Knicks Morning News (2023.06.28)

I agree that getting a 3 is the move. I’m just not sure there is a great, or even very good, 3 who’s available for a price (in $$ and/or assets) we’d feel comfortable paying. Whereas Spida is a great talent who also is durable, is relatively young, is from New York, has helped teams win, etc. No, it’s not ideal defensively to run out a Brunson/Mitchell backcourt, and the starting lineup Frank proposed would be awfully small from 1-3. And, yes, Mitchell’s defensive issues were mitigated by Cleveland starting two rim-protecting big men, while Julius isn’t that even when he’s engaged on defense.

I just don’t believe we’re going to find a perfect fit. The perfect fit is either Jimmy Butler or Mikal Bridges, and they’re not coming here. Everyone else you discuss is flawed in some way, be it health, talent, or both, and many of them would still cost us roughly what we’d need to trade for Spida. You get him, you see if you can muddle through with some combo of Grimes, Hart, and DiVincenzo at the 3, all of whom are substantially better than what Cleveland put out there this past season.

The issue last year was that we still needed another very good player in addition to Mitchell and the trade likely (and in fact in hindsight would have) depleted assets to get that other player. Brunson is that other player.

This, to me, is it. At the time, the Mitchell trade didn’t make much sense because we thought he would be the first star in the door, and we wouldn’t have enough ammo to get a second one. But Brunson is the other star. Damn the torpedoes, I say.

Doing multiple replies in one post. Let’s see how this goes!

If it’s just a “we have to consolidate, we have a short window” thing, George is a much better option than Spida.

It’s not that we have a short window to contend, E. It’s that we have a short window to consolidate. And the downside on PG13 is far greater, I would argue, than the downside on Spida.

I hate your questions Alan 🙂

[Extremely fake Jimmy McNulty voice] What the fuck did I do?

– He’s a terrible fit with Brunson

Why? Mitchell played very well next to Garland this year, and Garland’s a guy who has the ball in his hands a ton. Similarly, Brunson was awfully good playing next to one of the most ball-dominant players in the entire NBA in Luka. I firmly believe they could make it work on offense, and not just in a my-turn/your-turn way.

– He’s still a LOSER

He hasn’t played great the last two postseasons, though in both cases it was opposite a guy who would now be his teammate. But are we forgetting how incredible he was in several of his previous playoff runs in Utah? He singlehandedly carried that team at times, and was the centerpiece of one of the best NBA offenses we’ve had over the last decade.

He is not perfect. But I would argue he is substantially less imperfect than any other option that is likely to be available to us between now and when we’ll hit the second apron from Brunson and Randle extensions alone.

Grimes would most likely be starting at SF, Max.

Or they are trying to ship him out because he has made it clear he doesn’t wanna be in Cleveland, and wants to go to New York.