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Knicks Morning News (2025.07.11)

  • New York Knicks Can Still Trade For LeBron James – Sports Illustrated
    07/11/2025 11:00:03
     
  • “You just hired Mike Brown, who has been to a Finals with LeBron” – Nick Wright urges Knicks to trade for LeBron James – Basketball Network
    07/11/2025 10:38:00
     
  • Knicks Summer League preview: 10 young players who are hoping to impress in Las Vegas – Newsday
    07/11/2025 04:22:04
     
  • Knicks make trade for former NBA first-round pick – Yahoo
    07/11/2025 01:52:30
     
  • Knicks rumors: Marcus Smart named as potential target to fill out roster – Yahoo Sports
    07/11/2025 01:11:31
     
  • Giannis Antetokounmpo Gets Honest About New York Knicks Rumors – Athlon Sports
    07/10/2025 23:04:26
     
  • Giannis Antetokounmpo?s latest comments keep idea of Knicks trade alive – New York Post
    07/10/2025 23:21:00
     
  • Denver Nuggets Announce Signing Ex-Mavericks, Knicks Guard – Sports Illustrated
    07/10/2025 23:26:53
     
  • New York Knicks Interested in Adding Former Lakers Coach – Sports Illustrated
    07/10/2025 22:45:10
     

    • 149 replies on “Knicks Morning News (2025.07.11)”

    Also those picks weren’t very good, (compare the Rockets who had 4 top 5 picks the last 5 years while the Knicks had zero) the only way it works is if you do the thing where we make the perfect pick and then somehow keep losing the same number of games year after year despite picking the perfect player every time

    Uh, no, bc 8 of the 13 picks weren’t ours.

    And please don’t play the picks weren’t good game. I’m not even talking about how we whiffed on Halliburton, Johnson, and Williams here. I’m talking about getting guys who could fill out the 9th, 10th, and 11th spots better than guys like Clarkson. There countless guys like that available over the years for us to take.

    I don’t think Cooper Flagg, high volume scorer, is going to be a thing, if last night’s Summer League game is any indication.

    I watch zero college basketball, but none of the Flagg scouting reports suggested he was the kind of guy you could run an offense through. That said, Kawhi isn’t really that guy, either, and the healthy version of Kawhi is a monster.

    Also, apropos of nothing, every year there are a couple of nights of “The Night Shift” at the WSOP Main Event. That’s the commentary duo of Ali Nejad and Nick Schulman on PokerGo. Ali is a long time poker journalist. Nick is a poker legend and shortly to be a Hall of Famer. He might also be the coolest man alive.

    Only duo I might put up against Clyde and Breen.

    1

    Yeah, Flagg seems more of a do-everything guy with great defense. Maybe he was just forcing things for the fans. Competitive game though.

    Also apropos of nothing outside of just another sign of the apocalypse, does anyone here actually click on stories that have the word “Bronny” in the headline?

    I did read or hear something yesterday about Flagg taking a game or two to get it going when he was scrimmaging against team USA

    Never been interested in Bronny except in how he muddles the Nature vs Nurture debate

    I read the ESPN article about Flagg’s debut. Apparently, Kidd asked that Flagg play a lot of point guard. Kidd also wanted him to try new things in general. That’s got to be a big change for Flagg (As far as I know he’s a six foot eight guy who played forward in college). So I’m not disappointed in his scoring at all. A new position, especially point guard, is a lot to handle.

    Oh, and one other thing. I can’t imagine Thibideau suggesting something like that.

    Was it Kidd who played Giannis at PG? He wasn’t very good but maybe it helped him develop

    When you are an all-star point guard, every player is a nail…

    Alright, yeah, fair enough about Flagg. That is interesting he was put in a different role.

    It’s funny how Summer League can turn out to be somewhat predictive. More than people would think.

    Did have 3 steals and a block

    It’s funny how Summer League can turn out to be somewhat predictive. More than people would think.

    I’m still scarred from having this thought in 2010: “You know, I’m almost glad LeBron didn’t sign here, because instead we did the David Lee sign-and-trade, and Anthony Randolph has looked like a monster in summer league!”

