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Knicks Morning News (2025.07.21)
07/21/2025 10:44:29
07/21/2025 09:17:36
07/21/2025 07:48:51
07/21/2025 05:37:59
07/21/2025 04:51:09
07/21/2025 04:15:00
49 replies on “Knicks Morning News (2025.07.21)”
Bondy, yesterday: “Knicks had checked in on Marcus Smart but my understanding is he desired a spot with a clearer path to playing time.”
yeah playing time is not something we have a lot of we have amassed a wealth of talent and it is going to be an important part of mike browns tenure here to divvy up the minutes in a way that 1) makes sense and 2) keeps players happy and engaged the good news is that we are much better set up in terms of 1) having a cromulent bench and 2) having players who can fill in in case of injury
After looking into the data a bit I’m pretty into the Simmons idea, as much as anyone can be into Ben Simmons in 2025 anyway. With a veteran’s minimum slot, you’re making out like a bandit if you can get an elite skill in the building and Simmons’ playmaking, through it all, still fits that description.
There would be some challenges since we definitely would not want him overlapping with Hart or Mitch much, if at all (though it’s possible he could create enough vertical spacing with Mitch to make it not a disaster), but something like Clarkson-Deuce-Mikal-Simmons-Yabu comes with interesting-ish versatility on both sides.
I’m also intrigued by Simmons, he seems like he would add an interesting dimension to the bench and his positional flexibility could be really handy in case of injuries. That said, I wouldn’t be angry if we didn’t pick him up unless we totally waste the slot.
The thing about Simmons is that even the current version is almost entirely unplayable in the playoffs. So he’d be a regular season innings eater, which has value. But if the goal is to win a title, do you devote that last veteran spot to a guy who probably can’t help you when the games really matter?
If we can get anyone in that last slot that actually deserves to be in the rotation I’d consider it a plus, but I think we need a backup PG.
yes alan thats absolutely correct some folks here keep remembering that and some keep forgetting it so we end up saying that same simmons disclaimer over and over some would say that simmons is a pg strat at least for sure he can absolutely fill that role but again what is supposed to happen in the playoffs where we cant use him then we are down a slot
Re: Simmons – The Knicks experience with washed up lottery picks (see Hezonga, Mario and Mudiay, Emmanuel) hasn’t been great. Not sure I want a guy out there on offense who literally does not have to be guarded anywhere further than 3 feet from the basket. Pass.
You do if there’s no better option. And his versatility could really help in a variety of scenarios…even if he couldn’t do more than a few minutes per game in the playoffs.
But like others, if we don’t sign him, I won’t cry about it.
If we stipulate to the idea, and it’s probably correct, that Simmons is totally unplayable in the playoffs, then yeah that militates very strongly against signing him even if the contract stood to return value.
I guess I naively think we can put him in lineups that would make him viable at least in the earlier rounds. But that Ty Lue basically took him out of the playoff rotation entirely is a strong datapoint. What we might be dealing with is the fact that whatever the theoretical prospects of Simmons in the playoffs are…there may well be above-my-pay-grade mental considerations that make it DOA.
We don’t have minutes for Simmons. I can’t see him being happy here.
hell we dont have minutes for who we already have
starters: brunson (34) bridges (30) anunoby (30) towns (34) robinson (24)
dynamic bench: hart (22) yabusele (18) mcbride (16) clarkson (12) wright (10) hukporti (10)
the rest: kolek mccullar diawara
pg: brunson 34, wright 10, mcbride 4
sg: bridges 24, mcbride 12, clarkson 12
sf: anunoby 30, hart 12, bridges 6
pf: towns 20, yabusele 18, hart 10
c: robinson 24, towns 14, hukporti 10
In terms of minutes, there are some questions that need answering:
Is the plan to keep starting the double-big lineup? Begley seems to think so, and I tend to trust him. But most of that reporting was from before Brown was hired, and he might want something else. If so, is it the five-out lineup with Deuce starting at SG? Does Brown think he can make last season’s starting lineup work in a way Thibs couldn’t? Is Clarkson being considered as the backup PG? And will Brown play 9 guys or 10 in the regular season?
All of that has trickle down effects as to who’s playing, and how many minutes. But let’s assume that it’s the double-big starting group, and that everyone is healthy at least to start the season. And let’s assume a 10-man rotation, since that’s what Brown was mostly doing in Sacramento. In that case, the group is something like this:
C: Mitch, Huk (though it’s possible that KAT is at center whenever Mitch is on the bench, and Huk is in-case-of-emergency)
PF: KAT, Yabu
SF: OG, Hart
SG: Mikal, Deuce
PG: Brunson, Clarkson
In that circumstance, and in full health, there aren’t minutes for anyone else.
Wright?
Z-man,
No! It’s a Knicks problem.
Clarkson is a two-way negative player. You just haven’t figured that out yet. He’s going to score pointz. He’ll have hot nights where you will say “I told you”. But overall he’s not going to “add” value. He’s not efficient and he does not play defense. He’ll also do some boneheaded things.
