[The Guardian] – Tue, 28 May 2024 10:07:00 GMT
Wat Misaka: the Japanese American star who broke the NBAs color barrier
[New York Daily News] – Mon, 27 May 2024 20:19:11 GMT
- Knicks’ Jalen Brunson could leave $114 million on the table
- Jalen Brunson could be willing to help New York Knicks with contract discount
- NBA Rumors: Jalen Brunson Open to $156M Knicks Contract; Could Get $270M Deal in 2025
- Brunson Considering Giving Knicks $100 Million Discount: Report
- New York Knicks: Jalen Brunson on Brink of $156000000 Decision After Heartbreaking Series Loss Vs. Pacers
[Posting and Toasting] – Mon, 27 May 2024 16:00:00 GMT
- What might the Knicks do with their two draft picks?
- Knicks 2024 NBA Mock Draft Roundup: Experts see guard depth, defense as priorities in round one
- B/R lists Knicks as possible landing spot for controversial 2024 draft prospect
- What the Knicks can do with pair of first-round draft picks
- Potential 2024 NBA Draft options for the Knicks
[sny.tv] – Mon, 27 May 2024 16:10:01 GMT
- Stay or Go: Should Knicks re-sign OG Anunoby for 2024-25 season?
- Former Sixers Trade Target Expected to Test Free Agent Market
- Report: OG Anunoby leveraging a big payday from Knicks
- Reports: OG Anunoby an offseason target for the Sixers
- REPORT: Knicks’ OG Anunoby ‘could consider deals with other franchises’
[Sports Illustrated] – Mon, 27 May 2024 15:00:00 GMT
- Knicks Add Another Star in 3-Team Trade Proposal
- New York Knicks Rumors: 1 Intriguing NY Move That Could Signal Intention to Trade for a Star
- Bleacher Report’s ‘realistic’ Nets trade idea would actually help Knicks out more
- 3-Team Knicks Trade Pitch Would Move Julius Randle for $90 Million Star
- Knicks Trade Rumors: Will They Sign Nets’ Mikal Bridges?
[Bleacher Report] – Mon, 27 May 2024 14:48:45 GMT
NBA Rumors: Lakers’ LeBron James, Knicks’ OG Anunoby Eyed by 76ers in Free Agency
[Empire Sports Media] – Mon, 27 May 2024 14:56:37 GMT
Superstar NBA agent throws shots at Knicks owner in recent Bronny James comments:
[Sports Illustrated] – Mon, 27 May 2024 11:04:33 GMT
Would Knicks Have Better Shot Against Celtics?
85 replies on “Knicks Morning News (2024.05.28)”
Macri’s newsletter today is an excellent summary of our financial situation, and why this summer is probably our last, best chance to make a substantial upgrade. For the first time in…my life, I guess, I could be convinced we don’t necessarily need to do that, but I still lean towards us needing one last major talent fusion to compete with the best.
This portion of the newsletter explains the situation well:
We’re well-positioned, but the history of the NBA is littered with teams that were “well-positioned” and made nothing of it. Finish the job, Leon.
It really makes so much sense for Giannis to ask out this summer. Why waste another year there?
Obi was really getting hunted by the Celtics last night, it was sort of sad to watch.
“Obi was really getting hunted by the Celtics last night, it was sort of sad to watch.”
Yeah, noticed that.
Also noticed that the Celts went to a different level in the last 2 minutes, especially on defense. I think they played that entire series with one arm behind their backs until the ends of games. About as lopsided of a sweep with 3 close games as I have ever seen.
Obi was a +5 on the night, 5-9 with 7 boards and a steal. I think the Pacers have bigger problems than their backup PF.
Offensively, Obi played pretty much ideally in a 20mpg backup role, 19-8-3 per 36 on a .634 TS% on 21% usage. Those are indisputably excellent numbers.
He’s situationally a terrible defensive player that good offenses can target on virtually every possession. Maybe he learns from this and continues to improve, but more likely he is just who he is, similar to Amare, who continued to be terrible no matter how hard he worked at it.
I also think that he had no creation game to go to whenever a Celts defender keyed on him. His offense was nearly entirely opportunistic.
