[The Ringer] – Wed, 15 May 2024 15:16:04 GMT
- Jalen Brunson Played Like an MVP in Game 5. Tyrese Haliburton … Well, Played.
- Tyrese Haliburton’s no-show Game 5 leaves Pacers on the ropes
- Draymond Challenged Tyrese Haliburton To Give More Effort
- Tyrese Haliburton needs to be the max player the Pacers paid him to be
- Pacers’ Tyrese Haliburton: Records five assists in Game 5
[New York Post] – Wed, 15 May 2024 22:07:00 GMT
- Knicks avoid repeating colossal 1994 mistake with the Alec Burks Renaissance
- Knicks ‘not surprised’ Alec Burks has stepped up when they’ve needed it most
- Knicks’ Alec Burks: Cracks rotation Wednesday
- Tom Thibodeau Calls Veteran ‘Ultimate Pro’ After Game 5 Win
- What is Alec Burks contract details with the New York Knicks?
[New York Post] – Wed, 15 May 2024 20:01:00 GMT
Knicks are giving Tom Thibodeau 1999 vibes all over again
[Athlon Sports] – Wed, 15 May 2024 05:55:21 GMT
Magic Johnson Has New Nickname For Knicks Star After Game 5 Win
[NBC Sports Bay Area] – Wed, 15 May 2024 17:50:27 GMT
- Lou Will claims Draymond is tripping’ for calling Knicks a fluke
- Tracy Morgan Confronts Draymond Green On ‘Inside The NBA’
- Comedian Tracy Morgan Calls Out Draymond Green for Critique of Knicks
- Tracy Morgan blasts Draymond Green over Knicks ‘fluke’ take: ‘Dont talk crap about my team’
- Warriors’ Draymond Green takes jab at Knicks, suggests team’s playoff run is ‘a fluke’
[New York Daily News] – Wed, 15 May 2024 14:28:26 GMT
Lupica: Jalen Brunson turning in legendary Knicks playoff performance
[Yahoo Sports] – Wed, 15 May 2024 19:05:31 GMT
Jokic takes over, Knicks bully Pacers & LeBron shows up in Cleveland | Good Word with Goodwill
[Bleacher Report] – Wed, 15 May 2024 17:37:30 GMT
- Knicks Rumors: Tom Thibodeau Contract Extension Eyed, Could Approach $10M Per Year
- Tom Thibodeau, Knicks To Discuss Contract Extension In Offseason
- Knicks eyeing long-term extension for head coach
- Knicks would be making a ‘real mistake’ if they don’t keep Tom Thibodeau: Stan Van Gundy
- New York Knicks prepared to make Tom Thibodeau one of NBA’s highest-paid coaches
[The Ringer] – Wed, 15 May 2024 15:02:45 GMT
Knicks and Nuggets Recaps, Thunder-Mavs Game 5, and PGA Championship
[New York Post] – Wed, 15 May 2024 11:43:00 GMT
How Knicks’ supporting cast fueled Game 5 win over Pacers
[New York Daily News] – Wed, 15 May 2024 21:56:21 GMT
Kristian Winfield: Knicks’ Tom Thibodeau continues to put Coach of the Year ballot to shame
[Daily Knicks] – Wed, 15 May 2024 14:00:05 GMT
Epic tweet perfectly sums up Knicks’ improbable 2024 playoff run (that’s not over)
[Sportsnaut] – Wed, 15 May 2024 16:41:22 GMT
NBA insider gives huge update on Brooklyn Nets and New York Knicks status in developing Donovan Mitchell
182 replies on “Knicks Morning News (2024.05.16)”
I have to admit, I never thought the Luka/Kyrie pairing would work, but here they are, one game from the Western conference finals.
And the most surprising part is they’re both playing defense (last night Luka even blocked a shot!) I watched the 4th quarter last night, and the Mavs bottled up SGA and were swarming all over the court contesting every shot.
The PJ and Gafford acquisitions were a big part of the defensive upgrade, but somehow Kidd has the 2 prima Donna’s playing the best defense of their careers.
Day late with this but I was surprised people disliked SVG so much. For me he clears a very low bar that the average commentator presents. I share his love of mean reversion.
So apparently if we win Friday game one would be Sunday afternoon????
But if there’s a game 7 on Sunday then game one would be Wednesday.
I mean is it in our interest to play a game 7?
No way OG would be back for games one or two if we start Sunday plus we wouldn’t even have two full days of rest.
I get that there is a momentum thing with viewership but you would think the NBA would want to give the players a bit of a rest before the conference finals so both teams could be as healthy as possible.
Go T-Wolves!!!!!
Swifty, the optimal outcome is for us to win Friday, and for the Denver/Minnesota series to go to a seventh game. That gives us tons of rest. If we win Friday and the Nuggets close out the Wolves in six, then we play Sunday afternoon. Which would suck.
First, though, we just need to worry about winning. We can talk about a theoretical matchup with [REDACTED] later. Hopefully late Friday night or early Saturday.
@KnickFan: It’s Wilson Chandler.
It strangely is, but I wouldn’t root for it. Consider it a silver lining if the Pacers force game 7.
I think it will be very tough to beat the Pacers at home anyway. Also a longer series gives OG more time to heal.
Thanks Cybersoze.
It makes no sense to want a game 7. It’s just another chance for a player to get injured or to have a cold shooting night or for opponents to go off and silence the MSG crowd as we get eliminated. If it happens, it happens, but the Knicks should go all out to win Friday and hopefully they will overcome the Indy crowd and their last gasp.
I’m already at the point where I will consider this season to be a success no matter what happens. But losing to the Pacers would be a sucky way to end this incredible season. I’m hoping that they take care of business tonight. If not, being that I will likely miss watching game 7, I hope that they finish the job vs. Indiana and give us at least 4 more games to watch. I just don’t want it to end!
I agree, Z-man. If it winning Game 6 means we get annihilated in Game 1 of the following series due to the short rest, so be it. I want to get to the next round, and then we’ll see what our guys can do — especially if OG is back by then.
Just so we’re clear: No one is suggesting that the Knicks should lose on purpose or that we should “root” for a loss on Friday… that’s absurd, and taking a stance against that imaginary position is a waste of time. Walker was just pointing out that there are possible benefits to a longer series, that’s all.
Yeah, Alan, and one thing we know for sure is that the Knicks and Thibs are laser-focused on this game and are not thinking about either Game 7 or Boston.