I’m less certain about how much Yabu adds than you and the consensus. I know he’s better than Precious on offense, but he’s not as good a rebounder and probably not as good a defender. So the net is probably not signiicant. It’s just different. The best thing that can be said is that he has to be guarded outside. That will help with the spacing for some bench units with Mitch or Hart.
You are correct about one thing. I was in favor of moving on from Thibs because I think the starting lineup significantly underperformed it’s talent after the early part of season. The part you missed is that I was not in favor of Brown. He’s not a bad overall coach, but I faill to see the improvement over Thibs. IMO we needed to take a risk with someone less established but very creative.
You do you on message boards.
I’ll do me with real money.
As of now, I am leaning “under” on the Knicks and not just in conversation, but with real money. And I don’t make many bets. The thing holding me back is not Clarkson and/or Yabu. It’s Mitch. A healthy Mitch for a full season will add quite a few wins over last year.
@GK
Your take implies that Ben Simmons would be happier playing more minutes on a basketball court, I don’t believe this aligns with the consensus.
Simmons had a +11 on/off in the playoffs this past season.
My understanding is that Denver adjusted their defense in games 4 & 5, which led to Simmons getting benched, but it seems notable that he had the best on/off of the non-scrubs. His primary defensive assignment was Jokic, so the on/off wasn’t because Jokic was off the floor the entire time.
ive figured wright in henny youngman and figure that we can give him 10 minutes as the second string pg
starters: brunson (34) bridges (30) anunoby (30) towns (34) robinson (24)
dynamic bench: hart (22) yabusele (18) mcbride (16) clarkson (12) wright (10) hukporti (10)
the rest: mccullar kolek beauchamp diawara
pg: brunson 34, wright 10, mcbride 4
sg: bridges 24, mcbride 12, clarkson 12
sf: anunoby 30, hart 12, bridges 6
pf: towns 20, yabusele 18, hart 10
c: robinson 24, towns 14, hukporti 10
Based on the personnel he listed, I assume he misspelled Pacome Dadiet pretty horrifically.
People with much stronger predictive track records than you don’t say cocksure nonsense like this.
starters: brunson (34) bridges (30) anunoby (32) towns (34) robinson (24)
dynamic bench: hart (22) mcbride (18) yabusele (16) clarkson (12) hukporti (10) wright (8)
the rest: mccullar kolek beauchamp diawara
pg: brunson 34, wright 8, mcbride 6
sg: bridges 24, mcbride 12, clarkson 12
sf: anunoby 32, hart 10, bridges 6
pf: towns 20, yabusele 16, hart 12
c: robinson 24, towns 14, hukporti 10
had to cut wrights minutes a little to make more room for deuce similarly small decrease in yabu for og we need to have two of og mitch deuce on the floor at all times except for blowout minutes of course
I was a no against Simmons because of the health stuff, but changed my mind because if he were signed our mvp-level medical team would have given the ok. Regarding play-off unplayability, if your last slot is on a player whose skill set, however deficient, includes playing tough nose to nose defence against the opposing team’s best player, regardless of what position that player plays, count me in. Mitch, OG, Mikal, Hart, and Ben could stop a hot run quite effectively–granted they wouldn’t score any points, but if a playoff team is on a 15-0 tear, going 4-0 over the next 7 minutes is not a bad outcome.
You do you on message boards.
I’ll do me with real money.
hoy shit strat i hate to do it on this post because i way prefer you coming hard like this to the typical ‘creed’s wordblog escaped the hard drive vibe,’ i.e. “what i’ve been saying for years would happen either actually happened or would have happened had someone not sprained an eyebrow and missed two weeks of practice in august 2016”
but…just a friendly whisper on how it comes off to certain human centric audiences when you think that dropping a few hundred K rubles here and there makes you a better bettabilitarian in the mr wendal sense: not great! remember there are always epistemic ballers like silky floating miles above your pedestrian checkbook angel of motivation thinking: two dollars means a snack for me but it means a big deal to you.
this post was about jordan clarkson.
Chris Paul to the Clippers
clippers have become quite interesting is cp3 going to start there though i guess he might
I can’t remember: did Paul and Harden get along in Houston?
I think Beal would get the start before CP3. CP3 is most likely to be used to give Harden a rest and run the offense on the 2nd unit
i asked because it seemed to be widely known that cp3 wanted to go to a place where he could secure a starting spot if he didnt get that on the clips its odd that he went there also beal is no more of a point guard than jordan clarkson is much less a starting caliber one
Paul’s family is in LA (or near LA), so I think if he has a chance to live with them, he’d prioritize that over starting somewhere far away.
oh man, I thought creed was a great band that did drive the music pretty hard…way better than nickelback at least…
feel so disillusioned now…hmmmmmm, maybe I’ll just stay in bed…
not sure why were suddenly talking about nickelback or creed especially since the height of popularity for both of them was mid to late 90s if you want to hear a song from that era that rocks super hard give pull the cup by shellac a listen
Some Yabusele love in here https://www.theringer.com/2025/07/17/nba/nba-free-agency-signings-2025-best-deals
nice instrumental groove doogie 😊
saw another article today which said there’s a good chance mitch will be our starting center (putting KAT, OG and mikal back in to their optimal spots)…
I don’t know – the depth chart the knicks kept displaying during pre-season didn’t show that…
guess we will just have to wait and see what mike brown does…
Apparently it was a TikTok influencer who started the labubu thing.
