I’ve been doing some due diligence on Jordan Clarkson, and while I’m still optimistic that he will help and is good value, there were some articles that really hammered his defense, even dating back to 2022. Essentially, the feeling was that he needs to be on the floor with good defensive players, or even the dynamic offense he can provide on given nights will be neutralized. Reading some of the more recent stuff gave me Fournier/Bojan vibes, and although I don’t think we’re there by a long shot (especially since those guys were on big contracts), it definitely deserves some monitering.
It will be up to Brown to bring out the best in Clarkson, which I still believe is a significant bump up from Payne. The keys will be:
-demanding maximum defensive effort, both physically and between the ears.
-expecting an AST% in the 20s (i.e. where it has been for the last 3 years) but with fewer turnovers via “spraying the ball” when he touches the paint (Brown uses that phrase constantly, get used to it!)
-being more selective with his 3pt shooting
I think Clarkson is actually a pretty smart player and will try to make the most of this last, best opportunity for himself. Hopefully he will benefit from the winning culture (did I really say that?), structure and coaching, and feed off the intelligent MSG crowd and NY press to be his best self, and not the “empty bucket” that Strat fears he is.
simple keep him on the floor with two of mitch deuce og problem solved
I think Cam’s negative finish has made people forget just how good he was for us last year. It’s going to be hard for Clarkson just to be equal to that level. If he’s a significant bump up, we’re probably winning 65 games.
Most likely outcome for Clarkson is still the same as Cam, I think: useful innings eater in the regular season who will disappear in the playoffs unless he gets hot from 3.
mostly i dont think that we really know how good payne might have been for us last season because thibs didnt ever give him anything but spot minutes so he almost never had a chance to heat up on the few occasions that he got hot in his few minutes thibs would pull him anyway hopefully mike brown will *really* go with what the game is telling him
I think Cam’s negative finish has made people forget just how good he was for us last year.
Yes
Essentially, the feeling was that he needs to be on the floor with good defensive players, or even the dynamic offense he can provide on given nights will be neutralized.
Yes
Payne was what he was. He was hit or miss on any given night and could help win or possibly even lose a game for us, but overall he was a net plus for our team in his role other than some rough shooting in the playoffs.
Clarkson has a better “bag”, but that bag doesn’t lead to more efficient scoring. It just leads to more volume of the same kind of in and out play we got from Payne. And I would argue even less defense. I think he’s been a net negative player the last couple of years (perhaps partially due to injury).
IMO we are betting on him being back to 100% despite his age just to be as good as Payne was for us. Our bench could use some more scoring. I’m just not so sure it needs higher volume high variance low efficiency scoring.
I guarantee he’s going to have some nights where he takes over, scores from all over the place, helps us win and there’s going to be a celebration here that we have him. But there are also going to be nights where people are mumbling “WTF is this idiot doing?”
Here is an interesting (to me) question I’ve been pondering. Curious what others think.
The debate about the starting 5 seems to center around do we keep it the same (starting Hart), do we start Mitch and KAT and go double big, negating some of KAT’s offense and the spacing but giving us good defense with the starting 5. Or do we start McBride and do a true 5 out starting 5, hurting us on rebounding and interior defense but maybe helping the POA defense.
But here is another wrinkle I’d like to propose. What is we start YABU?
Yabadabadu seems more like a hybrid 4/5 than a true 5. But he is a floor spacer. If you start him at the 4, you get to keep KAT at the 5.
Positives – true 5 out. Moves OG to the 3, where he is the best on defense. Rebounding would be good but not elite if you had Mitch. Keeps Mitch as the back up 5, which is probably minutes wise what he can handle. Moves Hart to the bench.
Cons – Probably don’t get the interior defense you’re hoping for with Mitch starting obviously.
Maybe Yabu isn’t good enough to start? But you’d get a 5 our offense with KAT still being able to play the 5 but having another big/not OG playing slightly out of position.
So..I’ve been thinking..
If the team really wants a vet, low maintenance shooter that can play more than 1 position- why not go with Burks over Shamet? Burks is still a reliable 3pt shooter and a whole 6’6″ 220-ish. I say “a whole 6’6″ because our bench is kinda small unless Huk takes a leap and can play meaningful backup minutes. Burks isn’t ideal- but while he doesn’t have the chemistry with the guys that Shamet has, he can still create offense better. I mean- Burks can’t be bad for this team as a 10th or 11th man, can he?
I’d still rather have Ben Simmons to free up the bench scorers to do what they do best. Damn..”scorers”. We have 3 guys on our bench who will score. That’s pretty fuckin dope. Now, if Hart moves to the 2nd unit, then there’s obviously no need for Simmons or Burks and Shamet would be a plus-addition for us IMO
If Clarksons decline is because he’s not the kind of guy who tries in meaningless games he’ll be as good or maybe a bit better than Cam. i’m skeptical, but on the other hand Cam Payne next year is probably not going to be as good as Cam Payne last year either so maybe it’s a wash
Whenever I read the Clarkson or someone else has below average plus minus or below average true shooting or below average something else I think yes, but he’s on the bench. I mean, almost by definition bench players are normally going to be “below average” at many things. If they were above average, they would probably be starters somewhere. Clarkson is likely to be good for his role, even if he doesn’t have inspiring statistics.
I’m reading that Rose and Brock want to add 2 vet players and Kolek might be traded to free up enough space to do that. That they want to bring back Shamet but also might want Brogdon or Simmons too.
walker yes the idea of starting yabu was floated here as early as the day we acquired him there are aspects of starting mitch/kat deuce/kat yabu/kat that all have pros and cons this is where im putting my complete faith into mike brown to tinker with different lineups (*not* larry brown style which was beyond crazy) until he finds the best its even ok with me if it is different on different nights depending on matchups
and yes we talked about the two vet players and kolek out the door a couple/few days ago too my worry would be that right now kolek is the only guy who is a true backup pg
Re: starting lineups, I think one of the biggest factors in favor of starting Mitch over Hart is to avoid hack-a-Mitch as much as possible.
I’m not sure this will happen, as it seems Brown might prefer running his offense through a post player, like he did with Sabonis. However, I do think it would be an easy way to settle the issue.