Re: the Cavs, I’m not sure they should be so quick to blow it up. So they lost a series to one of the best two teams in the league… They still put up a decent fight despite some unfortunate injuries. They could easily make some moves around the edges this summer that would put them at the top of the standings next year.
“Just so we’re clear: No one is suggesting that the Knicks should lose on purpose or that we should “root” for a loss on Friday… that’s absurd, and taking a stance against that imaginary position is a waste of time. Walker was just pointing out that there are possible benefits to a longer series, that’s all.”
It’ not an imaginary position if the question is taken at face value. Swifty asked: “Is it in our interest to play a game 7?” The question implies that there might an actual benefit to losing and an actual cost to winning. If the answer is “yes” then why wouldn’t one root for the outcome that is in the team’s best interests? Beyond that, even if one doesn’t root for a loss, if the Knicks lose tonight, is anyone going to rationalize after the fact like “Hey, this loss was actually to our benefit, so great!” My point is that I sure won’t be doing that.
Tonight’s game is important to the schedule, if Wolves win there’s a Game 7 Sunday so if Knicks win Friday the series vs Boston won’t start until Tuesday.
If Denver finishes Minnesota tonight the Knicks are guaranteed to play Sunday, either Game 7 vs Indiana or Game 1 vs Boston.
I would much prefer we win game 6 rather than risk losing at home in game 7 even if it means we get the short end of the scheduling stick and have to play on Sunday.
But just think it’s dumb they don’t have a bit of a break for at least 2 or 3 days before the conference finals. It’s like they only think about “scheduling” in regards to ratings and not the quality of the game. We’re not the only team dealing with injuries. Starting things a few days later so all of the remaining 4 teams have a bit more time to rest and prepare makes too much sense.
ALso, when I posed that question I immediately realized that I might be opening a pandora’s box because of how heated it got talking about the last game of the season to get the 2 seed.
Win this series. That’s the most important thing. Just think it kind of sucks that one of the possible outcomes of finishing a series earlier means LESS rest. That makes no fucking sense to me.
FWIW Minnesota looks like roadkill right now. It will be very fascinating to see if they have the strength to get up off the mat against the champs.
Ess-dog, I think there are a couple of Cavs issues, especially given the stuff Shams and company published last night: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5497268/2024/05/15/cavaliers-donovan-mitchell-darius-garland-jb-bickerstaff-future/
1. Bickerstaff is bad. We’ve all discussed this. At minimum, he’s going to get Vogel’ed.
2. Their four best players consist of two pairs where each member of the pair is pretty duplicative of the other member. Mobley plays better at center. Mitchell and Garland are both much better with the ball in their hands. It’s maybe not quite as badly constructed as when our own roster had three ball-dominant lefties who preferred to operate inside the arc (more on that in my next comment), but it’s not ideal.
3. They mortgaged so many of their assets to bring in Spida that they are desperate to do anything to keep him. If, as the Athletic piece suggested, he’s not content to make the second round, and doesn’t think the organization is serious about, or capable of, building a title team, then he’ll ask out. So either they have to pull a bunch of big moves to convince him to stay, or else they have to bite the bullet and trade him for the best package they can to recoup some of what they gave Utah.
This is a question I would only ask because we have this extra day off. It is a fun thought experiment, and I say this with the caveat that I think the OG trade was exactly what this team needed, and I would do it 100 times out of 100. However…
If we had not made the OG trade, and if having a healthy RJ and IQ on the roster for the rest of the season had allowed us to still get the 2 seed, and if you assume they would be healthy for the entire playoffs, and if you assume that OG will either miss even more time or be compromised when he returns…
Would you magically undo the trade so that we’d have RJ and IQ back for this playoff run, even if it meant OG would go elsewhere, both this season and in the future? i.e., do you think having that extra depth would give us an outside shot at a Cinderella run to the title this year, given Brunson? Or would it not matter, because RJ isn’t compatible with the roster, and/or because it turns out the difference between IQ and Deuce isn’t nearly what we assumed?
They overpaid for OG. That’s the answer to the question.
In terms of the precise question granularly, one or the other should have been left behind to either stay or to be flipped for DJM. That roster would have been a championship contender. Boston would be soiling itself if it had to face that.
Sorry, hit post before I got to the tl;dr version, which is If we could undo the OG trade, but have everything else play out the way it has so far (Julius/Mitch/Bogey out for playoffs, one win away from ECF), do you think having RJ and IQ on the roster would be enough to give us a shot against Boston and whoever the West winner is?
Alan,
I don’t, actually. I mean I guess RJ plays better without Randle but IQ did not do well in the playoffs last year, so we don’t know. McBride wouldn’t be in the rotation – or I guess he would be because Grimes would have still gone out?
But I think the defense that OG gave us against Philly as well as the outside shooting, was invaluable. I don’t know if we’d beat Philly with RJ and IQ but maybe so.
It’s just so hard to say. Plus, OG could be back!
That wasn’t the question. Thanks for playing.
I was about to respond to a dumb post by saying how dumb it was, but I deleted my response and I’m just going to ignore it instead. I feel like I have had such a breakthrough.
Interesting thought experiment, Alan, and it is likely to bring out all our various biases, one of mine being that I appreciate RJ but believe he is limited and thus fairly easy to plan for (a playoffs no-no) and also very streaky, so Good RJ is good, Bad RJ is disastrous.
Also RJ would mean less of Hart, who has been brilliant and the heart and soul of this team.
Thinking about IQ just makes me weep. Hard to be objective through all the tears.
It’s weird to think that the addition (with no subtraction at the moment) of two fairly cromulent NBA players wouldn’t make our team better considering how strapped they are for bodies, but I’m not convinced.
Also, no OG and we wouldn’t have won whatever it was, 32-5 or something insane during the end of the regular season, so we might not even be in the second round now.
i once lost a game of rock paper scissors to a very precise and granular kid who kept playing nuclear bomb
What is “nuclear bomb,” in this specific context?
it’s a big building with patients, but that’s not important right now
OK. A precise and granular kid playing a big building with patients (which sounds more like a hospital than a nuclear bomb). Got it; thanks.
Confound Doogie with Abstract Non-Linear References is my new favorite spectator sport.
You see, there’s this movie called Airplane! (the exclamation point is part of the title) and there’s this running joke where GAAHHHH NEVER MIND
I would not undo the OG trade, no. I like Quickley as much as everyone else but Deuce’s leap towards competent NBA level player has pretty much replaced his role in this current team, and I still have no interest in anything Barrett brings to the table. I don’t think those two would swing the series against the Celtics in any meaningful way.