    My mental check on summer league results is that year we played Cole Aldritch one game and he looked like prime shaq

    I spent $89 on Kevin Knox jersey in the summer of ‘18. And I don’t even have the guns for a tank top.

    I’d be overjoyed if any of our SL guys inspired me to pay $89 on a jersey this year. I don’t think this SL will be pretty.

    My most traumatic SL memory is from 2008 when Gallo got run over by Robert “Tractor” Taylor (RIP) and fucked up his back.

    1

    Wasn’t Daymean Dotson also a summer league standout?

    Summer league is about as predictive as 5th grade travel basketball.

    just noticed the game is on at 6pm est on nba TV and espn +…even though it may not be exceptionally noteworthy I’ll still be checking in…

    My 6 year old son has been a standout on the peewee court at Stuyvesant Town this summer.

    3

    Okay, so here’s the dream outcome for this SL roster. You tell me in what order you would be most excited about each of these thing:

    1. Kolek is not only able to playmake at will for his teammates against these weird defenses, but looks for his own shot a lot.
    2. Dadiet’s shot falls a bunch and he looks like he knows what he’s doing on defense.
    3. Huk goes all Mitch in his second summer league.
    4. James Nnaji goes all Summer League 2 Mitch.
    5. McCullar stays healthy and he’s both willing and able to shoot a bit from outside.
    6. Diawara looks like he might be playable in the NBA within a year or three.
    7. Beauchamp and/or Watson look like they might be decent in case of emergency options for the deep deep bench.

    I will also allow other options if you have them. Like, “Luka Scuka balls out.” Or a similar one for Dink Pate that I wrote about Diawara.

    Lost a lot of interest in Dink Pate when I found out Dink is his nickname, not his given name. Could have been the best Knick moniker since Harthorne Wingo (RIP).

    Like your 1-5. If Kolek or Dadiet make a leap that is huge for our depth, especially since the injury gods seldom give teams 2 good years in a row.

    Not sure any Knick has announced himself quite the way Mitch did in SL. His athleticism was so otherworldly it was quite notable.

    Would love it if anyone could repeat that impression. Why not Dink.

    I do actually think Summer League can matter. You can tell a lot more about a basketball player in a small sample than someone in any other major sport, even against that kind of competition. 5 games of stats is not nothing.

    I know it sounds stupid but a lot of times the red flag that gets raised is very meaningful. I remember Anthony Bennett absolutely sucking in SL – he shot like 35% or something and it was absolutely a harbinger.

    I expect Flagg to be very very good though. All Star for sure by year 3. He should come back strong in next game.

    As for Kolek, not sure he will ever be able to defend enough. But I love him.

    Owen, I think playing terribly in summer league is much more of a tell than playing well. Again, I point to Ant Rand, Kevin Knox, etc. It’s such a chaotic style of play that some guys can do things they’ll never be able to against real competition playing real systems. But on the other hand, if you just look like you don’t belong in summer league — particularly if you’re not a teenager and/or it’s not your first SL — that’s a big red flag.

    I’d be the most excited about Dadiet but I think Kolek is the most important one.

    I want to see Dadiet drive a few times more than I want to see him shoot well. The shooting will most likely come around, but there’s a potential (but unlikely) ceiling where he can do more than shoot 3s.

    McCullar would have to shoot a lot from outside for me to be happy. Shooting a little bit in SL wouldn’t mean that much. If he could shoot and stay healthy, he’d have been a 1st round pick.

    Dotson was a cromulent player for several years in the NBA, which is what you’re trying to find in SL, especially from a 2nd rd draft pick.

    I don’t think SL stats matter much, more interested in things like footwork, iso defense, athleticism, motor, toughness, b-ball IQ, etc.

    Guys are hyped, nervous, either over-or under-aggressive, spacing is terrible, sets are sloppy, fouls are plentiful…they’re just glorified pickup games. But sometimes you can see some little things that either confirm or challenge preconceptions.

    Nate was a real NBA player! Limited due to his height, but carved out a perfectly fine career as a microwave guy.

    If you are a #1 pick and don’t rip shit up fine. If you are actively bad I am going to raise an eyebrow. So yeah, I guess I agree with you Alan.

