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Knicks Morning News (2022.10.03)

  • The NBA Made a Fortune Off Jeremy Lin ? and Then Kicked Him to the Curb – The Daily Beast
    [www.thedailybeast.com] — Monday, October 3, 2022 4:18:39 AM

    The NBA Made a Fortune Off Jeremy Lin ? and Then Kicked Him to the Curb  The Daily Beast

  • Reggie Miller on talking to New York Knicks fans: ‘They love to come up and do the choke sign. They think it’s so cool’ – Basketball Network
    [www.basketballnetwork.net] — Monday, October 3, 2022 1:25:09 AM

    Reggie Miller on talking to New York Knicks fans: ‘They love to come up and do the choke sign. They think it’s so cool’  Basketball Network

  • Knicks’ Cam Reddish gets opportunity to impress after Quentin Grimes injury – New York Post
    [nypost.com] — Sunday, October 2, 2022 8:54:00 PM

    Knicks’ Cam Reddish gets opportunity to impress after Quentin Grimes injury  New York Post Knicks Notes: Reddish, Toppin, Barrett, SG, Barrett  hoopsrumors.com’Blessed’ Knick Cam Reddish Addresses Eventful Offseason  Sports IllustratedKnicks’ Cam Reddish denies trade request rumor: It’s not fair  Empire Sports MediaNBA Rumors: This Knicks-Suns Trade Features Cam Reddish  NBA Analysis NetworkView Full Coverage on Google News

  • With Julius Randle and Derrick Rose shaping up, Knicks hope to play faster – Newsday
    [www.newsday.com] — Sunday, October 2, 2022 6:10:34 PM

    With Julius Randle and Derrick Rose shaping up, Knicks hope to play faster  Newsday

  • New York Notes: Randle, Quickley, Simmons, Curry – hoopsrumors.com
    [www.hoopsrumors.com] — Sunday, October 2, 2022 5:59:00 PM

    New York Notes: Randle, Quickley, Simmons, Curry  hoopsrumors.comJulius Randle’s mental approach could change everything for Knicks this season  Daily KnicksNew York Knicks: Should Evan Fournier or Quentin Grimes start at SG?  Sir Charles in Charge’Proven’ Evan Fournier is Knicks’ Frontrunner at SG  Sports IllustratedWith Julius Randle and Derrick Rose shaping up, Knicks hope to play faster  NewsdayView Full Coverage on Google News

  • RJ Barrett: Knicks believe they ‘can do something special’ – New York Post
    [nypost.com] — Sunday, October 2, 2022 5:46:00 PM

    RJ Barrett: Knicks believe they ‘can do something special’  New York Post Knicks Preseason Profile: RJ Barrett Laden With Potential & Bigger Expectations  Sports IllustratedRJ Barrett’s comment at Media Day will make Knicks fans want to run through wall  Daily KnicksRJ Barrett says Knicks will prove everybody wrong: ‘We’re going to shock the world’  New York Daily News’We’re gonna shock the world’: RJ Barrett sends bold Knicks warning to rest of NBA  ClutchPointsView Full Coverage on Google News

  • Madison Square Garden: 5 Foodie facts you may not have known – Guilty Eats
    [guiltyeats.com] — Sunday, October 2, 2022 10:04:38 AM

    Madison Square Garden: 5 Foodie facts you may not have known  Guilty Eats

  • Are the Knicks a lock for the playoffs this season? – Daily Knicks
    [dailyknicks.com] — Sunday, October 2, 2022 10:00:00 AM

    Are the Knicks a lock for the playoffs this season?  Daily Knicks

  • 110 replies on “Knicks Morning News (2022.10.03)”

    The Twitter heat around Tari Eason is making me have some feelings. Just preseason but still.

    re: Mets, it’s not that they are going in as wild cards per se, it’s that ATL outplayed us in embarrassing fashion in pretty much every aspect of the game on three straight nights in the most critical games of the year, and with a team that looks sustainable for a long time.

    Z..
    Please don’t get me started on my Mets. They picked the absolute worst time to slump. And for me, it’s not even the Atlanta series. This team decided to begin the lackluster play when the schedule got EASY. What worries me the most is the timing of deGrom wearing down- because he clearly hasn’t been his usual sharp self the past few starts.

    That aside- I can’t wait for the Knicks’ 1st preseason tilt tomorrow. I’m interested to see how much control Randle will cede to Brunson

    The biggest problem is how it fucks up our playoff rotation. Having to play an extra best of 3 series against San Diego means, if we win, we won’t be able to use deGrom and Scherzer twice in the NLDS.

    The Twitter heat around Tari Eason is making me have some feelings. Just preseason but still.

    Just wait till Cam starts hitting his shots… 😀

    I watched the highlights from that game and was less impressed with Eason than the numbers would suggest. Lots of herky-jerky moves, a banked in straightaway 3, etc.

    But I’ll tell you who looks like the real deal…Jabari Smith.

    Sengun is very tough in the post and looks to have added muscle.

    Rockets should be pretty happy I think. I hear you about Eason but that is the player he is. Nothing smooth about his game but I bet it will be effective.

    The Braves collection of young talent is pretty unbelievable.

    Am I going to be right about Tari Eason? Yes, of course I am.

    Eason: 21pts on 13FGs, 10rebs, 2ast, 2stls, 1blk. Oh yeah, that’s in only 21min.

    Jabari hit 5-8 from deep, I doubt that’s a sustainable pace. If you think .375 from deep is more reasonable, then he’s at 15pts on 15 shots.

    Christopher also chipped in 15 on 10FGs, also relying heavily 3s.

    CHA’s Mark Williams went 1-3 for 2pts & 2 rebs. Looks like I was wrong on him so far through 11min.