Considering OG isn’t playing right now of course the team would be better with those two, I understand that. But this team’s ceiling is much, much higher with OG in it so I’ll just hope he comes back healthy.
This.
I’m not even convinced RJ & IQ would give us more than Burks & Deuce. In that sense everything we get from OG is gravy.
Also we’d be up a river without a paddle if we didn’t have Precious.
Leon and Thibs deserve a lot of credit for snagging a good player like McBride in the second round, developing him into something useful, then signing him to a great value contract. He doesn’t give you exactly what Grimes or Quickley would have given you, but he does what he does for an absolute pittance.
“Donnie Walshsays:
May 16, 2024 at 11:24
Confound Doogie with Abstract Non-Linear References is my new favorite spectator sport.
JK47says:
May 16, 2024 at 11:27
You see, there’s this movie called Airplane! (the exclamation point is part of the title) and there’s this running joke where GAAHHHH NEVER MIND”
Yes, I already knew about (and like) the Airplane! movie (I also knew that the exclamation point is part of the title). And when you said, “That’s not important now,” I knew that was the running joke from that movie without being told. What I’m *not* remembering is the nuclear bomb part, which I’m quite sure wasn’t in that movie…….but I could be wrong, of course.
The concept of the joke would be that you’re playing rock, papers, scissor with somebody and they don’t participate in the spirit of the game because each time they throw “nuclear bomb,” which doesn’t exist, and proclaim victory.
The “nuclear bomb” part in this scenario is “I know the true market value of OG Anunoby and Leon Rose overpaid.” You can’t throw “scissor” and beat that.
Part of the reason this season was so much fun was the OG trade that happened when we were 17-15 and we immediately went on a tear where we looked like legit contenders. Since the question states everything has to be the same (50 wins, 7 playoff wins), I would assume we did this off the back of a healthy and productive RJ and IQ. That team won’t beat Boston, so I would rather have the team with as Bruno says, more upside. And of course no OG means no Precious!
Doogie, have you ever been in a Turkish prison?
Boston didn’t sweep Miami. Boston didn’t sweep Cleveland. We’re better than both Miami and Cleveland, so I feel safe in saying that Boston wouldn’t sweep us, either (given no more injuries, of course…….our margin for error on that front is obviously small). Plus, if we get OG back, I daresay we would make it a pretty tough series for them.
But first things first.
“Doogie, have you ever been in a Turkish prison?”
I have! I have in fact been in a Turkish prison.
Got it. Thanks, JK.
I needed the laughs today, thanks fellas
To answer my own silly question: If we’re only looking at this season, and this current state of health for the team, I would at least consider undoing the trade. Our post-trade numbers with Brunson on the bench have been pretty dire. For all the great things Deuce does, he’s not a point guard. We saw in the Philly series and in Game 4 against Indy how badly this team struggled when Brunson wasn’t able to generate offense on his own. Whatever their overall flaws, IQ and RJ can both generate offense out of nothing, and IQ can at least be a convincing approximation of a point guard.
There’s obviously the risk of RJ’s hero ball derailing the incredible ball movement we’ve had, and/or of other teams picking on RJ as a defender. But if you don’t expect OG to come back, or if you don’t expect him to come back and be the full OG, then those guys — IQ in particular — can give us something we need right now versus Indy, Boston, whomever. Is it enough to give us a real shot at the title if Julius isn’t also here? Dunno.
Yeah, Bickerstaff should go, and they would be smart to trade Allen for a better forward (and put Mobley at center), but I don’t see why Cleveland’s guards can’t play together with a good coach. They’ve got decent shooters. Honestly, adding a guy like Randle to their lineup would be perfect (not suggesting we trade Randle!)
As for OG, I’m still 100% in on that trade, he’s the perfect fit for this team.
Also, I can’t help but look at the combine stuff:
– I was always a Karaban stan, and now it looks like maybe he played himself into the first round.
– Sheppherd looks every bit a future star… it will be interesting to see who bets on him.
– Was hoping KJ Simpson would drop to our 2nd-round-pick spot, but he’s been too good!*
*I’m probably wasting my breath anyway since there’s a 90% chance we trade those picks for vets.
You seem to be overlooking the Precious aspect of it, Alan. He hasn’t been great but I think he has vastly outperformed what Jericho Sims would have given us in those minutes.
OG’s posterizing dunk on Embiid in game 6 alone was worth the trade.
There’s no way we go 26-5 or whatever with RJ and Quickley, so we’d have been playing on the road in some of these series and may very well have been eliminated already. If we draw a team like Philly in the first round, are we beating them with RJ and Quick? Hell no.
If we had kept RJ we’d have kept using him in the StarJ role, and that player is not a good player. Good on Toronto for playing him lots at the 4 and getting him closer to the basket, but he wasn’t going to be the small ball 4 here, and as good as PF RJ is as a scorer, I’m not even sure that PF RJ is all that much of a net positive player. He had a 0.1 BPM in Toronto. We already have a small ball PF who can give you that kind of value.
To me the only interesting thing about this question is if RJ would have been much better after Randle got hurt and RJ was moved to small ball 4. But then again, Josh Hart has been small ball 4 in these playoffs and has absolutely been killing it. No way RJ would grab all the boards and play D the way Hart has in these playoffs.
Not convinced we beat Philly without OG.
Good point on Precious, Hubert. It’s funny how we looked at that trade as basically a 2-for-1, with Precious and Evil Donte as salary cap filler and nothing more. And he’s been huge for us, given our various injury problems. I’m not sure Sims is playable at all at this point, and would look at him as one of the end of the benchers we need to upgrade from this summer.
Without OG, the Knicks would have been a play-in team and Starks wouldn’t be jumping around courtside in mid-May like it was 1994 again. If we undid the trade, all we’d be hearing about right now is how Thib’s can’t win in the playoffs.
The year is 2034. After leading the Knicks to three championships in a decade, Jalen Brunson retires in triumph at the age of 37.
On Knickerblogger, E maintains that everything would have been better if only they hadn’t 1) paid more than what he and only he knew to be OG Anunoby’s true worth in Masai Ujiri’s mind and 2) brought in Dejounte Murray in hopes that he’d have radically different results playing alongside a ball-dominant PG than he had for years in ATL.
