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218 replies on “Knicks Morning News (2025.02.05)”
Good morning, fellow Knickerbloggers!!!
Regarding the Grimes trade:
“gkhenman says:
February 4, 2025 at 22:49
I was working hard all day and missed it Dr. Clueless.”
I don’t think *that* was justified. LOL
What a win for the Nets. What a loss for the Rockets. A couple teams seem to be cooling off.
Winning last night will make getting blown out by the Celtics slightly more acceptable
Don’t worry, the new Dylan lyrics headline motif will carry the Knicks to another win!
Celtics game should be fun, maybe we can put elite wing defender Ariel Hukporti on Tatum
I missed most of Hukporti’s minutes, seems like he got blown by a few times in the 4th q, was he good before that other than converting wide open dunks?
He played surprisingly good defense on Scottie Barnes in the first half
Was looking at yesterday’s box scores and saw Portland rolled over the Pacers. Hali was 0-3 in 20 odd minutes and Obi was 0-2 in 8. Maybe we should have drafted Desmond Bane in 2020
Portland is on a 5-game win streak:
* Bucks
* Magic
* Suns
* Suns
* Indy
They’ve won 9 of their last 10 and passed Wemby in the standings. Their defense over that span would be 2nd in the league. Their offense 3rd.
Portland has won 5 in a row! Not sure what’s going on over there.
*EB truly is the early bird.
Brooklyn has won three in a row, including the Rockets twice.
Portland has a lot of talent. They are clunky and some of their players are young and/or low b-ball IQ. When guys like Anfernee, Shaedon, and Scoot are feeling it, they can beat anyone.
Brooklyn had some extra motivation to beat the Rockets. Ime Udoka called the Nets a “low-level” team and they took it personally.
Ime is a good coach, but he’s kind of a dick. I don’t think he is beloved in the non-Rockets NBA community.
Scoot, once written off as a hopeless bust, is now playing well. The real story there is Toumani Camara – who has quietly emerged as one of the game’s top wing defenders. He was tasked with guarding Hali last night and held him to zero points.
Not ready to go crazy on the Big Wing Huk thing but it’s funny and he looked ok in the first half. Some of that may be Barnes just missing some shots. The thing I noticed last night is that Huk genuinely is a little nimble for a big. When he comes to set a screen he covers ground quicker than you would expect and his lateral movement is the same.
Watching him I am generally kind of just mapping him to Mitch. They have very similar dimensions. Same standing reach and Mitch has 2 inches of wingspan on him. I don’t know what it is but Mitch just seems to occupy and command space more in the paint. I think that was true when he came in and true after he beefed up. Maybe he has wider shoulders? I don’t know. Mitch also was much faster end to end, although he slowed down after bulking.
The biggest difference is that Mitch got off the court so much quicker and higher both on his jumps and his second jumps. Mitch was really special in that aspect as a rookie. He gave a little back when he got stronger but still had truly dominant athleticism.
Very excited with what Huk has showed although at a low level of expectation and anxiously awaiting Mitch’s return. I can’t say he’s my favorite Knick anymore but I still love him.
Day’Ron Sharpe had 8 points, 3 rebounds, and 4 assists (3-of-4 shooting) in 20 minutes off the Nets bench last night.
Glen Gondrezick of the Nuggets. Wow. (Yes, I know he started with us. But he played almost twice as many games with Denver as he did with us, and when I think of him I think of him with the Nuggets.)
RIP
I thought the most encouraging aspect of last night’s game was Towns seemingly accepting that the thumb is impacting his shooting and adjusting accordingly. He took the open ones, but definitely indexed more on drives.
This is of course the opposite of the approach I normally want him to take–when he’s capable of hitting 40% of his 3s I want to see 8+ per game. But he’s pretty clearly compromised right now, so this seems to be the next best thing.
Nikola Jovic averaging 15.4 points per game over his last five. Where do the Heat keep finding these guys?
NBA.com has Scottie shooting 1-9 against Hukporti. Seems like more than a fluke.
The first round of the draft
Matas Buzelis averaging 13.8 points per game over his last five games, on 71.1 percent field goal shooting (27-of-38). 10-of-10 last night.
Yeah, but 27th overall (for Jovic), and no college film.
FROM SHAMS:
“Breaking: The Milwaukee Bucks are trading Khris Middleton, AJ Johnson and a pick swap to the Washington Wizards for Kyle Kuzma, Patrick Baldwin Jr. and second-round draft compensation, sources tell ESPN.”
Huk definitely looks like he has the potential to be a legit NBA backup C. That’s a nice find with the last pick in the draft. You could say the same about Sims, although his development seems to have topped out at replacement level big.
Brunson continues to amaze. He literally won the last two singlehandedly, and both involved two pull-up in your face 3’s in the crunchiest of crunch time. Now he was also part of the reason that the Raptors came back in the first place, but still, to own them like that in the last 2 minutes on the 2nd night of a B2B when they had all the momentum and fresh legs was awesome.
Biggest game of the year coming up Saturday. Going with a couple of my besties who I used to share season tix with, which we acquired when we won the Ewing lottery. The Celts are healthy, playing well, and I’m sure fired up. Hopefully we will be ready to put up a valiant effort and I can watch the the many Massholes who will surely be there slink out of MSG.
“Was looking at yesterday’s box scores and saw Portland rolled over the Pacers. Hali was 0-3 in 20 odd minutes and Obi was 0-2 in 8. Maybe we should have drafted Desmond Bane in 2020”
It was actually a little worse than that. Haliburton was on the floor for 25 minutes.
““Breaking: The Milwaukee Bucks are trading Khris Middleton, AJ Johnson and a pick swap to the Washington Wizards for Kyle Kuzma, Patrick Baldwin Jr. and second-round draft compensation, sources tell ESPN.””
