire at that time.
This also explains why Chris Paul would not just extend his deal with Phoenix by adding two years at $28 million (to get him to a total of $100M over 3 years). He wants to push as much salary out of next season as possible.
I do not think we will know whether Chris Paul would prefer to stay in Phoenix and move (at the same money) until after this playoff run ends.
Isn’t Dinwiddie out there too?
Man, Dame would light up the Garden but he’s about to be 31 and has absolutely massive salary commitments starting next year when his extension kicks in. With the amount of draft assets you’re going to have to put in (pretty much everything I suspect) you really need to think the team you’re bringing him into is going to be a title contender or close to it right away because you’re going to be down to barebones on draft assets and he’s pretty much singlehandedly putting a serious squeeze on your cap. You maybe could’ve talked me into it at the end of the regular season but after watching the beating the Hawks put on us I just can’t convince myself that this team is one big addition away.
there’s a few players around 28 or younger who are currently used as backups that we might try out (like the randle deal) to see if they can take the next step:
dinwiddie
exum
dunn
mcconell
payne
geo, Dinwiddie took the next step in 2019-20.
He averaged 21 points and 6.5 assists that year. He wants to get paid but I don’t think he’ll get what he’s asking because of his ACL injury.
Dame has had a “Dame and a bunch of scrubs” team around him the past however many years, and that really didn’t go very far. Why do we want to repeat that model here?
Dinwiddie has a $12M player option for next season. If he does not think he can get a deal above the MLE ($9M/year) for multiple years, he might “bet on himself” and play out the last year of his contract. One of the risks is that the Nets might move him someplace he would not want to be, since the Nets are long in PGs.
I had a lot of windshield time today and listened to the most recent Lowe Post and Dunc’d On episodes. Can’t remember which one said this, but someone on one of those shows was like, “Dame to the Pelicans for Ingram plus picks doesn’t help the Blazers on the defensive end, which is their real weakness.” I’ll let you guys figure out the problem with that kind of judgment.
Bill Simmons did a good job breaking down the three options in front of the Blazers on today’s pod:
1. Just change the coach and run it back with the same roster. Hope that Dame is satisfied with a new coach, a new system and the prospect of Zach Collins playing next year.
2. Trade something other than Dame to try to build a contender in Portland. The problem is that the only real trade asset is CJ McCollum, who has a big contract and recent injury history. CJ McCollum is not likely to bring back the blue chip front court player needed to balance the Blazers roster and make them a contender.
3. Trade Dame and build from scratch. If the Blazers trade Dame, they are likely going to want young players and draft picks. The Knicks are one of the few teams with (1) extra picks, (2) young players and (3) the salary cap space to take Dame without sending back equal salary.
I could see the Blazers deciding to trade both McCollum and Dame to try to rebuild from the ground up. If they could get Brandon Ingram from New Orleans for McCollum, and RJ Barrett, Obi, IQ and four first round picks from NY (both 2021 picks, the better of the Dallas/NY 2023 pick and 2025 pick), they would be well on their way to a rebuild.
I’m not sure how I feel about that deal for the Knicks.
i like dinwiddie dudestown, i like the way he plays…the only thing is – you’d be signing him up without really seeing how he’s recovered from the injury…looks like he had some other serious knee injuries requiring surgery back in 2014…
yeah, let’s get a guy who’s knees are good as of the moment of adding them to the roster…
thinking of how rose protected his knees so much during his forst stint here…he wouldn’t go to finish at the rim or go over screens just cuz of the chance of hitting his knees on someone…
i’m not big on exum either, so crossing off dinwiddie and exum: dunn, mcconell, graham…whenever i watch him play, dunn doesn’t do much for me…
i think graham or mcconell would be our best best at starting point guard next year…8 million a year for 3 years (team option on the 3rd) might get it done for one of those players – watch, they’ll both have offers over 10 million for an annual average 🙂
nah, i don’t really think so…
If we end up re-signing Rose (which I have no qualms with), I think rolling with Rose, IQ and Vildoza means our need shift to a starting wing. Not a whole lot on the FA list outside of Kawhi. I could be convinced on DeRozan as a 3rd option. Not touching Oladipo with a 10ft pole.
Thibs is Coach of the Year.
Congrats!
He wins every 10 years.
Yeeeewww Thibs! What a year for him. What he has done in a season has been nothing short of incredible. Always talked about coming back and coaching in New York and is seizing the day.
I admit to poking at Thibs’ faults (and reserve the right to continue to do so…), but this award is totally deserved.
Congrats Tom T.
Congratulations to Thibs on his well-deserved victory as Coach of the Year.