I believe that to be true, Donnie. Since we’re positing this as a magical world, think of it this way: everything until now has been exactly the same, including the OG/Precious trade, but today, Adam Silver stuns the basketball world be declaring that if the Knicks want to, they can send OG and Precious back to Toronto and get RJ and IQ back. It means we wouldn’t be signing OG this summer, since we don’t have the cap space. So you’re just asking whether you believe having a healthy RJ and IQ on the roster instead of Precious and a questionable OG gives us enough of a chance to win a ring this year that you’d sacrifice whatever OG can give us in the future.
Yes, it’s overly complicated. But, again, slow news day.
OG is a different kind of player altogether
Everyone: “OG is a different kind of player”
(another Airplane reference)
Wait, if we win the series, we will play against… NTILIKINA? 😀
Would you rather have Alec Burks or RJ Barrett right now? I say Burks, and that makes it easy for me.
No way i’d undo the trade, Alan. OG was exactly the player we wanted, but thought was unavailable, now that we have him we must keep him and pray that he stays healthy. But Bruno said it better.
Also, i’d like to see a poll about the trade, to check if there’s more than one KBer that thinks we overpaid.
RJ would get a migraine from the Garden crowd and would be ineffective.
Also, wouldn’t Agamemnon Bojangles magically disappear from the roster too, since he arrived as a byproduct of the OG trade?
I was told that Tom Thibodeau destroyed the Alec Burks asset and that he was a big poopyhead for doing so. Now I don’t know what to think.
Looks like I picked the wrong day to quit sniffing glue.
Actually, it’s another Airplane! reference, d-mar. 🙂
Oh. My. God. Dan LeBatard has now devoted a good chunk of today’s show to trying to get to the bottom of the mystery Motivational Fart that saved the Knicks’ season. Here’s an excerpt of Dan interrogating Fred Katz:
https://twitter.com/LeBatardShow/status/1791126245511430606
@Alan: Young handsome Thibs is viral now! 😉
LOL!
The Ramones – Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue (2016 Remaster)
The trade I would question undoing is actually the Burks/Bojan deal.
I agree with Ben R that Grimes was likely sitting because Detroit was tanking. If you assume he’d be available for us, I think I would rather have him than Burks because he slots into the vacated OG spot without making us terribly small.
At the very least, the difference is slim enough that I wouldn’t have given up the extra year of Grimes just to have Burks now.
Cyber, we will accept Young Sexy Thibs or Hot Young Thibs. “Handsome” doesn’t do it enough justice.
See also this photo from 1989: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DwRsxliXcAAbUG2.jpg:large
Host on our own LeBatard
Sorry, i forgot the precise words. Won’t happen again. 😉 😛
When making an airplane reference one must not overtly state that it is an airplane reference.
Just heard this from a Pacers fan forum: Jalen Brunson is actually right handed, but Rick taught him to shoot lefty specifically for the basketball advantage.
Did anyone here know about this?
All I know is that if we had RJ right now, even with Randle hurt, I’d still be starting Josh at PF for these playoffs and have RJ come off the bench.
And I’d probably start McBride so IQ could be the back up PG.
And that answer has singlehandedly put me firmly in the No camp for magically undoing the trade. Because for however flexible and inventive Thibs has become over the last half-season, there is zero chance he would bring RJ off the bench, particularly with Julius out.
Look, the thing about the NBA playoffs is that just having some guys around is meaningless most of the time. We all like to talk about depth and having options and sure, it’s good to have options. But look at OKC and all the depth people were fawning over during the regular sesson; they have a bunch of guys, like Wallace, Wiggins, Joe, Kenrich Williams, etc… and yet they’re having to play their 4 best guys 38+ minutes to keep up with Dallas because none of these dudes have been effective. (Also SGA is playing 40+ every game, is Daigneault insane and wants to kill his best player?????)
Of course I understand the idea of having extra depth pieces, mix and matching lineups, riding the guys who get hot on a given game, resting other players, etc etc. But when the going gets tough, these guys are just not going to get it done.
The next step for the Thunder would be, in my opinion, precisely to get rid of this bunch of dudes in a consolidation trade for more reliable players, which is pretty much what we did in the Anunoby trade. If you count Precious, which I do, as a useful player, it wasn’t even a net loss for us outside of the boundaries of this exercise.
I don’t think we have a title shot without OG.
We’d get more scoring with IQ & RJ but Brunson has been so effective as a solo act that I don’t know if it’d make a big enough difference.
We need players who can guard big wings against Boston and neither of those guys solve that issue.
All I know is that I haven’t missed RJ or IQ one iota since the trade. So no, I would not want to undo the trade no matter how things turn out. I was literally shocked that we were able to get him without including even a single first rounder. I actually thought at the time that we underpaid for him, and the team’s record in the games he has played in more than validates that feeling. In fact, OG is significantly better than I thought he would be. He’s basically been Scottie Pippen. E’s contention that we overpaid for him is maybe the dumbest thing he’s ever posted on this site, and that’s quite a feat. RJ was widely considered to be on a toxic contract, and IQ was a RFA who is likely to get paid more that twice what DDV and Deuce combined will make.
I also believe that OG is not as injury-prone as some have labeled him to be. He’s certainly no iron man, but non of his injuries seem to be of the type where one shouldn’t expect a complete recovery, e.g. Kawhi’s or Embiid’s or Amar’e’s knees or Isaiah Thomas’s hip. Hamstrings and calfs are pretty random injuries and can happen to anyone at any time. The elbow thing also seemed pretty random.
He might get overpaid, but I’ve seen enough to believe that you would rather overpay him than either RJ or IQ because his skillset is so very scarce.
One of OG’s “injuries” too was a burst appendicitis, which has nothing to do with basketball.
We look way too good fully healthy for me to have any interest in undoing the OG trade to maybe have a 1-2% better chance at winning it all this year, and I’m far from sure RJ + IQ are better enough than Burks + Deuce to give us that 1-2% boost.
The DET trade what-if is more compelling, but between Bojan’s game 1 against Philly and Brumpelstein’s re-emergence against the Pacers there’s a good chance that trade gets us an ECF appearance we otherwise wouldn’t have. Ultimately the verdict on this one will come down to Grimes’ development and what we do with the Bojan and possibly Burks contracts.
The trade we really want back is the one where we sent out the 23rd pick in the 2023 draft for that bum Josh Hart.
“The trade we really want back is the one where we sent out the 23rd pick in the 2023 draft for that bum Josh Hart.”
