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199 replies on “Knicks Morning News (2025.02.06)”
In order to cope with the significant jealousy I’m feeling towards the Lakers right now, I say this to myself: “At least it wasn’t to the Celtics for Jaylen Brown. Or to the Heat. Or to the Sixers. Or to the Cavs…” And I feel so much better.
Supposedly we also swapped draft rights of 29yo Mathias Lessort for the draft rights to 23yo Hugo Besson.
Hugo Besson is not nothing, meant in the literal sense. Figuratively, he’s nothing.
He’s scoring 18ppg in Turkey, bombed in SL this year, score-first chucker, and can’t play defense. Vecenie ranked him 71st in the ’22 draft and didn’t think he’d ever make it. He has a nice handle.
Various sleep-deprived trade thoughts after a great book event at The Strand (where I got to meet ThisChicanery!):
* Delon Wright isn’t the exact guy I’d have wanted to bring back for Sims, but he’s an inch taller than Shamet, the same height as Javonte Green, and I’d already happily put him in the rotation ahead of Shamet. Even though Wright’s shooting has been bad this season, and below his career norms, it’s not as if Shamet has been shooting the lights out.
* If Mark Williams is healthy, and if he starts making an effort on defense again, then this is a really annoying trade for the Laker-haters out there. Those are two pretty big ifs, though. I assume Pelinka is banking on Williams as someone who was not necessarily giving it his all — both on the court and to get onto the court — because he was on a bad team.
* I continue to not get what Masai is doing up in Toronto. He’s already committed a lot of money to a Scottie/RJ/IQ core, which so far has been underwhelming. (Albeit with IQ hurt a lot.) Now he’s brought in Ingram, who wants to get paid. Maybe there’s a market efficiency in building a team around a lot of guys who top out at fringe All-Star (though Barnes could eventually grow into more than that), but it seems an odd strategy.
Does everybody assume the Sims deal is our only move?
EB, someone in this FO seems to have a fetish for making sure that every season, we make at least one trade where we acquire the rights to some random Euro who will almost certainly never come play for us. Maybe it’s a private joke among colleagues?
Glad it went well at the Strand!
Yeah, the draft rights seem like a compulsive behavior from Aller. I guess Besson being 23 instead of 29 is something, it’s better than getting the Spurs’s assistant coach like last time we did this.
I didn’t even think to weigh in on Butler/Wiggins. Since Golden State is committed to trying to win one more for Steph, no matter what, and since Durant didn’t want to come back(*), I guess this is the Hail Mary they had to try for. Probably doesn’t work out, but Jimmy Buckets has made fools of us before. Ditto for Spo’s ability to make Wiggins look like the absolute best version of himself.
(*) So do we figure the Suns are boxed out of making any moves? Or could Durant still go to Houston or somewhere?
Besson, a scorer more than a shooter, last year helped my italian team avoid relegation and for it Hugo will always have a little spot in my heart. ❤️
Great name by the way.
Lessort played well at the Olympics and like Yabusele there we’re rumors about hm coming to the Association but at the end he stayed in Greece and he’s currently out for the season after a gruesome injury.
For this year, the major changes many teams are making may prove hard to integrate quickly. Supposedly, teams that win it all typically have significant prior experience as a team. I just don’t know how that applies to Dallas, the Lakers and Golden State. Somehow I suspect they are all still looking up at OKC.
Alan – Glad the event went well. I almost came but the fact I have never watched an episode of BCS (but want to so spoilers) and my daughter’s need to finish the 13 Curses prevented me.
Ingram is not Kuzma level for me but I can’t imagine trading for him.
Mark Williams is huge and I respect that. He’s been a bit disappointing to me, he was utterly dominant in college, but it looks like he landed in the perfect spot.
So Pelinka talks Nico out of the 2031 pick because it would have been irresponsible to include it without knowing if Luka is committed long term to LA and then immediately flips it for a C. It just gets better and better
Had a lot of fun last night! Was a great discussion and a lot of good questions from the crowd.
Don’t see the point of trading for Delon Wright. He appears to be pretty much washed and, even if he wasn’t, I don’t see what he gives us that we aren’t already getting from Deuce and Payne. Wondering if this is just to force Thibs to play Huk instead of Sims who he’s more comfortable with.
Well done Alan! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Quick thought on yesterday’s trades:
– Sims made little to no progress on offense in 4 years, jumping high is nice but basketball it’s another thing and I don’t know if his stonefaced behaviour, which sometimes made him look disinterested, won him points with Thibs, who likes emotional players. Plus Huk’s already better and his ceiling is higher.
I would have liked a 2nd for Jericho instead of a semi washed up journeyman but maybe Wright can spell Shamet and help us make some room under the cap for other veteran assets (waiving one of the two redundant bench guards).
– Given their situation (the multiple suspensions, Butler’s player option for next year) I think Miami did a decent job in the deal.
Spo could work his magic on Wiggins, Anderson is the perfect Heat player and you can waive Schroeder or keep and play him 10 minutes hoping for a good day.
The Warriors are desperate and they act desperate.
– Knecht was the hype of the day for some weeks and now is a trade piece, the pick and swap used in the deal is another gift Nico Harrison did to his friend Pelinka, absurd.
– Maybe now Masai needs to ask for a rule change to allow for more basketballs in play because his four “core” guys all need one in their hands to be useful.
– I liked Middleton a lot but it looks like he’s beyond cooked and he’s playing on slow motion, Kuzma isn’t a star (bad defender unconscious shooter and questionable dresser) but gives them some flexibility, he’s a scorer and they hope to be able to motivate him like LeBron did.
– Watching the Celtics and Sixers do small salary dump trades probably is another evidence about the environment the new CBA has brought.