    Walker Kessler: 11 & 4 on 7 shots in 14min

    Oh yeah, Malaki Branham 10pts on 5shots in 14.

    Sochan: 5pts on 4 shots, 4rebs, 3(!)blks, 1 stl in 17min.

    Everything you expect from Sochan except 0asts

    Didn’t realise the first pre-season game is against a team featuring 4 players who played for us last season. But we won’t see any of them as 3 are injured and 1 is waiting for a buy-out.

    It sounds like Nerlens may struggle to get on the court this season. He seemed like a nice teammate and in a way (yes, I know at our expense) am happy he was able to leverage his one productive year with us into a decent contract after his disastrous decision with Dallas.

    I’m not a believer in Eason, but we’ll see…

    I was, however, high on Kessler and Chandler i.e. the guys with 2 last names…

    Let the games begin!

    @geo — since you asked, the Southside Market sausages did not really please me, but that could be because I ate them “ready to eat” at the place instead of preparing them myself as suggested by the culinary mentors here. Basically, I found the links bland and fatty (but I sometimes find myself bland and fatty, so…)

    And whoa! Looks like I missed a couple of flame wars on KB (category 3 storms?) since I’m still drowning in cardboard boxes after a recent move from NYC to ATX. I’ve been trying to get the house set up, kids settled in new school, etc., BEFORE THE GAMES BEGIN! My wife doesn’t see that exact same deadline on her calendar, but hers coincides nicely with the Knicks, so we remain in sync.

    Preseason — I’m totally excited to complain about Thibs and to cheer on Obi, IQ and the boys while trying to decide whether eFG% or VORP or the salary cap is what I should be researching next.

    I’m also very happy to see Jowles back here. I sorely missed his (presumably) pithy-witty commentary on both the US Open and the cheating scandal in chess. What gives? Did that guy cheat?

    Movies/TV — I am so horribly bored by HOUSE OF DRAGONS and agree with many (someone here? Alan?) that this show so far lacks even one moment of wit and charm compared to GOT. Blah blah dragons, Valerian steel, incest, blah. Where’s the new Tyrion, you idiot show-runners?

    But, in more positive news, I’m so very excited for TAR and WHITE NOISE (though afraid of the negative reports, thus far) and I was suitably titillated/disgusted/thrilled by TRIANGLE OF SADNESS when I saw it a few months back, so everyone should … go?

    ***See y’all tomorrow for National Play The Kids Day***

    PS — trading city space for “country” space has enabled the Mrs. and I to buy a rowing machine. Having never done it before, rowing surprised me as the absolute hardest workout I’ve ever survived. Haha. Even 30 minutes leaves my legs shaking like White Goodman’s.

    Over/under 38min for each of the starters in preseason game 1?

    …and over/under at Cam getting 5minutes? I take the under, hoping I am wrong.

    I’m just glad the pre season is about to start and we’ll get to see what the spacing looks like in the starting lineup. I’m also curious to see what it’s like to have 3 lefties in the lineup.

    My only worry for the season is that the spacing is still going to be so bad it’s going to hurt Brunson’s ability to get in the pain and be efficient. Even though I expect his presence to help the efficiency of the offense, it would not totally shock me if his efficiency took a small hit. Even with Doncic off the court, Dallas tended to have good spacing.

    One eye-catching thing in Macri’s latest newsletter in reference to Randle suggesting that he and the team want to play faster:

    “One thing to watch though: while the Knicks’ new starting point guard is certainly capable of playing fast, Jalen Brunson had one of the slower pace ratings for the Mavs last season, who themselves were the only NBA team that played slower than the Knicks.”

    I would have thought that a Jason Kidd offense would be more fast paced, so that fact surprised me. I suppose it makes sense given that both Luka and Brunson are both iso-oriented work your way into the paint kinds of players. So between Thibs, Julius, RJ, and Brunson, I would agree that all this talk about increasing the pace is just talk, and that we will again be one of the slowest paced teams in the NBA.

    monday morning confessions, I had to look up where the heck “ATX” is…

    new york city to austin seems like quite the change of scenery…

    over the years I’ve heard a lot of positives about both san antonio and austin…

    I think is was up until I was in my late 30’s that I moved around a bunch…

    the chance to begin new again, with all your old stuff 🙂

    wish you the best KBA getting yourself and the family settled in…

    I thought Eason was a no-brainer. He is ferocious on D and the ball goes in enough on offense. He could be the steal of the draft.

    @KBA….sorry about that on the sausage…I forget every palate is different…its been some time since I been down there…but would recommend La Barbeque as a place to try and if you like tacos…Papalote Taco House and finally…for ultimate in breakfast tacos…Torchy’s Tacos…kicks ass…

    The court is symmetrical. Having 3 lefties shouldn’t make more of a difference, than having 3 righties. I think it could actually be an advantage since teams won’t see lineups with so many lefty shooters very often.

    I am excited to see Isaiah Hartenstein play. I like his game and wonder how he will do with a consistent 20+ minutes. Also, can his outside shot remain effective with more attempts? I like his passing and am hoping it leads to some easy baskets for others.

    I was informed that there were no good prospects available at 11 so it’s odd people seem to think this Eason fellow might be a good basketball player.

    Hartenstein is the kind of player that often gets underrated: didn’t have a blue chip draft pedigree, and doesn’t have one standout skill, but does have a very well-rounded game. I like his attitude and intangibles. Our core bench unit of Rose-Quickley-Grimes-Toppin-Hart is probably going to be very good.

    ah, i truly have got my groove back at work…my 2:30pm meeting today turned in to a 8:30 am sometime friday afternoon, after i had decided i’d had enough for the week, yeah, completely missed that one this morning, i did though enjoy watering my garden this morning while the meeting was taking place…and, totally slipped on submitting my own payroll thing friday…

    monday morning meetings should be absolutely verboten…

    what are you up to today z-man 🙂

    “I thought Eason was a no-brainer. He is ferocious on D and the ball goes in enough on offense. He could be the steal of the draft.”