    And yeah, the fact Nate shoved absolutely told you there was something there.

    I don’t know, the narrative starts somewhere and sometimes summer league is a part of it.

    Sinner- Djokovic quite a treat on a random Friday

    I think it’s easier to find negatives in summer league than positives.

    If the player looks good you can’t be sure if he’s really good or he just looks good relative to other young experienced kids and it won’t hold up against NBA athletes and players.

    If a player is getting beat, can’t create his own shot like he did in college and generally looks overmatched in summer league, that’s a problem.

    About the only thing I’d be willing to easily forgive is if he’s getting good shots but they aren’t falling. If you have been a good shooter all along, I’m not going to worry about a few games where open looks didn’t fall.

    I was pretty skeptical of Kristaps until I saw him in SL and could see how fucking tall he was and that he moved okay for a guy that huge. Certainly didn’t suggest he was going to be good but it gave you a sense that he could be

    I won’t draw any conclusions if Dadiet stinks in summer league. Next summer is the one where I want to see something positive from him.

    But I think Kolek needs to look good. If he can’t play spot minutes at age 24 it’s hard to justify keeping him on the roster instead of Shamet or Wright.

    Dadiet is probably going to get significant reps from preseason to December no matter what. Not worried at all about how he shows in SL.

    my current pre-game go to: talk a lot a shit (not exactly like with your brother though, that stuff gets way overheated), but just talk a lot and have fun…

    thought summer knox was overhyped even then. summer mitch was something i’ve never seen in basketball before. he had a foot fully in the paint on the catch and blocked a corner three. he finished a lob that had the exact trajectory of the ref flipping the ball to a free
    throw shooter. i thought we had stumbled
    on bo jackson with jokes.

    Also, Kolek is currently our only non-Brunson PG. Clarkson or Deuce can be a facsimile, but it’d be nice to have a 2nd viable PG.

    It wasn’t like Summer Knox looked particularly great at any aspect of the game. He was just playing with a level of abandon and confidence that served him well in that environment. Whereas with Mitch, you could very easily see ways in which he could impact real games.

    I have more confidence on Kolek breaking down defenses, using the Nash dribble and throwing passes right in the pocket to the rest of the Knicks than I do of them making the shot and crediting him with the assist.

    If Djoker wins this after spotting Sinner two sets he truly is the GOAT

    If that happens, Sinner is going to need some psychiatric help to recover. Twice in such a short period of time would be too much.

    And yeah, here is the Mitch summer league package. He was dominant although as I recall he also fouled way too much.

    The block PT mentioned is at 2:40. There is another one at4 minutes.

    He has about 35 putback dunks and alley oops. It’s kind of crazy but makes perfect sense given what he showed later.

    https://youtu.be/uss5EPh3q04?si=6PRYvze1dIekc2GL

    For me, at least, his career has been somewhat of a disappointment compared to the euphoria of that performance. His game never developed the way I hoped that it would and the injuries have impacted pretty much every year. Still a great pick, though!

    I do remember thinking Anthony Randolph was a can’t-miss prospect after one summer league. At that time, there just weren’t a lot of 6’11” guys who could move like that with a decent shooting form. But alas…

    I don’t expect much from Kolek in these games because they are so disjointed but would like to see him throw a bunch of lobs, do some things in the paint, and defend on an island a bit. The season just ended six weeks ago so what he does in the next 3 months is way more important.

    What I really am interested in is whether Nnaji or Diawara look good out there if they are on the floor with Kolek.

    Randolph had two major issues: low b-ball iq and no right hand. That kind of stuff doesn’t matter in SL.

    I remember being thrilled when we picked him up in the David Lee trade, and by the time we were done with preseason, I was pretty much out on him.

    hi early bird…I had a post from yesterday I never got around to finishing…reference you being on the fence about clarkson…

    my question really was: how confident are you now in the Knick front office?

    and does that sway your feeling on clarkson?

    That’s a very good question, Geo, i’m curious too. One of the reasons i’ve been more silent lately is that i have less time, but the trust in the FO also makes me not think too much about this, they do the thinking and our plan to get better and better is going very well. Although this offseason we got better just because we didn’t got worse, as some of our opponents did.