He is clearly not a starting caliber player on a good team, never was, never will be. Those who argued otherwise should concede that, especially those who argued that Julius could be dumped and Obi could be as good or better in that role.
Indy is a great home for him. I wonder what they will pay him. My guess is something in the high 7 figures AAV for 3 years.
One article I read yesterday suggested that Obi may not be back with the Pacers. The response to it from Pacer fans was critical, but apparently they have so many good young players he’s blocking minutes for someone they might want to play ahead of him at some point. I don’t know their roster well enough.
Funny how his own former coach didn’t do that very much over 7 games… we must not have a good offense! Or maybe Tatum is simply an outstanding player? Idk, I’m not a hardcore sports fan or anything… I didn’t watch a meaningless Pacers-Celtics game on a Sunday night. I’m also not a hardcore stats guy—just a common simpleton—but I did see these numbers (they probably don’t mean anything though):
Toppin 2023-24 playoffs: DBPM 0.0
Randle 2022-23 playoffs: DBPM -0.6
You DO realize Randle was injured in game 77 last season, missed the last 5 games of the regular season, strapped it up to play the first 4 games of the 5 game win vs Cleveland, was injured again in the closeout game 5 and even with 4 days off was physically unable to play game one vs. Miami.
He hobbled through the rest of the series. To compare Randle’s defensive skill set with Obi’s is not going to end well, no matter what small sample size theater when being legitimately crippled says (he needed post season surgery and 5 month of rehab to get back to 100%).
I mean, really?
No one is going to confuse Julius Randle for a defensive stopper. But when he’s an engaged defender — which he’s been far more often than not in the Thibs era — his sheer strength makes him at least passable, and sometimes much more than that if the matchup’s right. He’s not going to stop Durant or Giannis from going off, but he’s not fundamentally a guy who, when healthy and giving a shit, can get picked on for possession after possession the way that Obi can.
Yeah but Obi dunks cool. You gotta consider that.
Hey, don’t get me wrong, I love Randle.
But do you want his DBPM from the 2020-21 playoffs? It’s -0.7 over 5 games.
But again, I’m just a feeble-minded lad from the sticks, and these are just numbers on the internet. Is BPM even good?? Probably not.
BPM is a box score only metric, it’s not very useful for defense. I’m not sure how useful some of the newer metrics are for defense either, but DBPM is not very good.
It should be interesting to see what happens to Obi in free agency. Maybe he can go join RJ & IQ, the Raptors scored a lot on the break last season
What’s so impressive about Carlisle is he took Obi Toppin, warts and all, and made him a 21 mpg player with a plus 10 net rating over 1,700 minutes.
You can’t expect a perfect 7th man. Sometimes you just have to coach what you got.
Obi is in the perfect role….a 20mpg energy guy off the bench for the most uptempo team in the league. In the halfcourt, he is a strong cutter, pretty good on tips, and his spot-up 3pt shot has become pretty reliable, even under pressure. On defense, he has a pretty decent motor, can block some shots and his length allows him to do some rudimentary stuff as a team defender. Hovever, he has poor situational awareness, is easily spun around and/or blown by, and bites or gets frozen on basic offensive deceptive moves. These things are all easily observable. They were on full display in the 4th quarter vs. the Celts.
It’s certainly arguable that he could and should have been used better here, and it was not ideal to sell so low on him. But that’s a far cry from saying that he could have been a decent starter or replaced a player of Randle’s caliber. Indiana recognized that right away, and its no surprise that they invested in a guy who basically became their Randle and pushed Obi to a suitable bench role.
If I were Obi’s agent I’d probably try to get him to the Spurs. They’re embarrassingly talent-less and he could be a nice intermediate fit for them.
I was thinking the Nets actually… snug him between Claxton and Bridges, and they could just play some energetic, entertaining ball until they start getting their picks back. But yeah, who wouldn’t want to play next to Vic?
A lot of this is the Celtics, though. Like ess-dog said, we had 7 games against Obi and hardly caught a glimpse of this.