    To me his most likely “positive” outcome seem to be a solid bench player. I like him but not as a lottery pick. Maybe in the 20-30 range for me. The Ringer had him at #18 (a few spots above Agbaji who I liked a lot more) which seems about right to me in that weaker draft class. But hey, you never know!

    The Knicks talk about playing faster every year and then play the same way. The bench unit will probably play faster because Obi will be leaking out and Rose/Quick will be faster up the court.

    “The court is symmetrical. Having 3 lefties shouldn’t make more of a difference, than having 3 righties. I think it could actually be an advantage since teams won’t see lineups with so many lefty shooters very often.”

    Some players prefer shooting from one side or the other. Will the Knicks players set up with the players on the same side as last year?

    >I was informed that there were no good prospects available at 11 so it’s odd people seem to think this Eason fellow might be a good basketball player.<

    I believe we know what the thinking was. It may not be consistent with the view here, but it's understandable.

    Management feels we already have all the role players and bench players we need. They are star chasing. We know several teams including NY tried to move up to get Jaden Ivy (we don't know what NY offered), but Detroit wasn't interested.

    It wasn't that there weren't good players they could have selected later.

    It was that there was no one they thought that was likely to become an all star available to them.

    So they preferred to keep dry powder for a future deal (in this case it turned out to be Mitchell but the price was too high) than select another role player.

    If you have a solid and deep bench (and they do) you can at least see the logic in saying there's no point to paying 1st round money to put a pretty good player on the bench and forcing someone else that’s good out of the rotation when what they need will probably eventually require pick assets.

    Tari Eason looked great in college and that hasn’t changed one iota since he was picked, but remember, he wasn’t one of Our Guys™, so can he really be trusted?

    I don’t mind if the Knicks starters don’t play that much faster. Even a little faster will be helpful. I think one of the main goals is to get into their offensive sets quicker. Not waiting until under 5 seconds left and taking a contested long 2. Hoping that JB can help get quicker open shots off the pick and roll.

    KBA – The erg is the best machine I think for a total body workout. It’s low impact and you use a huge percentage of your body. Jowles may or may not chime in that lifting weights is way better for you, and I agree, but if it’s a machine I think the erg is tops for getting an overall workout.

    The toughest machine by far though is a versaclimber and I don’t think it’s particularly close. 3-5 minutes on one of those will totally destroy you.

    Re Eason – He will end up having a better career than RJ I bet

    @pepper — no harm done on the sausage rec. I’m sure Southside products are amazing when you cook’em. And thanks for the other food tips. I know some; will check all.

    @geo — thanks for the good wishes on the move, and I hear you about Mondays. My favorite thing when I used to work in theatre: Equity Day Off (every Monday).

    @everyone — let’s be kind today and save all our flaming for tomorrow’s argument about THE F-ING ROTATIONS!!!! Haha.

    Oh, and didn’t being a lefty really help Rocky? Maybe Thibs can train Randle, RJ, and Brunson to hold back the left for three quarters and then unleash it for the kill in the 4th. I’ll try anything at this point, but — Do not let Randle pound the ball in the key until he turns it over after a spin. Please. I’m begging.

    My expectations aren’t high, but the first good indicator of something important tomorrow will be whether the offense has progressed away from a steady diet of Randle initiations and isos. I’m not optimistic (lol) on this front and anticipate a too-high degree of “my turn, now your turn” in the offense and just more continued offensive Neanderthal-ism.

    @ Owen — so you’re basically saying: since a mere rowing machine completely crushed me after only thirty minutes, then those machines you mention might actually kill me if I even google them. Nevertheless, I am about to type in the words ….

    Management feels we already have all the role players and bench players we need. They are star chasing. We know several teams including NY tried to move up to get Jaden Ivy (we don’t know what NY offered), but Detroit wasn’t interested.

    It wasn’t that there weren’t good players they could have selected later.

    It was that there was no one they thought that was likely to become an all star available to them.

    So they preferred to keep dry powder for a future deal (in this case it turned out to be Mitchell but the price was too high) than select another role player.

    Yes, I understand their idiotic logic. The point I am making is that this logic is indeed idiotic.

    E, I actually agree with you! However, it’s the first pre-season game, and I’m not expecting to see the ‘Showtime” Knicks. I’d bet it’ll be a few games into the regular season before this team gels a bit — even with just Brunson coming in (and iHart, but I’m envisioning a quick fit there), I think it’ll be a while until everyone understands and accepts their ‘new’ roles.

    I could be wrong on either end (happens immediately, never happens). Should make for interesting theater…

    And speaking of new roles, congrats on the big move, KBA!

    ***Having 3 lefties shouldn’t make more of a difference, than having 3 righties. I think it could actually be an advantage since teams won’t see lineups with so many lefty shooters very often.***

    When Hartenstein is out there it will be FOUR lefties, so the opposition will be truly astounded and confounded.

    Like all teams in the playoffs, the Mets have a puncher’s chance of getting to the WS. They really need their top 3 starters to give them 7 quality innings, though, each game. It would also be nice if one of the hitters pulls a Daniel Murphy 2015 and goes on a tear.

    Losing the division/bye means they lose the 3 extra days of rest that would have been nice for many reasons and the more favorable branch to the WS. Now they might have to beat both the Dodgers and Braves to get to the show rather than just one of them. A tall order.

    PseudoFreud Alert
    Since i strongly believe that the barometer of this season will be the intensity on D, the most interesting thing for me tomorrow would be the body language.
    I’d be fine if i see a bonded team enjoying playing together.