It’s pretty bad when a team *receiving* Kuzma can be considered to have won a trade.
I think it’s a desperation trade for the Bucks. Kuzma is at least relatively healthy and can defend, while Middleton is totally washed on D. Kuz also is on a descending deal making Fournier money, so he can be salary filler in a trade, while Kris’s $34M player option for next year is ugly and would probably require sweetener to dump.
I really enjoyed watching the synergy between huk and jalen…it’s like they’ve really just kept driving home the theme to huk of playing with energy…
seems just like AD, KAT would rather play at the four…
seems KAT was making a point that him as a power forward is the way to go…
the wrap/bandage on his left ring finger was more noticeable last night…
Dylan, hailing from northern Minnesota, playing with a Canadian Band for years, and writing over a thousand songs, only mentions Canada once?? That might be the hardest fact for me to accept this year. The guy even refers to Pat Riley more than once in his songs.
Kuz is not the answer smh. The Bucks really shitted up that team.
Just a reminder that this is tonight, and I have some spare books with me: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/alan-sepinwall-james-poniewozik-saul-goodman-v-jimmy-mcgill-tickets-1107367097799?aff=oddtdtcreator
Also, I think I’m the only Jersey guy here, but if that’s not the case, this is in Maplewood on Thursday night: https://wordsbookstore.com/events/44460
Z-Man, there was a stretch early on when Huk blew up three Barnes possessions in a row with great defensive footwork to stay in front of him, then blew up a driving layup by some random anonymous Raptor, bothered a three-pointer from someone into a miss, and blocked a drive (and eventually got the rebound). After that Barnes wanted nothing to do with Huk and basically passed the ball to anyone to avoid doing something himself.
Maybe random, but lovely to see.
Trading for Kyle Kuzma is a weird thing to do if you are trying to win basketball games
I thought that Huk looked very good for a short stint last night, but wanted to point out that he was not credited with any blocks. Doesn’t mean that he wasn’t disruptive on defense, though. (Please pardon the double negative.)
I’m glad we won and get some time off before the next game. Saturday, I think? But I wonder if I’m alone in thinking this- was the offense better when we fed KAT early? I like the was this team plays when KAT is in a groove. When that happens, Brunson has to save us less often, and in money time the reasons he got his bag really shine through
Durant on Houston or Dallas would be kind of scary—less so back in Golden State or in Miami. Considering how much (and for how long) he wasn’t able to play, gotta credit the guy for not missing a beat on his dominance now that he’s back. He’s just working in relative anonymity on a boring Suns team. I don’t think that he *significantly* upgrades Miami, but I still don’t want him back in the East. If Dallas can manage this after the AD trade, kudos to them (depending on what they give up).
Interesting, Doogie, thanks. There was a drive to the right side that he blew up, it was missed badly so I assumed a block. A good defensive sequence anyway, plus coming up with the loose ball in a scrum.
Haven’t seen much of the Bucks, so I don’t know how washed Middleton is, but I can see that being a decent trade based on salary and availability alone. Also, Doc has/had them playing good defense, so maybe they can endure the Kuz on that end.
That is a weird trade. I’m trying to figure out the rationale. Looking at Milwaukees slim stock of picks Washington maybe acquired swap rights on Milwaukee’s 2031 first. That’s a nice swap. Washington should be better by then and Milwaukee worse. I also suspect that Johnson is a much better prospect than Baldwin. I know almost nothing about them, but Johnson was the 23rd pick in the last draft while Baldwin was the 28 th pick in the 2022 draft and is still spending some time in G league. But neither looks great by their numbers. Is that swap really worth taking on Middleton’s contract?
The Rocket have had some injuries lately, but I’ve been expecting them to be one of the teams to drop in the standings. They have some good young players, but they are not that good.
He wasn’t credited, and maybe the angle is just bad, but it sure looks like he blocked a shot on Barnes. Maybe KAT got his hand on the ball first, as he’s credited for a block during the same sequence, but that’s on a Poeltl tip and not the Barnes layup despite the announcer yelling he got denied.
There was a steal by OG the other day that didn’t get credited either. He jumped in front of Jokic(?) on a pass from Murray(?). Murray was credited with a bad pass, which was definitely more of the cause, but someone was still needed to cut in front of Joker and grab the ball.
Either the NBA intern is getting lazy or they need to replace chatgpt with deepseek before it’s banned.
Thanks, Raven. I really like him as a project. Great motor, great size, being a lefty helps, has more offensive upside than either Mitch or Sims. He’s still only 22 and has ample room for development. Hard to really put a ceiling on him beyond “he’s not Giannis.” Can he be a Capela? A Looney? A healthy RWIII? An iHart? A Poeltl? A Zubac? These are all defensive-minded starting Cs with some offensive capability.
Here’s a detailed scouting report from Vecenie from last year at this time:
https://nbl.com.au/news/nba-draft-expert-praises-hukporti
Barnes missed a ton of shots against Huk for sure. Again, I don’t know if Barnes was forcing it because he had a big on him, or whether he ran bad, or just great defense. Either way, great result.
I kind of feel like Towns will be asking for trouble playing this kind of smashmouth ball on a permanent basis. The guy rarely gets calls but he is generally driving into a thicket of arms, legs, and feet and almost always takes a lot of contact. The reason guys shoot threes more as they establish themselves is that it’s a lot easier on the body.
He’s a warrior though. No doubt about it. On offense.
My feeling is that whoever gets Kuzma lost the trade unless they are tanking and got some picks to take him. I’m glad I have no action on the Bucks. He’s a scorer. He’s going to have nights where he’s hot and helps the Bucks win, but he’s generally a two way negative player.
The biggest mistakes Giannis made were extending with the Bucks and opening his mouth on trades. He has to get out of there and keep his mouth shut on trades. He’s been pushing for and approving bad ideas.
