[Posting and Toasting] – Tue, 04 Jun 2024 20:15:15 GMT
- REPORT: Knicks “looking to move” both first round picks
- Knicks Trade Rumors: NY ‘Looking to Move’ 1st-Round Picks in 2024 NBA Draft
- Draft night trade between Suns and Knicks would suit everybody
- The Stricklands 2024 NBA Draft Profiles Part 1: The Potential Steals
- NBA Mock Draft: Knicks Grab Help with Back-to-Back Picks
[The Philadelphia Inquirer] – Tue, 04 Jun 2024 09:00:01 GMT
NBA Finals: All the Philly, Sixers connections including Jrue Holiday, Dereck Lively II, and more
[Duke Basketball Report] – Tue, 04 Jun 2024 10:00:00 GMT
YouTube Gold: Scottie Pippen Made A Fool Of Himself On This Play
[Hoops Habit] – Tue, 04 Jun 2024 12:00:03 GMT
NBA Trades: Knicks land Brunson’s dream co-star in potential blockbuster with Nets
[Daily Knicks] – Tue, 04 Jun 2024 12:00:07 GMT
Grade the Trade: Knicks flip All-Star for Timberwolves big man in howling proposal
[MSN] – Wed, 05 Jun 2024 06:31:16 GMT
Zach Randolph Says The Knicks Thought They Would Sign LeBron James In 2010
[Heavy.com] – Tue, 04 Jun 2024 18:28:55 GMT
Knicks Predicted to Land Star Who Is 2-Time Player of the Year
[Sportsnaut] – Tue, 04 Jun 2024 16:16:04 GMT
Boston Celtics reportedly could soon add beloved former New York Knicks head coach to coaching staff
[Sports Illustrated] – Wed, 05 Jun 2024 06:36:43 GMT
- Huge News About NBA Legend Carmelo Anthony
- Carmelo Anthony’s team ownership aspirations start with Australia’s NBL
- Carmelo Anthony to Own Team in Aussie Basketball League
- Former NBA star to become owner of overseas expansion team
- Carmelo Anthony will join ownership group of future Australian NBL team
119 replies on “Knicks Morning News (2024.06.05)”
Some music to start the day. I’ve listened to this on a Gillette ad, i don’t know if it’s only an european ad, but then i forgot which ad it was and out of the blue started humming the song for days. I thought it was an ad during a Knicks game, but then my wife was watching TV (i guess i don’t watch TV anymore) and the ad showed. So now i’m trying to put you all humming the song like i did. LOL
https://soundcloud.com/djshadow/rocket-fuel-feat-de-la-soul
This ^^^^^^^^^^
Let’s enjoy the ride, and hope that this time around we can finish the job*! š
* I’m still thinking about those 2 last games in Houston in 1994. Starks played great in game 6 while Ewing and Harper were bad, and then the reverse for game 7. If one of Ewing and Harper had played their usual in game 6, or Starks played a little better in game 7, we’d have one more championship.
If one of Ewing and Harper had played their usual in game 6, or Starks played a little better in game 7, weād have at least one more championship.
fixed it for you (winning begets winning)
I haven’t been out for music in a while. Too much Knicks and Rangers. Last show I saw was Khruangbin at the Bowery Ballroom.
One of my not-so-guilty-pleasure bands is Third Eye Blind and they are playing in my hometown at Jones Beach.
Thanks! I thought about it, but then i didn’t want to look greedy and upset the basketball Gods! š š
Then go for it, and have fun! And then tell us all about it! š
It’s funny you mention this. When that first album of theirs was huge I was in college. At the time I was listening more to either 60’s or 70’s classic rock like Pink Floyd, Jimi Hendrix, etc…or electronica stuff or jazz. And I kind of thought Third Eye Blind sucked and really just knew the few songs that you heard everywhere for that one year.
But now I’ve grown to really appreciate that debut album of them. Of course nostalgia plays a huge part of it. They were definitely featured heavily in the soundtrack of 1997 and 1998 but man, that debut album is so freaking good.
So the Knicks are not looking to use their picks. I’m sure lots of people won’t have a problem with that, lol.
They’re basically saying “we’re open for a trade” to the rest of the league. Will be interesting to see if anyone bites.
I guess we would still have the 2nd rounder, which we can sign for a lot less money, and Rokas, who fills the back up PG need we have.
I still think they’re going to make a play for Bridges.
Going through the article above have me depressed lol
If the C’s indeed add the incomparable JVG to the bench next season, they will DEFINITELY win the chip. This season is up in the air because J Kidd has Dallas rolling and they’ve put together a solid supporting cast around Luka in short order. But JVG in tandem with Mazzulla with Tatum, Brown, and Holiday..Porzingis too? Yeah..that’s most likely a chip
*SIIIIIGHHHHH*
“I agree but itās mainly I donāt fully have faith in Leon yet. I need a good summer, or at least not an actively bad one to believe he has truly turned a corner. The trade deadline was so bad it shook my confidence a bit…”
How did you feel about Presti trading three players including Tre Mann and two seconds for Gordon Hayward? Even Presti hated that deal in retrospect. On the contrary, nearly the entire punditry praised Leon for making the deadline trade.