It would be great if you didn’t mischaracterize this trade. As said many times, the pick almost certainly would have conveyed in the teens if the trade hadn’t been made. Unless you think that Hart didn’t make that much of a difference, which is pretty hard to say being that he played to a 3.4 BPM and shot 52% from 3 after being acquired and our record was much better post trade. Why not just be fair and call it a lottery-protected pick? Is it that you really think your point would be watered down if you called it that? Would Hart not have been more than worth the 15th pick in that draft?
As to the Grimes trade, it seems that he had been totally displaced by DDV as a starting-caliber shooting guard despite ample opportunity to win the job. When a guy who’s offensive calling card is hitting 3’s at high volume can’t consistently hit 3’s at high volume, it seemed reasonable to upgrade from that in the short run. I’ve been underwhelmed by Bojan and until a week ago by Burks, but both have at least shown enough by now to understand the logic of the trade. As such, I’m not going to sweat what could have been, especially since Grimes sucked in DET before getting shut down for the season. I don’t think it will be too hard to find another Grimes in the draft or in a low-stakes trade involving picks. In fact, Deuce may be that guy already.
Scottie Pippen was all-NBA first team three straight years and second/third team a bunch of other years.
Saying OG Anunoby is “playing like” that is far more of a “nuclear bomb” than saying the Knicks overpaid for him, which they did.
The team chemistry was going down before the trade. They had to do something, and the record since OG came on board is top contender level.
It was the 23rd pick. Maybe it would’ve been higher if we didn’t make the trade, but arbitrarily assigning it a theoretical value is much more of a mischaracterization than just saying…what it was.
In any event, it’s a travesty we gave it away for Josh Hart, given that Josh Hart can’t produce in the playoffs.
I know, it’s just a happy coincidence that the Knicks went something like 26-5 plus 6-2 in the playoffs in the games he played in after acquiring him!
DDV doesn’t give you what Grimes does defensively (though he’s active). Not to mention the upside of Grimes… Which some feel is significant, others not so much. I still think the trade was a mistake. But I also was less dark about it than Ben because I could see some potential upside – one element we got, which was that Bojan was useful in the playoffs (until he was hurt). The other is that Bojan’s contract is tradable without the blowback of another year of Fournier on the bench (which has its own negatives vis a vis player perception of signing with the Knicks). We’ll see if that trade is made – until then, no final verdict can be rendered.
The Hart trade was an immediate clear win and it’s amusing that some argued otherwise for so long.
I’m way out of my circle of competence here, but OG is a big dude and very muscular. It seems to me that sometimes guys like that are wound up a little too tight and get injured more often. Maybe he needs to lose a few pounds and avoid the weight room a little and instead work more on flexibility.
ECF, Game 5, Boston, MA…
Knicks: “We admit you are better than us.”
Celtics: “Then why are you smiling?”
Knicks: “Because we aren’t really left-handed.”
“It was the 23rd pick. Maybe it would’ve been higher if we didn’t make the trade, but arbitrarily assigning it a theoretical value is much more of a mischaracterization than just saying…what it was.”
This is truly a disingenuous way of looking at it. On one hand you are crowing about how much of a difference-maker he has been (and statistically, he never made more of a difference than in the Knicks record after acquiring him), and on the other you are suggesting that he actually didn’t make any difference at all…at least not until now!
What’s weird in the way you keep beating that snarky drum is that we actually have some compelling evidence as to how much difference he likely made in our draft position! The Knicks were 30-27 before he played his first game (a 43-win pace) and 17-8 after acquiring him (I’m assuming you watched the games and would stipulate that he had a pretty big part in many of those 17 wins, or maybe not…). 43 wins would have tied the Lakers for the 17th worst record, and put us in the play-in, in which case if we lost it would have been a lottery pick.
We just have to practice those lead passes on fast breaks a lot more, so we don’t force guys to accelerate and reach so much. That should solve the problem.
Depends what your standards are. There’s a faction here for whom this would be an “incredible” season even if they lose the Indiana series. If that’s your standard, then you’re more liable to be goo-goo-ga-ga over Josh Hart and the trade.
If your standard is a championship, then you’ll realize that a wing combo of Josh Hart, DDV, and OG doesn’t carry enough offensive punch to get you there and you’ll adjust your thoughts accordingly.
I’m certainly not going to advocate for one standard or the other, beyond saying that I know mine — but personnel evaluations and general viewpoints are path-dependent on said standard.
What we really need to win a championship is a wing combination of Kris Murray and RJ Barrett
Thibs still gets blamed for Luol Deng missing playoff games thanks to a bout of meningitis and a botched spinal tap. People see DNP in the history book and figure it must be due to overwork.
And alternatively, I think it’s totally fair for those who thought (and maybe still think) that we overpaid for Josh Hart to assume that the pick would have been several slots higher without the trade, likely in the teens. Of course, they are still dead wrong, but you seem to be unable to acknowledge to that part of their still-shitty argument.
Isn’t the problem with not trading RJ for value that you have to play him? I love RJ. I looooooove Quick. They’re interesting pieces. The roster went from very interesting to very serious without those two.
Hart was undervalued when we traded for him, undervalued all this year when his 3 wasn’t dropping, but I don’t think anyone is complaining now. 🙂
He’s a very good player.
He’s not the kind of guy you can count on for consistent scoring. You want him in lineups where there’s already plenty of scoring and he’s adding huge amounts of everything else, but he does have his games as a key scorer for us. So it’s not like he’s useless on offense.
Keeping OG away from the Bucks was essential.
Guys, have we thought of just getting better players? Why don’t we just get better players!!! Omg, I can’t believe we’ve never thought of that before.
I think everyone here knows we still have some issues on this team right now.
Even someone like me that thinks starting Hart instead of Randle is not hurting us as much as some think will admit that we miss Randle’s scoring. We are getting away with it because Brunson has been other worldly at times. He raised his usage and remained efficient despite defenses being more focused on him than if Randle was still paying. He has been amazing. But that’s where we are in the playoffs now due to injury.
A starting lineup of I-Hart, Randle, OG, DDV and Brunson is going to score just fine. Could it be better? YES. That’s why we still have a bucketload of 1st round picks and the Bojan contract. This team is not done filling out the bench and perhaps upgrading one of the starters.
In the mean time, given how the injuries played out we are allowed to be very satisfied with the season and our position going forward while rooting to get to the ECF and shocking Boston.
https://youtu.be/rUczpTPATyU
“Until we win a championship I’m right about everything”
Very brave take there
“There’s a faction here for whom this would be an “incredible” season even if they lose the Indiana series.”
