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Knicks Morning News (2024.06.02)


  • Jalen Brunson hates Knicks getting a pass for playoff exit because of injuries: ‘Pissed me off’ – New York Post
    [New York Post] – Sat, 01 Jun 2024 14:38:00 GMT
    1. Jalen Brunson hates Knicks getting a pass for playoff exit because of injuries: ‘Pissed me off’
    2. Jalen Brunson: Narrative That Knicks Lost to Pacers Due to Injuries ‘Pissed Me Off’
    3. Knicks’ Jalen Brunson, Bojan Bogdanovic undergo surgery
    4. Jalen Brunson claps back at tiredness narrative after Knicks’ playoff exit
    5. Jalen Brunson Demands End of Knicks Playoff Narrative


  • Loaded Celtics are the next big hurdle for Knicks to climb – New York Post
    [New York Post] – Sat, 01 Jun 2024 20:55:00 GMT

    Loaded Celtics are the next big hurdle for Knicks to climb


  • Knicks Media Roundup: Brunson’s options, Knicks call Pelicans about players, and a Hart history lesson – Posting and Toasting
    [Posting and Toasting] – Sat, 01 Jun 2024 16:00:00 GMT
    1. Knicks Media Roundup: Brunson’s options, Knicks call Pelicans about players, and a Hart history lesson
    2. Jalen Brunson is eligible for extension this offseason but should he re-sign? Examining the All-Star’s options
    3. Knicks’ extension for star point guard could be an absolute steal
    4. The mega-money calculations behind Jalen Brunsons Knicks extension decision
    5. Jalen Brunson contract extension: Knicks All-Star could leave $114 million on the table


  • New York Notes: Claxton, Finney-Smith, Brunson, Knicks’ Draft – hoopsrumors.com
    [hoopsrumors.com] – Sun, 02 Jun 2024 02:34:00 GMT

    New York Notes: Claxton, Finney-Smith, Brunson, Knicks’ Draft


  • Jazz Urged to Pursue Knicks OG Anunoby – Sports Illustrated
    [Sports Illustrated] – Sun, 02 Jun 2024 00:05:24 GMT
    1. Jazz Urged to Pursue Knicks OG Anunoby
    2. Knicks insider gives intriguing prediction for OG Anunoby’s new contract
    3. NBA free agency: Would OG Anunoby be worth the price for the Sixers?
    4. Stay or Go: Should Knicks re-sign OG Anunoby?
    5. Knicks Star Named Dream Free Agent Target for Utah Jazz


  • Knicks projected to draft Virginia’s Ryan Dunn with No. 25 pick – Posting and Toasting
    [Posting and Toasting] – Sat, 01 Jun 2024 10:00:00 GMT
    1. Knicks projected to draft Virginia’s Ryan Dunn with No. 25 pick
    2. Virginia Star Could Be Perfect Fit for Knicks
    3. NBA draft prospect Ryan Dunn: ‘You’re bringing in a defensive monster’
    4. Raptors Prospect to Know: Ryan Dunn Fits Profile as Defense-First Wing


  • G League Forward an Interesting Option for Knicks – Sports Illustrated
    [Sports Illustrated] – Sat, 01 Jun 2024 16:00:00 GMT
    1. G League Forward an Interesting Option for Knicks
    2. 2024 NBA Draft previews for all 30 teams
    3. Draft SZN’s First Knicks-Specific Big Board
    4. NBA Rumors: Knicks actively trying to make expected move in 2024 NBA Draft
    5. NBA Mock Draft: Knicks Grab Help with Back-to-Back Picks


  • Knicks 2023-24 Player Review: Jericho Sims – Posting and Toasting
    [Posting and Toasting] – Sat, 01 Jun 2024 13:00:00 GMT

    Knicks 2023-24 Player Review: Jericho Sims


  • “This motherf**ker is bold for saying this” – Carmelo Anthony says Mike Woodson swore to get them paid if they obey him – Basketball Network
    [Basketball Network] – Sat, 01 Jun 2024 17:41:34 GMT

    “This motherf**ker is bold for saying this” – Carmelo Anthony says Mike Woodson swore to get them paid if they obey him


  • Josh Hart And Jalen Brunson Have A Comical Interaction On LeBron James’ Position – Fadeaway World
    [Fadeaway World] – Sat, 01 Jun 2024 16:11:34 GMT

    Josh Hart And Jalen Brunson Have A Comical Interaction On LeBron James’ Position

  • 43 replies on “Knicks Morning News (2024.06.02)”

    I legit don’t get how anyone would be mad that people say injuries explain a poor performance. Injuries explain poor performances all the time in the NBA. That’s a weird reaction by Brunson, bordering on performative (you know, “Other people might use the injury excuse, but I won’t, even if the injury excuse is a perfectly valid excuse here”).

    “I just hate the fact that sometimes people give us the fact that we were injured or injuries happen. Like yeah, they’re a part of the game, but that’s not the reason we lost. We had chances to win. We were winning with those injuries. I just hate the narrative. I hate the narrative.” Hart even sort of rolled his eyes at Brunson’s position, as I don’t think he even believes Brunson really thinks that.