“…but itās hard to argue with Brunson, IHart, DDV, and OG all in a year and a half and I can look past one bad trade deadline if he follows it up with a solid summer.”
Hmmm…what does a solid summer mean?
“If he turns around and fumbles this summer as well, especially by repeating past mistakes like ignoring the draft or failing to bolster our bench then I will go back to being worried that maybe he hasnāt learned and the good moves were simply outliers and not evidence of actual improvement.”
It would take a special kind of cynicism to conclude that the good moves were outliers at this point.
“But I like where we are and I like our team. Even if he hasnāt learned and I end up wanting him gone I still give him credit for our turnaround and I am grateful.”
That’s fine, so long as you accept the wanting him gone is not going to make it so, probably for the next decade.
“The idea that wanting to win now somehow makes the draft less important is stupid and shortsighted. Dallas, Miami, OKC, and Indiana all had rookies playing meaningful minutes in the playoffs. Almost every good team has 2nd and 3rd year players in their rotation and itās often the best place to find depth once you are over the cap. It might take a year or two for players to be ready but good teams stay good by constantly using the draft to bolster their rotation. If we want this team to be sustainable we need to think more than 1 season ahead.”
You and others might disagree, but I have always been close to neutral on what happens with draft picks, with a preference for making them. For me, it has mainly been about return, including cap considerations. It sucks to be in a position where you have to use picks to dump salary, but it’s also nice to do so and still have plenty of picks left over. I would be fine with the Knicks trading out of this draft for as good or better picks down the road. Or packaging all three pick for a trade up. Or a combination of picks and trade-outs.
As I said, the important thing for me is the end result, especially as it pertains to next year’s rotation.
I had not thought about Third Eye Blind in a bit
Priorities this summer:
1) Extend OG. if this doesn’t happen, it deals us a crippling, possibly unrecoverable blow. We will have blown two young pieces on a rental. The only positive would be that we’d be that much further from being capped out, maybe to the point of being able to sign a free agent or make a favorable trade. But it would suck a gargantuan pubic appendage if that happened, so much so that I am going to have to assume that OG will be here, no matter the cost.
2) Retain iHart. This is reminiscent of the Mitch situation two years ago, and that had a happy ending. Will this one end as well? It would really suck to lose him, but I will fall back on my assertion that you can replace much of what he brings at a lower cost. It would put way too much pressure on Mitch to stay healthy. It also makes it imperative that we either target Missi or Edey in the draft, even if it requires a trade-up, or that we engineer a trade for a decent rotation C.
3) Find a suitable back-up PG. I love Deuce, but don’t have a lot of faith in his PG skills. One alternative is to find a 6MoY-type creator to play with him. Bojan doesn’t seem good enough for that. Neither does Burks. I suppose you could get by with Deuce if you keep Brunson or Randle on the floor with him, but it would be nice not to have to do that.
4) Keep hunting for that next big trade, preferably for a stud in the starting lineup….either at the 2, moving DDV back to a reserve role, or a comensurate replacement for Randle.
5) Figure out what is going on with Bojan and Burks. I’m good with keeping both, keeping one or the other, or letting both walk, meaning declining Bojan’s team option.
6) Pick up some decent vet’s minimum guys for the end of the bench. Get rid of the Daquan Jeffries/Jacob Toppin/Shake Milton types.
If Leon keeps OG and iHart in the fold, it would be very hard for me to think of this summer as any kind of failure, no matter what happens with our draft picks or at the end of the bench. A rotation of Brunson, Randle, OG, iHart, DDV, Mitch, Hart, and Deuce + whoever fills the 9-12 spots is good enough for me.
If he keeps OG but loses iHart, then there is a lot more variability in how I will feel about the summer. Losing iHart would not be Leon’s fault, since he will obviously offer the max he can offer. But it would require some advanced damage control. If we wind up with Bismack Biyombo as a replacement, I’ll be pretty annoyed.
Notably, the presumptive favorites have only 1 third-year or newer player in their rotation ā 26yo Sam Hauser. He’s played 142 fewer total playoff minutes (13mpg) than third-year player Deuce McBride.
Neither had I until like 5 years ago when my newly discovered half sister who is 23 years younger than me told me it was one of her favorite bands. They aged really damn well.
I tell you man, clear out 90 minutes later tonight, pour yourself a drink, and hit play on track 1. You will listen to that album all the way through and be glad you did. It’s the sweet sound of 1997, back when we thought this is the year we will finally beat the Bulls.
Trading Quickley, RJ and Grimes removed almost all the internal upside the team had that was part of the optimism I had about our medium term prospects. Now I think we need to try to strengthen our bench with more Win Now moves and to also replenish the youth portion of the bench to both increase upside surprise and start addressing the long term goals. When some of these vets get on the wrong side of 30 and can’t be energizer bunnies anymore we want to have some young guys ready to take over.
I looked at Rokas’s stats yesterday for the first time in years and read he may play summer league. If he’s ready to come to the NBA, that may be the backup PG solution. One good thing, it appears he can shoot.