The vote was really close. Thibs got 43 first place votes and Monte Williams got 45 first place votes. Thibs won because he got 42 second place votes and Williams only got 32 second place votes. Total points were 351 for Thibs and 340 for Williams.
I am amazed that 5 voters did not include Thibs in their top 3 and 4 voters did not include Williams in their top 3.
“I am amazed that 5 voters did not include Thibs in their top 3 and 4 voters did not include Williams in their top 3.”
Totally ridiculous.
It’s well deserved, congrats Thibs! What an amazing season! 🙂
Congrats to the COA – Tom Thibodeau!
I know how i feel… hard no!
Blake in beast mode.
I see you, Jowles.
This in theory wouldn’t be “Dame and a bunch of scrubs.” It would be Dame and Randle (who is a vastly more complementary Dame sidekick than McCollum) and whatever pieces Rose can put around them after the Blazers have extracted their hefty price.
It doesn’t seem like it’s going to happen anytime soon, unless this coaching search blows up even more beyond Kidd recusing himself. But I can talk myself into a Dame/Randle core, yes I can.
Thibs!!!
Congrats to Thibs for his COY!
The Bucks look so outclassed against the Nets so far. Man.
The Nets without Harden are dismantling the Bucks, wow…
Dame is really good but Julius Randle, Dame and some filler isn’t winning a title and now we have no draft picks and no promising young players. What’s the next move? Dame is 31 next year-the window is already closing.
Hey Bucks – good job, good effort!
yep, looks like that ferocious nets defense is really eating them up 🙂
Did not see this Bucks-Nets outcome
I mean, the Nets could cruise to the Finals minus one of the greatest offensive players in NBA history
Kind of absurd
We should add coach bud as the regular season offensive coach next year
Blake playing good D on Giannis is legitimately shocking to see
Under heading #2 for the Blazers (trade CJ McCollum to try to build a championship roster around Dame), they might be able to get Khris Middleton for McCollum. Both teams may be looking to change their rosters. The Blazers get a forward to fill a void. The Bucks get someone who can both be a 3 point shooter to create floor spacing for Giannis and create his own shot.
Who says no?
As long as they can fire him before the playoffs.
Not sure if this was posted, but it’s an absolutely delightful read. Shockingly, Porzingis comes off as a real asshole!
It would be pretty awkward for Harden’s legacy if this team wins a ring under these circumstances, huh?
Similar to telling a batter to “take a strike”, if I’m the Nets, I tell Harden that he is not coming back until the Bucks win a game.
The Knicks won the KP trade, even with (1) every player that the Knicks received being a buyout (Matthews), washout (DeAndre Jordan) or flameout (Dennis Smith Jr.) and (2) the Knicks yet to use either of the draft picks they got from Dallas. Simply not paying KP was the big victory.
Even Thibs might recognize Garbage Time in this Nets-Bucks game. Nets are up 30 with 9 minutes to go.
If the Bucks do not come up with some major adjustments for Game 3, we might add Milwaukee to the list of jobs that Chauncey Billups is rumored to get. So far, he has been mentioned for both Boston and Portland.
At what point do teams in the East just plan for the Nets dominating the next 2-3 years? Going for it now (by trading for Dame, for example) seems suboptimal. Randle/Dame is not beating this Nets team barring injuries.
KP’s level of delusion is something else. I can’t recall ever seeing an instance of a young, promising player buying so into their own hype in recent memory. Here is a guy with a career 7.7 AST% complaining about ball movement when it doesn’t come his way. And the most amazing part is his obliviousness to the fact that the criticism he complains about receiving is because he’s the only Maverick being paid max money after demanding a trade to Dallas. It’s like he wants superstar money without superstar scrutiny. His time in NYC warped his perspective. Back then fans and media pundits were willing to overlook glaring holes in his game and production while the front office received the brunt of the blame for their incompetence. But now he’s a respected NBA franchise with a bonified top 3-5 NBA player, injured and unable to carry his weight as even a serviceable #3 player. This dude is in a rough stage in his career where his skills/performance doesn’t match the paycheck and ego. I foresee a tough road ahead for him.
the bucks really miss divencenzoooo
it’s a lil crazy to think that woj bombing bogdan impacted the complexion of 3 eastern conf series… i never had a high opinion of him but he’s had an amazing playoffs and the bucks could have really used him….
The same could have been said about the Lakers after last year and the Warriors before that. Injuries, age, discontent all play into the future. I am fine with building methodically, through the draft, which most others will agree with. But Dame + Randle may lure other FA’s. Consider, hypothetically about what about Dame, Randle and Kawhi Leonard might look like? Does that compete? And let’s say RJ continues to elevate his game and next year is an all-star? Could that do it? An NBA GM needs to move his team forward regardless of how daunting the task seems.