Early Bird,
I never used to do this, but lately I’ve been focusing on a single player at a time during a game to get a better feel for their skills. I’ve been noticing some missed rebounds, steals and blocks. Maybe I’m missing some subtle things, but not in every case.
Wow. Payne had 6 assists in his 13 minutes last night? Who said he’s not a point guard (besides myself 🙂 )?!?
Giannis deserves more credit for his patience and loyalty.
The most underdiscussed aspect of the Luka trade was that Milwaukee said no. I imagine they did so bc they knew there was no way Luka would stick around like Giannis is seemingly willing to.
Kuz probably will suck, but Middleton sucks and has a huge player option next year. There’s a greater than zero chance that Kuz benefits from playing for an actually good team where he can pick his spots on offense and play decent defense. And if not, at least he can be moved without sweetener.
i liked huk’s all around contribution last night…he didn’t look out of place on the offensive end, especially around the rim and we need some additional presence in there…his dee was solid…moved his feet well…just one game but if he can give us some quality time off the bench…that will be huge…
Hopefully OG is up for it Saturday night…would like to see our full squad against theirs…
What about Kel’el Ware?
I brought him up last week and now he’s starting and just won rookie of the month.
The most underdiscussed aspect of the Luka trade was that Milwaukee said no.
I wonder deep down how Giannis feels about this. Also wonder if the Bucks told him about the offer.
I didn’t see a lot of the game last night. I was watching some of the Celtics/Cavs game also.
Precious had a great stat line 17 points (7-11; 1-3; 2-2); 8 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals but somehow he wound up with a +/- of -14. He was the only negative on the team.
Did I miss something significant?
“What about Kel’el Ware?
I brought him up last week and now he’s starting and just won rookie of the month.”
Yeah, I brought him up a few weeks ago when he was especially on a tear.
I don’t think so. Teams go on runs. The Raptors went on theirs after we went up 20 while Precious was in the game. Probably a coincidence.
I’m starting to warm up to Precious. Yes, he’s flawed on the offensive end, but he hustles his butt off and has a positive impact on the defensive end.
Now I’d rather not see him getting 36 minutes like last night (and he and Huk together is a disaster) but when we’re healthy as a 15-20 minutes a night guy, I’m fine with it.
The Heat manage to pull more rabbits out of the hat than anyone. Things looked pretty bad for them given the age of a few players and the issues with Butler, but right now I could see that team turning around quickly without tanking if they get some decent assets for Butler.
Uh, did you hear about the Luka trade? 😉
Side note: it was hilarious to listen to Simmons whine about the Lakers while being completely oblivious to how many times his shitty Celtics have been bailed out in the same way (McHale gifting them Garnett, Prokorov gifting them Tatum and Brown, the Holliday and Porzingis heists, etc).
The Washington Milwaukee swap is not the one I speculated on. Instead it’s in 2028 and since Milwaukee already owes a swap that year Washington gets the option to swap with whatever pick Milwaukee is left with. So the main benefits to Washington is one year less committed salary (since Middletom’s contract is a year shorter than Kuzma’s) and a better prospect. Washington fans are pretty happy to get Johnson. Some of them wanted to draft him last June, so they figure it’s the equivalent of getting a first rounder to get him now.
It seems like a baseball trade where the minor league prospect is the most important part of the deal.
Precious is good enough to consider him as more than a throw-in in the OG trade.
Meanwhile, IQ has done nothing to justify his new contract.
Things will continue evolve, but in the short run that trade is looking pretty lopsided…although when OG went down to the ground last week it was not looking nearly as good!
“Precious is good enough to consider him as more than a throw-in in the OG trade.
Meanwhile, IQ has done nothing to justify his new contract.
Things will continue evolve, but in the short run that trade is looking pretty lopsided…although when OG went down to the ground last week it was not looking nearly as good!”
This. All of this. (Other than the part about OG getting hurt last weekend. In my opinion, that doesn’t make the trade any worse for us. And IQ has been injured a lot, too [even more than OG, maybe?])
Seems like a near certainty that Sims is going to be moved for salary cap purposes. The only questions are:
a)where?
b) as a stand-alone deal or part of a bigger trade?
I really like the kid and his stone-faced vibe, but was hoping he would develop more than he has. Huk seems to have rendered him unnecessary.
On that note, anyone want to venture a guess as to what Leon does in the next 26+ hours before the deadline?
My guess is that Sims gets traded and that’s it. Then later, we pick up a player on the waiver wire and possibly cut Shamet. Personally, I’ve seen enough of Shamet, it’s time to move on.
Meanwhile, IQ has done nothing to justify his new contract.
I think the trade certainly has and will continue to age well in our favour, but if anything we may have sold a bit low on IQ, and good for him. He demonstrated he is a starting level PG and the fact Toronto perhaps overpaid to keep him should not be part of the trade calculus. I think we gauged RJ’s value correctly, and also good for him that he seems content and putting up numbers we thought he could produce given his different role. Always will wish ex-Knicks I rooted for to thrive, even if it means we “lost” the trade as long as the Knicks improved because of the trade.
I’m very happy with what both Precious and Huk showed last night, but the lineup where they both play together has got to go, it really doesn’t work, it’s a clunky mess on offense. One of them with Towns works so much better, but it would be great to have one more competent wing player.
Shamet has been pretty goddamn awful but we need some guys who can contribute minutes off the bench. He has only played 200 minutes, so maybe he has more left in the tank than he has showed in that small sample size. The guy is 27 and has played 8000 serviceable minutes in the league, so I feel like sticking with him is better than cutting him and picking up some other scrub that Thibs will bury at the end of the bench. Some patience may be in order here.
There are few players in the NBA whose game I dislike more than Kuzma.