Last I checked, good over the cap teams usually use draft picks to make trades for more good players.
Motorcycle Drive By is a banger.
Lively has played a whopping 1 more minute than Deuce in 3 more games. Hardy gets under 7 minutes a game and has been benched for several.
Denver won a championship last year with Christian Braun as the only playoff rotation player in his 3rd year or newer. He played 100 fewer minutes than Deuce McBride did this year. Braun & Watson combined for fewer mpg this postseason than Deuce played, Watson didn’t play every game.
Minnesota has nobody in the category that played rotation-level minutes.
Philly had nobody.
Miami got bounced in the first round and had nobody who fit that category last year when they went to the finals.
I don’t see an abundance of teams who rely heavily on recently drafted players, not more than the Knicks rely on Deuce.
Anyone have ideas about the best place to get a hotel in Barcelona? Mallorca? Thinking of spending a week in September…
“Lively has played a whopping 1 more minute than Deuce in 3 more games.”
This is only because he was injured.
If we trade the picks for players that can help us now, thatās fine. Doing the usual ātrade the picks for future protected picksā move makes even less sense than usual though given our place on the win curve. Hoarding fugazy picks for a big consolidation trade that never comes does not seem like a coherent strategy to me.
“This is only because he was injured.”
…and because the Knicks had so many injuries.
Hoarding fugazy picks for a big consolidation trade that can happen at any time seems like a coherent strategy to me. Being that Leon has build a 50-win team without making that big consolidation trade is pretty cool, because if that trade does come, it will surely make us a top-flight contender, and probably with some residual picks to spare.
Drafting in spots where the odd are 80% or better that the player will not be rotation-worthy also seems like a coherent strategy.
Personally, I’m fine with door #1, especially in this draft.
You don’t see Oklahoma City?
Evan Mobley and Isaac Okoro?
Andrew Nembhart, Ben Sheppard, and Isaiah Jackson? (Not to mention Mathurin)
I know the line was drawn at 3 years but there are some other pretty key contributors who were still on their rookie deals this spring and I see no reason they shouldn’t count:
Tyrese Maxey
Jaden McDaniels
Payton Pritchard
IMO rolling out picks in prior years was fine because there was a longer term end game to it. That’s part of why we have all this ammo now. We could endlessly debate who we could have picked in the past, but that’s mostly red boarding after seeing the results unless there was a clear cut player most agreed on (like a Mikal Bridges or Haliburton).
Rolling picks out now makes almost no sense because we are in a window where we have to make a bigger move this year. I guess you can argue that if there are no appealing deals now they may want to take one more look at the deadline, but I think rolling out both would be ridiculous.
IQ and Grimes were both in the rotation before we traded them. We can’t have it both ways. We traded for OG, Burks and Bojan, so our young players were no longer in our rotation (besides McBride).
My wife and I saw Spiro Gyro a couple of weeks ago in Seattle.
@Hubert,
This is a segment of the post from Ben that I’m responding to. He drew the line at 3rd year players and, while there’s very notable exceptions like OKC, it doesn’t seem like a majority let alone “almost every” team played the way he claims.
I’d love to have young guys on the roster but the Knicks don’t seem to be outliers by relying mostly on vets.
The 24th and 25th picks donāt make much more than the minimum salary for player with one or more years of experience. Saving money isnāt a reason to trade them away. Itās so weird to me the Knicks donāt want to draft anyone. They got IQ, Deuce, Grimes and Mitch with midrange draft picks and that was definitely value. They should do that again.
Sometimes you can trade a mid range pick like we did for Hart and itās better than what you’d do with the pick. But with Hart Portland had to trade him for money reasons and we had unused players we could send out. Thatās the sort of trade done in season, not right before the draft.
They are obviously willing to trade picks given their recent history and I guess they will do it again. But I donāt expect to get much. In*****tion here we go?
The moves Leon made with picks were not simply about trading into future drafts. One can disagree with the moves, individually or collectively, but they were not all the same.
Beyond that, I’m not going to get too wrapped up in what they do with this year’s picks until they do something. There are lots of options, all with pros and cons.
I think KAT and Bridges are the two players the Knicks are going to at least inquire about. I might add Paul George to that list, but I think he’s going to stay in LA.
Had the T-Wolves won the championship or even got to the finals with KAT playing great, I don’t think they could move him without the fans going crazy. But he was not especially good in the conference finals and they have Naz Reid emerging to play PF/C.
Someone that understands all the cap rules would know better, but if the Knicks could construct a deal that brings KAT to NY, sends a better fit with Gobert to the T-Wolves (Randle), and saves the T-Wolves a lot of money, I’m not sure how that doesn’t get done.
In the past I argued that to make a selection in the draft, you have to consider how it impacts your cap flexibility to do other things, whether you think a player available to you is worth the contact you’ll have to give him and whether you even like anyone in that area and think they are good fit with the team culture and needs. The vast majority of the time there’s going to be someone worth selecting, but the Knicks obviously had a longer term plan to use picks as assets in a trade.