Re: Clarkson, hopefully we’ll just need him for heat checks here or there, so I’m not too worried about it. The more shooters/scorers we have on our bench, the better IMO.
danny dimes just named colts week 1 starter i guess im not surprised especially given the injury richardsons star is falling quickly
If we have to trade a young player to make room for a vet- I’d much rather it be Dadiet than Kolek. We are definitely a win now team, and while it’s nice to have young talent to develop, Dadiet’s floor might just be too low to wait on him to be ready. I do think he has “good player” traits and will be worth the wait, but just not on this roster. And as a 1st rounder, he probably has more value to another team than Kolek, while Kolek probably has more value for us than anywhere else. Hell- we can probably move Dadiet for a late 1st or an a few 2nds at least.
agree with all that my maryland compadre wrote
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I want Yabu to start, but really I want Yabu to be good enough to start.
And if Yabu is not the answer to the starting lineup I think you have to trade Josh Hart for the guy who is.
Poindexter, I think Kolek made himself expendable with his summer league performance.
Walker, if Kolek is traded I predict it is to the Kings.
I wish we could just get Al Horford in here and keep him in bubble wrap until the spring. That’s the type of player the starting lineup needs to form Voltron.
Sounds like once we sort out who should start, health permitting, we have a few contenders on the bench for 6MOY. Not a bad spot to be in. In Brown we trust.
i’d prefer the double big starting lineup…mitch can do some elite stuff no one else can on the team – consistent offensive rebounding, rim protection, switchable defensive big…
yabu at the four though would at least allow mikal and OG to primarily play at the 2 and 3 spots…
felt like we were a size challenged team with OG at the 4, mikal at the 3, and josh filling in at the 4…
interested to see how much of an upgrade yabu is over precious and clarkson is over cam, in both cases, particularly on the defensive side of things…
they both seem like potential fan favorites with their on court energy…
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Interestingly enough, Josh Hart and Santi Aldama make almost the exact same amount of money, and Memphis has the opposite problem we do: too many bigs & not enough wings.
I would have to do a deeper dive on Aldama to determine if that trade truly makes sense for us, but that’s the kind of framework I think we need to explore.
ive had my eye on aldama for a while but not sure i could come up with a good trade i like our current team pretty well and would rather not lose swiss army knife in josh hart also vibes with our superstar brunson lastly aldama would deserve more minutes than we could possibly give him hes kind of redundant now that we have yabu
I wish we could just get Al Horford in here and keep him in bubble wrap until the spring. That’s the type of player the starting lineup needs to form Voltron.
Dude, I’m right there with you. But it looks like GSW are a lock to get him. I guess even though he’s 39 and this is probably his last season, he’s looking for an opportunity to start over an opportunity to be on the bench and win another ring (or at least go to the finals).
Which is too bad. Horford would be PURFECT for us.
Hell- we can probably move Dadiet for a late 1st or an a few 2nds at least.
And why exactly on earth do you want to do this. To make room for another Landry Shamet?
I don’t get the reasoning that the 14th and 15 guys on the roster are going to make the difference in anything. Especially at the cost of the only guy on the roster who has real upside potential.
I don’t give a shit who starts. I give a shit about how Brown explores and adapts to the data. Win games, build chemistry and flexibility. Play to data as a general rule. We just fired Leonidas, time for Themistocles.
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I don’t get the reasoning that the 14th and 15 guys on the roster are going to make the difference in anything.
Shamet and another vet free agent would not be the 14th or 15th guy on the roster.
That’s 9 rotation players. Right now Huk, Kolek and Dadiet are the 10th, 11th and 12th guys.
One vet free agent would replace one of those dudes as the 10th guy. Another vet would replace them as the 11th guy.
The Knicks lost in the ECF largely because they did not have the deep bench that the Pacers had. And even if we made it past the Pacers, you then have OKC to deal with, who also have a deep bench to deal with.
That depth in the regular season keeps your core guys fresh and less likely to get injured.
That depth in the playoffs gives you options to throw out there when something isn’t working. Let’s say its Shamet and Simmons. Need some scoring punch? Give Shamet some minutes. Need defense? Give Simmons some minutes.
It’s about depth during the regular season and options during the playoffs. Of course it would be awesome if Kolek and Dadiet were in a place where we could pencil them in the rotation for the regular season, give them some experience and now they’re an option in the playoffs.
But the FO must not think that. And THIS SEASON is maybe our best chance to win a title since Jordan retired.
“I don’t get the reasoning that the 14th and 15 guys on the roster are going to make the difference in anything.”
I agree with this to a certain extent. The flip side is we have a unique 3 year window to win it all, and every last roster spot and asset we have should be evaluated as to its relative value in that window. Dadiet is clearly a player who could develop into a key piece during the latter half of that window. So don’t maximise things for next year at the expense of maximising our window.
I think we would definitely start Horford but he’s supposedly got a two-year, $12M deal lined up in GS once Kuminga gets resolved and we can only offer the vet min. It seems to be about the money.
“But the FO must not think that. And THIS SEASON is maybe our best chance to win a title since Jordan retired.”
…seems like we have to agree to disagree on this one…
I think we should view Huk as a legit backup big, i.e. a legit 10th man.
Beyond that, Kolek and Dadiet are far more iffy, and calling them “legit” 11th and 12th men is more of a stretch.
in that sense, the unfilled roster spots should go to players who are dependable minutes eaters at positions of need, which to me are PG and scoring wing.
If it has to cost one of the two prospects, I’d prefer it be Kolek, who you have to squint to see a productive minutes eater. Dadiet has the size and athleticism to guard, the skill to score, and the youth to develop rapidly. It’s more likely (but to be fair, not assured) that Kolek has topped out at sub-rotation PG. Kolek also has the larger salary of the two, so it makes more sense. And if ditching Kolek results in signing both Brogdan and one of Simmons or Westbrook, well, now you have reasonable depth for Brown to mess around with.
Dadiet is four years younger than Kolek and is a scratch ticket that hasn’t been scratched off yet. Kolek was drafted as a ready-to-play guy who turned out to be not ready to play. I was happy with the Kolek pick at the time but it just didn’t really pan out.
I say just stick Dadiet at the end of the roster and see if you can develop him into something, and maybe he’s a useful piece in a couple of years when some of these other cats start hitting their decline phases. I’d move on from Kolek if some other team wants to take a crack at developing him in his mid-20’s.
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It’s about options during the playoffs
This is where the league went while Leon was overpaying for his wings. The complementary big that we’re missing deprives us of a necessary option. At least there is a slim chance now Yabu is that guy.
Lots of interesting takes that I both very much agree with and disagree with, so not sure why I’m landing on this one, but I’m not quite (yet) in agreement that Kolek won’t end up being decent. My reason for hope is that the rap on Deuce was that he couldn’t make a basket if he was held directly over the hoop for his first two years. And like Deuce, there have been (very) brief moments of shooting excellence from Kolek (not, I must say, during the last summer league…).