“He demonstrated he is a starting level PG and the fact Toronto perhaps overpaid to keep him should not be part of the trade calculus.”
“Starting level” is a very broad term. Is he a starting level PG on a contender? Personally, I don’t think so. He has a career TS% of .565, mainly because he is not anything special from 3 and he is well below average from 2. He’s not a particularly good ball-handler as PGs go, really more of a combo guard. I think his ceiling is a bottom-10 starting PG, maybe even bottom-5, and that he more likely settles in as a dynamic bench piece. And $32.5M AAV is a significant overpay for that level of player.
IQ used to idolize Lou Williams and I see that as his best manifestation except with better 3pt shooting, worse shot creation, and better defense. Sweet Lou won 6MoY three times and was in the top 3 three other times. Yet Lou never made more than $8M AAV. Even if you want to argue that Quickly is better than prime Lou Williams (which I think is ludicrous) is he more that triple the salary better?
i kinda wonder if zach mostly pretended to come out of sabbatical to talk about the craziest trade we’ve ever seen, but actually just wanted to break the news that kd is very seriously on the market. i hadn’t heard much about it before then and suddenly it’s everywhere.
To Bruno’s point, Macri says this about Huk-Towns just now:
‘Against the Raps, those 10 minutes were filled by Towns at the four alongside Hukporti. That alignment destroyed Toronto by 15 points during its run, so I’d expect Thibs to keep going back to the well.’
To Z-Man’s question about Sims and what might happen, Macri also talks about this, with a presumption we’ll likely stand pat as the options are so minimal given that Sims isn’t actually very good (although like Z-Man, I like him!); however, he posits this:
‘The name I’m keeping an eye on is Javonte Green from New Orleans, who I’d guess the Pels would deal for a good second rounder.
Green’s cap number is less than Sims so a one-for-one trade would work under the cap, and he’d be an apt fill in to give the Knicks 15 minutes a night on the wing, at least while OG is out. No one is guarding him behind the arc but he’s hitting threes at a decent clip, so this would check enough boxes for me.’
There are few players in the NBA whose game I dislike more than Kuzma.
you do not want to be in the vicinity when a promiscuous slurper decides it’s time to spew
And Julius apparently in play now, according to Sam Vicenie…
“The guy is 27 and has played 8000 serviceable minutes in the league, so I feel like sticking with him is better than cutting him and picking up some other scrub that Thibs will bury at the end of the bench. Some patience may be in order here.”
This is fair, but my disagreement is more about the bench in general than about Shamet per se. Even if he works out the kinks, he winds up being a third wheel to Deuce and Cam, and that winds up being a disaster on defense when he has to defend stronger, taller players who just go right through or over him.
Benji on KFS also pointed out that he has been given chances to stick on the basis of patience and that patience has not been rewarded for going on 5 years with 3 different teams. I’m at a point where I don’t know why the Knicks should continue to be patient with him. Seems like wishcasting based on squinting at his B-R page and discounting the last 3+ years of mediocre shooting, which is supposed to be his calling card.
Townes needs some rest. Who plays in the minutes when he is on the bench. I assume that is why Hukporti and Precious played together.
As for Shamet, he’s not great, but for what we pay him he’s fine. You’re not getting a consistently good shooter at his salary and he makes the maximum we can afford to pay anyone.
I would also give the Huk-Precious a bit more time before bailing on it. If the other guys on the floor are Bridges (or Hart), Deuce, and Cam (or Brunson) then you have some juice in transition and some good screen-setting, lob-catching, rim protection, switchability, and rebounding for eating a few bench minutes.
It might also be a precursor to when Mitch gets back and you play him with bench units, probably including Precious.
In any case, KAT can’t be out there all the time with the bench, so I’m okay with some experimentation.
(I see KFNINJ beat me to it!)
“As for Shamet, he’s not great, but for what we pay him he’s fine.”
Well we couldn’t pay him any less, so there’s that! But if you are not getting a consistently great shooter, then at least get one who brings something else besides mediocre shooting to the table.
Bring in Torrey Craig
I just saw this clip of some Hukporti minutes that I missed. Really impressive work on Barnes and on the boards.
I also liked the little pass to Bridges and the multiple efforts on that sequence with the block…he just sort of stiff-armed Poeltl and grabbed that loose ball after the block, that’s my kind of motor.
I also read that Dolan himself came down to the locker room after the Houston game and offered words of praise and encouragement to Huk, which Huk really appreciated. Maybe that had something to do with why he played so much better against Toronto.
I’d be interested in Javonte Green, he is not particularly skilled but he plays super hard and I think he’d fit pretty well with what Thibs likes from his players. He could be a reasonable Hart facsimile for a couple of minutes off the bench.
It’s not like Miami just finds these guys under some rocks. They draft smartly.
Jovic was looked at as a lottery-type talent at one time, then slipped in the draft over concerns about his athleticism. He was always seen as a skilled player, a 6’10” wing type with a high IQ game and some playmaking ability. He’s more of a finesse player and is never going to be a bruising, defense-oriented power forward but he sure as hell looks like an NBA player.
Same goes for Kel’el Ware, who went in the draft right about where he was mocked, and a guy I was very interested in as a potential replacement for Hartenstein. Ware has actually been way better than I would have predicted at age 20, as he has shown shooting range and rim protection ability.
At the next KB watch party I’m not sitting next to Owen
Milwaukee must be supremely confident that Kyle Kuzma’s Most Detrimental Player in the NBA™ status this year is solely due to him being a Wizard. I think he was a moderately useful usage soaker for the Lakers at times, but regardless he’s not going to change the calculus for the Bucks.