But Khruangbinwas definitely in my YouTube play list for a while. Lately it’s heavy on Huseyin korkankorkmaz.https://youtu.be/WKOI3HX61Ig?si=sOs_6dK-Q5VD4cBI
A lot of those teams don’t because they can’t. Milwaukee and Phoenix would die to have the 24th and 25th picks right now.
Look I don’t care if we use these picks or trade them. The idea here is “don’t do anything stupid.” I didn’t hate the incineration because I’m devoted to the draft. I hated it because it was stupid.
If we trade both these picks for a quality backup PG, that’s totally fine, too.
“I think KAT and Bridges are the two players the Knicks are going to at least inquire about. I might add Paul George to that list, but I think heās going to stay in LA.”
As always, to which player named “Bridges” are you referring?
https://valleyofthesuns.com/posts/draft-night-trade-between-suns-and-knicks-would-suit-everybody
Any thoughts on this Suns’ blog proposed trade where we send 24 & 25 to Phoenix in exchange for 22? Doesn’t make much sense to me, as there doesn’t seem to be a vast dropoff around the Suns’ turn in the draft.
By the way, I’m not advocating for a KAT deal, but it does make some sense.
1. If KAT plays C for NY you don’t need the player replacing Randle at PF to be a big scorer because KAT’s a better spacer/scorer than Randle.
2. If KAT comes, you don’t have to worry quite as much about losing I-Hart because KAT can play C (yes I know there could be issues on defense).
3. Gobert and KAT kind of proved that guys like me that thought KAT would have a issues defending some PFs and his game on offense would suffer a little bit with less space, overestimated the problems. So maybe he can play PF alone with Mitch and/or I-Hart also.
Obviously Mikal is target #1 but I’m not gonna lie: I am curious what the market for Miles is. If we could trade Bojan and a first for Miles, sign him to the max first year salary allowable in a S&T, and make years 2 & 3 mostly non guaranteed, I would do that in a heartbeat no matter what names you guys call me.
Always Mikal
I am all for making the monster trade this off-season. I am probably less in the “let’s get healthy and run it back because look at January” opinion than the general consensus. I worry about the small sample size. But replacing Randle with KAT does not do if for me.
that would make no sense for us whatsoever
Thibsā whole scheme falls apart if you play KAT at center. I donāt think that would work.
I am intrigued however by the idea of KAT as our stretch four with some sort of Randle/picks package heading to Minny. But that still leaves Minny with a glut of bigs, with Gobert, Randle, and Reid all needing minutes. Theyāre a win-now team too, and I donāt see why they would think Randle is a better fit than KAT.
Any willingness on Minnesota’s part to trade KAT for Randle would be too great a tell.
Kevin O’Connor’s latest mock has Kolek going to the Magic at 18, while we select Johnny Murphy and Tyler Smith:
https://nbadraft.theringer.com/mock-draft?_ga=2.168954593.1901856844.1717604222-740956460.1707495298
Unless Leon reads KB and is a fan of the incineration debate threads we have here.
Isn’t Thibs a roadblock to us getting KAT? I mean, Thibs is getting extended. Would Rose really bring in KAT when the two of them kind of had issues back when he was coaching Minny?
Johnny Furphy is an interesting prospect, a potential boxscore stuffer who can do a little bit of everything. Heād be an upside play as he requires a little bit of development, so weāre not gonna draft him, but heād be a great pick in that range.
The flipside on the KAT thing is that if we trade for him, it means that Old Unsexy Thibs actually wants him, and believes that KAT can fit into what we’re trying to do here. Because Leon has clearly learned his lesson about not trying to force Non-Thibs Guys onto Old Unsexy Thibs.
I think the goal would be to play Towns with Mitch or I-Hart, but if one of those guys gets hurt or I-Hart leaves he comes the backup C also. Randle is never the backup C. The bad scenario would be I-Hart leaves, Mitch and KAT start together, then Mitch gets hurt for an extended period of time. KAT as the staring C long term is going to raise some issues defensively unless we add a very good defender besides OG at wing also.
Randle is a PF. Reid is more of a C that can play PF also. So right now they really have 3 Cs. I think the main reason Minny would do it is money, but I’m not sharp enough with the rules to know if a deal can be pulled off that saves them money.
“Any thoughts on this Sunsā blog proposed trade where we send 24 & 25 to Phoenix in exchange for 22
that would make no sense for us whatsoever”
I mostly agree except for the fact that we would very likely *not* use 24 and 25, anyway, whereas we *might* actually use 22 if we have it. This comment is totally based on the “history tells us…….” side of things, and not at all on what I think would actually be a good idea.
Makes no sense. Sounds like fans knowing the team is desperate for cheap depth and making uneven trades to fix it.
IMO, KAT is the better player. So it would be more than Randle. But the main reason for them to do it would be luxury taxes. They don’t want to pay them. If we can save them money as part of it that would be the primary incentive. If you asked me whether they would consider it during the season, I would have guessed no. But Reid really starting breaking out and Towns had a rough conference finals. I think it’s a maybe now.
I know KAT was highly criticized for some of his play this year but I don’t know that Minnesota would trade away a major piece of a team that just went to the WCF. What exactly do people think we can trade for KAT that would make it worth it to them?