    Meanwhile, this is from Jake Fisher via realgm.com:

    Isaiah Hartenstein is expected to receive a contract offer between $80 million and $100 million, league executives told Jake Fischer of Yahoo! Sports.

    The Knicks can only offer Hartenstein a four-year, $72.5 million deal due to early Bird rights.

    The Thunder are reportedly interested in Hartenstein.

    Nic Claxton is also expected to receive a similar deal as Hartenstein.

    There’s a link in the blurb that gives a few more specifics.

    They were up 9 in the 4Q of game 3 and then the offense shit the bed for almost 10 minutes. Injuries didn’t cost them that game, terrible execution did.

    After game 5 the injuries became too much to bear, but the series should have been over by then, and I’m glad Brunson knows it.

    “We had chances to win that series and didn’t. We had a chance to go up 3-0 and we didn’t.”

    That’s 100% the correct take from Brunson.

    After failing to win game 3 you can point to the injuries.

    But he’s right: they should have been up 3-0. Then they probably win the series in 5 games, Hart never gets hurt in game 6, OG never comes back too soon, Brunson never breaks his hand, etc.

    Yeah, Brian. I love that Brunson is a no excuses type of guy, but come on.

    Exactly. I think he knows that that is sort of his thing, so he’s going overboard as a sort of branding thing.

    Meanwhile, this is from Jake Fisher via realgm.com:

    If the offers are for $80 million, I think the Knicks are fine. If someone is seriously offering him $100 million, well, then, you know, ruh roh.

    In a way, the 4/$72M cap kind of protects the Knicks from overpaying iHart. If that cap wasn’t there, no doubt we’d be faced with the prospect of pre-empting some theoretical offer. I’d feel terrible if we lost him, but I wouldn’t feel great about paying him $25M AAV either.

    They were up 9 in the 4Q of game 3 and then the offense shit the bed for almost 10 minutes. Injuries didn’t cost them that game, terrible execution did.

    The Knicks played 7 guys and were down Randle, Mitch, OG, and Bojan, but injuries didn’t play any role in the outcome of the game is an interesting argument. I wonder if those missing players had any effect on the offensive execution at the end of the game

    Isaiah Hartenstein is expected to receive a contract offer between $80 million and $100 million

    If this is the case, idk how we could possibly trade Mitch before free agency unless we know for a fact iHart is returning.

    If someone is going to offer him $100 million I guess we’re going to need a plan B

    “If this is the case, idk how we could possibly trade Mitch before free agency unless we know for a fact iHart is returning.”

    Doesn’t seem possible that the Knicks would do that. As Brian indicated, it really comes down to how high a team is willing to go. At $100M, no matter how much he loves his current team, it’s hard to imagine iHart turning down $28M for maybe even a better contender situation. It would take all of Leon’s and WWW’s skills to talk him out of that.

    If that happens, clearly Mitch and his brittle feet becomes the starter again. I can’t imagine that they will roll with either Precious or Sims as the primary backup. They could trade Bojan for someone, or pick up a low-cost UFA, or draft a defensive big with upside. But they will definitely have to do something.

    injuries didn’t play any role in the outcome of the game is an interesting [a straw man] argument.

    Fixed it for you, DRed.

    Can we sign and trade with Thunder… giddey and trade exception or whatnot?

    Sorry Hubert, when you said injuries didn’t cost the Knicks the game I mistakenly thought you were arguing that injuries didn’t cost the Knicks the game.

    I mean if there’s a binary in the NBA it’s you’re good enough or you’re not… luck is part of good. Injuries are a luck thing, unless you think Thibs is the kinda guy that loves to burn through his firewood even when the night is muggy as fuck and then he suddenly has no more logs to burn and there are wearleopards circling the camp. The way you parse in the press goes a long way to how well you’re parsed in the press. Yes injuries played a big part. But it’s all performative. All of it is performative. They’re zigging while the rest of the league is zagging. Taking the blame whether earned or not, false bravado that’s very something.

    There are also a lot of backup centers in this draft who could fall to us or we could trade up for: Filipowski, Missi, Ware, Edey…

    Clarence, we can’t, because we can’t give iHart the contract that the Thunder could just with their cap space.

    At $28,000,000 I think it would be time to test the 80/20 rule. Mason Plumlee, come on down!

    Maybe we can trade for Goga Bitazde. He was in Magic’s dungeon behind Carter and Mo Wagner. He rebounds defends and bludgeons. He’s No IHart, but better than Sims and at a cost of around $ 1.2MM

    Cgreene please provide some context. Are you contemplating a small OKC shop at the moment?

    We could always try a handshake deal with iHart saying we’ll extend or re-sign him for more money after the upcoming season like we did with Hart.

    Bitazde is probably too soft for Thibs.

    Adamantium is too soft for Thibs. Give me Bitadze

    My mouth is still watering thinking about all the tacos and BBQ I ate on this trip, DRed. Food-wise, Austin is… special.