Maybe it’s wish-casting, but maybe not any worse than hoping Clarkson becomes something different, too…
I say just stick Dadiet at the end of the roster and see if you can develop him into something
I agree. He costs the minimum and he’s probably worth less than a 2nd round pick on the trade market.
I don’t care if Kolek can shoot. Until he can guard the position he’s virtually unplayable on a team with Brunson, Clarkson and KAT.
The one thing about Kolek and his poor summer league performance.
Summer league is glorified pick up basketball. Dudes are gunning to make an impression. And Kolek was probably working on very specific things in those games that are his weaknesses.
Also, Kolek got some PT near the end of the regular season and looked…not bad! But then the playoffs came and he played zero basketball during that time.
I’m sure he got some practice in and watching high intensity playoff basketball from the bench was probably good in some ways, but a similar player on a non-playoff team or some undrafted player who then made the summer league team would have been spending that time in serious training.
My point is that there wasn’t THAT much time between the last playoff game and summer league. Hardly enough time for him to “develop” – that is hopefully happening as we speak.
clarence seems to be a very very smart man werk
I don’t see the point in comparing the challenges faced by Deuce and Kolek. Deuce is a very impressive athlete for his size, and plays bigger than his listed height. You can see his football chops when he rears back and yokes one from time to time. Kolek is a below-the-rim athlete with very limited physical upside. He is neither particularly fast nor quick, nor does he have much of a shot-making bag. However, his court vision and passing skills are elite. The question becomes: can he generate enough space with skill and vision to overcome his deficits? Brunson faced some of the same athleticism issues early on but his starting point was significantly higher than Kolek’s…37″ vertical vs. 34″ for Kolek at their respective combine. That plays out on extension on floaters and drives. Brunson’s bag was also elite as a starting point. So when you combine a weaker bag and less athleticism, it’s hard seeing how Kolek can consistently generate enough space for himself to fully unlock his passing skill.
What Kolek does have that is similar to Deuce is a big heart and desire to be good, along with a strong b-ball IQ. If he does top out at barely playable, it won’t be because he didn’t work hard enough or isn’t smart enough. Probably his best hope is to become a knockdown shooter from 3, but that ship may have sailed.
Kolek will probably end up being that middle aged white dude at the Y who asks if he can join your pick up game and everyone shrugs their shoulders and says “sure” because they need one more dude and then he absolutely lights everyone up and people are like “WTF just happened?”
It’s a good feeling.
And why exactly on earth do you want to do this. To make room for another Landry Shamet?
I get it..I do. But on the same token, we do have still developing youth in Deuce, Huk, McCullar, Kolek, Nnaji, and Diawara. 4 of them have translatable attributes now, while the other 2 have super intriguing attributes. We can afford to move Dadiet if we need to for cap purposes. Not ideal on the surface? Absolutely. But it helps this team more than it hurts should they move Dadiet
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Z-Man, not to pick a fight, but I was amused that you are down on comparing two short backup point guards but feel that it’s okay to compare one to multi-All-Star, All-NBA Jalen “May Be the Best Player on a Championship Team” Brunson.
I actually get your point, but it’s just kind of funny.
To make room for another Landry Shamet?
No, to make room for Landry Shamet AND another vet minimum player.
We can sign one vet minimum player as is without having to trade Kolek or Dadiet. But we can’t sign two. And if the FO feels there is another vet out there that can help this team win a championship THIS YEAR, then it makes sense to move one of these guys.
This could mean Shamet and Brogdon or Simmons or (let’s go hubie!) Horford.
Suddenly that is an 11 man deep roster.
This isn’t about the 14th and 15th spots. This is about the 10th and 11th spots.
Dadiet is four years younger than Kolek and is a scratch ticket that hasn’t been scratched off yet. Kolek was drafted as a ready-to-play guy who turned out to be not ready to play. I was happy with the Kolek pick at the time but it just didn’t really pan out.
I say just stick Dadiet at the end of the roster and see if you can develop him into something, and maybe he’s a useful piece in a couple of years when some of these other cats start hitting their decline phases. I’d move on from Kolek if some other team wants to take a crack at developing him in his mid-20’s.
That’s actually a very good point. One I hadn’t considered in my reasoning for moving Dadiet. It’s entirely possible that I let Kolek’s traditional point guard strengths- and lack thereof on the roster outside of him- makes me want to see him develop as a Knick more than Dadiet. I don’t know what types of ‘explosion training’ exercises Kolek does in his training, but he may need to have a focus in that area to help him stick. I’ve seen few PG’s with his skill set makes it work while being very deliberate in their movement. If he doesn’t improve his jumper or short area quickness, he might end up being Arcidiacono 2.0. This is a conundrum worth reconsidering
Ha! Look at us gear grinding over end of bench pieces. It really is the dog days lol
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lol Raven, yeah, I get it. I like the Brunson comparison more, mainly because they fall into the same archetypal category. Which is a bit ironic because I think Deuce is more in a group with Kyle Lowry or FVV, i.e. combo-ish small PGs with strong defensive atrributes…yet when we first acquired Brunson I said he could be as good/impactful as Lowry or FVV!
But Deuce is mainly an NBA rotation player because of his defensive athleticism, which certainly isn’t the case for Brunson, and even less so for Kolek. To me, Deuce is really more of a tiny 3-and-D wing with developing guard skills, whereas Kolek is solely a pure PG who is a subpar and virtually non-switchable defender.
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There are a lot of good Euroleague PGs right now… I would think it would make some sense to try and bring one over, since Kolek isn’t ready.
Yeah I would probably move Kolek over Dadiet because of their age.
“I don’t know what types of ‘explosion training’ exercises Kolek does in his training, but he may need to have a focus in that area to help him stick.”
On Scheppler’s advice, Lin sought out Phil Wagner, a physician and trainer who owns Sparta Performance Science in Menlo Park. Wagner saw a player with enviable athleticism, but who lacked the explosiveness of an elite N.B.A. player.
“Most basketball players can create force very quickly,” Wagner said, referring to a player jumping off the floor. “Jeremy couldn’t.”
He compared Lin to a stretched-out rubber band — flexible, but lacking that snap-back quality. The goal was to make him “stiffer,” through a training program of heavy weights and low repetition, in conjunction with a high-protein diet. With the added muscle, Lin pushed his weight to 212 pounds from 200, while increasing his vertical leap by 3.5 inches, Wagner said. The result is evident every time Lin barrels into the lane this season.
“The biggest thing I see is when he gets intro traffic, he’s able to maintain his direction and his balance, because he’s stronger,” Wagner said, adding, “He’s a physical guard. That’s where I see his hard work and the program he did with us paying off.”