    I think our FO is pretty good, but definitely not great. The Bridges trade is the kind that great FOs never make, so that really tipped the scale for me. But by far the best of this century, so there’s that!

    As to trust, I dunno geo, not really but hey, that’s what we got! One move at a time!

    hi early bird…I had a post from yesterday I never got around to finishing…reference you being on the fence about clarkson…

    my question really was: how confident are you now in the Knick front office?

    and does that sway your feeling on clarkson?

    I lost a lot of confidence in them with the Mikal trade. Clarkson won’t move the needle too much on my opinion of the FO.

    I’d like to think I’d be skeptical of any player past 30 with declining numbers, regardless of FO. If anything it’s more a bias against high-usage, low-efficiency players.

    In a vacuum Clarkson might be a good signing, but we have no proven 3rd PG and we can’t sign another vet min player if Clarkson flames out. Unless Kolek is great or we roster another PG with our last vet min slot, then we could have a big problem.

    1

    EB I understand your (and others) concerns regarding Clarkson but there are several reasons why I think they are somewhat overblown, even if Clarkson is not as good as I hope, or just bad.

    First, I believe that Mike Brown is less stubborn and more creative, and will find ways to make Deuce and Kolek fill that backup role well.

    Second, if necessary, a trade can be made to address that issue. Even one involving Clarkson himself. You might have to sweeten it by throwing in a second, but if all you are worried about is that we wasted a vets min spot on a non-pg, I’m pretty sure you can get a Delon or Cam level PG at the drop of a second round hat.

    Finally, as you noted, there is still that last vets min spot.

    1

    Btw do we know who is coaching Summer League?

    The guy who decides if we should challenge calls, Jordan Brink

    1

    Nothing like setting SL expectations better than watching Jacob Toppin shine.

    1

    I was just thinking he needs to dump the headband. A bit dorky with his hair.

    A nice little drive to the basket, but he’s not impressing me yet as TK3.

    They look like they’ve never played together before, or just ever before

    1

    So Scuka (pronounced Shooka) is 6’10” and shot 34% from three in Germany last year. For whatever that’s worth.

    McCullar with a nifty reverse and NNNNNaji playing some energetic defense, anyway…

    Yes one of the beat writers shared a pic of Brown sitting in between Rose and Wes. Also apparently Mikal, Deuce and KAT are at the game.

    2

    I can’t watch, but am enjoying saying Luka Scuka to myself

    2

    Kolek looked a loooot better in last year’s SL and I know it’s only the first game,
    but it kinda feels like sitting on the bench and waving a towel all year long doesn’t help your development too much 😉

    If the Kolek Hive is watching this I’m worried about a colony collapse 🤦🏾‍♂️

    1

    I’m hoping Kolek looks better as SL goes on and they get reps together.

    They really need a scorer

    NNNNaji with a nice little layup and some defense.

    McCullar and Beauchamp doing medium well. Kolek destroying my dreams.

    I never thought I’d say this about a summer league team, but they don’t seem well coached.

    1

    Kolek leading the team in points rebounds and assists kinda tells you how good this SL team is

    Was about to say that Huk is the only guy out there looking even slightly NBA ready and then he blows the dunk.

    2

    According to socials:
    The Knicks’ courtside contingent:

    Deuce McBride, Mikal Bridges, Karl-Anthony Towns, Karl Towns Sr, William Wesley, Mike Brown, Leon Rose

    Wonder who leaves first?

    man, fire this summer league coach 😊

    yikes…

    @geo true, we gotta give this man back his iPad ASAP

    Somehow I missed Dink Pate’s brilliant five minutes.

    Also missed finding out if it’s pronounced like a shaved head or a French spread.

    Haven’t been able to watch.

    Do any of these stiffs look like they can play even a tiny bit?

    Do any of these stiffs look like they can play even a tiny bit?

    It’s pretty ugly.

    Somehow I missed Dink Pate’s brilliant five minutes.

    Also missed finding out if it’s pronounced like a shaved head or a French spread.

    Raven based on the way they said Pacome I wouldn’t be confident in this NBATV announcing team as a reference.