    I think I-Hart is a better fit starting for NY than Mitch, but imo he’s not a 100 million dollar player. He didn’t exactly light it up in the playoffs. I don’t think anyone is going that high.

    The only thing I’ll say to defend that price is that if the projections are for the cap to increase rapidly in coming years, teams may be building that into their “% of cap” calculations. To that I’ll add, the last time teams did that the future cap growth disappointed and a few teams wound up with bad contracts on their books, including NY.

    Could the Knicks offer Hartenstein a shorter contract and give himself a chance to bet on himself for a year or two and then give him an even bigger payday than he’s going to get outside NY now?

    It would be a risk for him to not lock up that longer term money right away, but if he really wants to stay in NY and believes in his ability to continue improving, it might be a bet that pays off.

    To that I’ll add, the last time teams did that the future cap growth disappointed and a few teams wound up with bad contracts on their books, including NY.

    there’s no real danger of repeating that this summer. in 2016 the cap shot up by 34% from $70mm to $94mm as the players opted against strongly smoothing the cap increases from the first year of the new national tv contract. most of the crazy spending wasn’t because of expected future increases as much as the sudden jump in the actual cap.

    it’s also true that the next couple of years disappointed, but part of that was reflexive as the high salaries paid in 2016 reduced the little smoothing that did exist. the rest was largely bad luck with respect to the length of playoff series.

    but in this case we largely already know the new national tv contract increase that will start in 25-26. and everyone’s cap estimates are artificially maxed at the 10% smoothing in the new cba, so there’s an inherent cushion in the years relevant to upcoming contracts. under these conditions, it’s hard for any team to be wildly optimistic. there are still ways for bri to disappoint, especially local tv money, but this is pretty much the opposite of the dynamic in 2016.

    I think I-Hart is a better fit starting for NY than Mitch, but imo he’s not a 100 million dollar player. He didn’t exactly light it up in the playoffs. I don’t think anyone is going that high.

    I’m with you, Strat. He’s a center who doesn’t shoot 3s so I think he had to really crush it in the postseason to get a $100MM bid. If he’d been Game-5-vs-Indiana Hartenstein a couple more times, I could see it. As it stands, I think our offer will be his best.

    I feel the same about OG, too. There will be plenty of anxiety but at the end of the day I don’t think anyone is offering him $40MM.

    Players are going to be making $100M in 1.5 seasons. I’m not sure $100M over 4 is that crazy of a contract by the end.

    It’s an overpay for sure, but OKC can afford it if they really think he’s the piece. They can worry about tax hits later.

    OKC has so many options. Rather than doling out market rate contracts and committing $100,000,000 for Ventnor Ave, they could use some of their Monopoly money to have Marvin Gardens for a mere $40,000,000.

    OKC can afford it if they really think he’s the piece

    That’s the part I don’t believe after his postseason. He averaged less than 8 rebounds a game, was always in foul trouble, and ended it all with a big fat 0 in game 7. I don’t think anyone came away from this thinking Isaiah Hartenstein is their missing piece.

    I poked around on the OKC subreddit, and they seem skeptical about the Fisher tweet.

    Their read is that their FO is committed to Chet at the 5 to maximize his skill set, and the priority is for a wing to replace Giddey in the starting lineup. Markannen is the perfect fit in that case. They think if Hartenstein came in, he’d be backing up Chet most of the time and not worth a big FA deal.

    If that’s the case, I think they sign Jonas Valanciunas to back up Chet instead.

    If you believe in advanced stats, then iHart is a diamond.
    Increase his usage, give him a greenlight to shoot, feed him on PnR, let him innitiate offense of the high post and he’s an All-Star. The kid had a BPM of 3.4, EPM of 4.7 & a WS/48 of .204 while playing on a bad achillies.

    Here is the list of players this season to have a EPM above 3, BPM above 3, and WS/48 above .200.

    Jokic, Doncic, Giannis, SGA, AD, KP, Butler & Hartenstein.

    OG & JB got all the credit, but we got to 50 because of i-Hart. Loose him and the team takes a hige step backwards.

    Btw, just saw the video he posted on his IG, – definitively felt like a Thank You, NY and best wishes message.

    If you’re going to evaluate players off small stretches of playoff basketball you’re going to wind up talking like this

    Donte Divincenzo is shooting 333/300/889 in 144 minutes in this series, averaging roughly 12 points per 36 minutes. He’s now played 31 playoff games with a points average of roughly that rate, shooting 369/308/707. Not that we ever really were in it, but we’re far out of small sample size territory at this point.

    At even money, I’d bet on iHart staying. But I’d be very nervous.

    Totally agreed. I think he’s back for sure. That theoretical OKC offer is the only one that could possibly worry me, and who knows if that is even a real offer.

    Here is the list of players this season to have a EPM above 3, BPM above 3, and WS/48 above .200.

    Jokic, Doncic, Giannis, SGA, AD, KP, Butler & Hartenstein.

    So… he’s better than Brunson, Julius and OG, right?

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