Maybe that’s who we should be comparing Kolek to! 😀
Kolek is about 6 months younger than Deuce. He’s not a guy you put in the g-league for multiple years. If he’s not ready now, I’m fine with cutting bait and risking him figuring it out elsewhere.
I’m not sure Kolek is more NBA-ready than Dadiet, who actually showed some positive growth in Summer League.
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Fuck, Alvarez going on IL…
The issue I see with Kolek is that even if he is able to make the leap, the Clarkson signing signals the team will not give him the minutes needed to succeed at that. Meaning he will not contribute this year nor next. Really liked him as a draft choice, but in the cold light of day best to trade him for an asset (even a bit of cap space if that is all) that can help us improve the team right now.
Again with the gendering, Doogie. Check out I’m a Man, by Jobriath! It’s a good’un.
…as compared to Bo Didley or the Spencer Davis Group…
If moving Kolek enables us to get Simmons AND Shamet, I say go for it. But I agree with JK et alia – hold Dadier. He’s the prototype of a very valuable player, a switchable wing with a good shot. I actually do think he could be contributing as soon as the season after this.
How do you not mention Muddy Waters, Raven? His version remains by far the best!
Tyler, we were just getting to know you…i’d vote for using his salary on someone else…even at a small cost…
delon wright is still available…him and another defensive minded big would be nice…
If moving Kolek enables us to get Simmons AND Shamet
This is what I’m saying. We’d be 11 deep when fully healthy. We’d have multiple guys on the bench who could start in a pinch if needed. We’d have a variety of options we could throw at teams in the playoffs.
It seems like a no brainer. We’re at push the chips in time. Outside of Cleveland, the East is WIDE open and ours for the taking. Get to the finals and anything can happen.
Let’s end this championship drought people.
the one thing that folks keep forgetting is that we have no minutes to allocate why would a veteran want to sign here pretty much only as injury insurance super great for us super bad for them and their athlete egos
the one thing that folks keep forgetting is that we have no minutes to allocate why would a veteran want to sign here pretty much only as injury insurance super great for us super bad for them and their athlete egos
With Shamet – the team stood by him and kept him around while he rehabbed his injury. He got into the rotation.
With Simmons – murkier. He probably wants more PT and a bigger role. But also, even if he had a limited role, if he played well when he did get PT and we won a chip or got to the finals, it could go a long way to rehabilitating his image. He’s never gonna get some huge contract again as an all star caliber player but if he was a good soldier and looked good even in spot minutes, he could probably get something better than a vet minimum next year. This might actually be a better play for him than playing for a bad team with a bigger role.
No one’s forgetting it, Doogie, we just understand that in the real world people get injured and others take their minutes. The chance that several players don’t each miss a month or two is remote. Last year it was our entire bench (Mitch, Shamet, Precious, Deuce, Payne) plus a month each for OG and Jalen and assorted games for KAT. And that was a year with GOOD health luck!
I’m sure these guys would rather start somewhere, but that’s not on the table. So then they have to weigh what matters as a backup: guaranteed minutes from the start, or being on a good team? Knowing that Brown plays a lot of guys even when everyone is healthy, players are probably fine without the guarantee.
rama, in addition, neither the roster nor the rotation is etched in stone. We can offer guesses, but Brown is new to the team and might surprise us in his choices. And if Leon could part ways with his buddy Thibs, one would think that guys like Hart, Mitch, and Deuce…and to a lesser degree KAT, OG and Mikal…are not guaranteed to be here. Who knows? Those vets might become Giannis’ sidekicks.
If you’re figuring out whether or where to sign for the veteran minimum contract, which would buy a lot of bacon egg and cheese even in this economy, you’re already thinking about other things than “can my ego handle this.” Playing in front of a New York crowd and winning is both gratifying and lucrative. New York loves someone who chooses NY.
true dat clarence i hope some cromulent vet can bring himself to see it that way i really do
Those vets might become Giannis’ sidekicks.
Much as I like all our current players, this is one outcome I couldn’t complain about…!
Is there any other player about whom people would feel that way? Jokic, obvs. SGA? Is he that much better than Jalen?
The assumption is that it would take a lot to get them, so disregarding cap issues, imagine that it’s not a one-to-one consideration – it’s two-to-one at least. So, SGA for Jalen and OG/Mikal/Mitch, or Jokic for KAT and Hart/OG, etc. Who else beyond Giannis, Jokic, and maybe SGA would be worth it?
i dont even want to entertain that right now i like our current team too much and dont want to screw with it at all at least without seeing it first
“SGA? Is he that much better than Jalen?”
Sadly, yes he is. Like by a country mile.
but id rather watch jalen than sga as boring as brunson can sometimes be with his forays towards the hoop sga is the epitome of unexciting basketball
the practice of forced circumcision is child abuse. And I couldn’t disagree more, Doogie.
Whatever happened to the Meltwagon? He’s still UFA’d right?
I happen to think that SGA is incredibly exciting to watch. And I think if Brunson was playing for another team, he’d be viewed very differently by many of us. In other words, a huge part of what makes him so exciting to Knicks fans is that he’s already arguably the second greatest PG in Knicks history and the best that any of us under 55-60 years old has seen. If only we had drafted and kept SGA instead of he who shall not be named, or if Cuban had offered more money, most here wouldn’t care much about what Brunson was doing on the Mavs or whoever (and he was actually doing that stuff in the playoffs to Spida and the Jazz and at the time, yeah, whatever.)
Not sure I agree about SGA and Brunson.
Brunson’s forays to the hoop are like circus tricks — it’s all “No he didn’t just do that!!”
SGA’s are more “Yup, he did it. Again.”
For a purist SGA is hugely exciting because it’s trying to figure out how he makes something so hard look so easy and effortless.
But it does look so easy and effortless. Which is not really as exciting to watch as Jalen clearly doing the impossible with what appears to be the utmost of effort. Also inexplicable, but a very different experience.
But here is another wrinkle I’d like to propose. What is we start YABU?
i just don’t think this is the bones of a contender. adding another weak defender to jalen and kat leaves this lineup incredibly imbalanced. and while the raw offensive firepower and spacing will be outstanding, it probably falls short of completely maxing out its full five out potential given the lack of quick, efficient decision making needed to exploit the swing swing magic.
yabu is a lot like an ersatz naz reid; and kat and naz didn’t light the world on fire together. it’s surely a very viable lineup in stints but i don’t think anyone should be rooting for it to be the go to. barring personnel changes, i think mitch is again our best hope to reach a best case. but it’s got to be a mitch that at least occasionally can rim run on a roll and make 60ish percent of his fts.