This is a good segue to another point: I think we would have seen some really awful shit happen to Brunson on defense if we’d made it to the next round. And frankly I think we needed to see it to learn from it because it’s probably gonna happen next year if we advance further.
“This is a good segue to another point: I think we would have seen some really awful shit happen to Brunson on defense if we’d made it to the next round. And frankly I think we needed to see it to learn from it because it’s probably gonna happen next year if we advance further.”
I agree, which is why I am more of a Mikal/PG13 guy than a Spida/Booker guy.
But the thing that really stood out to me in the series was how easily the Celtics were able to get stops when they needed to. Jayson Tatum is a decent defender, Horford is very good, and Brown, White and Jrue are all-NBA-level. And all five of them can score at the other end. So when the game grinds into a war of attrition, they are very tough to beat in the tit-for-tat game. They will get more stops than you, and will make more tough shots than you.
Assuming Dallas finishes the job, even with Doncic and Kyrie, I just don’t see enough depth to win the possession efficiency battle for 4 games in a 7 game series. I’d be more surprised if it went 7 games than by a sweep. And that’s true even without Porzingis.
Probably because we were down to JHart on Obi who provided zero threat as the screener if we ran a JHart/Brunson pnr. Which does argue for a second creator during the off season.
I am sort of curious why there has been no negative commentary from the usual suspects as to Boston playing Tatum a minimum of 41:58 in seven consecutive games where they won seven in a row and neither series was in question for a nanosecond. Isn’t that supposed to be some sort of crime against humanity that should be adjudicated in the Hague, or does it only matter if a certain coach does it?
One thought on the Pacers, btw:
I agree with everyone who opined that we would have kicked their ass this year with Randle and OG. However, I am not of the opinion that means we’ll beat them next year if healthy. The Pacers’ potential internal improvement is high enough to negate the impact of us returning to health.
Remember Halliburton was in the MVP conversation before he injured his hamstring. He’s probably got a higher level. This was the first postseason for Halliburton & Nembhart. They’ll get Mathurin back. They have the full MLE to make a Donte-like signing. And Siakim fits those guys better than Randle fits us.
Orlando’s coming, too. Cleveland has an opportunity to right the ship. Philadelphia has a blank check. Miami and Milwaukee probably won’t stay down for long.
The mezzanine is loaded right now! Any talk of standing pat should be tabled. We have to get better to keep up.
LOL Bob Neptune wants to make today about minutes again.
Did you ever get unbanned or did you just return uninvited to a place that kicked you out?
Don’t care to answer the question? I understand why. It isn’t picking a fight. Minutes allocation was a big topic of discussion here and one particular coach was accused of enlarging the Ozone hole , practically. I am curious if these heinous things are only applied selectively? It is a far more germane subject than insulting everyone on the board yesterday.
After your Hot Takes yesterday, I understand your reticence.
“From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” is anti-Semitic af — way more a-S than anything Kyrie ever said or thought.
Chill, Bob. During your time in the undeserved wilderness, as the archives will show, I advocated multiple times for you to be invited back. Don’t abuse the privilege.
what do you mean by net rating?
Your example is a completely false equivalence and your trolling deserves no further attention.
From the river…free” is anti-Semitic af — way more a-S than anything Kyrie ever said or thought
Since at least in the UK it is considered anti-Semitic…what is your point?
Did you ever get unbanned or did you just return uninvited to a place that kicked you out?
Since the answer has no relevance to the debate…what is your point?
Just learnt that having E in your corner is a privilege on this blog.
There is no debate. 42 minutes in a postseason game is completely normal.
You can search every single postseason game thread and you won’t find a single instance of me calling out Thibs for playing someone 42 minutes.
You will find me decrying OG Anunoby’s 46 mpg average before he got injured, but that’s about it.
Lol not every MLE signing turns into DDV.
I mean, every year the competition COULD get better. We all fretted the same thing happening this last year and lo and behold, we ended up winning more games in the regular season even with 3 starters missing 2 months of games.
I really don’t want to get into a minutes discussion again but context also matters. Tatum is way more durable than OG so 42 minutes for him isn’t the same as 42 minutes for OG.