    @Owen — duh on me, erg = rowing machine. Got it. But that versa-climber thing looks too hard 😉 My sister says go to Orange Theory. I’m gonna row and run for now. Baby steps. Thx for the tip.

    @TheClash(the only band that matters)Fan — in combined Mets/ATX news, I just went to a pizza place in Austin all deco’d out in Mike Piazza bobble head dolls and Mets regalia. Was kind of surreal b/c … Texas, but if I squinted while I chewed my “best slice in town,” I was “home.” Go Mets!

    I love the Mets and this has been a fun season but I also have to be honest: the Mets just don’t hit the ball hard enough. They don’t have the batted ball profile of a good offense. The Mets lineup has relied on smoke and mirrors all year long– good hitting with RISP, lots of soft contact resulting in hits. Their luck is running out here at the end of the season.

    At one time I thought their “grind out at bats” style might fare well in the playoffs, but if the other team is hitting the ball harder than you all the time you’re probably gonna get beat. Especially when your supposed ace pitchers are running on fumes and can’t put up lots of zeroes.

    I think it’ll be a while until everyone understands and accepts their ‘new’ roles

    oh man, just got flashbacks on the end of the season with julius coming up the court without the ball, the ball going to RJ and julius shrugging his shoulders like he had absolutely no clue how to play without the ball…

    just from watching brunson on the mavs, he doesn’t seem like a guy too willing to give up the keys to the offense…between him and rose, everyone should have their different offensive roles…

    that’s interesting KYN, up until now i’ve mostly be thinking how the offense will go, you’re right though, defense, rebounding, low turnovers should help us be competitive most nights…

    For those desperate to find out what the Great Cole Aldrich is doing these days, there’s a piece on post-NBA life in the NYT today, includes a few other OAKAAKs.

    KBA, wow, I’ve heard/read that Austin is a “liberal oasis” in Texas. But a Mets oasis?!

    This has been a fun Mets season, and they might got hot and go to the WS. I’m more worried about sustaining next year. Lots of holes, guys wanting new contracts, etc. How high can the payroll go? There’s Baty and Alvarez who might help next year, but the pitching in the minors is real thin right now.

    Tari Eason was the one player I’ve always excepted from the weak draft.

    It’s not even necessarily weak, but there’s a lot more questions about most of the prospects than other years. So betting on players this year is a worse bet than in other years, and why many teams were looking to trade down or out of the draft.

    Are Brandon Nimmo and Jeff McNeil likely to be putting up 5.0 WAR seasons again next year? I’m skeptical.

    This may have been the Mets’ best shot for a little while.

    I thought Eason was a no-brainer. He is ferocious on D and the ball goes in enough on offense. He could be the steal of the draft.

    This is where I remind everyone that “ball goes in enough” was the 2nd highest pts/36 of all players drafted.

    Eason’s issues are:

    (1) his brain, rumor was he didn’t know any offensiveor defensive schemes;

    (2) fouls, he only had 2 on Sunday;

    (3) shooting, he shot well from & the FT line in his last year of college but took very few 3s.

    As a Yankee fan, I am terrified that Steve Cohen, who is worth $18 billion dollars, is going to try to take care of the whole “the Mets don’t hit the ball hard enough” thing via free agency in one fell, very large swoop…

    #that’s interesting KYN, up until now i’ve mostly be thinking how the offense will go, you’re right though, defense, rebounding, low turnovers should help us be competitive most nights…#

    Geo, if Thibs regain team’s trust and make them play League’s Top5 D expect to…Bing Bong for good this time!
    If Not… Purgator’land here we come!

    Why do I feel like Grimes’ foot issue is going to linger? Seems knicksiest outcome.

    6th season in a row the yanks have been in the post season, other than 2017, when the astros cheated their way to victory, haven’t really felt like they had a good chance to go the whole way…

    they finished the season strong, hopefully they can pitch and hit well this post season…

    If we had taken Eason at #13, we now wouldn’t have Hart. So Eason would be buried behind Randle and Obi, unless you guys want to play Obi even less, i hope not, and we’d have a vet minimum backup C. Seeing the excitement about what Hart may be able to do gave me the sense that it was a good move. Wasn’t it?

    Bing Bong for good this time!

    was re-watching Inside Out with one of the kids and realized Bing Bong was Riley’s early childhood friend…

    right now debating whether to order the: hard plastic cotton candy scented posable toy…

    or get the Bing Bong 10″ plush…

    such tough life decisions…

    When I watch film of Eason I see a Noah Vonleh-level player except a bit shorter with somewhat more defensive potential.

    Why do I feel like Grimes’ foot issue is going to linger? Seems knicksiest outcome.

    He’s definitely giving off “great when healthy, but never healthy” vibes

    “If we had taken Eason at #13, we now wouldn’t have Hart.”

    Couldn’t you say this about literally anyone else on the roster? We don’t know what the final 15-man will be, but this sounds a lot less bad if you say “If we had taken Eason at #13, we now wouldn’t have Hunt/Arcidiacono/Mykhaililuk/Jeffires/Harris.”

    “Why do I feel like Grimes’ foot issue is going to linger? Seems knicksiest outcome.”

    I assumed this would be the case the second I heard about it. I’m not a doctor, but “day-to-day” and “in a walking boot” don’t seem consistent to me.

    “they finished the season strong, hopefully they can pitch and hit well this post season…”

    It’s been a fun season but ever since Donaldson came crashing back to Earth and DJ turned into a pumpkin I’ve been pretty down on our playoff prospects.

    It’s baseball, so pretty much any half-decent team can make a run in October and I’m excited to watch us go for it. I just don’t think our 2007 Cleveland Cavaliers style lineup has the punch to get it done, and while I have a reasonable amount of faith in our starters the bullpen is absolute mess.