I’m definitely in the start Mitch camp, have been since the very beginning, mostly because of the KAT-Gobert experience in Minny. You can always stagger them as needed later in the game, but rim protection at the start of games, especially with a guy like Mitch who can also defend away from the basket. Also better to set an offensive rebounding tone early on if our shooters come out a bit cold. I don’t think Mitch’s FT shooting matters much in the first 5 minutes of any game, and if anything he would be drawing early fouls on starters which might help KAT and Brunson.
I agree with ptmilo on Yabu, he might be built like Mase but he’s a subpar defender and having him out there with KAT and Brunson is asking for trouble. Go to that situationally, but not to start.
Donnie, I got the Beef and Broccoli Mitchel and Ness hat for the upcoming season. I’d rather be a puke head than Mac and cheese militia.
i dont wear mitchell hats or ness hats well to put it simply i never wear hats
78 replies on “Knicks Morning News (2025.08.19)”
I’ve been doing some due diligence on Jordan Clarkson, and while I’m still optimistic that he will help and is good value, there were some articles that really hammered his defense, even dating back to 2022. Essentially, the feeling was that he needs to be on the floor with good defensive players, or even the dynamic offense he can provide on given nights will be neutralized. Reading some of the more recent stuff gave me Fournier/Bojan vibes, and although I don’t think we’re there by a long shot (especially since those guys were on big contracts), it definitely deserves some monitering.
It will be up to Brown to bring out the best in Clarkson, which I still believe is a significant bump up from Payne. The keys will be:
-demanding maximum defensive effort, both physically and between the ears.
-expecting an AST% in the 20s (i.e. where it has been for the last 3 years) but with fewer turnovers via “spraying the ball” when he touches the paint (Brown uses that phrase constantly, get used to it!)
-being more selective with his 3pt shooting
I think Clarkson is actually a pretty smart player and will try to make the most of this last, best opportunity for himself. Hopefully he will benefit from the winning culture (did I really say that?), structure and coaching, and feed off the intelligent MSG crowd and NY press to be his best self, and not the “empty bucket” that Strat fears he is.
simple keep him on the floor with two of mitch deuce og problem solved
I think Cam’s negative finish has made people forget just how good he was for us last year. It’s going to be hard for Clarkson just to be equal to that level. If he’s a significant bump up, we’re probably winning 65 games.
Most likely outcome for Clarkson is still the same as Cam, I think: useful innings eater in the regular season who will disappear in the playoffs unless he gets hot from 3.
mostly i dont think that we really know how good payne might have been for us last season because thibs didnt ever give him anything but spot minutes so he almost never had a chance to heat up on the few occasions that he got hot in his few minutes thibs would pull him anyway hopefully mike brown will *really* go with what the game is telling him
Yes
Yes
Payne was what he was. He was hit or miss on any given night and could help win or possibly even lose a game for us, but overall he was a net plus for our team in his role other than some rough shooting in the playoffs.
Clarkson has a better “bag”, but that bag doesn’t lead to more efficient scoring. It just leads to more volume of the same kind of in and out play we got from Payne. And I would argue even less defense. I think he’s been a net negative player the last couple of years (perhaps partially due to injury).
IMO we are betting on him being back to 100% despite his age just to be as good as Payne was for us. Our bench could use some more scoring. I’m just not so sure it needs higher volume high variance low efficiency scoring.
I guarantee he’s going to have some nights where he takes over, scores from all over the place, helps us win and there’s going to be a celebration here that we have him. But there are also going to be nights where people are mumbling “WTF is this idiot doing?”
Here is an interesting (to me) question I’ve been pondering. Curious what others think.
The debate about the starting 5 seems to center around do we keep it the same (starting Hart), do we start Mitch and KAT and go double big, negating some of KAT’s offense and the spacing but giving us good defense with the starting 5. Or do we start McBride and do a true 5 out starting 5, hurting us on rebounding and interior defense but maybe helping the POA defense.
But here is another wrinkle I’d like to propose. What is we start YABU?
Brunson/Clarkson/Kolek
Mikal/McBride
OG/???
Yabu/Hart
KAT/Mitch/Huk
Yabadabadu seems more like a hybrid 4/5 than a true 5. But he is a floor spacer. If you start him at the 4, you get to keep KAT at the 5.
Positives – true 5 out. Moves OG to the 3, where he is the best on defense. Rebounding would be good but not elite if you had Mitch. Keeps Mitch as the back up 5, which is probably minutes wise what he can handle. Moves Hart to the bench.
Cons – Probably don’t get the interior defense you’re hoping for with Mitch starting obviously.
Maybe Yabu isn’t good enough to start? But you’d get a 5 our offense with KAT still being able to play the 5 but having another big/not OG playing slightly out of position.
So..I’ve been thinking..
If the team really wants a vet, low maintenance shooter that can play more than 1 position- why not go with Burks over Shamet? Burks is still a reliable 3pt shooter and a whole 6’6″ 220-ish. I say “a whole 6’6″ because our bench is kinda small unless Huk takes a leap and can play meaningful backup minutes. Burks isn’t ideal- but while he doesn’t have the chemistry with the guys that Shamet has, he can still create offense better. I mean- Burks can’t be bad for this team as a 10th or 11th man, can he?
I’d still rather have Ben Simmons to free up the bench scorers to do what they do best. Damn..”scorers”. We have 3 guys on our bench who will score. That’s pretty fuckin dope. Now, if Hart moves to the 2nd unit, then there’s obviously no need for Simmons or Burks and Shamet would be a plus-addition for us IMO
If Clarksons decline is because he’s not the kind of guy who tries in meaningless games he’ll be as good or maybe a bit better than Cam. i’m skeptical, but on the other hand Cam Payne next year is probably not going to be as good as Cam Payne last year either so maybe it’s a wash
Whenever I read the Clarkson or someone else has below average plus minus or below average true shooting or below average something else I think yes, but he’s on the bench. I mean, almost by definition bench players are normally going to be “below average” at many things. If they were above average, they would probably be starters somewhere. Clarkson is likely to be good for his role, even if he doesn’t have inspiring statistics.