The same with Hart. No one would complain or did complain when Hart averaged 42 minutes.
I think the minutes stuff was mostly fine in the playoffs. There were a couple missteps in my opinion. 1st was only using the bench for 25 minutes in game one against Indiana (Burks and Precious played 0 minutes), 2nd was playing Mitch after he got hurt in game 3 instead of resting him longer, and the 3rd was playing Brunson too many minutes on a hurt ankle in game 4.
I hope if we get a better bench that Thibs has learned and will be better next year.
Have you been on some other Knicks blog all season
I don’t think the complaints were about Hart. Not at 42 minutes in the playoffs. He played 48 minutes in 4 straight games and people barely complained.
Whoopsie!
I’ve actually been defending Thibs short rotations in the playoffs:
https://knickerblogger.net/2024/05/01/knicks-morning-news-2024-05-01/#comment-902572
Sad, Bob. Very sad.
As for the MLE, I think if a trade doesn’t materialize waiving Bojan and using the MLE could be a solid option.
There should be a number of good players available at that price and I think we are now desirable enough that players will choose us and some might even take slight discounts to come here.
Melton, Jones, Caldwell-Pope could all be great options. There are definitely more.
This is me whenever the minutes debate starts again!
https://gifdb.com/images/high/michael-jackson-eating-popcorn-look-89vgc1z4qn29v6np.webp
lol I missed E taking a victory lap for his playoff Donte theory in the middle of the Sixers series.
I have been thinking about KCP a bit. He’s the kind of guy that can give you maybe 75% of what Bridges could. But that extra 25% is really the kicker we need. Melton’s a good shout, too. I just don’t think either of those guys move the needle, though.
not getting kcp for the mle
Denver would be nuts to let KCP walk for the MLE
“Melton, Jones, Caldwell-Pope could all be great options. There are definitely more.”
I’m very sorry, but could you be a bit more specific on “Jones”? That could be a lot of players. Derrick Jr.? Tyus? Tre? Herb? Damian? Mason? Colby? I’ve seen at least four of these guys mentioned on here as possible targets.
For sure. I was thinking of a sign and trade where we give them Bojan and Deuce, and they waive Bojan. From what I understand they have quite an apron crunch coming up and aren’t keen to go over it.
For sure. I was thinking of a sign and trade where we give them Bojan and Deuce, and they waive Bojan.
not a thing for many independent reasons
Cyber, the gif I was thinking of vis a vis these minutes discussions….
https://media.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPTc5MGI3NjExc3FmY2V4ZWxxZjVhdDFyeG8wcnkxNTR6ZnBjeWFycGU5YnpydjZ1NyZlcD12MV9pbnRlcm5hbF9naWZfYnlfaWQmY3Q9Zw/SreAp5WMZHfhK/giphy.gif
I meant Tyus Jones, but Derrick Jones Jr., would also be a solid pickup.
The other Jones’s you mentioned are either not free agents or would be making a lot less than the MLE.
But Tyus Jones or Derrick Jones Jr., would both be good pickups.
We don’t need a star just another solid bench player. Add that and three rookies with our 2 picks plus Rokas and all of a sudden our bench starts looking a lot better.
Every comment I’ve seen or heard about Rokas, both here and elsewhere, suggests we should not be holding our breath for him to become a rotation guy, either here or elsewhere in the NBA. Not quite Vildoza 2.0, but still a gamble that didn’t pay off. (And one spot ahead of Herb Jones, at that.)
But is Vildoza gonna play, though?
I disagree about Rokas. He won the rising star award a couple years ago in Europe and that has a pretty good history of predicting future success in the NBA.
Plus he has gotten real minutes, 7th most or better, on one of the best non-NBA teams in the world for 3 straight years. He averaged 14pts/6 asts/3.5rebs per 36 this year while shooting 55% from 2 and 39% from 3. All while still being only 23. His level of competition is much higher than college and he is about the same age as some of the players in the draft this year.
His numbers are somewhat depressed because young players on good European teams have much smaller roles, even when they are very good, than in the US.
He is at least a good as a mid-late 1st round prospect and probably ready to contribute sooner rather than later.