Some call it a “faction,” some call it “the vast majority.”
“If that’s your standard, then you’re more liable to be goo-goo-ga-ga over Josh Hart and the trade.”
How about just very happy that the trade has worked out as well or better than one could have expected, especially since one of the primary knocks was that his hustlebunny game wouldn’t translate to the playoffs. Seems like a 3.4 BPM in 11 playoff games is pretty good!
“If your standard is a championship, then you’ll realize that a wing combo of Josh Hart, DDV, and OG doesn’t carry enough offensive punch to get you there and you’ll adjust your thoughts accordingly.”
Is is a certainty that DDV and Josh Hart are the end of the line as far at their respective positions go? Any possibility that those position are upgraded and they go back to being reserves?
“…personnel evaluations and general viewpoints are path-dependent on said standard.”
Nah, reminding everyone of one’s singularly lofty standards during a pretty joyous party for most just tends to make one an annoying wet blanket.
That was literally never a “knock.”
I’ll repeat the actual “knocks.”
1. Josh Hart isn’t that great as a starting wing for a real contender.
2. Josh Hart played like shit against Miami in round 2 last year.
3. Tom Thibodeau reduced and reduces the ceiling of the team by overly relying on hustlebunnies like Josh Hart (and Quentin Grimes).
And at that point, they’ll go back to being reserves and accordingly barely worth even arguing about. There’s certainly no need for goo-goo-ga-ga and wet blanketing over trading a first round pick for a bench piece.
LOL, fuck off.
Oh you’re standard is a championship? WOW. You have such high standards compared to the rest of us nubs!
Fuck off.
The season would be the most entertaining and successful Knicks season in 20 years even if they lose this series and that’s with us not having Randle, Mitch, Bojan and now OG for the end of this playoff run.
Anyone who acts like their too good to say this season was a success under those circumstances is an asshole who can FUCK OFF.
Right?
As I already said, my standards aren’t any “better” or “worse” than anybody else’s … but they do effect how players on the team and the roster itself are ultimately analyzed.
Without intending to (most likely), Z-Man just kind of explained it with the “well, Josh Hart and DDV will just wind up being reserves anyway” statement. Yes, exactly.
Enemy Mine!
I’m not even sure I understand what your complaint is.
We are one game away from the ECF with 3 of our starters out, one of our key bench scorers out and our best player playing hurt. That’s enough to be happy about, but we are loaded with assets to come back next year healthy and BETTER and some of those
bench players starting now forming the best bench in the NBA.
I don’t have one. Alan asked the question of the day, I answered it, and then a bunch of people complained at me and I responded.
The TL:DR of this thread is basically:
Alan: Do you guys think the Knicks overpaid for OG?(*)
Me: Yeah.
Others: You’re a monster.
Me: No, I’m really not.
(*) Yeah, I know that’s not exactly what he asked, but in essence it is.
It’s weird that the Knicks are on the verge of rolling into the ECF on the backs of Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart, and yet “Hart can’t play for a real contender” and “Hart wasn’t good for a few games at the end of last year so there’s that” are actual May 16th 2024 takes by a Knicks fan.
Losing OG in a re-trade for IQ and RJ would have us clearing out our lockers after 5 games vs Philly.
While I still believe that we miss Randle’s size and strength, there is greater cohesion on the floor. Randle, RJ and even IQ could suck the oxygen out of a possession and leave their floor mates flat-footed. Jalen is allowed because a) his teammates love him, and b) he is actually a top 5 talent.
It really, really isn’t, but you do you, E.
Knicks currently with an ortg of 118 in the playoffs, pretty incredible even though we’re playing Indiana this round.
I can understand someone thinking we overpaid for OG. I love Quickley and haven’t totally given up on RJ. But I love OG also and imo he is way more of what we needed than RJ and Quickley. Things didn’t work out exactly how I hoped after that because I wasn’t a big fan of the Grimes trade. I thought we needed a backup PG to replace Quickley, but all in all we are playing well and positioned well to fix what’s missing despite all the injuries.
The question:
Why would you want to undo a trade unless you thought the value given up was higher than the value you got? Or too high generally?
Tell the others then.
Because I’m discussing this very specific, limited-time circumstance when two healthy bodies might have more value for a couple of weeks than a guy who either might not play or might not play up to his standards. Banners hang forever, etc., and do people believe we could win a title this year if we had those guys back.
I’m happy for you that you continue to find some degree of solace in being able to tell everyone who will listen that we definitively overpaid for OG, based on your intimate understanding of the conversations between NBA executives.
As I have repeatedly said throughout this thread, I would make that trade again every day of the week and twice on Sunday. We just happen to be in a weird spot at this very moment due to all our injuries. If any of Julius, Mitch, or Bogey was still available — or even if they had the potential to return in a later round — I wouldn’t even be considering the question.
Do you use speech-to-text? Because your comments are so stupid I’m not sure you’re actually able to read and write.
He won’t admit it, which is fine — it’s the internet and I don’t “need” the admission — but the fact that Alan is even contemplating the team winning a championship with the two pieces given up replacing the piece acquired — even with Randle, Bogey, and Mitch missing — is a complete vindication of my expressed perspective on the trade and the deadline performance of the FO.
But my answer remains the same. They paid more than market for OG. Had they paid market they could have retained one of the players and/or flipped one of them with draft pick(s) for DJM and had they done that Boston would be scared shitless. Boston is not now scared shitless.
Everyone knows how much I loved Quickley. My up and down feelings about RJ were also clear. Long term I still don’t know how that trade is going to look. What I do know is that OG is a much better two way player and spacer than RJ now and that DDV as a 6th man made Quickley more expendable. IMO, we are clearly a better team with OG than with RJ and Quickley. “If” it turns out to be a little bit of an overpay because those guys improve a lot we can debate it again. But I’m Ok with the trade because we got a very key piece to a championship caliber team in OG. I’m not one that cries over pennies of value. I place a lot of value of fitting pieces together well and having the right kind of players. IMO, we have that and are positioned well.
I’m happy that I could make you so happy through your willful misinterpretation of both what I said and what I think, E. People should get to be happy in their lives, especially if what they’re doing doesn’t harm others(*).
Congratulations. You’ve won Knickerblogger. Here and forever. I hope the cake you buy to celebrate has chocolate crunchies.
(*) Annoyance /= harm.
Surely you can’t be serious! Remind us what the market was for OG. Giannis and OG sounds like an entirely different tree to climb than the stepford Celtics.