    JK, Huk looks like he can play. Beauchamp looks like he’s a perfectly cromulent summer league player. McCullar looks like a perfectly cromulent backup summer league player. The rest, not so much.

    After watching this mess I feel like taking my whole Saratoga bankroll and betting the under. 🤪

    Ron Holland is in a different class than all these guys, but I think we already knew that coming in.

    So, assuming that Hukporti might be a viable NBA player and Kolek might not, seems like we might want to go with another guard with that last vet min spot.

    So, assuming that Hukporti might be a viable NBA player and Kolek might not, seems like we might want to go with another guard with that last vet min spot.

    10 minutes of grab ass summer league play is certainly the way to make roster decisions.

    “The future looks bright” is not really a Knicks thing to say…

    Yeah, I’ve got three more games before I give up on Kolek, but 3-9, 0-4 from three, with 5 turnovers in 22 minutes — and some of those turnovers were ghastly.

    Of course he does have 6 rebounds and 6 assists. The assists haven’t sparkled, but he kind of has a nose for the ball rebound-wise, a bit like a little version of Hart. Of course that’s just one half…

    I don’t give a fuck about what Trajan Langdon has to say, show me the game (albeit ugly) you morons 🤬

    1

    Yeah the rebounds have from Kolek is the closest he’s looked to being clutch, but a little of that is how bad the rest of them have been on the boards.

    I was just about to put the Knicks game on but thank you all for changing my mind

    (and looking at the box score, are Holland and Jenkins players?)

    The only Knick who can shoot the three is Diawara, and only from three quarters court…!

    Diawara made ESPN tomorrow, that’s really all that matters from this game 👍🏾

    Not a good start to the season for these “rotation” Knicks. Getting killed. Defense not there. Very sloppy play. Where’s the bright spot?

    (and looking at the box score, are Holland and Jenkins players?)

    Holland was the 5th overall pick last year, he’s 20 and played 15 mins per game in his rookie season so I think the answer is yes.
    Jenkins looks like he can shoot.

    Huk has had a couple of 10-ft floaters, for want of a better term, go in. Certainly looks like he thinks he can shoot them.

    I guess this is how it goes when you completely abandon the NBA draft as a means of acquiring talent

    1

    I’ve always despised Greg Anthony, but these two guys might be the worst two announcers for a summer league game ever. They’ve completely ignored the game. I have no idea who is scoring (outside of Dadiet, because hair), but they just keep talking….

    2

    Dadiet doing some nice stuff. I don’t think his game is suited for SL, so it’s nice to see him take advantage on cuts and fast breaks.

    Speaking of abandoned drafts, I like well rounded players but good shooting is still a nice skill to have… you know, hitting shots when you’re open… 👨🏻‍🦳

    @Raven it’s almost like they know these games don’t matter lol. But yeah it’s really annoying when you’re at least trying to follow what’s happening.

    I could only watch the first half, but in Kolek’s defend he made some reasonable quick passes that turned into nothing or worse because the other players messed up

    @Raven it’s almost like they know these games don’t matter lol. But yeah it’s really annoying when you’re at least trying to follow what’s happening.

    I watched for maybe 4 minutes and they only time they mentioned the game at all is when Diawarra hit that 3/4 quart shot

    I agree about the announcers. In summer league you need an actual play by play more than in the regular seasons because a lot of the players are new to you. But instead you get a lot less.

    1

    Dadiet with a nice scoring line with nothing else to go with it

    Kolek still can rack up assists and unless they sign somebody else it’s something that can be used.

    Dink Pate was expected to be a lottery pick before going over to Mexico for a year- now maybe he gets onto an NBA court in 3 years or back over seas.

    That’s my take

    Aaron Judge is hitless tonight but his 3 defensive gems saved at least 3 runs. Bellinger is taking care of the offense.

    The SL team might be shitty but the jokes are good here.

    No contest between watching the Knicks and watching The Night Shift cover the Main. Tonight they are featuring Will Kassouff, literally the most annoying poker player in the history of the game. It’s a choice.

    yep, my big takeaway from the game was that the announcing team was terrible…

    pacome has good size and athleticism, seems to know where to stand and move to while out on the court…

    who knows, crazier things have happened…

    tyler was not impressive…

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