    If we’re to have any chance, Giancarlo Stanton needs to be the guy we thought we were getting. Gleyber’s gotta keep up the good hitting too.

    Side note: I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a baseball season as weird as Gleyber Torres’ 2022. Here’s his wRC+ by month:

    March/April: 94
    May: 126
    June: 131
    July: 134
    August: 29
    September/October: 172

    The guy has been all-star caliber or better for the vast majority of the season, but was probably worse than the average High-A player in August so his overall numbers in the season are just fine.

    “If we had taken Eason at #13, we now wouldn’t have Hart. So Eason would be buried behind Randle and Obi, unless you guys want to play Obi even less, i hope not, and we’d have a vet minimum backup C. Seeing the excitement about what Hart may be able to do gave me the sense that it was a good move. Wasn’t it?”

    Even if this isn’t the case and we could have gotten both Brunson and Hart AND drafted Eason, the larger point is whether the FO believed that Eason had the potential to be anything beyond what they can find on the cheap or later in a subsequent draft. If you think his likely outcome is a slightly better than Noah Vonleh-ish journeyman (as I do), there were other guys to pick with more upside. Personally I would have picked any of the guys selected from 11-16, and a few picked after Eason before picking him.

    Couldn’t you say this about literally anyone else on the roster? We don’t know what the final 15-man will be, but this sounds a lot less bad if you say “If we had taken Eason at #13, we now wouldn’t have Hunt/Arcidiacono/Mykhaililuk/Jeffires/Harris.”

    No, i couldn’t. Pick #13 was used to dump Kemba. I’m assuming everybody is happy about spending the big money on Brunson, and then with the money we had left we signed Hart. Without dumping Kemba we wouldn’t have the money needed to sign Hart.

    Of course we could’ve opened money some other way, like trying to trade one of the vets. But i think they were aware that it’d be hard to do without the sweeteners they didn’t want to pay. And it was confirmed when they shopped Randle during the offseason and didn’t had any takers.

    I really like Eason based on his college numbers and some clips I have seen but I can’t go crazy about him. Hart is a legitimately good pickup, one of the better ones I can recall the Knicks making.

    But it doesn’t seem unreasonable to think the Knicks ought to have been in a place this year where they could have had both Hart and Tari.

    >Yes, I understand their idiotic logic. The point I am making is that this logic is indeed idiotic.<

    I obviously disagree. I'll even disagree if they never do anything especially productive with the picks because that would be the result and not the probability of pulling off a successful trade eventually.

    I think we all agree we need a legit #1 and #2 option to contend and not another role player.

    Most of us are hoping that RJ can become a legit #2 option over the next 2-4 years. That would leave us with the goal of trying to sign a #1 option in a trade over that span. I'd rather have excess 1st rounders to trade than someone management didn't think had the potential to be more than a good role player.

    In fact, I'm not so sure they are done rolling picks out. They may do it again next year or the year after that depending on who is available in the draft.

    Reasonable people can disagree about the value they got back for various picks they traded.

    Reasonable people can even disagree about the probabilities of them landing a star in a trade. But people should understand it's not idiotic to keep picks as dry powder for a trade instead of drafting a player that's going to have a tough time cracking the rotation. That was obviously their view or they would have drafted someone.

    I think the FO deserves all the heat it gets for needing to dump Kemba, Burks and Noel to free up cap space at the cost of some draft capital. But I don’t have meny qualms with the way they did it, or what they did with the cap space once it was freed up.

    I was stumping pretty hard for Eason in the draft. I think he will be one of the top 5 players from this draft class and will top out as either a high-level starter or borderline all-star. You don’t put up numbers like his without having a ton of potential.

    I don’t buy that we couldn’t have moved Kemba by attaching a different asset. Or we could have stretched him or simply moved Rose instead who would have been easier to trade and saved us more money anyway.

    I am pretty confident that we could have drafted Eason and still gotten both Hart and Brunson if we wanted. Our front office just didn’t care to.

    Overall I like a lot of our team and would probably be pretty happy with our front office but us trading 19 last year and 13 this year were very bad moves that really worry me for the future.

    I don’t want to live too much in the past because I am legitimately excited for this team but I am worried that the past is prologue and shows that we may never get to even spend our plethora of draft capital because our management seems completely disinterested in improving through the draft anymore.

    Also, we need to trade Randle, trade/cut Rose, and fire Thibs. I barely even care at this point how many assets we need to attach to get Randle somewhere else, especially since we will probably never use those picks anyway.

    But it doesn’t seem unreasonable to think the Knicks ought to have been in a place this year where they could have had both Hart and Tari.

    Agree 100%. Well, there were other options, like stretch-waive Kemba and trade Cam to a team that wanted him, maybe even grabbing minor assets in the process (two 2nd rounders?). So i was being a bit dramatic with the it’s Hart or Eason and not both. Went to a mirror to check, and yeah i’m with my Leon is great shirt today. 😀

    “But it doesn’t seem unreasonable to think the Knicks ought to have been in a place this year where they could have had both Hart and Tari.”

    We know what the mistake was.

    They went into free agency last year with a ton of cap space expecting to sign one of their primary targets, but they struck out in free agency again.

    That above sentence is the key to what happened!!

    They had to put something in that space.

    So as a plan B they decided to essentially run it back but substitute Fournier for Bullock for more scoring (the first error) and gamble that Kemba had a couple of years left (the second error based on news reports out of Boston I found after the fact).

    Then of course everything that could possibly go wrong over and above the Plan B mistakes also went wrong. That includes injuries to Rose and Nerlens (key parts of our success the prior year), Kemba being well beyond done, a problem defensive backcourt with Fouriner and Kemba instead of Bullock, and Mitch taking a few months to get into shape while Nerlens was out.