Rama: https://frinkiac.com/meme/S06E25/1254269.jpg?b64lines=IEkgV09OJ1QuLi4gRElHTklGWQogVEhBVC4uLiBXSVRIIEEgUkVTUE9OU0Uu
What a decent does All-In look like?
Step 1) Think Cleveland realizes that Mobley should move to center position if he’s not gonna learn to shoot. Cav’s cant go back to tanking. Makes sense for them to swap Randle plus Deuce for Donovan Mitchel.
Step 2) Leon sends Boggie + ~5 shitty 1st RP to Joe Tsai for Mikal and a couple of 2nds. OG slides to PF.
Step 3) Resign Achiuwa and iHart plus a couple guys on veteran minimums. (i.e. Air Burks).
Step 4) Hire Jwright as an honorary assistant coach for good Karma.
Step 5) Bring on the Celtics.
Is this meant to be serious?
Why would Cleveland decide against tanking but then also decide to reduce their talent level?
Why would Brooklyn do this instead of taking one of the many better offers they’d get for Mikal?
Why would iHart and Burks sign for far below what they can get on the open market?
Pagliacci, 50% serious. Just saying…
Randle is an ALL NBA allstar. They’ll not getting better than a top 25 player entering his prime in return for a DM one year rental. Mikal is not fetching today more than 5 1st round picks with the cheapest expiring contract in the association. Market value for both has fallen from 2 yrs ago. Ihart is obviously a typo…he’s going to costs serious chips but Burks is a minimum wage vet now.
Excellent interview with Josh Hart on the Pivot Podcast.
addendum : If Pope Francis has to(or can) apologize for saying there’s too much “frociaggine” in the clergy (I’m getting a crop top with this across the front for the upcoming summer) which is likely true (the way they run that club… marry a woman and make babies or marry god) and homophiles say this at the functions all the time about the functions because at the functions there’s too much “frociaggine,”, Kyrie… ah never mind… but yeah, he’s an antisemite and that’s abhorrent and the last word on that.
well let us all indulge ourselves…
grain domestication and mining kick off around 7k b.c.e. or so…
about the time abraham comes along around 2k b.c.e. – global industrialization was really taking off…
around larger human settlements, early civilizations – the work week was about 60 hours or so…
the concept of a day of rest – truly a revelation…
prior to the late bronze age, folks mostly worshipped dieties related to nature, natural phenomenon and human activity…
Like the team I sketched out in earlier posts, but even that’s not really “All-In” (TM) because it would have only taken four 1s, one of which might even have been fugazi.
LOL
Stop trying to make DeJounte Murray happen. He’s not going to happen.
Clarence, first thank you for noting what he said, which I was curious about but not enough to read the articles; and second are you planning the whole “There’s too much __ in the clergy” on the crop top or just the word?
Random thought.
I think Dallas is going target KP in P&Rs. When he was with Dallas and playing hurt a lot of the time, that was considered a weakness. I’m almost certain Kidd is going to go right at him to see if he’s any better now a little healthier and lighter.
This playoffs started out so promising… but it seems to have climaxed with the Knicks Sixers and the denouement has been as boring as summer league.
Raven, I think just the word. I’m forty five, but I work out like my happiness depends on it so a crop will work. I’m betting there’s some attractive gay man out there who’s going to ask what it means. They’ll be titillated when I tell them and a vapid flirtatious conversation later we might have sex. Mention of the clergy would be too thinky… Wearing my Knicks gear to the gay bars in Brooklyn this time around proves to be more barrier than anything else so that’s out unless there’s a game on.
The Celtics are really fucking boring.
Silver should try to find ways to keep Nba stars healthy and Playoff games competitive and rosters full.
Having games every day and keeping the old traditions is the one side of the coin while the other is promoting talent more than durability and increase days wo games to get games with more intensity.
Changing the format of all star game, putting the in season tournament and the play in are signs that nba wants its product as entertaining and competitive as possible but if they can’t do their best to ensure that the Finals is the Ultimate Fight of the two best teams of the season from each conference at full force then there’s a problem …
When durability becomes the most significant…talent then changes are needed to protect the game from becoming a Load management Lucky flip coin Survivor reality.