Because I don’t think a 30-year old PF who’s never played well in the playoffs and is coming off a major injury plus some fugazy 1st are quite enough to get it done.
That blog only makes sense if there’s a player we’re desperate for at 22 or 23 that won’t be there at 24. It’d have to be Edey I think, not that the blog even suggests such a scenario
They seem to think we’re desperate to unload our extra picks, which, to be fair, is supported by the data.
The difference in money between the minimum cap hit for a roster spot and our two picks is $1 million dollars total. That is what making our picks would cost us over signing two minimum salary players.
Saving cap space is not an argument here. It’s one thing if we used those picks to get someone right now that can help us like we did with Hart but if we simply trade out of the draft for future picks it would be really stupid. We need players on our roster right now. The draft even late in the first is a better place to get those players than trying to scour the waiver wire for your last 5 roster spots.
We have three picks between 24-38 and over 1/3 (16/56) of the players drafted between 24-38 over the last four years have already played meaningful minutes in the playoffs. 10 of those players have averaged over 20 minutes in at least one of their teams playoff runs. By year three and four almost half of the players (11/28) have been in playoff rotations.
Players in that group include IQ, Bane, McDaniels, and Jones. All players we would trade multiple future 1sts for right now if they were available.
Those are pretty good odds that we will get at least one meaningful player if we use all three picks. We are not just trying to win next year. The picks would be to help us down the road. In two, three, four years. That is how we need to be thinking. These picks are actually more important not less important now that we are a contender.
It’s basically entirely financial. If the Wolves swap KAT for Randle and Sims before the new league year, they go from above the second apron to below the first (H/T Macri). If they think Randle + Reid is at least close to as good as KAT, they may well see the added flexibility as worth it. The second apron restrictions really are that onerous.
I am tepidly pro Randle-for-KAT, with a very low tolerance for any expectation that we sweeten our end of the deal. There are things Randle does better that shouldn’t be overlooked–his passing out of double teams is essential to us, he gets into transition more, and I just generally trust him more defensively–but at the end of the day I think we need KAT’s shot creation and spacing more than we need Randle.
As Macri points out, as long as we retain our important picks this wouldn’t necessarily be our final swing. KAT could be the outgoing salary in genuine superstar trade. In fact, having a mega salary like his on the books actually makes such a trade easier to consummate while above the first apron.
I’m guessing we make picks 25 & 38 and punt/trade down/stash 24.
Who are the stash options this year anyway? Anyone interesting?
https://x.com/sny_knicks/status/1798387238817890499
A very good report to hear from Begley, who, again, is by far the most plugged-in of the beats. He doesn’t say things unless he knows things.
You can’t be bad at drafting if you never draft anyone. Big brain move.
I strongly doubt that Minny would trade KAT and disrupt a conference finals team on the rise (Ant-Man is only going to get better!), or that the Knicks would target him for the massive haul that it would require, especially in light of the KAT-Thibs disconnect.
Beyond that, I have very mixed feelings. KAT has never really been my cup of tea, but he’s no different than KP in that regard, and likely more durable and versatile. I would have been fine with acquiring KP last year, and it seems to have worked well for the Celts. So I guess my overall feeling is, if it happens, it happens.
Missing last year’s pick (fuck you Dallas) may also be a factor. It’s not just about keeping costs down this year, but keeping costs down in future years too.
I could see Hart turning into salary fodder in the future, replaced in the rotation by one of these picks.
Dallas getting a 750K for tanking like that is absolute bullshit. The difference between the 11th pick and the 24th pick is quite large.
KAT makes so much money that for all intents and purposes getting him would be the last significant move they make in this window and I’m not enthused at all. Katz covered this in his latest podcast: if they get KAT and it doesn’t work, they are basically stuck because it is kind of impossible to trade him when you are over the 2nd apron.
“The difference in money between the minimum cap hit for a roster spot and our two picks is $1 million dollars total. That is what making our picks would cost us over signing two minimum salary players.”
This is misleading, as first round picks are purportedly made as long-term investments while minimum salaries are considered to be one-year propositions.
right on with the Rocket Fuel Cyber š
also, thanks pepper for leaving that tedeschi trucks tune…that was nice…
y’all might just simply be half-ass basketball analysts – no doubt though you all are most certainly first class basketball fans and music afficionados š¤Ŗ
boys are over for a bit, been doing some home-school stuff…
things have actually been going smooth with it…
reminds me though of the first try at the home-schooling back during the pandemic…
that was crazy tough…like insanely difficult…
I love teachers so much now…
Question of the day:
– anyone here cut their own hair?
sitting at Great Clips waiting for a haircut…
keep saying though I’m gonna do it myself, or let one of the kids have at it…
Macri covered this today. It’s not necessarily true. KAT could be the outgoing salary in a trade for e.g. Giannis down the road provided we don’t blow through our picks to get him. Their salaries are so close, it would be doable even under first-apron restrictions.
KAT’s salary is also literally identical to Devin Booker’s.