Or, maybe he just wanted to give everyone something to talk about. Didn’t know you also had a PHD in psychiatry.
And, just to answer the prompt, I wouldn’t revert the trade. I don’t think RJ/IQ bring us any closer to a title this year. With them, or with OG, or without any of them I don’t think it’s very likely we get past Boston or whoever comes out of the West (probably Denver). Long term, we’re far better off without RJ and his terrible contract though I’m still concerned about re-signing OG in the offseason.
Unless we sweep 16 straight playoff games there will be a better move that could have been made in some people’s minds.
I’m just going to enjoy my formerly hopeless team being good again.
It doesn’t linguistically change the meaning but I want to be fair and inoffensive, so I’ll change what I think is the “offending” language from:
but the fact that Alan is even contemplating the team winning a championship with the two pieces given up replacing the piece acquired
to
but the fact that Alan is even contemplating others contemplating (*) the team winning a championship with the two pieces given up replacing the piece acquired.
(*) Referring to “Banners hang forever, etc., and do people believe we could win a title this year if we had those guys back.”
1) both RJ and Quick were never going to fit on our team. It’s nearly addition by subtraction with them. It’s like people forget that we were an entirely middling team with them.
2) Look at the totality of where we are now. Before OG/Mitch injuries I’d put us as a risk to win a series against any team in the league. That’s before Randle.
3) We are in an insanely good position — see 2 above. AND we have a) Randle (I’d like to trade him for Mikal), b) tons of picks, and c) tons of cap space
Anyone who wants to nitpick the moves (without acknowledging it’s just nitpicks/mental masturbation) is literally delusional
He’s not our starting wing
Overreliance on small samples. Even there the only big issue was playing alongside another non-shooter in RJ.
He’s been excellent this year in the playoffs, as he was against CLE.
Okay, but you just said it wasn’t about hustle bunnies. And for the umpteenth time, who would you rather have there? If your answer is an all-star level player, then we all agree. The difficult part is finding and paying for one.
I suspect Alan’s view is:
(1) Brunson can win a championship almost singlehanded
(2) IQ is better than Burks
(3) RJ is better at PF than Achiuwa
(4) OG is an upgrade but we’re assuming he’s out or compromised for the purpose of this exercise
So is a now-to-end-of-year rental of IQ and RJ worth not having OG next year and the foreseeable future?
E, Alan’s question presumes that we are still a game away from the ECF when the trade is reverted. You are completely misunderstanding what he is contemplating while you declare your vindication. (You’re not a monster, you’re just not understanding the thread, that’s all.)
1. I don’t think you get OG for “one” of those players unless you add a 1st rounder or two.
2. I know you like Murray (as do I), but imo Murray and Brunson are not an ideal fit. Both are better with the ball in their hands. That was demonstrated with the Murray and Trae combo. Murray was way better when Trae was out. That’s why the Hawks are considering (likely?) to trade one of them.
We have plenty of ammo left to add a key player that fits right. The question is who is available, when and at what price.
These aren’t E’s “standards,” this is just E trying to save face now that his narrative looks ridiculous and everybody here is clowning on his years of discredited takes. All he has left is the counterfactual timeline where Dejounte Murray is riding down the Canyon Of Heroes and “Josh Hart had a bad series against Miami.”
It’s an annoying shtick for sure, but it’s also quite humorous watching it all go down in flames. The goalposts are on Saturn at this point.
I see RJ as a negative player, I dont fully believe in his numbers in a Raptor’s jersey, and don’t think that Randle’s abscence would help him that much. So, no to Alan’s question.
If we change it to simply a healthy IQ for OG, then it is more interesting. IQ usually plays good defense, can get hot, and would help with ballhandling units, but in the end, if we are thinking going all the way, we will need OG against Boston much more than IQ, and I’d roll the dice on him playing half the games and getting lucky in the games he does not play rather than having IQ for all of them.
My lord, can we please stop fucking with the troll trying to take over the thread entirely (and succeeding) and go back to fucking with Doogie’s head?
Changing to a different but related subject: Does anyone think that any suitor will offer IQ enough for Masai to consider letting him walk or to engage in a sign and trade (if allowable)? In other words, is there a red line for IQ. that Masai won’t cross?
My apologies for breaking my usual policy of not engaging with people who will only argue in bad faith. Back to more important issues, like the fact that Doogie doesn’t really run down the court, and he doesn’t try hard on defense, except in the playoffs.
They should remake Airplane just so some little kid can say that to Embiid.
what better feeling is there than total public vindication via straussian subtext
Changing to a different but related subject: Does anyone think that any suitor will offer IQ enough for Masai to consider letting him walk or to engage in a sign and trade (if allowable)? In other words, is there a red line for IQ. that Masai won’t cross?
think toronto will keep quickley no matter what, including even matching a full 25pct rfa offer in a worst case scenario.
i don’t think a team would both pay such a huge price for quick and also give toronto something valuable in a sign and trade
“My lord, can we please stop fucking with the troll trying to take over the thread entirely (and succeeding) and go back to fucking with Doogie’s head?”
LOL
Embiid subbing in for Kareem for that scene would be beyond fantastic.
I just wonder whether IQ is willing to commit long-term to playing in Toronto for a team that might be rebuilding for a while. I’m sure it must be killing him to see the Knicks still playing more than a month after his season ended. But it is a business so he’ll either get an offer sheet matched or just get extended by Toronto. I personally would like to see players like him do more of what KP did, which is to demand to be traded to a team of his choosing or to go for the QO and become a UFA. Obviously I have no idea how he actually feels about Toronto, but if he really doesn’t want to play there he should at least consider pressuring Masai.
“Embiid subbing in for Kareem for that scene would be beyond fantastic.”
Except that Embiid the kid would have to say that doesn’t try hard on defense in the playoffs because he’s always injured…
Toronto’s problem may be that two of the teams who will have a ton of cap space this summer — San Antonio and Orlando — could both very much use a point guard(ish) who can score in bunches. IQ’s probably not exactly what the Spurs need, since ideally they’d get a pure playmaker who can always get Wemby the ball in the right spot — but I suspect he won’t be a negative value even on a $25 mil/yr contract. So then it’s a question of whether either of those teams would be willing to tie up part of their cap space for several days on the off-chance Masai might blink, and also whether Masai would, in fact, blink.
anyone have any good non-mainstream media sites or podcasts or whatever for draft prospect analysis?