I’m sure Toronto will be decent, but I don’t see Ingram wanting to commit long term… he’s going to have to share the ball with 3 other guys who aren’t exactly great passers and are also better with the ball in their hands in RJ, IQ and Barnes, and i feel like he brings a lot of redundant skills to this team. But i guess the price was low enough that it is worth trying and seeing how it goes.
If they can all get healthy for a long stretch they should be pretty good, but they’re 6 games out of the play-in right now, so I guess the idea is to see how it goes for this half a season and make decisions next summer.
Max, as far as I know Schroder has been rerouted to the Jazz in the trade.
Thanks Bruno, you’re right, I’m still trying to catch up after an out-of-service night 😁
I both like and don’t like the Butler trade for GSW. That team, as it was, wasn’t going anywhere. Since winning the title in 2022 they’ve won 44 and 46 games and were on pace for 41 this season. They definitely needed to do something, particularly on offense where they’re currently 19th due to being 22nd in eFG% and dead last in FTr. Butler will immediately help both of those and Curry could really use a high level scorer next to him in general.
On the other hand, it’s weird that this team which revolutionized the league with it’s 3PT shooting is apparently not a good 3pt shooting team anymore. Maybe this trade helps some of their underperforming shooters (Hield, Podz) to get back on track. They also kept their young trade assets so they can try and make another move before the day is done.
Schroeder needs to make peace with himself and accept the next step in his career: highly sought Euroleague’s star.
I don’t understand the Ingram trade at all for Toronto. What does Ingram give them that they weren’t already getting from Barnes, RJ, and Quick? Is it an experiment to see what happens when you put 4 high usage, not great offensive players on the floor together? And Toronto is giving up draft capital?
We need PoA defense and that’s what Delon brings. Unless he’s more washed than I think, and his defensive numbers say he isn’t, Delon might be our best PoA option against guards. Easily better than Hart or Deuce, probably better than Mikal unless he keeps up his recent play. He’s a budget Dyson Daniels. He merely needs to be really bad at scoring instead of atrocious.
And if Delon is completely washed, he still saves us $5K and removes an unnecessary 5th C.
I think the Butler trade was good for golden state and I predict he will get better at three point shooting with Kerr as coach.
It definitely isn’t bad for GS unless you absolutely love Wiggins (which I don’t) or Butler falls off a cliff. It’s a team that’s been treading water since winning their last title. I just don’t know how much better this makes them but I absolutely believe they’ll be better.
the ingram trade is very confusing to me, too. i wonder what masai thinks he can sign him at? i guess you could steel man it and say he took siakam and swapped him for someone three years younger plus agbaji and ja’kobe walter (all the siakam firsts are now gone), but presumably a cheaper contract. but ingram is worse than siakam, seemingly a greater injury risk, and really doesn’t seem like even a decent fit with barnes and rj.
i can see why mark williams is tantalizing. all-time length and relative to that excellent mobility, some explosiveness and really solid touch. shot might even develop more. but i’m also very suspicious of bigs who still look so rough on defense who have a big of experience and aren’t 20. it’s not just motor — though it’s not great. he has a high center of gravity and is a very slow reactor. you can often see his head whipping back and forth, which seems like what you’re supposed to do but is often an alarm for not having a great sense of the floor. you can also see it when he sets screens, which rarely anticipate the play well. a 10′ standing reach can make up for a lot so i’m not counting him out, but i understand why charlotte would be a little worried about his outlook despite the eye-popping numbers. a big who doesn’t space and is a weak rim protector is almost always a liability even if they are a very good rebounder and inside scoring threat. obviously this is in context with his obvious injury concerns. on the other hand he’s still a big improvement over jaxson hayes when healthy.
today the things i’m watching most is gsw adding more, if cam johnson goes (okc?) and if coby white goes to orlando. seems like if you go in butler you really, really need to add shooting or a center or both to have a more sensible team. vucevic i guess is an obvious option, idk. kcp has really not pulled his weight and body white could make a huge difference to the magic. you can tell by how often they have to end up relying on cole anthony. imagine if cole anthony were really good!
At least Delon Wright is arriving at a point in the schedule where he can get a Knicks’ practice in before they play Boston.
Nah because fuck that..DOES PELINKA HAVE INCRIMINATING PICS OF EVERYONE IN THE LEAGUE?? How does he keep adding? MARK WILLIAMS?? He’s quietly good! I know AD must be big mad lol. He leaves and they finally get a 5 man
Mark Williams is a talented kid but he’s played 85 games in the last 3 years. He’s played fewer minutes this year for Charlotte than whoever Moussa Diabate is.
Why would the Bulls dump Coby White? He’s one of their only good contracts. They’re desperately trying to trade Vuc and Williams, but they probably have no takers.
As for us, we are probably done. Okeke as a 3-4 hybrid seems like a great fit for us, but who k owes if that will/can happen. Maybe we’ll dump Shamet with Wright on board and bring up Okeke?
Chet returning tomorrow for OKC, gonna be interesting to see what lineups they use with both he and iHart healthy.
Maybe Masai just lucked into Kawai and isn’t all that good. He seems to have free reign in Toronto and what has he accomplished other than running a championship team into the ground? He’s assembled a weird roster that doesn’t seem all that valuable relative to their salaries. I’m not all that high on Scottie Barnes, the shot seems to have topped out at mediocre at best and he turns the ball over a lot. RJ is RJ. IQ is overpaid and overrated. Poeltl is a garden variety C on a market-value deal and not getting any younger. Shead, Davion, Walter, and Mogbo can’t shoot and are undersized for their positions. Dick can’t play D. Ochai hasn’t really developed and is pushing 25.
And Brandon Ingram? WTF?