That’s a slightly different issue in my view. Sure KAT can be used as the chip in a trade to upgrade elsewhere, but (i) that still restricts your flexibility because the opposing team might really not want to have a contract of that size in the books; and (ii) are your assets post-KAT trade even enough to do that.
But the even more concerning issue is whether you want to trade out of KAT, not necessarily for a star, but just to give you flexibility elsewhere, in case he proves to be a massive failure on the Knicks. And then you are basically screwed.
Geo, perhaps this is why I feel a special kinship to Jeff Van Gundy, outside of our general shared curmudgeonry, but I’ve been cutting my own hair since the age of about 20.
Like JVG I had about two weeks between the end of teenage acne and the onset of George Costanza-esque premature baldness, so I picked up some clippers and never looked back. Probably saved myself $5k these last 20 years on haircuts that would have made me no less shitty looking, but the real savings is the many hours of painful, forced barber small-talk.
I’m guessing that Leon and Co. will weigh all the options (1. trading picks for vets 2. trading picks for future picks 3. actually making the draft picks) and decide what gives Thibs the most value for next season.
Sure, bringing in vets to bolster the bench is great, but if it’s a choice between trading for say Cedi Osman and drafting Tristan da Silva… I hope Rose would rather make that pick.
So it really depends on what trades are available. If nothing presents itself, I could see Leon trading up to get a “win-now” guy like da Silva, Carter, or Edey (maybe the Lakers would do a 2-for-1 so they can draft Bronny in the 1st round and still grab another guy ha).
Or he could trade down and grab more 2nd rounders, select a bunch of upperclassmen, and see who sticks ā there are plenty of interesting guys mocked between 31 and 60 this year.
This seems like a smart option. 2nd rounders aren’t guaranteed and you can sign them to whatever contact you like basically. We’re really just looking for end of the bench young players who can become future rotation players.
ha, loving you pags š
I agree that trading up with 24 and 25 to 22 is bad strategy in a vacuum, but if there is a player you really covet above all others that you think is going to be taken at 23, then whatever.
After binge reading the Ringer article instead of getting any work done, I like the following players:
* Bobi Klintman, SG
* Pacome Dadiet, SG
* KJ Simpson, PG
* Johnny Furphy
* Kyle Filipowski, C
* Daron Holmes, PF
* Baylor Scheierman, SG
* Jamal Shead, PG
* Jaylon Tyson, SG
* Jonathan Mogbo
Also Terrence Shannon is a great prospect except for the whole rape charge thing.
I left out Edey & Kolek as too obvious.
Mogbo sounds like Hart if he were 6’8″ and a better passer. He may be my favorite.
Can’t shoot 3s at all but his FT% jumped from 43% to 68% so I’m optimistic he’s figuring out his shot.
No offers out of highschool then grew a foot. He’s improved which is a great sign. He’s got all the markings of a guy being underrated.
17.8 pts/36
12.7 rebs/36
4.6 ast/36
2.0 stls/36
63.6 efg%
https://x.com/TheStrickland/status/1798434944735178756?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet
Knicks hosted Ryan Dunn today – he’s a terrible shooter, but a Thibs player with his great defense.
Somebody mentioned draft and stash…. https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/40284258/serbian-projected-top-10-pick-nikola-topic-torn-acl
Bob, hard to imagine Topic sliding all the way to 25, unless the injury is considered career-threatening. He’s been projected as high as top 3 or 4. Some team much higher than us āĀ especially one with multiple picks, and/or one that intends to tank for Cooper Flagg anyway āĀ will gamble on the guy.
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@NBA_University
Leaders Screen Assists Per Minute (playoffs):
1. Hartenstein: 0.17 (66 total)
2. Gobert: 0.16 (84)
3. Jokic: 0.154 (74)
4. Robinson: 0.15 (17)
5. Nurkic: 0.14 (15)
5. Gafford: 0.14 (50)
7. Lively: 0.13 (46)
7. Bam: 0.13 (25)
9. Mobley: 0.12 (50)
10. AD: 0.11 (23)
Saw this and thought it was silly to measure on per minute basis…but have no idea why NBA doesn’t add screen assist as part of the regular stats. One can argue that they’re nearly as valuable as a regualr assist. Everynight between assist and blocks/steals there should be a column named SA.
Hey Geo, been cutting my own hair since the pandemic started. Not balding, which makes it tougher, but generally it looks as good as my $35 cuts did. Once I nailed it and looked better than any pro cut I ever had, and once I messed up so bad I had to basically buzz it down. I have no idea how I did the good one and know exactly how I screwed up, so I settle for “pretty good” now.
It does take awhile, but isn’t all that hard.
This is the longest fucking wait for the Finals. So goddamn painful.
Ryan Dunn would be an excellent pick late in the first round in this shitty draft. He is a first team all-defense type and only 21 years old. Above the rim player with great motor. Maybe you can teach him some rudimentary offensive stuff and improve his FT shooting, maybe not, but you can’t teach the NBA-ready defensive skills he already has. Not saying he’s the second coming of Dennis Rodman or anything, but from looking at his film, that’s the sort of player he seems to be.