A clear indicator of recession.
People are trying to figure out minutes as if injuries don’t happen in the NBA. We had pretty good luck last season and still missed many weeks of OG and Brunson, and Much was out most of the season. I wouldn’t worry about minutes – and if we aren’t as lucky, having a player who can handle as many roles as Simmons will suddenly seem really fantastic.
People talkin’ ’bout minutes? We talking about minutes, here. Minutes?
Also, I’m bookmarking this thread for when Strat starts posting about how he had been advocating for years for the Knicks to get Yabusele.
Love it.
recession procession…i could hook you up with these little cuties for about 150k…easy money…
man, i thought i had some issues with collecting useless crap…
still think if i had to choose, would pick up that zuni fetish doll (not an actual cultural thing) for a cheap $300.00…would probably need to box it up though and keep it in a locked drawer…kind of creepy stuff…
RIP, Malcolm Jamal-Warner. 54 is way the hell too young.
Somebody out there today undoubtedly spent actual money on a labubu memecoin. You just know it happened somewhere. Get me out of this timeline.
Unlike a lot of lottery washouts Simmons had a spell as a legitimately great player.
If healthy, I’d love to have him as the last guy on the roster. We could put a hell of all defense lineup out there.
who is this all defense lineup simmons mitch deuce og mccullar wed get outscored so badly we wouldnt know what happened
was not going to check, got weak though and did check – yeah, it’s out there alright…
what a fool i was to go through school and worry about getting work in a “traditional” work environment…so many better ways these days to grind a buck…
was watching a vid the other day about some guy who built an online retail spot just by going around early in the morning and stocking up on clothes stuff at swap meets and flea markets…
yeah man, fuck the tie and workplace…
i bet you wear some silky neck tourniquet to every work day, don’t ya E…
you better never leave E, who else can i have random convo’s in my head with?
P.J. Tucker’s mental stregth and veteran bully type presence giving players confidence (balls) and unique insight (film room) was 10x more valuable than anything Ben can provide on the court.
https://nypost.com/2025/05/14/sports/p-j-tucker-is-helping-knicks-in-nba-playoffs-without-playing-a-single-minute/?utm_campaign=nypost&utm_medium=referral
“Shout-out to P.J. Tucker for making sure we’re up and talking,” Josh Hart said after Game 4. “He brought that championship pedigree to us. He deserves a big shout-out. He’s just someone that always talks to us. He’s a champion and he’s bringing that mentality.”
Brunson said the players get together and break down the game with each other at halftime before coach Tom Thibodeau gets in the locker room and begins talking to them. Tucker is a major part of that dynamic.
I think this is worth scrutinizing a little bit.
Was Ben Simmons unplayable in the playoffs?
Or was Ben Simmons just unplayable in the Clippers Nuggets series?
That was a championship caliber playoff series in the first round. I’m not sure Mitch would have been playable in that series. And I’m kinda sure that Ben Simmons would have been playable for us against the Pistons.
Also keep in mind “unplayable” is relative to who your other options are, and the Clippers had Batum, Jones Jr, and Bogdan on their bench. 9th men usually get the boot in a playoff series as competitive as Nuggets-Clippers.
So I get the point that Ben was just considered unplayable in the playoffs but I don’t think it’s reasonable to assume that unplayable for the Clippers against the Nuggets means unplayable in general.
I’d roll the dice on Ben. And I don’t think we’d have to bench him against the Bulls in round 1 or even the Magic in round 2. Maybe he becomes unplayable against the Cavs in the ECF (because that’s kind of series Clippers-Nuggets was), but that’s fine.
There aren’t any minutes? The Knicks had unusually great health last year and MR missed 65 games, Brunson missed 17, KAT missed 10, OG 8, Hart missed 5, Deuce missed 18 and Precious missed 25.
That’s 148 games of action the rotation players missed. That’s 3,000-3,600 minutes you need from the “non-rotation guys. Or you can overwork your rotation guys a la Thibs.
There are lots of minutes for the 11-15 guys if the coach is sensible and the non every day rotation guys are playable.
If Marjon Beauchamp is your 14th guy you have an issue. If Ben Simmons is, way better.
RE: the starting lineup
I have a hard time believing we brought Mike Brown in here to play KAT at the 4 next to Mitch. We seem all in on KAT at C, and Brown’s work with Sabonis as an offensive hub is probably one of the biggest reasons he got the job.
I think it will be the same 5 in the starting lineup. And if Josh Hart doesn’t learn to punish C’s that sag off him, Yabu will take his spot.
anyone actually think that simmons has any desire to be in nyc when most of his problems were close by in philly and the nets
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