I’m reading that Rose and Brock want to add 2 vet players and Kolek might be traded to free up enough space to do that. That they want to bring back Shamet but also might want Brogdon or Simmons too.
walker yes the idea of starting yabu was floated here as early as the day we acquired him there are aspects of starting mitch/kat deuce/kat yabu/kat that all have pros and cons this is where im putting my complete faith into mike brown to tinker with different lineups (*not* larry brown style which was beyond crazy) until he finds the best its even ok with me if it is different on different nights depending on matchups
and yes we talked about the two vet players and kolek out the door a couple/few days ago too my worry would be that right now kolek is the only guy who is a true backup pg
Re: starting lineups, I think one of the biggest factors in favor of starting Mitch over Hart is to avoid hack-a-Mitch as much as possible.
I’m not sure this will happen, as it seems Brown might prefer running his offense through a post player, like he did with Sabonis. However, I do think it would be an easy way to settle the issue.
Re: Clarkson, hopefully we’ll just need him for heat checks here or there, so I’m not too worried about it. The more shooters/scorers we have on our bench, the better IMO.
danny dimes just named colts week 1 starter i guess im not surprised especially given the injury richardsons star is falling quickly
If we have to trade a young player to make room for a vet- I’d much rather it be Dadiet than Kolek. We are definitely a win now team, and while it’s nice to have young talent to develop, Dadiet’s floor might just be too low to wait on him to be ready. I do think he has “good player” traits and will be worth the wait, but just not on this roster. And as a 1st rounder, he probably has more value to another team than Kolek, while Kolek probably has more value for us than anywhere else. Hell- we can probably move Dadiet for a late 1st or an a few 2nds at least.
agree with all that my maryland compadre wrote
I want Yabu to start, but really I want Yabu to be good enough to start.
And if Yabu is not the answer to the starting lineup I think you have to trade Josh Hart for the guy who is.
Poindexter, I think Kolek made himself expendable with his summer league performance.
Walker, if Kolek is traded I predict it is to the Kings.
I wish we could just get Al Horford in here and keep him in bubble wrap until the spring. That’s the type of player the starting lineup needs to form Voltron.
Sounds like once we sort out who should start, health permitting, we have a few contenders on the bench for 6MOY. Not a bad spot to be in. In Brown we trust.
i’d prefer the double big starting lineup…mitch can do some elite stuff no one else can on the team – consistent offensive rebounding, rim protection, switchable defensive big…
yabu at the four though would at least allow mikal and OG to primarily play at the 2 and 3 spots…
felt like we were a size challenged team with OG at the 4, mikal at the 3, and josh filling in at the 4…
interested to see how much of an upgrade yabu is over precious and clarkson is over cam, in both cases, particularly on the defensive side of things…
they both seem like potential fan favorites with their on court energy…
Interestingly enough, Josh Hart and Santi Aldama make almost the exact same amount of money, and Memphis has the opposite problem we do: too many bigs & not enough wings.
I would have to do a deeper dive on Aldama to determine if that trade truly makes sense for us, but that’s the kind of framework I think we need to explore.
ive had my eye on aldama for a while but not sure i could come up with a good trade i like our current team pretty well and would rather not lose swiss army knife in josh hart also vibes with our superstar brunson lastly aldama would deserve more minutes than we could possibly give him hes kind of redundant now that we have yabu
Dude, I’m right there with you. But it looks like GSW are a lock to get him. I guess even though he’s 39 and this is probably his last season, he’s looking for an opportunity to start over an opportunity to be on the bench and win another ring (or at least go to the finals).
Which is too bad. Horford would be PURFECT for us.
And why exactly on earth do you want to do this. To make room for another Landry Shamet?
I don’t get the reasoning that the 14th and 15 guys on the roster are going to make the difference in anything. Especially at the cost of the only guy on the roster who has real upside potential.
I don’t give a shit who starts. I give a shit about how Brown explores and adapts to the data. Win games, build chemistry and flexibility. Play to data as a general rule. We just fired Leonidas, time for Themistocles.
Shamet and another vet free agent would not be the 14th or 15th guy on the roster.
They would be the 10th and 11th guys.
Brunson, KAT, OG, Mikal, Hart, Mitch, McBride, Clarkson, Yabu
That’s 9 rotation players. Right now Huk, Kolek and Dadiet are the 10th, 11th and 12th guys.
One vet free agent would replace one of those dudes as the 10th guy. Another vet would replace them as the 11th guy.
The Knicks lost in the ECF largely because they did not have the deep bench that the Pacers had. And even if we made it past the Pacers, you then have OKC to deal with, who also have a deep bench to deal with.
That depth in the regular season keeps your core guys fresh and less likely to get injured.
That depth in the playoffs gives you options to throw out there when something isn’t working. Let’s say its Shamet and Simmons. Need some scoring punch? Give Shamet some minutes. Need defense? Give Simmons some minutes.
It’s about depth during the regular season and options during the playoffs. Of course it would be awesome if Kolek and Dadiet were in a place where we could pencil them in the rotation for the regular season, give them some experience and now they’re an option in the playoffs.
But the FO must not think that. And THIS SEASON is maybe our best chance to win a title since Jordan retired.
“I don’t get the reasoning that the 14th and 15 guys on the roster are going to make the difference in anything.”
I agree with this to a certain extent. The flip side is we have a unique 3 year window to win it all, and every last roster spot and asset we have should be evaluated as to its relative value in that window. Dadiet is clearly a player who could develop into a key piece during the latter half of that window. So don’t maximise things for next year at the expense of maximising our window.
I think we would definitely start Horford but he’s supposedly got a two-year, $12M deal lined up in GS once Kuminga gets resolved and we can only offer the vet min. It seems to be about the money.
“But the FO must not think that. And THIS SEASON is maybe our best chance to win a title since Jordan retired.”
…seems like we have to agree to disagree on this one…
I think we should view Huk as a legit backup big, i.e. a legit 10th man.
Beyond that, Kolek and Dadiet are far more iffy, and calling them “legit” 11th and 12th men is more of a stretch.
in that sense, the unfilled roster spots should go to players who are dependable minutes eaters at positions of need, which to me are PG and scoring wing.
If it has to cost one of the two prospects, I’d prefer it be Kolek, who you have to squint to see a productive minutes eater. Dadiet has the size and athleticism to guard, the skill to score, and the youth to develop rapidly. It’s more likely (but to be fair, not assured) that Kolek has topped out at sub-rotation PG. Kolek also has the larger salary of the two, so it makes more sense. And if ditching Kolek results in signing both Brogdan and one of Simmons or Westbrook, well, now you have reasonable depth for Brown to mess around with.
Dadiet is four years younger than Kolek and is a scratch ticket that hasn’t been scratched off yet. Kolek was drafted as a ready-to-play guy who turned out to be not ready to play. I was happy with the Kolek pick at the time but it just didn’t really pan out.