I forget who coined the phrase, but the Raptors seem 2 years away from being 2 years away….
you think about trading white exactly because he’s on a good contract, which ups the field of bidders. holding a good contract that will only tick down while you suck is like putting a skylight in the basement. by the time the bulls are trying to even start to compete again coby white will be a market value ufa turning 27.
I am in agreement with the sentiment that Ingram in Toronto will not work. The numbers show that their “big 4” will pass the ball, though not naturally at will. Their biggest issue is none of those guys are really shooters, and they mostly operate in the same area. Quickley is the only one you can trust to pull up from deep off the bounce and off screens, and he’s John Starks level streaky. I know Ingram’s shooting numbers look good, but it’s not his game to create space in the way Quickley’s game is. Plus he’s better from 18 feet in..like RJ and Barnes. However, I love the idea of pairing Barnes and Ingram with Quickley and Grady D in the backcourt. I wonder if they will surprise us and move off of RJ
I like Mark Williams but that was way too high of a price for him. Knecht might be a better player by himself. I mean, was Poeltl available for that price? Or less? He sure should have been, and that would have been a good deal for both teams.
Edit: I forgot that future HOFer Cam Reddish was included in the deal. Never mind!
Masai also fleeced James Dolan in the Melo deal and built a very good (not great, but very good and deep) Nuggets team. He then fleeced the Knicks again in the Bargnani trade, and made some other good moves to build that title team besides Kawhi. He sure seems to have lost his fastball, but let’s not go all revisionist history on his whole career.
Good morning, fellow Knickerbloggers!
Is the general consensus “out there” that all we’ll be doing is Wright for Sims? I don’t know whether or not to be happy, or whether I should have some sense of foreboding.
“body white” is pretty good. I liked that one. 🙂
I dunno, Doogie. Seems like that’s all we have in the clip unless there’s an upgrade over Achiuwa, Payne, or Deuce available.
Also..I missed most of the discourse last night over the Sims inclusion to the Milwaukee/Washington trade. What exactly does this do for us? All I see is we added a guard who is already behind 6 guards, as I don’t see him beating Kolek out at this stage even if Wright’s defense is worlds better
Well, fleecing Dolan wasn’t exactly rocket science. As to Kawhi, he guessed right at the perfect time and still needed a lucky bounce and two devastating injuries to key Dubs to win a chip. Definitely deserves props for that. But his pivot away from that situation has been pretty uninspired if you ask me.
I don’t mind Ingram but on a reasonable contract. And Shead looks great to me. Mogbo has skills. But they should definitely move on from Poeltl. He’s already 29… they should’ve gone for that Laker package!
And sure, the Bulls could use White to dump a terrible contract and/or get a pick, but they don’t seem to operate like that. They prefer to wait until a player has zero value before they start their bidding wars.
Also, Miami did ok considering the circumstances, but I can’t believe they didn’t get at least one young player from GS… even Moody would’ve made sense.
That Denver team post Melo trade never even got out of the 1st rd of the playoffs.
My guess is we don’t do much. We are in good company. The Celtics, The Cavs and OKC all made minor deals at the edges of their roster. It’s fine that we did the same.
Knecht is older than Williams and is probably unplayable on defense.
Masai also drafted Barnes over Suggs which at the time was a WTF. After one year of hindsight, genius move, bit less so now but still damn good. Fleecing Dolan is like beating up the class weakling who is acting like a dick. Doesn’t mean he is the strongest kid in the class, but gets your respect.
People keep talking about the number of picks Dallas brought back compared to other deals without considering that most star deals don’t include a player like Davis that is worth a boatload of picks.
The thing that suprises me is that Dallas not only traded him, but they acted like they were the distressed team that HAD TO trade him or really wanted him out. That makes no sense
“I don’t mind Ingram but on a reasonable contract.”
Ingram might be the most overrated player in the Association. He is mainly a scorer, yet has a career TS% of .561 and never a season above .587. His career BPM is 0.1. And he has never played more than 64 games in a season. His defense is spotty at best. So what is a “reasonable” contract? I would say 3 years, 24M. Anything higher than that is throwing money away.
“And Shead looks great to me.”
I like Shead and would have taken him ahead of Kolek, but he’s undersized and can’t finish or shoot 3’s. Maybe he develops, but he seems like Davion Mitchell 2.0 to me…disruptive change-of-pace bench piece but hardly a future starter on a good team.
Raps have cap room. I guess they try and rehab Ingram’s value while they can afford it and try to cash him in later for more value than they gave?
Maybe they think RJ, Scottie, and IQ are about to break out?
Maybe Masai was a one trick pony whose one pick is trading with James Dolan as much as possible and just got lucky with Kawhi?
I’m just not very high on Barnes as a player overall, I don’t see a path where he becomes a superstar. He operates well with the ball in his hands but he’s not really a passer and he’s not quick enough to get to the rim whenever he wants, so his drives are predictable, and when he doesn’t have the ball he’s not a good enough shooter to punish teams. And as he has taken a bigger role on offense he has slacked off on defense which used to be one his strengths. I think he would be great as a 3rd guy on a very good team, but I think that’s likely to be his ceiling.
I don’t think redundancy is necessarily bad, there are definitely ways to build a team where having this kind of redundancy in roles works well, but it has to make sense, and what the Raptors are building really doesn’t make sense for me right now.
“After one year of hindsight, genius move, bit less so now but still damn good.”
If Suggs keeps developing, this might turn out to be false. Orlando really misses him right now.
Mogbo and Shead are second round rookies. If they’re bad, it doesn’t mean much.
They’re also both shooting 35% in the NBA so far, which is a huge improvement for them.