    The other problem was that after giving us a productive year as mercs, those same players understandably wanted 2-3 years to run it back. So it cost us some pick value to undo injured players like Kemba and Nerlens.

    If they were going to run it back as a plan B, they should have run it back with Bullock, put Quick at PG or picked up some other filler for a year. They would have had a down year anyway with all the injuries, but Bullock would be tradable (Dallas loves him) and there would have been no Kemba.

    As a Yankee fan, I am terrified that Steve Cohen, who is worth $18 billion dollars, is going to try to take care of the whole “the Mets don’t hit the ball hard enough” thing via free agency in one fell, very large swoop…

    I’ve already accepted it and moved on to enjoying the final weeks of Judge’s yankee tenure.

    They’re really fucked either way, right? If he leaves, it’s devastating and humiliating. But if he signs at market value, we’re likely doomed to a half decade of staying under the luxury tax while Judge, Stanton, and Cole comprise 60% of the payroll.

    I kinda think the first option might be better, bc maybe it will result in a front office house cleaning. It’s a pretty major blunder to be in this position. Would have been smarter to do what the Sox did w Betts.

    Considering how important it is to have a stretch 4 these days (checks notes… right, we don’t have one), I can see why some teams would pass on Eason despite his great athletic upside. And sure, it isn’t “either/or,” but Hart probably makes more sense for the Knick roster than Eason does.

    Yes, the Grimes injury is concerning—thanks for triggering me, Owen—especially since we could be watching Spida tomorrow if we had traded him. That said, I’m eager to see what Cam can do.

    It’s nice to see everyone here in a good mood today!

    if he signs at market value, we’re likely doomed to a half decade of staying under the luxury tax while Judge, Stanton, and Cole comprise 60% of the payroll

    there is the dilemma…stanton really is the key to so much…you would have thought after the jacoby ellsbury mess up, the stanton thing would not have happened…

    at least aaron hicks is scheduled to come off the books in another four years or so…what a disaster that contract was…

    was watching that espn The Captain thing…it’s interesting that one of the derek jeter contracts seemed to go in a similar path to judge’s…

    Eason is a switchable defender and has plus athleticism, so he’s a reasonably high ceiling/high floor combo. Add an improved jump shot to that skill set and you have a prototypical modern 4.

    I don’t see why you turn your nose up at potential two-way players like Eason in favor of keeping your powder dry, but I guess I’ll wait to see what the powder turns into.

    One thing you left out, Strat, is that none of those things demanded a second guaranteed year for Kemba. That really is an inexcusable blunder.

    E said something to this effect a while ago, but Leon Rose likely was the first GM to ever have to attach an asset to trade a player who was picked up via buyout. And given how monumentally stupid that is, he’s likely to be the last, too.

    I think there are lots of reasons why Tari Eason lasted until number 17. Perhaps one of those reasons is that none of the 16 teams picking above that spot thought that he was a high floor high ceiling prospect.

    I’m old enough to remember the bi-weekly Ty Lawson and DeJuan Blair updates here. And the recurring Ken Faried in-the-faces. Nice to see the Eason-o-meter is rarin’ and ready after 1 preseason game. (Curious to see whether he will drink himself out of the league, have his knees implode, or have whatever it was that stunted Faried happen to him too…)

    Every year there is a guy I like. Eason was that guy. I will stan him until he utterly flops which is absolutely a strong possiblity.

    You left out the qualifying word “reasonable.” Of course he’s not LeBron James.

    There are good players who are plucked in the mid to late first round every year, and for a guy who was picked at 17, he has a good combination of floor and ceiling, mostly because his defense should play in the NBA on day 1. He plays the brand of defense that everybody wants, he switches 1-4. That’s the “floor” part. The “ceiling” part would be if he was able to add a reliable jumper, then you really have something cooking.

    Eason had good numbers, good size, good athleticism and was reasonably young. I thought he was one of the surest players in the draft and was really disappointed that we did not draft him. I think he was passed in the same way Brandon Clarke was passed in his day (although Clarke was older then). I am pretty sure that if we wanted to draft him, we would have been able, and still get Brunson and Hart (it would have costed some in terms of draft choices in the future, of course).

    Still, it is only one preseason game and we don’t know many things about him (like his medical reports, or whether he is somewhat a headcase). I am happy with the offseason, but this definitely sticks out. I don’t know much about the draft, but I really wanted to get Eason.

    BTW, it seems we have lost the posts from April 10th to May 17th of this year.

    (I wanted to look what we where saying then)

    Lawson was a legitimately good player who, from what I can tell, drank his way out of the league. .126 career WS/48. I count that a success?

    Dejuan Blair put up solid numbers also. He is almost the quintessential guy who basically hit all his expected statistical benchmarks and people are just left arguing about what that production is worth. Classic Wins Produced player basically. And yeah, his defense was bad and he probably was overrated by box score metrics. Still, an excellent result for a 2nd round pick.

    Re the posts, didn’t we lose most of the old posts?

    If you liked Blair, maybe we should take a look at Trevion Williams, who the Warriors just cut.

    He was a 4-year undersized center at Purdue and went undrafted but had great numbers (excellent passer apparently). Maybe he can eventually play the 4 in the NBA?

    there is the dilemma…stanton really is the key to so much…you would have thought after the jacoby ellsbury mess up, the stanton thing would not have happened…

    at least aaron hicks is scheduled to come off the books in another four years or so…what a disaster that contract was…

    was watching that espn The Captain thing…it’s interesting that one of the derek jeter contracts seemed to go in a similar path to judge’s…

    We have not been managed well for a very long time. The list of errors is incredibly long.