I say just stick Dadiet at the end of the roster and see if you can develop him into something, and maybe he’s a useful piece in a couple of years when some of these other cats start hitting their decline phases. I’d move on from Kolek if some other team wants to take a crack at developing him in his mid-20’s.
This is where the league went while Leon was overpaying for his wings. The complementary big that we’re missing deprives us of a necessary option. At least there is a slim chance now Yabu is that guy.
Lots of interesting takes that I both very much agree with and disagree with, so not sure why I’m landing on this one, but I’m not quite (yet) in agreement that Kolek won’t end up being decent. My reason for hope is that the rap on Deuce was that he couldn’t make a basket if he was held directly over the hoop for his first two years. And like Deuce, there have been (very) brief moments of shooting excellence from Kolek (not, I must say, during the last summer league…).
Maybe it’s wish-casting, but maybe not any worse than hoping Clarkson becomes something different, too…
I agree. He costs the minimum and he’s probably worth less than a 2nd round pick on the trade market.
I don’t care if Kolek can shoot. Until he can guard the position he’s virtually unplayable on a team with Brunson, Clarkson and KAT.
The one thing about Kolek and his poor summer league performance.
Summer league is glorified pick up basketball. Dudes are gunning to make an impression. And Kolek was probably working on very specific things in those games that are his weaknesses.
Also, Kolek got some PT near the end of the regular season and looked…not bad! But then the playoffs came and he played zero basketball during that time.
I’m sure he got some practice in and watching high intensity playoff basketball from the bench was probably good in some ways, but a similar player on a non-playoff team or some undrafted player who then made the summer league team would have been spending that time in serious training.
My point is that there wasn’t THAT much time between the last playoff game and summer league. Hardly enough time for him to “develop” – that is hopefully happening as we speak.
clarence seems to be a very very smart man werk
I don’t see the point in comparing the challenges faced by Deuce and Kolek. Deuce is a very impressive athlete for his size, and plays bigger than his listed height. You can see his football chops when he rears back and yokes one from time to time. Kolek is a below-the-rim athlete with very limited physical upside. He is neither particularly fast nor quick, nor does he have much of a shot-making bag. However, his court vision and passing skills are elite. The question becomes: can he generate enough space with skill and vision to overcome his deficits? Brunson faced some of the same athleticism issues early on but his starting point was significantly higher than Kolek’s…37″ vertical vs. 34″ for Kolek at their respective combine. That plays out on extension on floaters and drives. Brunson’s bag was also elite as a starting point. So when you combine a weaker bag and less athleticism, it’s hard seeing how Kolek can consistently generate enough space for himself to fully unlock his passing skill.
What Kolek does have that is similar to Deuce is a big heart and desire to be good, along with a strong b-ball IQ. If he does top out at barely playable, it won’t be because he didn’t work hard enough or isn’t smart enough. Probably his best hope is to become a knockdown shooter from 3, but that ship may have sailed.
Kolek will probably end up being that middle aged white dude at the Y who asks if he can join your pick up game and everyone shrugs their shoulders and says “sure” because they need one more dude and then he absolutely lights everyone up and people are like “WTF just happened?”
It’s a good feeling.
I get it..I do. But on the same token, we do have still developing youth in Deuce, Huk, McCullar, Kolek, Nnaji, and Diawara. 4 of them have translatable attributes now, while the other 2 have super intriguing attributes. We can afford to move Dadiet if we need to for cap purposes. Not ideal on the surface? Absolutely. But it helps this team more than it hurts should they move Dadiet
Z-Man, not to pick a fight, but I was amused that you are down on comparing two short backup point guards but feel that it’s okay to compare one to multi-All-Star, All-NBA Jalen “May Be the Best Player on a Championship Team” Brunson.
I actually get your point, but it’s just kind of funny.
No, to make room for Landry Shamet AND another vet minimum player.
We can sign one vet minimum player as is without having to trade Kolek or Dadiet. But we can’t sign two. And if the FO feels there is another vet out there that can help this team win a championship THIS YEAR, then it makes sense to move one of these guys.
This could mean Shamet and Brogdon or Simmons or (let’s go hubie!) Horford.
Suddenly that is an 11 man deep roster.
This isn’t about the 14th and 15th spots. This is about the 10th and 11th spots.
That’s actually a very good point. One I hadn’t considered in my reasoning for moving Dadiet. It’s entirely possible that I let Kolek’s traditional point guard strengths- and lack thereof on the roster outside of him- makes me want to see him develop as a Knick more than Dadiet. I don’t know what types of ‘explosion training’ exercises Kolek does in his training, but he may need to have a focus in that area to help him stick. I’ve seen few PG’s with his skill set makes it work while being very deliberate in their movement. If he doesn’t improve his jumper or short area quickness, he might end up being Arcidiacono 2.0. This is a conundrum worth reconsidering
Ha! Look at us gear grinding over end of bench pieces. It really is the dog days lol
lol Raven, yeah, I get it. I like the Brunson comparison more, mainly because they fall into the same archetypal category. Which is a bit ironic because I think Deuce is more in a group with Kyle Lowry or FVV, i.e. combo-ish small PGs with strong defensive atrributes…yet when we first acquired Brunson I said he could be as good/impactful as Lowry or FVV!
But Deuce is mainly an NBA rotation player because of his defensive athleticism, which certainly isn’t the case for Brunson, and even less so for Kolek. To me, Deuce is really more of a tiny 3-and-D wing with developing guard skills, whereas Kolek is solely a pure PG who is a subpar and virtually non-switchable defender.
There are a lot of good Euroleague PGs right now… I would think it would make some sense to try and bring one over, since Kolek isn’t ready.
Yeah I would probably move Kolek over Dadiet because of their age.
“I don’t know what types of ‘explosion training’ exercises Kolek does in his training, but he may need to have a focus in that area to help him stick.”
I remember that Jeremy Lin engaged in this kind of training just prior to Linsanity and it made a big difference for him, including a major change in his max vertical.
Maybe that’s who we should be comparing Kolek to! 😀
Kolek is about 6 months younger than Deuce. He’s not a guy you put in the g-league for multiple years. If he’s not ready now, I’m fine with cutting bait and risking him figuring it out elsewhere.
I’m not sure Kolek is more NBA-ready than Dadiet, who actually showed some positive growth in Summer League.
Fuck, Alvarez going on IL…
The issue I see with Kolek is that even if he is able to make the leap, the Clarkson signing signals the team will not give him the minutes needed to succeed at that. Meaning he will not contribute this year nor next. Really liked him as a draft choice, but in the cold light of day best to trade him for an asset (even a bit of cap space if that is all) that can help us improve the team right now.