Boston and Dallas are both at relatively full strength. Denver didn’t lose because of injury, OKC didn’t lose because of injury, the Wolves aren’t down 3-0 because of injury. And, going back in time, I can only think of one champion in my lifetime that won due to an injured opponent. I’m not sure what is broken that you are trying to fix. (If anything, the refs should just try to do a better job keeping games close and extending series.)
#I’m not sure what is broken that you are trying to fix.#
That’s obvious
Let’s just say that if teams were healthier The Playoffs would look slightly different.
# (If anything, the refs should just try to do a better job keeping games close and extending series.) #
They’re probably hurrying up for their summer vacations this season!
Murray was playing through a calf injury and had-by far-the worst playoffs of his career.
Just check the EC playoffs and you’ll get it.
Half of the teams are done due to injuries.
Indiana is East’s second best team?
Where? In track & Field?
If we take Edey at 24 I might actually be ok with it now that GM DRed has vetted his athleticism. I think he can provide a useful 10 minutes a game next year.
The track record of guys who dominated like he did in college not being at least a little useful is pretty small. How many major conference players have put up a .336 ws/48 and been total duds?
Edit: Drew Timme definitely one
Trying to get on the Antwagon but I just can’t fully commit.
The only ways to “fix” this problem (and it’s debatable it’s really a problem), would be to A) shorten the regular season and B) have more time off before the playoffs start and C) have more time off between games during the playoffs.
The league will never shorten the season, though. So B and C also can’t really happen because then the season would stretch into freaking July.
Nba seems extremely traditional in most cases but if they can turn a best of 5 to best of 7 series or enter a line for 3pointers then it’s also possible to try to limit the injuries by adjusting the schedule.
Should be a minute requirement for every roster spot. Done.
Funny listening to the announce team talk about Kyrie and Luka’s combied shooting stats to avoid discussing how bad Kyrie has been. Luka hasn’t shot well but he’s getting fouled a lot and he’s going to have a triple double, Kyrie has 1 rebound and 3 assists
The Nuggets had a week off before the 1st round, played 5 games, and then had a week off before the 2nd rounds. Against the Wolves they had two periods of 3+ days rest. You can’t really milk more rest time than that even if you tried.
Besides, Murray is often injured. His championship due to good health was a career anomaly, like Anthony Davis’s. Proposing to reformat the league to accommodate players that would probably be injured anyways seems like an unnecessary undertaking to me.
I’m glad the Wolves finally won a game
I’m with Donnie on this one. To be a professional in the NBA these days means walking the knife edge of what the human body can put up with. I watch Ja Morant go up for dunks in literal horror, expecting his body to fly apart into its constituent atoms. I liken it to what major league pitchers go through these days, only for NBA players it’s their entire bodies, not just one arm.
Players are going to get injured. All the time. Some more than others. A few extra days of rest won’t solve the problem. Wrap them in big polyurethane bubbles and let them bounce off each other, then maybe.
I think some rules, like invading a shooter’s landing space, does a hell of a lot more in terms of avoiding injuries than rest would ever do.
I don’t know, I’m obviously not a doctor, but sometimes I really feel it’s just about the fact that guys this big shouldn’t be able to fly around and do all the stuff they do. High performance athletes are all susceptible to injuries to the insane demands on their bodies but NBA players seem to push this further than most. Everything happens in super tight spaces where players are stepping on others and falling over others, and players have become so incredibly athletic overall in the last couple of decades that I’m not sure that there even is a solution.
Like sure, less games provide less opportunities for injuries, either unlucky ones or overwork related injuries. But at the end of the day it’s still a 5v5 sport where every injury is incredibly impactful.
D) end the 82 game regular season in June, take 5 months off, then start the playoffs in November, followed immediately by the next regular season.
Teams often change significantly over the summer. A playoff in the fall wouldn’t be the same teams under option D.
Look, they did it in 2020, they can do it again. You want OG Anunoby fresh for the playoffs, this is how you do it. Figure out how to freeze the rosters. Can’t be that hard.