    “I think there are lots of reasons why Tari Eason lasted until number 17. Perhaps one of those reasons is that none of the 16 teams picking above that spot thought that he was a high floor high ceiling prospect.”

    Well, since I am regularly told it’s fine we’re not picking high in the draft because the great Walt Perrin will inevitably find the next Giannis later in the draft, I have to hope this logic has some faults.

    In all seriousness, come on. There are impact players picked later than they should’ve been picked every single year. We have a few of them on our roster.

    If you want to say the MIL 2025 pick is likely to be more valuable than Eason, then just make the case on the merits (which I know you’ve done to some extent, but the bit about his draft slot was just lazy).

    “They had to put something in that space.”

    No they didn’t. Please just stop saying the false thing. It’s false, and not in the “Frank Ntilikina might be elite” way that is technically subjective. It’s just a blatantly incorrect restatement of NBA salary cap rules.

    “Well, there were other options, like stretch-waive Kemba and trade Cam to a team that wanted him, maybe even grabbing minor assets in the process (two 2nd rounders?).”

    Yeah, this is what I was getting at. It strains credulity to think there was exactly one way to dump Kemba’s 1/$9M deal. I mean, maybe, but given the way Rose has treated the draft in the past I think this was actually his *preferred* way to do it.

    I regret Dieng more than Eason. But that’s because I spent his entire Knicks tenure (approximately 5 minutes) drinking the Ousmane Kool-Aid and I’ll never recover. That kid is tantalizing AF.

    Ochai Agbaji is another good prospect that gives me FOMO.

    “In all seriousness, come on. There are impact players picked later than they should’ve been picked every single year. We have a few of them on our roster.”

    And I’ll say to you, in all seriousness, come on. I was specifically referring to JK47’s characterization of Eason as a “reasonably high ceiling/high floor combo” prospect. As potential lottery picks go, he does’t have a particularly high floor or a particularly high ceiling, and certainly no more than any of the six players taken 11-16 (I’m assuming that the Tariophiles would have picked him over any of those guys) and most of the players taken in the rest of the first round. Any one of them could be the next guy that everyone missed out on. Eason is hardly different than any of them in that regard.

    watching sportscenter and saw that jj watt post game interview…

    hard for me to understand that mindset…no doubt part of the reason i haven’t achieved professionally at a high level…

    dude had to get his heart rhythm adjusted, and then played an nfl game not long after…

    coming at the same time as those two tua injuries…they fired the independent neuro surgeon – but, was not one from team management actually watching the game…

    my goodness but athletic competition must be one hell of a drug…safer to smoke crack…

    We have not been managed well for a very long time.

    it’s tough, cashman has a crazy good win/loss + championship record…

    when in doubt though, if it’s time past for change, youth seems to be served well in sports management…i have no idea who they might switch to…

    if he was smart, he’d already have his replacement selected…

    i thought he went off the rails with a-rod, and then a-rod contributed during that championship run…so…

    Eason has a super-high ceiling. He was a huge scorer in college while putting up unbelievable steal and block numbers. All the while still pulling down 10+ rebs per 36 and shooting 36% from 3 and 80% from the line. His defense should also totally translate.

    He has question marks as well, his fouls and turnovers were bad and he played a bit out of control most of the time. That lowers his floor and he might never be more than a situational defensive specialist but his ceiling is as good as any prospect in the draft. 27.7/10.8/1.6 with almost 5 stocks per 36 is as good as it gets. Whether he gets there is unknown but he is by no means a low-ceiling prospect.

    His biggest problem is he is not a conventional player and teams always undervalue players they cannot easily classify. The fact that he came off the bench both years and was not much of a scorer in his first year made many people, incorrectly in my opinion, pigeonhole him as a pure defensive garbage man type player, despite the fact he scored way too much and shot way too well from both 3 and the line his sophomore year to be so quickly written off as a scorer and high-end prospect.

    I am hoping that Steve Cohen would happily take Aaron Judge off the Yankee’s hands if he’s too rich for their blood…I mean he’s no Dave Kingman or George Foster or Bobby Bonilla or Mo Vaughn or Carlos Baerga but I could live with it…

    I’m watching a bit of Nets-76ers. It’s only a preseason game and the first one at that, but the 76ers offense looks great with over 40 points in the first quarter. The Nets look rusty shooting wise.

    if he was smart, he’d already have his replacement selected…

    One of the more interesting things about Cashman’s tenure is that I can’t think of any executive who has worked under him and gone on to better things. Boston has an assembly line of Ivy League educated executives that either get poached or promoted. We just have Cashman and Levine.

    @Strat The Knicks could have given Noel, Burks, etc. front loaded 1+1’s with team options rather than 2+1’s. To say that had to do something with the space is ignoring the fact that they really screwed up for no good reason.

    I think Eason could play 3 or 4 and definitely has all-star potential. He looks like a young Kawhi to me.

    CarBlogger update: I drove my wife’s car (which for several years was my car) for the first time since buying the Bolt, and I was completely thrown by all the things that were different about it. It’s only been a few weeks, and I’m completely conditioned to the EV thing. Weird.

    Knickerblogger update: I am sorry for becoming the Tone Police yesterday. I generally prefer when we get along, even when we vehemently disagree about this team. And given all the bad things that have happened to me this year, I’ve been trying to avoid drama wherever possible. But that’s my issue, not anybody else’s.

    Go… Knicks?

    re: Eason, folks can see what they want. I agree that he has a great physical profile, especially his wingspan and hand size, very Kawhi-like. The defense will likely translate very, very well. I just don’t see his offensive game translating at all. He’s got a low, slow release from his right shoulder on his shot, a slow first step and loose handle with no left hand whatsoever, and no pull-up game at all. In 33 games, he had 33 assists and 73 TOVs. He played 24mpg, largely because he was a foul machine. He shot 35.9% from 3 on 78 attempts after shooting 24% on 29 attempts the year before. Maybe there’s potential there but his release point, which is fine on a FT, looks terrible for shooting anything but spot-ups. His bullrushing the rim to his right every single time just isn’t going to work against NBA defenders.