Ingram seems like a candidate for the Randle/Clank trap–good enough to be a suboptimal first option, but doesn’t have a clear path to scaling his usage down on a contender. That seems to be reason the trade and prospective free agency market for him (and Randle) was cool.
That said, I don’t think it’s a bad idea to use expiring money and what I believe to be an unexciting first from the Pacers to make a talent upgrade. Ingram is a better shooter than those guys, so there might be a path for him to settle around the 20-25 USG% mark productively.
I followed Denver closed during the Gallinari/Chandler days. Based on the kind of moves Masai used to make with George Karl I felt like they were ahead of the curve in putting together teams that were efficient beyond the talent and reputation of the players.
Now it feels like he has abandoned finding players with some hidden value and is moving towards players that aren’t as good as their scoring and boxscore looks.
I don’t get it.
He has some players with upside. So maybe it will all work out. I still love healthy Quickley and think he will continue improving his PG and other skills, but other than Quickley they are all the same profile of scorers than are not efficient enough to create a high level offense and not elite at defense. He needs 2 out of 3 of RJ, Barnes and Igram to break out.
No one would even know who Knecht is if it wasn’t for that one night of insane shooting for LA that was splashed over every sports show and social media app.
Masai’s great, he just learned what all of these dudes learn, that threading the needle by retooling instead of rebuilding is darn near impossible. They all want to show how they’re smarter than the next guy. Just rebuild normally, dudes.
“Mogbo and Shead are second round rookies. If they’re bad, it doesn’t mean much.”
Agreed, and as I said, I like Shead, and Mogbo seems like a good Precious analog with maybe more upside.
They’re also both shooting 35% in the NBA so far, which is a huge improvement for them.
“They’re also both shooting 35% in the NBA so far, which is a huge improvement for them.”
35% is not very good, especially for a PG. Shead has 105 3PA thus far. However, he had 429 3PA from the shorter college line in 4 years, and hit 29.6% of those and never got above 31% for a season. Doesn’t look very promising. Mogbo only took 2 shots from 3 in college and is 10-28 this year. He certainly can develop, but again, I wouldn’t bet on it.
Ayway, my criticism is more about roster construction than about these players specifically. Masai does not seem to be building a team that is consistent with the current state of the game. Mogbo and Shead are symptomatic of that. And Ingram is hardly going to help, unless one thinks that his career shooting numbers are a mirage.
“Masai’s great, he just learned what all of these dudes learn, that threading the needle by retooling instead of rebuilding is darn near impossible.”
First, if Masai was “great,” he wouldn’t need to learn this. He’s been a GM for coming up on 15 years now.
Second, Leon Rose, with zero executive experience, just demonstrated that retooling instead of rebuilding is not only not “darn near impossible” but actually quite doable! He did it successfully, even though he made a bunch of rookie mistakes, fucked up some draft day transactions, and possibly bid against himself in trades! So whatever path Masai chose, it’s less about the choice and more about shitty execution.
In any case, if anyone started following the NBA in 2019 and ignored anything that happened before that, one would be hard pressed to consider Masai as anything but a mediocre executive. And Leon would be ranked well above him.
But why would anyone do that?
That’s fair about Masai. I really don’t like what he has done lately.
Delon is a guy who has always seemed to float slightly above the usual flotsam and jetsam. I can remember him having very good numbers coming out of college and wanting to draft him. It’s kind of interesting to see how that has carried through his career. I don’t think he can be worse than Shamet so why not.
Yeah, I don’t, either, there seemed to be a bit of a plan when he first got Barnes, but there doesn’t seem to be any real plan anymore, just a collection of mid-level dudes.
“I don’t think he [Delon Wright] can be worse than Shamet so why not.”
Based on what he’s shown this year, he actually *might* be worse than Landry Shamet, at this point. And I’ve really liked Delon Wright for quite some time, so I hope I’m wrong.
“Why not”? As always with this team, the most important question when acquiring someone is “Will Thibs ever play him?”
Barnes, Quickley, Barrett, and Ingram are all guys who have a hard time cracking the 100 barrier in both eFG+ and TS+. None of those guys are young enough that you can project a breakthrough leap from any of them. Acquiring Ingram means that the “RJ Power Forward One Weird Trick” is not going to be happening so much, and they’re going to be relying on him as a shot creator, a suboptimal role for him. Spacing seems like it’s gonna be a problem too, so welcome back to the mosh pit, RJ.
I’m having a really hard time imagining that team ever being very good offensively. That is a core four that only Isiah Thomas could love.
I have mixed feeling on Delon Wright (not that it matters if he’s useless). I will normally ignore bad shooting for a short period of time (especially if an injury or layoff was involved), but his decline started last year. Now this year he’s atrocious from everywhere. From what I gather he’s had some injuries this year and last year. So maybe he’s not as bad as he looks, but some of the reviews from the Bucks suggest he’s lost a step on D also. I guess we’ll have to see what he has left. Even if we use him in spot situations/possessions for defensive purposes it’s better than nothing. And if he turns it around, that’s great. He’ll be useful when there are injuries or against certain matchups.
I think Isiah is advising the Suns (I know I read that somewhere last year or the year before). Beal looked like an Isiah move. lmao
IQ was really good defensively in some small samples as a Knick. It was hard to know how much stock to put in that. If he isn’t a plus defender, and I don’t know he will be, that contract seems pretty mediocre. RJ my feelings about are well known but in particular I don’t think he is a good fit next to Barnes and now Ingram.
PT – That is interesting on Williams. He’s a guy I have followed through the statline but haven’t actually watched that much.
“But why would anyone do that?”