It is probably worth sticking with Shamet for a bit just because there isn’t much in the way of clearly better options. Once it becomes financially doable though I’d probably swap him out for Warren. I don’t really know what the significance of dominating the G-League is as a 32 year-old, but the Shamet bar is quite low, so I’ll take it.
If they’re looking to unload salary to avoid the tax, I doubt they’d do Sims for Javonte, especially since Sims makes slightly more.
Here’s an even better compilation of Huk defensive moments. He was very effective.
https://x.com/IQfor3/status/1886973885649723696?t=MJh6b39vEogIlDq2CE2qNA&s=19
Actually reminds me of the strategy against Brunson, putting a big wing on him
That someone thought Jordan Poole and Kyle Kuzma would be an effective tandem makes me think I should be making a nice salary in some front office somewhere
nice clips, thank you…
his offense looked good…
huk doesn’t move like a big guy…he has slender legs, not really a muscled up guy, he looks more than strong enough out there though…
number one – he brings effective energy, let other teams get tired of trying to run around the court and keep up with him…loved the way when jalen had the ball, huk’s head latched on to jalen’s every motion, with intensity…like having a bodyguard out there 🙂
don’t remember if he was this slender before, but he looks like he run, quick sprints for at least six to seven minutes at a clip…hopefully like josh a lot of loose basketballs end up in his hands…
ah thibs, why did you wait this long…
with shamet unable to score, OG out – we are on a 8 player rotation possibly…oh well, at least huk is getting a shot at the circle of trust…
dang, kind of hope now we are not thinking of trading huk…
hmmmm, maybe give huk and mitch some minutes together, see what happens…hahahahaha
don’t know if i’ve seen it happen yet, can huk shoot free throws?
To be fair, I think it had a lot of appeal to the Wizards that they would not be an effective tandem
Huk really moves his feet well for a guy his size. Barnes is not lightning-quick off the dribble, but he is certainly a good test for a C’s mobility and switchability.
Not sure whether it’s too late for to carve out anything but an emergency role for the rest of this year, but he could definitely be a guy to watch for next year. Just that game alone makes me want to lock up his Bird rights for the next 4-5 years.
“can huk shoot free throws?”
54.5% so far but very limited numbers. He really clanked one, I think yesterday, like barfable, but I do seem to remember two really nice, feathery jump hooks from earlier in the year during garbage time…
“don’t know if i’ve seen it happen yet, can huk shoot free throws?”
Not a strength, but way better than Mitch. He shot .658 on 146 attempts in Melbourne.
Now that he has some NBA experience and a real contract, he knows what he has to do in the offseason.
oh, and he knows how to play basketball, with a fierce look in his eyes, come on down, we need you…at the five, at the four, just play like josh, do whatever jalen tells you…
get a three, because these days, why not…
yikes, think ariel will draw some interest from around the league?
I’m trying to come up with the all- NBA low basketball IQ team (positionless) and right now I have:
Jordan Poole
Kyle Kuzma
Cam Thomas
Jordan Clarkson
Need one more to round out my starting 5. Suggestions?
Cam Reddish? James Wiseman?
Hack-a-porti level.
IQ has played 12 games on his new contract. I don’t think we can conclude anything yet.
“dang, kind of hope now we are not thinking of trading huk…”
Well one thing you can’t say about Huk is that you could get 80% of him at 20% of the price.
I’m gonna get sent to the principal’s office for this, but..
DOES THIS MEAN HE’S A RUFF RYDAHHHH?
🏃🏽
I think the Wizards thought they would be able to move Poole by now for something decent but they underestimated just how bad Poole & Kuzma would be together.
Quickley has been hurt all year.
I would just draw a line through this year and look at what he was showing last year as the starting point for his continued development. It’s possible he works his way back into peak condition for after the all-star break and we see where is now, but this year so far is a toss.
“IQ has played 12 games on his new contract. I don’t think we can conclude anything yet.”
You can’t conclude anything firm, but you absolutely can make inferences based on the 7,684 regular season minutes plus 252 playoff minutes he has played over 5 seasons. But if the bar is “a top-15 starting PG worthy of a $32.5M AAV long-term deal” I’m taking the under.
Kuzma seems like a tax/money thing. Save $7M this year and $13M next year even before counting tax penalties.
Ugh..I feel terrible for Quickley. He just can’t catch a break and stay on the floor. It’s bad enough he got “banished” to a non playoff team at the time of the trade, but that whole team has caught the injury bug. He played Brunson tough last night, until he wasn’t playing. I still don’t know if I’d pay him 32 mil a year, but he’s still really good. Streaky, but good. I just wanna see him stay healthy and average 18/5/7/2..I know he has that in him. Toronto needs a new coach though
Because he’s still raw as hell. No accident Josh was joking about him using all his fouls. He’s a long way from being a reliable rotation member, but I’m totally fine with Thibs using him situationally – that’s what a good coach should do instead of just relying on a set rotation that never changes no matter what’s happening on the court.
I keep seeing articles linking KD to the Knicks. And they all keep saying shit like, “NY desperate for another superstar”. Cmon son*Ed Lover voice*!! What kind of crap is that? First of all..Brunson and KAT are star enough as far as 1st and 2nd options go because Brunson IS that bright of a light, and KAT has been incredible so far at the 5 with all the spacing the starting 5 gives him. And secondly, Durant is 36, not physical enough to play the 4 next to KAT, and not good enough on defense at this stage of his career. Thirdly, I’ve seen ideas thrown around that include Hart, Bridges, Deuce, and picks. People must really believe we are still the LOLKnicks
Mo Bamba? Deandre Ayton?
Either option works, but the coach absolutely has to be Glenn Rivers lol
Where’s E today? I’m missing his insights.
My vote is David Fizdale.
Ah how they forget…
Come on down, David Fizdale!