    I agree that he was a fine pick at #17 in this weaker draft, but I would not have considered him at #11 given the other guys available. Seems like his most likely outcome is an energy-defense wing off the bench, at least until his rookie deal is up. There’s just too much wrong with his offensive game for me to see much upside there in the short run.

    The good news for him is that he should get plenty of opportunity in Houston. Barring injury, he would probably not have gotten much of an opportunity here.

    al you are either growing or “whatever the opposite of that may be”…

    have you gotten used to the quite nature of the vehicle…that would be nice…does it have a bunch of neat safety features…does it drive itself…

    i’m gonna be honest, i would be more than a little offset to be in a vehicle on some kind of auto-drive function…yeah, i don’t know about that one…

    I Robot…Demolition Man…Total Recall…Upgrade…just about every future car driving situation – eventually things are going off the rails…it always happens…

    anyways…getting ready to go watch steve miller, i bailed on dead sara friday…cool neighbor i saw at the elvis show dropped off tics for steve over the weekend…

    Living in the U.S.A 🙂

    Are the Braves trolling the Mets by getting shutout by the Marlins tonight?

    Cohen’s opening offer to Judge: 6 years, $300 million.

    Geo, it doesn’t drive itself, but one of the advantages of me being forced to take whatever the dealership had is that it is loaded with ALL the safety features. Like, there is a light in my side mirrors that blazes whenever car is in my blind spot. All sorts of bells and whistles.

    The quiet has its pluses and minuses. I can accelerate really quickly without realizing, and I now have to use the horn a bit when I’m in a residential neighborhood and kids are playing in the street, because they don’t hear a car coming.

    Does Anyone have any insight and/or historical perspective on how advanced, per 36 or per 100 posessions type stats that attempt to extrapolate a smaller sample size are impacted during “extensive garbage time”? (Marv Albert voice, lol)

    The reason why I ask is that I just heard Thibs mention that Obi/Randle duo was mediocre if you include two blow out games but terrible when you eliminate those as he deemed them irrelavant because the outcome of the game had already been decided.

    In other words, is there a way to remove anything that happened last year with Hartenstein when Clips were either up 20 or down 20 in the second half. (with the exception of the special comebacks, of course). If yes, how does Hartenstein measure up when those plays are ommitted?

    We all know that statistics reveal truths that eyes of the experts and fans don’t see. I just wonder if in garbage time when competing vs 3rd string players who wont be in the league much longer all or any advanced stats should really be omitted.

    Just because I’m bored, frustrated by the Mets, and excited about going to the preseason opener tomorrow night, I did a deep dive on Trevor Keels. I think he is the kind of guy you don’t mind rolling the dice on at #42. Just turned 19 in August, played 1000+ in the shadow of the #1 pick, another lottery pick, and two other first rounders, on a storied college team with a GOAT-level coach against great competition. Excellent physical profile, needs skills work on offense, high motor and tough as nails on D but doesn’t read situations and screens well. Seemingly good decision maker, 98 assists vs. 45 TOV. Shot is flat on both jumpers and FTs but form doesn’t look terrible. Lots of baby fat to work off, 13+% body fat at combine!

    He probably should have stayed at Duke, fixed his shot and gotten into shape before entering the draft, but he’s the kind of guy you like to have in the G-League on a 2-way.

    Director NYC, I’m not buying Thibs’ logic on the Obi-Randle combo. I had said in an earlier post…just because it hasn’t worked doesn’t mean it cant work. I hope he at least keeps tinkering with the possibility, especially if Obi’s defensive awareness and frame improved enough for him to not need a shotblocker to protect him on that end.

    Agbaji seems like your prototypical senior who couldnt dominate until he was playing against competition 3-4 years younger than him. He took the team to a championship but against players who were less polished less physically mature, etc.

    Agbaji’s numbers are comparable to Grimes’s numbers despite the fact Grimes was a year younger, balanced out by playing in a weaker conference.

    But when draft pundits talk about it being a weaker draft, you have a guy like Agbaji going in the lottery 11 picks ahead of where Grimes went the year before.

    Ousmane has a very high ceiling but also a non-existent floor. He struggled physically in Australia for most of the year, I’m very skeptical he can make it work in the NBA.

    On the flip dice, he’s very young and very tall for a wing.

    If I may gently, politely, and with a big smile ask…

    What’s the basis for asserting this draft was weak?

    I did a quick google search and didn’t find anything to corroborate. Kevin Pelton’s WARP has it rated very, very high.

    Oh, I have an idea… and again, this is just my attempt at humor… maybe it’s because in 2020 it took Leon Rose 33 picks to determine no one was worth drafting. And then in 2021, it took him 19 picks. But in 2022, it only took 11 picks for Leon Rose to reach the determination that no one was worth drafting. Ergo, weak draft.

    i thought elvis performed well at 68…

    steve miller is 78…what an inspiration, he looked pretty dang fit up there, gotta love that rock and roll lifestyle…not sure i’ve ever seen another performer more comfortable speaking to the audience…

    it was like a music class, very very cool…excellent sound, probably the liveliest audience i’ve seen yet a yaamava…

    interesting thought on the sound of the car, that’s definitely something to keep in mind…was just talking to someone yesterday about the dear whistles that people have to use in some spots back east…

    i still got a few more years using this vehicle, plus i hate driving now, cuz it means i gotta leave the house and all and share the road with other people, new vehicle safety features though are what’s gonna get me to buy my next car…

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