Because I think Masai’s championship in Toronto is the luckiest championship ever, and he shouldn’t be given outsized credit for it, especially since he lost Kawhi for nothing and did nothing notable with the cap space created by losing Kawhi for nothing. Sure, he fleeced Dolan in the Melo trade, and again in the Bargnani trade. But who the hell didn’t fleece Dolan when he was in meddling starfucker mode?
He had a clean slate to work with after losing Kawhi and what has he done with it? Nothing better than any middling (perhaps even bumbling) GM could have done. He certainly didn’t make a killing on either Siakam or OG. He dubbed non-spacing Barnes as a franchise player to build around and then surrounded him with non-spacing players. And now he traded some good assets for an oft-injured faux star on an expiring deal.
Meanwhile, novice Leon Rose has run rings around him, even with the constraint of being mandated to not tear it down in a situation that called for tearing it down even more than Toronto’s did…and Masai didn’t have that mandate to constrain him.
Bottom line: I hereby disavow any statements I have made in the past about wishing Dolan had offered the moon and hired Masai as our POBO.
Not sure what to think about the Knicks trade. Meh?
Mets signing Pete, finally, seems like a win win. Mets win, of course, by only being committed to 1/$30m or 2/$54m. If he opts in to that 2nd year, I guess they’d probably look to move him to DH. Now, they get a longer look at Vientos’s defense at 3b to see if he needs a long term move to 1b….also, they get to see what Ryan Clifford does in the minors this year.
For Pete, he gets two things he can hang his hat on. First, he’s the third highest paid Met. I imagine he wanted more AAV than Manaea’s $25m AAV, and he has it even if he opts in to the 2nd year. But, perhaps more importantly, he’s making more than Freddie Freeman this year and probably about the same AAV for the two year deal.
So, the Mets can get a “happy”, motivated Pete. 🙂
Pete’s a win-win-win, as there’s hardly a Mets fan out there who isn’t happy to have fatso around a little longer.
I don’t understand what Toronto is doing recently. Why Mitchell for Tucker?
It was a salary cap move. They basically bought a pick by taking Tucker’s higher salary for the rest of the season. Mitchell was going to be gone after this season either way.
Think the Masai skepticism, while warranted, is going a little far. Even if you discount bilking the Knicks twice, his resume is still pretty strong. In particular he’s hit a lot of doubles and triples with middling draft picks–he’s gotten value from Faried, OAKAAK Fournier, Poeltl, CurrentlyAKAAK Wright, CurrentlyAKAAK OG, and Siakam, all with late-ish picks. He also unearthed FVV and traded Greivis Vasquez for Norman Powell and the pick he used on OG.
He’s been able to use the surplus value he’s gotten through the draft and small trades to execute larger ones, most notably Kawhi but also now IQ and Ingram.
He’s hardly been perfect, but he’d still be pretty damn high on my list of preferred GMs because consistently getting value from the draft is an excellent trait.
Delon Wright has usually been really valued by bpm, but also has been injured a lot lately. I thought of him instead of Payne as a minimum guy backing up PG duties. Nice steal rate, is big enough to play SG, and not that old. I like the pick up, even if he doesnt pan out.
PT – That is interesting on Williams. He’s a guy I have followed through the statline but haven’t actually watched that much.
one positive i didn’t mention is that’s he definitely gotten better as a passer in the short roll this yr. for a big that’s sometimes an indicator that there is a bit more room for growth than usual.
Raven, yeah, RE Pete, there’s been lots of mocking of him for turning down the supposed 7/$158m offer a year and a half ago. He’s been labeled as a “loser” in this offseason. But, I think the Mets made him a “winner” for 1-2 years.
Which state is Toronto in again?
I guess Toronto doesn’t need two carbon copies in Mitchell and Shead, and Mitchell is expiring and they have no interest in re-signing him. PJ Tucker is also expiring (perhaps literally as well as figuratively) and Toronto is not in the tax so getting a second rounder is okay.
Meanwhile, Miami is now under the first apron, so maybe they are targeting the buyout market or will swing some sort of deal in the next 3 hours that wasn’t possible while they were over the apron.
Yeah, they must have something else planned, but I don’t even think there’s much of a buyout market this season, is there?
Should be interesting to see how Alonso’s bat plays with Soto in the lineup walking 130 times.
Another thing I like about the way the Mets are currently constructed is that they have lots of depth in the high minors in the form of young players who are just on the cusp. They have Baty and Mauricio who can play 3B, Jett Williams and Acuna who can play either middle infield position or perhaps CF, and Drew Gilbert who is another option in CF. If a starter goes down you can fill that position with a young, talented prospect who is looking to break through to MLB. Most of those guys won’t pan out, but even one or two of them sticking in the majors on a rookie contract would be really helpful.
The 26 man roster is going to be pretty crowded.
Toronto is actually in Canada, which is another country entirely. (Yeah, I know.)
I love Leon and think Masai is overrated but I don’t think you can really compare The Knicks situation when Rose took over with Toronto’s at all.
The Knicks had already torn it down, for the most part. Yeah they sgned 9 power forwards but Rose inherited a team with rookie RJ on a rookie contact, Mitch playing for peanuts, Randle, and lots of upcoming picks. Scott Perry had already traded Morris for the 1st rounder that turned into IQ. He had already done the monumental task of trading Melo and getting one pick that turned into Mitch. And he bit the bullet and traded KP even though he was the best player we had drafted since Ewing.
The tear down had already happened under Scott Perry.
Now Masai probably should have torn it up but he was coming off a title. Losing Kawhi hurt but the next year they got to the 2nd round, so they were still good.
JK, I’d guess Baty’s rising star has diminished so much that he’ll be moved in a minor swap, or be part of a bigger deal if the Mets decide to pull the trigger on a pitcher like Dylan Cease later on.