Ha! Forgot about Fiz. Apparently, I did not take that for data. Or is it data? *shrugs*
Not really news, but:
The roster spot and second-apron breathing room will be nice. Who do we like? Warren? Okeke? Third-party candidate?
If Mitch is healthy, Okeke, I’m guessing?
Okeke is interesting if you believe he can hit some open shots for you. His defense is pretty good and he’s only 26 so if it worked out he would give the team value long term.
I would guess third party candidate. If they believed Warren or Okeke were anything, they’d have signed them when Shamet went down and made Shamet wait til end of February.
I thought of and mentioned the two LA teams already, but they have so few easily tradeable assets i don’t know what we would get back. I’m a little surprised by Milwaukee, but they do clearly need defense. Wherever he goes, I hope he gets a chance to play.
From https://bleacherreport.com/articles/10153723-knicks-rumors-jericho-sims-expected-to-be-traded-before-2025-nba-deadline
phew
It’s funny to think we scored 143 against the Kings a week ago and their defense got worse.
Kings trying to assemble the worst defense of all-time
phew
Funny, Hubert, exactly my reaction, too.
I do like to imagine that if we’re kicking Sims off the bus, maybe he’ll get a chance to catch lobs from Doncic. That’d probably make it sting a little less.
“The Washington Wizards are trading Jonas Valanciunas to the Sacramento Kings for Sidy Cissoko and two second-round picks, sources tell ESPN.”
Everything that you guys said is true. But the only thing I seem to be able to think is how small of a “haul” that is, even for Valanciunas. He would have been worth Sims and a lower pick or two from us as Mitch insurance. I like Huk’s upward trajectory, but it’s still too soon to tell.
At least the Wizards seem to have a clear direction. They are accumulating young players who are new to the league, like Cissoko and Johnson, and who have potential to get better.
The Wizards have 3 frenchies now?
Wonder what Washington would be willing to give us for Dadiet
the wizards should be relegated to the g league…
would rather stick a beret on shamet and tell them it’s french landry
I ate there once
French Landry!!! It’s pronounced shamé.
Despite all the great public information and discussion, there are still some terribly mismanaged teams in the NBA. There’s a lesson in that somewhere.
there is no good without bad…
Jimmy Butler to Warriors. You heard it here first. 🙂
Shams Charania
@ShamsCharania
BREAKING: The Miami Heat are finalizing a deal to send Jimmy Butler to the Golden State Warriors for Andrew Wiggins, Dennis Schroder, Kyle Anderson and a protected first-round pick, sources tell ESPN.
So Wiggins et al. can’t play for the Warriors tonight at 9:00 versus Utah, then, I guess?
IMHO great for the Heat; horribly dumb for the Warriors.
That is…not much of a return, though the protections will matter a lot. If it’s highly protected, I almost would’ve preferred just taking the situation into the summer.
Well, I hope he wants to play and play well.
That is supposedly not the final trade; it will be a multi-team deal, so other things could be going in/out/elsewhere. Plus a two-year extension for Butler…
Jimmy signed a two year extension
Hope Heat get 6th seed now so Knicks play them in 1st rd.
This is Dennis Schroder’s fourth team since last season (Raptors/Nets/Warriors/Jazz) and his seventh team in four years when you count the Celtics, Rockets, and Lakers. Overall, it’s his ninth team in 12 seasons.
Updated trade summary from Underdog_NBA:
Warriors get – Jimmy Butler
Heat get – Andrew Wiggins, PJ Tucker, first-round pick
Pistons get – Lindy Waters III, Josh Richardson, second-round pick
Jazz get – Dennis Schroder
Raptors get – Kyle Anderson
Doogie Bomb!!
Impressive path from grammar police to breaking trades.
I’m not sure how Jimmy Butler’s agent pulled this off. It might be more impressive than what Pelinka did.
Does Draymond punch Jimmy first, or the other way around?
A part of me suspects that not one of these teams substantially improved.
The western conference playoffs have gone from fait accompli to must-see tv in 4 days. Right now Golden State v Dallas could be the 9/10 play in!
Wiggins to Butler might be a bigger upgrade than RJ to OG
The Heat need to make the playoffs to avoid losing picks right? Wiggins and Schroder aren’t exactly the reinforcements I would want.
How great is it that the NBA is dominating the sports world in the lead up to the Super Bowl?
Heat only getting Wigins and PJ Tucker plus Golden St 1st rd pick, its a 5 team trade.
Josiah had a good one
https://x.com/kingjosiah54/status/1887315844570427855?s=46&t=0wqff4cNt-sCGcDs-uMExw
Now Heat might also be getting Kyle Anderson, stay tuned…
Nope. Not even gonna try to wrap my head around the Butler trade. Dubs are one of the team’s I wanted to see him go to though. Phoenix is the other. One last gasp for the Warriors, huh?
Turns out that humiliating your best player and dragging his name through the mud week after week isn’t good for your trade leverage. Who knew?
RIP Heat Culture.
From Underdog_NBA:
Jimmy Butler this season:
17.0 PPG (lowest since 2013-14)
5.2 RPG (lowest since 2013-14)
4.8 APG (lowest since 2018-19)
1.1 SPG (lowest since 2012-13)
10.5 FGA (lowest since 2013-14)
21.0% USG (lowest since 2014-15)
I had Wiggins in one line in daily fantasy tonight, but quickly switched him out for Podziemski once he was announced as the starter. Hopefully I get a bounce from people who weren’t paying attention tonight.
The Heat really wanted out of the Jimmy business I guess. Dubs should be interesting now, Jimmy (when he manages to play) is a substantial upgrade on Wiggins but if he’s out there with Draymond and a center there’s going to be 2 guys on the court who shoot 3s.
I’m curious what Butler does to their spacing. A lot of non-shooters.
We had Bobby Portis in the building. Oh, what might have been!