I’m totally cool with Dunn, agreed.
I would also be cool if this NBA Finals could just fucking start already.
Fair enough. Michael Porter dropped to 14th as the presumptive #1 when healthy with a disc issue and this kid needs ACL surgery and isn’t quite as highly rated by the consensus. “Fortune favors the prepared mind” and I hope our guys do their due diligence. Dan Marino dropped to the 30 pick and Randy Moss fell greatly. Just be prepared, Leon.
“Mogbo sounds like Hart if he were 6ā8ā³ and a better passer. He may be my favorite.”
I watched Mogbo’s film and nothing translatable jumped off the page for me, not like Dunn. Seems more like more of an undersized PF than a high-motor electric wing. And he’s a year older. But if our scouts like him better after due diligence, sure, why not?
nice rama…may i ask please, how do you deal with the cut hair?
do you have a certain chair/floor space designated?
how much do you really need a mirror to do the cut?
i got a nice wahl, but will one of them smaller electric “no-cut” (thank god) ball shaver things work? they got all types of attachments…
before anyone thinks it – no i do not wish to watch a video on self hair cutting…and yes, i would much rather ask rama on how it’s done š
Yeah, I’m basing this entirely off of stats and a Ringer article despite usually having severe reservations about the Ringer. I’ll do more investigating later but he struck me as interesting.
He was projected lower, so he may be better at 38 than 24 or 25.
Seriously, I donāt understand it. The playoffs were losing momentum after the first round, and now itās ground to a halt altogether. The casual fan has forgotten itās still basketball season.
Ryan Dunn is similar to OG in that he seems to be everywhere and just wrecks opponent’s offensive plays. Can’t shoot a lick, but his lower body is all over the place on his shot, maybe that can be tweaked to the point that he can hit uncontested 3’s?
Here’s a great highlight reel, just ignore the offense and skip to 8:42 and watch his defensive highlights. He guards big, small, perimeter, at the rim, on ball, off ball…he’s ferocious on rim protection, but isn’t a foul machine. Averaged 5.2 stocks per 40, plus 9.9 rebounds per 40 and only 3.0 fouls.
i read that they need a minimum week (7 or 8 days) lead time to get all the various media, teams, whatever, in place for the finals…i think Francesa on his podcast went off on the league for this delay but it is kind of unavoidable given all the pieces that have to be moved around the chessboard..
The NBA Finals will begin in a week, which is a disaster for the NBA,ā Francesa said. āI know they canāt do anything about it, I know they want to schedule it. They donāt know what city these things are going to be played in, itās not like the Super Bowl. I understand why theyāre doing what theyāre doing, but I think it really hurts their product and it really hurts the marginal fan.ā
In recent years, the NBA moved away from having a flexible Finals schedule. The league opts for a fixed start date, believing it appeases the fans, teams, TV partners, and the more than 1,000 media members they anticipate traveling from around the world to cover the Finals.
And it’s a really interesting Finals matchup, too! It really is maddening.
Thatās referring to the minimum salary for players with less than one year of experience. But if the Knicks trade their picks for a player he will almost certainly have more experience than that and then his Sakarya will be at most a few hundred thousand dollars less, if that.
They donāt need a week to get the finals prepped. The start date for the finals was set months ago. If either CF had gone 7 games, the finals would still start on June 6th. The week off presents a real problem for maintaining interest.
Which begs the questionā¦ IF the NBA can conspire with refs to extend series, then why donāt they?
I think the fact that they scheduled one game every 3 days is going to be even worse. Weāre used to every other day, for the most part.
I suspect that if the Leon is considering bringing in Towns, he’s not thinking about trading him later. That’s going to be the final version of the team other than filling out the bench and maybe upgrading the SG position later if possible.
It’s going to be I-Hart and/or Mitch; Towns; OG; Brunson and either DDV or J-Hart.
The team they have now is close to serious contention when healthy with Randle. Towns is a better floor spacer and more efficient scorer. I’m not a huge fan of Towns on defense, but Randle is no bargain either.
Brunson, Towns and OG is a good #1; #2 and #3, especially if OG can improve his handle a little and move forward a bit (which I think is possible). Then you make a choice of whether you want what J-Hart brings to the table or really push the offense forward with DDV.
I think I’d prefer J-Hart starting if we added Towns.
you have all convinced me – i ain’t watching none of it…
Mogbo looks very good on film. Very high-level passer who can handle the ball, plus an athlete who dunks with ease, has a motor, and sports a 7’2″ wingspan.
Mogbo is the only NCAA player ever to have 80 dunks with an assist percentage over 20 in one season.
I strongly disagree about Mogboās film, but I guess weāll see.
“The week off presents a real problem for maintaining interest.”
where’s the data to prove that?
you reckon the viewership ratings are going to be lower for game 1 because it was a week off?
the article said they did this starting a few years ago…maybe this year will be the longest down time but money hungry silver and co would have likley changed it if it hit them in the wallet…so maybe it creates more interest like the 2 week super bowl lag…
Btw thanks for the Tedeschi Trucks Band recc, they happen to be at the SPAC in Saratoga when weāre dropping off my son at Skidmore. Might have to check them out.