The big youngster for me is Sproat. If he can just be a solid mid-rotation guy at some point this year, that’s huge for the pitching staff. Or maybe Tidwell.
Poor Patrick Baldwin’s getting passed around like a cheap whore.
I agree that he is damn good at finding hidden gems, but this overstates things a bit
“he’s gotten value from Faried”
WoW superstar who was not a surprise at that draft position, many here wanted him instead of Shump. Flamed out pretty quickly as it turns out D is pretty important.
“OAKAAK Fournier”
whatever, Draymond, Middleton and Crowder were on the board and Fournier topped out as a low efficiency chucker who plays no D
“Poeltl”
Hardly a find at #9, way too high for that draft, Sabonis was available at #11, Zubac was available at #32.
“CurrentlyAKAAK Wright”
Nothing special
CurrentlyAKAAK OG
Kind of a chalk pick iirc, but sure, deserves a lot of credit.
“Siakam”
By far the best of the lot. Kudos.
“FVV”
Amazing!
“and traded Greivis Vasquez for Norman Powell and the pick he used on OG.”
Truly excellent move, but then turned s/b all-star Norman Powell into Gary Trent Jr. and the jury is out on the OG trade.
Looks like Cavs are trying to get Hunter from the Hawks.
“Or maybe Tidwell.”
I thought he played football…does he have quan?
That’s why Presti is so impressive, as no one ever wants to tear their contender down, even when they obviously should, and he blew up a #5 seed because he knew it wasn’t going to get any better than that. You got your title, now just start over, dude!
Anyway, I wonder how ugly the reaction from fans and media would have been if Masai took over here instead of Leon and did anything like what he’s done over there since that time.
Serious question. If The Knicks win a title this year and then Mikal was like “I want to be traded” and we did that. Would you then expect Rose to turn around and trade Brunson and KAT to completely tear it down?
“That’s why Presti is so impressive, as no one ever wants to tear their contender down, even when they obviously should, and he blew up a #5 seed because he knew it wasn’t going to get any better than that. You got your title, now just start over, dude!”
It’s not just that he’s churning, it’s that he’s churning in a way that is not consistent with current trends in the NBA, i.e. the move towards 4-5-out 3PT shooting.
In fact, one might call Toronto a “rudderless mess.”
Doogie now has more lyrics about Canada in his catalogue than Bob Dylan.
If PG doesn’t demand out I don’t think Presti blows up anything, he had his hand forced to some degree (and then did a magnificent job with it)
If just Mikal wanted out, no, but if Brunson was a free agent and said he was leaving, a teardown would probably make sense.
That said, I totally get the main point, which is that it is way too easy to just avoid doing a teardown of a title contender, which is why few guys ever do it.
They were the #5 seed the season after they dealt PG!
“Poor Patrick Baldwin’s getting passed around like a cheap whore.”
Not as much as PJ Tucker, who might as well be retired (he’s 38 years old and hasn’t played a single minute this season).
For a guy who’s city no one can locate on a map of the USA and who’s dollar is like you know sort of a dollar, Masai is pretty fucking legit.
“🎶Toronto is actually in Canada,
which is another country entirely.
(Yeah, I know.)🎶
Doogie now has more lyrics about Canada in his catalogue than Bob Dylan.”
More of a haiku, actually. 🙂
Prediction: at 3:01 PM there will be an official update on Mitchell Robinson.
To be fair, didn’t that Denver team pre-Melo trade fail to get out of the first round six times in seven tries?
“Prediction: at 3:01 PM there will be an official update on Mitchell Robinson.”
Yeah, but will it be positive or negative?
The Florida Marlins did it twice.
“The Florida Marlins did it twice.”
The Marlins traded Brunson and KAT *twice*?!? 🙂
And how did that affect attendance?
Someone asked earlier who Moussa Diabate is. He’s the guy who got 10 points and 13 rebounds in 23 minutes off the Charlotte bench last night.
That’s a pretty seamless recovery for Chet, faster than I expected.
The WC is going to be lots of fun!
Oh wow, didn’t expect Chet back so soon. That is great.
Theoretically that helps the Cavs. We’ll see.
Wasn’t really tracking that there are three deandres in the NBA right now, each of whom spell their name differently.
Still not a patch on all the Jalen/Jaylen/Jaylins out there.
Jalen Rose’s mom: an incredible trailblazer in the field of baby naming.
Finally a trade that I like for both sides. Hunter is exactly what the Cavs needed if he can get back to his defensive rep
Less than an hour to the deadline and Cam Johnson is still a Net. I’m not sure I’ve even heard a rumor of a concrete offer. That seems odd.
It’s definitely a theoretical upgrade, but I dunno, man, I sort of wonder why they’re so intent on messing with something that was already working for someone that isn’t that much of an upgrade.
Great news regarding the Alonso signing, Mets fans!
Stearns is a baseball genius backed by a financial wizard with an endless pocket book.
That one year opt out in his contract is as much for the Mets as Pete. I can easily see the FO going after Vlad Jr. and having him switch teams with Pete when its all said and done.
I don’t think Masai has made any strategic errors in his process. I think he’s not selecting underrated players for the rebuild and fitting the pieces together properly like he’s done in the past.
I don’t want to trash RJ and Ingram (especially because I think RJ is still improving), but if you are a value oriented team builder those are two guys on your “avoid” list. They also don’t fit with the player you are hoping develops into a star in Barnes.
Unless he thinks he’s in some kind of asset accumulation mode and can move some of these players later for upgrades or better fits, the players don’t make sense.
I like Hunter, but I think he’s gone from underrated a bit to maybe even overrated bit this season. We’ll see. The Cavs got the best player, but they also lost 2 players that were making a contribution this year. I think maybe the Cavs improved their chances a bit, but with the pick compensation I don’t dislike this deal for the Hawks either.