FWIW, Katz told Macri today that he thinks the most likely scenario is we don’t see OG until a few games into the ECF. But also, because of the Knicks’ information blackout, there’s no real way to know.
Comment of the day right here! 😀
Unless Masai forgot the art of GMing, if he’s not comfortable in matching whatever offer IQ gets, he’ll work the phones and get something in return. If a sign and trade doesn’t happen it’s because he’s matching the offer sheet. I’d be very surprised if none of this happens.
I understood that.
His literal question is would you give up OG for what RJ and IQ would bring to this and future playoffs. Within that was included this particular playoff season and the contemplation that putting them back on the team in the here and now might lead some to think even a championship was possible in the here and now.(*)
My answer was that if the two players are that potentially integral to a potential championship right here and now this spring even without Randle/Bogie/Mitch then it fully stands to reason that putting those two players in the trade was an overpayment.
Which is why I also said he didn’t literally ask the overpayment question, but it’s directly embedded within the question he did ask.
(*) I still can’t tell whether Alan was himself saying he thought a championship was possible, or whether he was simply inquiring as to whether others did. In any event, the inquiry itself means he doesn’t think the idea is ludicrous.
Cyber, haven’t the rules changed to where you can’t make a trade once the offer sheet is signed?
Meanwhile, the fart story continues to explode all over the interwebs. Bleacher Report just wrote about it (though just aggregating the KFS pod discussion).
Can Mike K revive the KB t-shirt store so I can get one that says, “I was at the Garden on the night of the Fart That Saved The Knicks Season”?
If you understood the question, you wouldn’t have brought up Dejounte Murray in your answer.
i am an AI program…aka Doogie…my question is “are the Fart story and the nuclear bomb explosion comment way up above” interrelated?
That princess bride reference was amazing
The idea we overpaid for OG is hilarious too
Top notch
Given that the Nuggets are superstitiously refusing to invite Aaron Gordon to team dinners or other events going forward after he missed one and they subsequently won the next three games, I’m kind of glad I don’t have locker room access to the Knicks’ Friday pregame prep.
Edey might be combine testing himself out of the Knicks range in the draft
Yes, but i think he’ll know in advance if he’ll be comfortable with the possible offers. Usually GMs have a sense about how other teams value their assets. So unless some team offers IQ the max out of the blue, which would be kind of crazy, he won’t blink.
I wouldn’t undo the trade. I think the chance of OG coming back next round to help us is more valuable than what RJ and IQ would bring this year. In future seasons it’s 100% OG over RJ and IQ. I still wish we could have included a couple picks instead of IQ but that’s a totally different question.
It’s the Grimes trade I’d undo but I’ve been pretty clear about that one. I still think Grimes is exactly the player the Knicks could use this year, if he was healthy by now, and also moving forward. I think a bench of McBride, Grimes, Hart, and Robinson could have been our bench for the next 3+ years and been very good. I think the early struggles would have worked themselves out and it would have been an elite bench unit.
Instead, we still need to find a capable 3 and D wing off the bench. I don’t think Burks or Bojan are the answer moving forward. Maybe we can draft it, if not a good one will cost assets.
My hope is chase Caruso. Maybe Bojan and a couple of our protected picks for him. Or maybe Randle+Bojan and a bunch of picks for Mikal Bridges and Cameron Johnson.
RJ will never make an ECF as a top 3 guy. I continue to think he is a net negative.
IQ would be an upgrade on Deuce but you have to give to get.
Caruso is interesting, but he’s just a near-exact replica of Josh Hart who’s a bit better at threes and much worse at rebounding.
Plus even with the newish facial hair I can’t get away from seeing Caillou.
do we know yet who dealt it?
as the saying goes…”whoever smelt it….”
Caruso is closer to OG than Hart, his defense is on another level compared to just about every other wing
I think Caruso is quite a bit better at 3’s than Hart (Career 38% – 40.8% this year on almost 6 per 36). Also, I think their only overlap is that they are elite defensive players. Caruso is more of a pure guard and Hart is more of a wing. Besides, you cannot have too many tough defenders, and adding Caruso to a rotation with Hart, OG, and McBride would be something. Can you imagine a lineup with those 4 and Robinson/IHart? It might have a bit of trouble scoring but it would absolutely shut down anyone.
What do you consider mainstream? Vecenie’s Game Theory Podcast is always good.
Ya’ll remember when we traded Doncic for Trae Young… Overpay or nah?
DRed, Hollinger is clearly mainstream, but his top picks seem different from others, so I think it’s worth a read.
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5484657/2024/05/13/nba-draft-2024-top-prospects-players-hollinger/
Never heard that story about Brunson.
I have definitely heard that story about Rafa Nadal however.
Minnesota doing their job tonight.
What an incredible Rangers win.
Let’s hope MSG is real quiet this weekend.
So are the Rangers. What a third period!
One of the great wins in Rangers history.
I don’t watch much hockey these days but that was a legendary 3rd period from Chris Krieder
shit, hope Edwards is okay
Line for tomorrow’s game is up to Indiana -6 ½.
Gonna be a tough one to win
Wolves doing their part. If we win tomorrow, our guys get a lot of rest, and OG gets additional recovery time.
Nuggets scored 9 points in the 4th quarter? Wtf?
We’ll see what Fire Marshall Bill has for Thibs tomorrow. They’re shooting threes at a really crazy clip this series. Maybe that game four juice wears off and things stay ugly for em.
Maxie wins NBA Sportsmanship Award.
Just edging out teammate Joel Embiid and Tyrese Haliburton who are a close second and third…
ha, jamal murray in his post game trying to make it seem like he don’t know who’s guarding him…
got to remind myself he’s only 27 and ultra-competitive…
that presser he did after the towel and heating pad incident – yeah, things are a little clearer now on who mister murray is at the moment…
i so hope ant-man stays in his ass and sends home the nuggets…
it’s funny how one player can change the whole rootability factor for a squad…anthony edwards is a blast…
Didn’t watch the game but looks like they were down 25 heading into the 4th. I’m assuming Denver pulled its regulars and played the end of the bench.
My prediction of Minny to make the Finals is still alive….
Didn’t see the game either, but Reggie Jackson was 0-6 and Justin Holiday was 0-5. Christian Braun 1-6. In fact their whole bench was 4-27.
Of course, Jamal Murray was 4-18.
Wow.
I saw part of the game. Except for Jokic, the Nuggets just couldn’t hit a shot and it wasn’t like the shots were all incredibly difficult