I donāt know about data, but my interest is significantly lower than it was a week. Who knows if others feel like I do.
Mogbo sounds like my kind of guy
Towns is someone who I think would frustrate me a lot if I watched him nightly. Itās plausible but he is not Giannis.
But you’re still going to watch game one?
Thereās obviously no data, as it hasnāt happened yet. But my interest has waned, and Iām more than a casual fan, as I read this blog every day.
As for the last few years: in 2022 the finals started on June 2nd, three days after the ECF went 7 games. In 2023 the finals started on June 1st, two days after the ECF went 7 games.
Will the ratings drop this year? I have no idea. There are a bunch of other things at play that affect ratings. But I do think they have done themselves a disservice, as well as the fans, by not moving up the start date of the finals after two very underwhelming conference finals ended early and with a thud.
Dunn just absolutely cannot shoot, he took like 2 shots a game that weren’t at the rim (and was bad at them). He can’t shoot FTs either. As a 2nd round pick, sure, go ahead. He’s a wrecker on defense but NBA teams just aren’t going to bother guarding him. I’m trying to think of wings who were that bad on offense at a young age and had a solid NBA career and it’s tough. Maybe Gerald Wallace?
idk if it will show up in the ratings but i’ve lost a surprising amount of interest in a pretty compelling finals. and i’m a true degen. i record summer league games and watch synergy clips of mason plumlee setting screens. i accidentally made completely unnecessary plans tomorrow because i momentarily forgot the season was still going on. it’s like owen’s wife set the schedule so he wouldn’t be alone in never actually watching basketball.
Iām pretty much out on the NBA Finals. If it starts getting epic Iāll tune in but Iāve moved on due to the delay. Frankly Iām annoyed itās holding up the draft.
It appears we have finally found true unanimity on something.
Total horseshit. Canāt believe there isnāt any basketball still.
Honestly, I’m shocked that anyone gives a shit about the delay. I will be riveted to the finals. I’m expecting that the ratings will be very good. I guess we’ll see!
I just got used to the playoffs being over. Not ready or willing to go back to devoting my evenings to something I already quit.
“Dunn just absolutely cannot shoot, he took like 2 shots a game that werenāt at the rim (and was bad at them). He canāt shoot FTs either. As a 2nd round pick, sure, go ahead. Heās a wrecker on defense but NBA teams just arenāt going to bother guarding him. Iām trying to think of wings who were that bad on offense at a young age and had a solid NBA career and itās tough. Maybe Gerald Wallace?”
It’s a fair criticism, but my feeling is that anyone who thinks that Kolek will be a better NBA player than Dunn is just as misguided. Kolek will not be able to defend at all in the NBA. Think Malachi Flynn. To me, that’s a much greater liablilty than not being able to shoot. Seems like folks still significantly value offense over defense. Dunn is a special defender. Kolek is nothing special on offense, it’s mostly wishcasting that he’s Brunson 2.0. Dunn is widely regarded as the best defender in the class. And I’m close to 100% confident that Mogbo will suck.
We’ll see.
Agreed on the Finals. Maybe I’ll tune in by game 3 or 4.
@geo, mostly cut by feel and sound. I know what my cuts were like, the technique the barber used, the sound of quick short snips as he held a line of my hair between his four fingers, so I did that and it worked. Don’t really look in the mirror until I get somewhere with it, and only to check it against how it feels. I do need to use a little mirror to see the back, though. The bad cut was when I tried to use my electric razor back from when I shaved my head (musician days) to create a fade in the back – disaster.
Really not too hard. Just takes time, because you don’t want to cut big pieces, just little snips so you never get too deep and can’t go back.
Idk about his shot chart, but look up Herb Jonesā college numbers at the same ageā¦ pretty ugly. And now heās a legit 3&D wing that any team would want. Maybe Dunn will never get there, but maybe he will?
“Maybe Dunn will never get there, but maybe he will?”
Dunn is a better defender than Herb Jones was in college. He is also a year younger than Jones was at draft time, and Jones played 4 years in college, and his 4th year was a massive improvement over his third year. Still, he was drafted at #35.
Dunn will very likely outplay many guys drafted before him, and like with Jones, there will be many teams who regret passing over him, including the Knicks, who passed over Jones for Rokas!
I agree that Dunn is already there defensively, but he still has a lot of work to do on his shooting.
I think that in the NBA, and perhaps all sports, offense gets all the glory. In this NBA era, that is even more pronounced. And that’s why, in this shitty draft, I think that there is an opportunity to capitalize on that imbalance. It seem like the only position where defense is prioritized is at the center spot. Teams might take a chance on Missi, even though he has no offensive game at all.
But a great defensive wing can also be a huge asset in today’s positionless NBA. You would have to surround him with the right players, but a true lockdown wing is going to win the possession battle more than an Obi Toppin type, so long as he has the right guys on the floor with him. Dunn is the real deal on the defensive end.
Dunn is my first choice of anyone mocked around our picks.
He isnāt a sure thing but I think his defensive upside is worth the gamble.