Fare thee well, Jericho. Your hair and leaping ability were magnificent. Otherwise? Not much to say.
Not surprised it seems like we’re (basically) standing pat. Doesn’t make sense to trade Mitch while his value is low, and what we actually need is a player exactly like Mitch. So here’s hoping he can come back and give us a healthy stretch.
I am a Hukporti truther and feel like there’s potentially a rotation player in there. Hope he continues to get PT.
The issue with Hunter has always been staying on the court. He’s very good when healthy. I recall him coming back from injury to hurt us in that playoff series, then he got hurt again.
I do find it amusing that the person we all rely on for breaking news is named “shams.”
I like this trade a lot for Cleveland, consolidating 2 rotation pieces, one of which would likely get pushed out of the rotation in the playoffs, for a better player overall.
Now, I don’t know what to make of the Mann – Bogi swap, I’ve always liked Mann but he’s been pretty ass lately, and Bogdanovic looks completely washed, so i don’t know what this accomplishes for the Clippers? Just a weird sort of lateral move for both teams hoping they can fix the other guy.
Why are the Wizards trading a FRP for Marcus Smart?
The Wizards are getting a first round pick not trading one away. To quote Shans “The Memphis Grizzlies are trading Marcus Smart and a 2025 first-round pick to the Washington Wizards in a multi-team trade that sends two second-round picks to Memphis, sources tell ESPN. Memphis creates roster flexibility with the move.”
That is a weird trade for the Hawks. You are dumping salary but taking on Mann’s long-term deal?
Ryan McDonough has emphasized that ATL is in a weird position, they can’t really tank because they don’t own their own pick, so it behooves them to at least finish in the play-in. Niang and LeVert are solid pros and Okongwu is making a leap, so they might just have enough to stay out of Cooper Flagg range. Mann is intriguing, maybe a change of scenery wakes him up a bit. And Bones is a bucket if nothing else, maybe he and Bojan are similar players right now.
Ah, thank you… buyout?
Could be. I could only find what I quoted.
It’s apoarently a first round pick for this year do that’s nice for Washington.
De’Amdre is a guy I always track as someone I thought would be better to draft than RJ. He’s had a strange career. Numbers are ok but people never seem to think much of him.
Well, that seems to be it! Let’s go Mitch!!!!!
And the Nets keep Cam Johnson. Bizarre.
This was the craziest trade deadline week ever, no?
“@fredkatz.bsky.social
In the four-team deal with the Bucks, Knicks, Wizards and Spurs, Milwaukee is sending $1M to Washington, $2M to the Knicks and $4.13M to San Antonio. #FredOfTheLoom”
I mean, I guess thanks for the $2 million bucks, Milwaukee?
I honestly don’t get why we took back Delon Wright and $2M rather than have the additional cap space available for the buyout/waiver market.
Does it count as OAKAAK if he was briefly under contract to the big club but never actually played for it?
Sleepy Leon let Chuma get scooped up by the Sixers. Sad!
Once again, the Celtics prove adept at moving players at their peak value (remember Isaiah Thomas?)
In 2023 they trade Marcus Smart in a 3 team deal and get back Porzingis AND a first round pick.
Two years later, the Grizz have to attach a first round pick to dump him on the Wiz
Pretty shrewd GMing….
“Does it count as OAKAAK if he was briefly under contract to the big club but never actually played for it?”
Nope. Need to play a minute.
OAWKAAWK?
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6118739/2025/02/06/knicks-nba-trade-deadline-whats-next/?source=emp_shared_article
Edwards III’s breakdown of our moves and non-moves at the deadline. Of particular note is the running theme of Leon sometimes making deals to send players to better situations, regardless of what he gets in return. Edwards’ take is that the Sims trade was primarily about sending Jericho somewhere he would play, and not about acquiring Wright. (Nor did it really help us financially.)
He also cites Torrey Craig and Chris Duarte as two guys we might go after if they’re still available by the time we can sign a 15th man. We’ll see if any better guys get bought out whom we’re allowed to sign. (As a reminder, anyone who was making the non-taxpayer mid-level or above when they were bought out is ineligible to come here.)
If we waive Delon and/or Landry, can their pro-rated salary slots be used on a waived vet’s min player?
Because it’s the only way anything they do could be described as a Smart move
Edit: leaving it because I like my own joke
No, they’re guaranteed. Matt Ryan was not guaranteed and so could be prorated.
I doubt anyone wanted him taking up their empty roster slot.
Not sure he’d be willing to wait until March 1st, which I believe is the earliest date we can sign a buyout guy due to proration, but strikes me as the best plausible buyout option.
“Not sure he’d be willing to wait until March 1st, which I believe is the earliest date we can sign a buyout guy due to proration, but strikes me as the best plausible buyout option.”
If that date is correct, might we sign TJ to a couple of 10-days and then choose whether to sign him (or someone else) for the remainder after March 1? Or do 10-days also count towards the hard cap?
We cannot sign anyone to any kind of contract until March 1.
Potential buyout guys. I’ll take Brogdon, Bruce or Kelly, if available.
Ben Simmons
D’Angelo Russell
Kelly Olynyk
Bruce Brown
Malcolm Brogdon
Torrey Craig
Dennis Schroder
Marcus Smart
We can’t sign any buyout guys who were previously making the MLE or higher because we’re above the 1A, which takes off most of the guys on Director’s list.
The non-Lonnie plausible options are…not exciting.
Hollinger:
Springer doesn’t quite fit what we need, especially with Delon Wright already here. But notable.
“We cannot sign anyone to any kind of contract until March 1”
Why does that apply to 10-days? Seems weird.