23 points, 17 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 blocks tonight.
can someone explain how the warriors can sign jimmy to a $50M/year extension under the CBA?
Something tells me Butler’s gonna up his 3pt volume..and shoot it fairly well. Just when you think you got him, you don’t. Love him but he gets on my nerves lol
They’re gonna hafta make another move somehow. I’d love to see them grab a guy like Olynyk or Wendell Carter
The cap is still soft unless you do something to hard cap yourself.
Crazy ending to Cleveland/Detroit. Down 3 cade got fouled on a 3 with a few seconds to go, made the FTs and then Garland hit a logo 3 at the buzzer to win
Watching Spurs v Hawks. Apparently the Spurs think Fox is defensively plus.
He’s no Chris Paul. That I know
And hey Pete Alonso back with the Mets
I don’t know, this trade feels terrible for the Heat for me, PJ Tucker is uber washed, Wiggins is just ok and just a first… I mean, I guess it’s better than having Jimmy providing nothing while quitting and throwing tantrums, but I’ve seen so many people commenting that the Heat won the trade that I feel I’m taking crazy pills.
Butler’s numbers this season suck and he’s old and declining, but he’s still clearly the best player in the deal and he’ll be gone when Steph is too, which means their window closes no matter what… and they haven’t given up Kuminga or any other valuable asset to get him.
Wemby is something else. End of Hawks Spurs was really fun.
Okongwu really blossoming. Always liked him
Pete had no suitors, thats some humble Pie for him
Bregman still on the market as well
Seems like Pete is betting on himself. Seems like a 1 yr 30 mill deal where he will opt after year 1.
Wow, that’s a coup for Steve Cohen. Very reasonable terms, and Pete can opt out if he wants.
Heat also got a 2025 first
Sims just got traded to the Bucks
Sims apparently has been thrown in the Middleton and Kuzma trade, no news yet on what the Knicks got for including him.
Jericho godspeed
There were very few deals out there for Butler. Very few teams would even want him for varying reasons, very few teams would offer the extension that the Warriors did, and he had a short list of teams with which he would agree to an extension. If they kept him, he would either opt in and just make things drag out even longer, and if he opted out and became a UFA (which would have been dumb) they would lose him for nothing. If anything, I see the Dubs regretting this deal and Miami being happy to move on.
So long, Zero, and thank you for your service.
Spending 30 million for decline phase alonso is one of those dumb from a pure dollar standpoint deals but Steve Cohen is enormously rich and Alonso should be decent at least next year so why not
I think the interesting thing for the Warriors is should they have gone for the much younger Brandon Ingram..
David Stearns aces the exam again. Very reasonable deal for 1-2 years of Alonso, and now the Mets are more or less set at every offensive position, with a solid handful of prospects in the upper minors who will have opportunities to win the jobs of the weaker regulars. Bullpen looks better on paper than it did a year ago as well.
As of now the only thing I’m really clamoring for is another top of rotation arm, and Stearns might be working on that as well, as the Mets have been mentioned as one of the teams pursuing Dylan Cease. Cease would be a one year rental so the prospect cost might not be exorbitant.
It’s really weird being a Mets fan and seeing this kind of consistent competence coming from the front office. I really can’t complain at all about how Stearns handled this offseason.
“Spending 30 million for decline phase alonso is one of those dumb from a pure dollar standpoint deals”
Why is age 30 decline phase? I mean, the reason he was even available was because he was looking for a long-term deal, which would actually have involved decline phase years. This is about as safe of a deal as they come, he’s actually in his mid-late prime.
We are getting Delon Wright.
Warriors should’ve went after RJ.
Yay another guard, can they move him for a wing?
It’s only a two year contract, so that’s not very much decline phase you’re buying for Alonso. The whole point of the contract being short is to avoid his decline phase.
Delon Wright coming to NYK, might be a threat to Shamet’s minutes and is probably the better overall player despite having an awful year so far in terms of shooting. Delon’s calling card is defense, and he generates tons of deflections and gets lots of steals. Plays some pretty good on-ball defense. Definitely the kind of guy you could see earning the favor of our coach.
How the hell did we turn Jericho Sims into Delon Wright????
Are you saying Sims had better value?
Huh, anyone know if Wright’s contract is guaranteed? Two seasons ago he was actually very solid, even a reasonable facsimile of the kind of wing we want. Seems washed now though.
DeLon is shooting 26 % from the field, 25 % from 3.
Yeah, not terribly excited about Delon Wright, don’t really expect him to play much at all, but trading Sims away probably means they think Mitch will be healthy and ready soon and Huk is in the plans for this season, so I’m fine with that. I never saw much of anything with Sims so frankly, I don’t think we lost anything.
Spotrac says it is guaranteed
Question: if you cut a person on a vet’s minimum deal, can you replace that player’s pro-rated salary the another vet’s minimum pro-rated salary? In other words, can we cut Shamet to basically replace his salary with Delon’s and still have Jericho’s cap space to use to bring up TJ Warren? Or cut Delon to bring up Warren? Would that trigger the hard cap?
Delon was bad-not-abysmal rather than just abysmal-abysmal just a year ago, so maybe a change of scenery and a new coach brings out the best in him. He really is (was?) a plus defender so he just might not be completely useless.
In a strange way, this was a good trade deadline for NY. Their willingness to part with Simms and not bring in another C suggests they are confident Mitch is OK and will return to form once he gets his conditioning and timing back (hopefully in time for the playoffs) and that Huk can handle backup in the event Towns and/or Mitch miss a game and they need someone bigger than Precious.
I can’t wait to see what Mitch looks like after 5-10 games back and what the defense looks like with Mitch/Towns when they play together. If it all works we can hang with anyone. My only concern would be Mitch and the FT line. He may not be able to close.