Again with the gendering, Doogie. Check out I’m a Man, by Jobriath! It’s a good’un.
…as compared to Bo Didley or the Spencer Davis Group…
If moving Kolek enables us to get Simmons AND Shamet, I say go for it. But I agree with JK et alia – hold Dadier. He’s the prototype of a very valuable player, a switchable wing with a good shot. I actually do think he could be contributing as soon as the season after this.
How do you not mention Muddy Waters, Raven? His version remains by far the best!
Tyler, we were just getting to know you…i’d vote for using his salary on someone else…even at a small cost…
delon wright is still available…him and another defensive minded big would be nice…
This is what I’m saying. We’d be 11 deep when fully healthy. We’d have multiple guys on the bench who could start in a pinch if needed. We’d have a variety of options we could throw at teams in the playoffs.
It seems like a no brainer. We’re at push the chips in time. Outside of Cleveland, the East is WIDE open and ours for the taking. Get to the finals and anything can happen.
Let’s end this championship drought people.
the one thing that folks keep forgetting is that we have no minutes to allocate why would a veteran want to sign here pretty much only as injury insurance super great for us super bad for them and their athlete egos
With Shamet – the team stood by him and kept him around while he rehabbed his injury. He got into the rotation.
With Simmons – murkier. He probably wants more PT and a bigger role. But also, even if he had a limited role, if he played well when he did get PT and we won a chip or got to the finals, it could go a long way to rehabilitating his image. He’s never gonna get some huge contract again as an all star caliber player but if he was a good soldier and looked good even in spot minutes, he could probably get something better than a vet minimum next year. This might actually be a better play for him than playing for a bad team with a bigger role.
No one’s forgetting it, Doogie, we just understand that in the real world people get injured and others take their minutes. The chance that several players don’t each miss a month or two is remote. Last year it was our entire bench (Mitch, Shamet, Precious, Deuce, Payne) plus a month each for OG and Jalen and assorted games for KAT. And that was a year with GOOD health luck!
I’m sure these guys would rather start somewhere, but that’s not on the table. So then they have to weigh what matters as a backup: guaranteed minutes from the start, or being on a good team? Knowing that Brown plays a lot of guys even when everyone is healthy, players are probably fine without the guarantee.
rama, in addition, neither the roster nor the rotation is etched in stone. We can offer guesses, but Brown is new to the team and might surprise us in his choices. And if Leon could part ways with his buddy Thibs, one would think that guys like Hart, Mitch, and Deuce…and to a lesser degree KAT, OG and Mikal…are not guaranteed to be here. Who knows? Those vets might become Giannis’ sidekicks.
If you’re figuring out whether or where to sign for the veteran minimum contract, which would buy a lot of bacon egg and cheese even in this economy, you’re already thinking about other things than “can my ego handle this.” Playing in front of a New York crowd and winning is both gratifying and lucrative. New York loves someone who chooses NY.
true dat clarence i hope some cromulent vet can bring himself to see it that way i really do
Much as I like all our current players, this is one outcome I couldn’t complain about…!
Is there any other player about whom people would feel that way? Jokic, obvs. SGA? Is he that much better than Jalen?
The assumption is that it would take a lot to get them, so disregarding cap issues, imagine that it’s not a one-to-one consideration – it’s two-to-one at least. So, SGA for Jalen and OG/Mikal/Mitch, or Jokic for KAT and Hart/OG, etc. Who else beyond Giannis, Jokic, and maybe SGA would be worth it?
i dont even want to entertain that right now i like our current team too much and dont want to screw with it at all at least without seeing it first
“SGA? Is he that much better than Jalen?”
Sadly, yes he is. Like by a country mile.
but id rather watch jalen than sga as boring as brunson can sometimes be with his forays towards the hoop sga is the epitome of unexciting basketball
the practice of forced circumcision is child abuse. And I couldn’t disagree more, Doogie.
Whatever happened to the Meltwagon? He’s still UFA’d right?
I happen to think that SGA is incredibly exciting to watch. And I think if Brunson was playing for another team, he’d be viewed very differently by many of us. In other words, a huge part of what makes him so exciting to Knicks fans is that he’s already arguably the second greatest PG in Knicks history and the best that any of us under 55-60 years old has seen. If only we had drafted and kept SGA instead of he who shall not be named, or if Cuban had offered more money, most here wouldn’t care much about what Brunson was doing on the Mavs or whoever (and he was actually doing that stuff in the playoffs to Spida and the Jazz and at the time, yeah, whatever.)
Not sure I agree about SGA and Brunson.
Brunson’s forays to the hoop are like circus tricks — it’s all “No he didn’t just do that!!”
SGA’s are more “Yup, he did it. Again.”
For a purist SGA is hugely exciting because it’s trying to figure out how he makes something so hard look so easy and effortless.
But it does look so easy and effortless. Which is not really as exciting to watch as Jalen clearly doing the impossible with what appears to be the utmost of effort. Also inexplicable, but a very different experience.
But here is another wrinkle I’d like to propose. What is we start YABU?
i just don’t think this is the bones of a contender. adding another weak defender to jalen and kat leaves this lineup incredibly imbalanced. and while the raw offensive firepower and spacing will be outstanding, it probably falls short of completely maxing out its full five out potential given the lack of quick, efficient decision making needed to exploit the swing swing magic.
yabu is a lot like an ersatz naz reid; and kat and naz didn’t light the world on fire together. it’s surely a very viable lineup in stints but i don’t think anyone should be rooting for it to be the go to. barring personnel changes, i think mitch is again our best hope to reach a best case. but it’s got to be a mitch that at least occasionally can rim run on a roll and make 60ish percent of his fts.
I’m definitely in the start Mitch camp, have been since the very beginning, mostly because of the KAT-Gobert experience in Minny. You can always stagger them as needed later in the game, but rim protection at the start of games, especially with a guy like Mitch who can also defend away from the basket. Also better to set an offensive rebounding tone early on if our shooters come out a bit cold. I don’t think Mitch’s FT shooting matters much in the first 5 minutes of any game, and if anything he would be drawing early fouls on starters which might help KAT and Brunson.
I agree with ptmilo on Yabu, he might be built like Mase but he’s a subpar defender and having him out there with KAT and Brunson is asking for trouble. Go to that situationally, but not to start.
Donnie, I got the Beef and Broccoli Mitchel and Ness hat for the upcoming season. I’d rather be a puke head than Mac and cheese militia.
i dont wear mitchell hats or ness hats well to put it simply i never wear hats
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