Money.
Thunder waived Daniel Theis, but I assume if Mitch is really coming back, our buyout market focus will be on wings.
All 6 games tonight are pretty good matchups…that is rare
Why slow-dance to Once, Theis, Three Times a Scrub when we can go uptempo and Do the Huklebuck?
Thanks TNF. – Learn something every day.
i found that very funny…am i getting old?
“All 6 games tonight are pretty good matchups…that is rare”
I don’t find SAC@POR to be particularly compelling.
Sacro low-key set themselves up well post-Fox.
The Bulls remain among the most poorly managed teams in the NBA.
Not a good look for either of us, geo…
i didn’t say “compelling”…just good matchups…since I am on the west coast…i find myself watching the blazers as I am passing out in bed…they have an interesting team..
Adem Bona. Sigh.
i have a feeling raven we are cosmic twins…
as i sit here watching a sheep vid with the dog, one of her favorite animals, keep thinking about how cool that must have been studying zoology stuff…
oft think I may have missed my calling as like a goat herder…maybe not too late though, heard they was giving away goats on some islands out in the aegean…
is there anyone here whom keeps animals?
i have a family of cottontail rabbits living in my front yard…does that count?
Maybe this is why Milwaukee sent us $2M in cash. It’s compensation for taking on Wright’s contract. I think they had to send him to make the salary cap stuff work
Delon Wright’s biography is interesting bc his path to the NBA began at City College of San Francisco (a juco) before transferring to the University of Utah.
Coincidentally, it’s the same path former Thibs assistant Johnnie Bryant followed ~7 years earlier.
Just don’t touch the cows on Thrinacia, Geo.
yes it does pepper…particularly if the coyotes pay a visit too 😊
So a year later the net result of that three way trade which won the Celtics a title is:
Boston gives up Smart, gets Porzingis and picks (which eventually go to Portland with Brogdon for Holiday)
Washington gives up Porzingis, gets Jones, Smart, picks (and eventually Brogdon).
And Memphis just gives up Tyus Jones and picks.
got coyotes running around the neighborhood…i am surprised the rabbits are able to keep their ranks from thinning out…then again…maybe they’re reproducing rapidly such that I don’t notice..
I’ve got foxes in mine. Pretty exciting when I see one. And yeah, rabbits (and mice and rats) survive by reproducing a lot. One female rabbit averages something like 40-50 baby rabbits/year.
nba cup hasn’t worked for me, but i can vaguely get why other people might like it. i am not sure i’ve come across a single person who thinks the new all star format is anything but farcical.
i would’ve rather watched some kind of 2 x 2 tourney…better yet, forget the skills or even 3 point contest, let’s find out who the best 1 on 1 player in the league is, for a night…
I believe we can sign 10-days, but it pushes out the time we can sign a rest of season contract by 10 days.
geo I have two cats
Caged in my deep, dark heart, geo
It’s just me and the mold in the back of my fridge that I forgot to clean out which has since gained sentience and developed locomotion. I’m unsure of it’s current taxonomic classification.
Has it winked at you yet? That is when you can officially name it…
2 cats and 1 dog, plus wild deer, rabbits, coywolves, chipmunks, a raccoon, and I think an American mink. Fortunately, the skunk and porcupine seem to have moved.
holy shit doug, that’s a bit of scary creature in that pic of yours 🙂
that’s too funny EB…have you given it a name…you ain’t even got to know what it is to give it a name…
interesting, here in america you often hear a bunch about invasive species, seems like the american minx has caused some problems all over the world…
ess-dog, if it’s a very large mink it might be a fisher, in which case your skunk and porcupine probably didn’t move, at least on their own…
Yeah it’s not a Fisher, thank god, those things scream bloody murder and are fierce af.
Torrey Craig signs with the Celtics.
Are the Celtics boring their way to another bad home loss?
OG Anu-moldy
Porzingis had some nice moments while I watched but the Celtics defense looked awful
😊
Thinks its safe to assume that by dumping Simms for cash, – Leon and Thibs are convinced that Mitch is coming back. That whole he’s done for the season argument is not looking very strong right now.
Careful, man. I’m still being punished for my OMG Anunoby joke.
Celts rested Jrue and and every starter played less than 30 minutes except for Jaylen Brown (33), allowing the shorthanded Mavs to beat them on their home court.
Any chance Thibs does that, like, ever?
Ewing Theory is real
Quite a plus minus swing from Exum to Dinwiddie
hopefully they do it some more too, end up like the cavs last season in 3rd place, and hopefully lose to whoever the sixth seed is…
Houston is on an absolute bender. They blew another 4th quarter lead, and this time Sengun played. I wonder if Ime is coming on too strong with them and the young players are starting to tune them out.
Bit of a statement half for LeBron before the Luka era dawns
From the logo
https://x.com/nba/status/1887708365251346654?s=46&t=0wqff4cNt-sCGcDs-uMExw
Geez LeBron
Orlando is a train wreck
I guess they would rather lose to Dallas than us.
I don’t get it either, but perhaps the buyout market just looks really bad?
When did LeBron become such a good shooter? He’s gonna play a decade longer than bronny
“I don’t get it either, but perhaps the buyout market just looks really bad?”
It was mentioned above that it was possible that none of the few teams with empty roster spots would take him without a pick thrown in. If that’s the case, it makes more sense, given. how few draft assets we have left. In any case, we are hopefully talking about a break glass in case of emergency situation. Maybe TJ Warren will be as good as anyone on the buyout/waiver market that we can actually sign.
Not for nothing, but if we beat the Celts on Saturday, we’ll be tied with them in the loss column with 30 games left.
kings/blazers ending looks fun…