Just read the Bucks board on RealGM they have zero expectations for Sims.
I should add, IMO, if Mitch is good to go, we are one quality bench scorer away from being able to go to war against anyone and feeling good about our chances.
I’m kind of disappointed. I was hoping for some sort of pick for Sims. Instead we get a 32 year old guard with poor stats this year who seems on the downslope of his career. He seems to make more than Sims too, so I’m not sure how the Knicks made it work.
SGA has 46 points in the 3rd quarter
24 fouls in our viable big man rotation feels like a treasure.
Delon knows how to play basketball. He has a career 2.0 BPM, not bad for a defensive combo guard. I would have rather we just freed up Sims’ spot and used it on a waiver wire guy, but he’s a good end-of-bench defensive guard/small wing. Sims had no value here any more.
Jericho Sims is not a good basketball player, not saying Wright will be anything of use though..
We may need an RJ Barrett thread tomorrow if he gets traded to the Pelicans for Ingram.
I’m not sure I can handle that. 🤣🤣🤣🤣
Disaster thread avoided. 🤣🤣🤣
Anyone want to explain the Sims trade to me? Was there a reason we had to piggyback off the Middleton trade? Seems like a wash of a trade. Not particularly sad to see Jericho go, but seemed like a lateral move at best in terms of production, and possibly even a negative given we traded a big body for someone whose stats don’t seem to present much of an upside.
Per 36 Wright is averaging 4.3asts to 1.2TOs 2stls, and 0.8 blks. These are basically in line with his career numbers.
Maybe he’s completely forgotten how to shoot, which would be weird given everything else he can still do, but he’d still be better than Sims. If Delon starts hitting shots at a bad clip instead of an awful one, this is an absolute steal.
The Bucks can have fun watching Sims jump high. We don’t need 5 centers.
Hubert, of course Jimmy was the best player in the trade by far. But as Doogie points out he’s not been very good (when he plays) this year, maybe it’s decline phase, maybe he was just pouty from the get-go. But also as Dred says it’s not a terrific fit for the Warriors regardless. More (aged) star power for their fans, but does it really move the needle for them? The term I used was ‘substantially better;’ I’m not seeing it.
Not really seeing what would move the needle for the Warriors as currently constructed, outside of Giannis.
A lot of non-needle moving trades all around, including Sims (and not counting Luka, of course). Here’s hoping Wright proves to be Hart 2.0.
Edit: Maybe I should call them head-scratching, since of course Sims was never going to move a needle.
Warren Buffett once used the term “cigar butt” investing to describe investing in companies without any growth prospects, but that you could get cheap enough to get a bounce in the price and profit (the last puff on the cigar).
I think that’s a good description of the Warriors and their deal for Butler.
They are hoping to get once last puff out of Curry, Draymond and Butler.
It won’t get them to the finals.
Why did the Raptors trade for Brandon Ingram?
FROM SHAMS:
“Just In: The Los Angeles Lakers are trading Dalton Knecht, Cam Reddish, a 2031 unprotected first-round pick and a 2030 pick swap to the Charlotte Hornets for center Mark Williams, sources tell ESPN.”
I mean, he sings about Patterson, NJ more than he sings about Canada and all 9 of its provinces combined??
I’m not sure what Masai is trying to do. Each of RJ, Ingram and Barnes can score and make plays (plus they have Quick), but none of the 3 scores efficiently at this stage. They have to figure out how get efficient and defend or he’s going to have a mess on his hands.
I definitely think Butler is by far the best player in that deal. Despite the shooting fit, an absolute steal by the Warriors.
Ingram is still pretty good when he’s on the court… I think. Raptors have a bunch of money below the tax, though I’m still not sure he’s a guy worth investing in.
great, the assets the mavs should have snatched from them got used to pick up a useful center…
dang lakers…
that seems a lot for Williams. Then again, Pelinka can always laugh about ripping of his good friend Nico
Fucking Lakers…
Mark Williams has been trash on defense and given little effort, but he was also on Charlotte, so I get it. If he’s motivated and plays defense like he seemed capable of in college, it makes them… maybe not contenders, but very good.
I’m not sure Dalton can defend well enough in the NBA. Lakers have Luka & Reaves for the next decade anyway. The unprotected pick is nice. Charlotte continues their perpetual tank job.
yeah, what’s up with that donnie…
maybe natural beauty is a bit boring and patterson new jersey is well, patterson new jersey…
Tfw Mark Williams returns better draft assets than Luka mother fuckin’ Doncic
I am confirming that LA remains one of the greatest cities on the planet. Fuck the Lakers.
Those picks the Hornets got will be garbage, this is the Lakers a team who just gets star after star. Mark Williams needs to stay healthy, but he was very solid when he was motivated back in College on Duke and then the Hornets happened.
I don’t know Mark Williams game at all, but the Lakers desperately needed a defensive anchor in the middle unless they are hoping to win games 145-140. I’ve seen people whose opinion I respect say this was a steal for the Lakers and others say this was selling high on Willams and a good deal for Charlotte.
Unprotected first rounder for Williams. I’m curious what they had offered for Mitch in case the rumors about their interest were true.
Mark Williams is 23 and his per 36 are 23pts, 14rebs, 3.6asts, 1.5 TOs, 1.8blks, 1 stl
He’s constantly injured but that’s worth a 1st to me.
Even if he’s worth a first, the Lakers had defensive issues before they traded Davis for Doncic. That trade made them worse defensively (possibly substantially). From what I am reading, Williams’ best attribute is his athleticism and ability to score around the rim but he’s not a plus defender (but I don’t know his game). This could be a case of getting a good deal on an up and coming C, but the wrong C for Lakers right now. Unless of course the goal is to win games 145 -140.
Nothing wrong with winning
Theme song to the Dutch Golden Girls…