News & Blogs
Knicks set for NBA Cup Semifinal meeting with Magic after win over Raptors – SNY
Knicks 117-101 Raptors (Dec 9, 2025) Game Recap – ESPN
Knicks, Magic advance to NBA Cup semifinals: Live reaction and analysis – The New York Times
Game Thread: Knicks at Raptors, Dec. 9, 2025 – Posting & Toasting
Knicks’ Mike Brown praises Josh Hart for making job easier after win over Raptors – SNY
Knicks 117, Raptors 101: Torching Toronto to advance to Vegas – Posting & Toasting
Knicks Move On in NBA Cup| McBride Injury| Magic Next| 15 Stars Pours | Skyzoo Drops New Heat – Knick of Time
NBA Cup Reactions: Knicks vs Magic Semifinal Showdown | West Quarterfinal Preview – Knicks Fan TV
Who Needs Giannis? | X’s & O’s | Knicks Film School – Knicks Film School
YT News
82 replies on “Knicks Morning News (2025.12.11)”
Bucks’ Giannis buying $14 million property in New York ignites trade buzz, but there’s more to the story
By “more to the story,” they mean it’s more likely that this is probably part of Giannis’s investment portfolio. And that it’s unlikely than that he wants to live in a 28-unit building, on the east side of the park (although more respect to him if he does), and commute up to Tarrytown.
Sorry for the double-post; doesn’t a package around Austin Reaves (Vanderbilt, Hachimura, Vincent) for Giannis make sense for both teams? Is L.A. trying to maintain flexibility for long-term success with Luka?
I’m re-posting some of what Alecto posted, since we have a couple of days before the IST semi game, and it’s an interesting debate.
“As for Mitch, the winning point to me is what he can bring during a playoff series. Not many dudes on non-rookie deals can dominate in the playoffs, and Mitch is one. No, you can’t rely on him during the season, but that’s why he’s making so little! And why realistically he’ll continue to make a modest salary instead of a major deal. For us he’s a luxury, unnecessary for a good record during the season, but one of the best players on the floor when healthy. Personally I’d focus on making sure he is healthy when it matters without worrying about much until then. Because no one you could trade him for would have an equal impact unless they ALSO were injury prone.
TL;dr: If the team can go 53-29 without him and then have him wreck teams in the playoffs, that would be a good use of $18 million to me – especially since the options seem to be to let him walk for nothing or trade him for a mediocre player who is useful during the season but glued to the bench for the playoffs.”
First, I will take issue with the hand-waving away of Mitch’s FT issues on the basis of him only averaging 1.6 FTA per game. In the two recent games vs. the Celts and Raps, he had a combined 12 FTA in 32 minutes of play and went 3-12. The Knicks were -14 with him on the floor vs. the Celts and -6 vs. Toronto.
Second, yes, Mitch wrecked those same Celtics in the playoffs even though they tried the hack-a-mitch strategy. But who did the Celts have playing the 5? KP, who was incapacitated and Horford, who is undersized to begin with and hit the age wall. Additionally, we were -11 overall with him on the floor vs. DET and -28 vs. IIND, including -38 in pivotal games 4 and 6 (btw Mitch played 30 minutes and Myles Turner only played 21 minutes in game 6, so who was Mitch mostly dealing with at the 5? Thomas Bryant? Jarace Walker?
Good coaches with the right players will easily neutralize Mitch. They will either play 5-out or combine boxing him out with hack-a-Mitch. The more you depend on him, the more you risk him becoming an overall liability in a critical game. And that’s without him being forced to play big minutes due to a suspension or foul trouble or injury to whoever is in front of him.
And that’s if, if, if he stays healthy after a long regular season and grueling early rounds of the playoffs.
Things I am too old for:
1. Rooting for teams that don’t win championships
2. iPhone updates
donnie you just have to think of yourself as betraying the old verison
First, I will take issue with the hand-waving away of Mitch’s FT issues on the basis of him only averaging 1.6 FTA per game. In the two recent games vs. the Celts and Raps, he had a combined 12 FTA in 32 minutes of play and went 3-12. The Knicks were -14 with him on the floor vs. the Celts and -6 vs. Toronto.
the problem with the quantity argument is that his current off the charts ineffectiveness is a call option for the opponent that gets exercised in the most important games and moments. people (not you bba, but yes, definitely you) like to whine on the game threads when opposing coaches go to mitches get stitches, but if he’s really shooting 25% he becomes unplayable for very important stretches of the games with real leverage. this acts as a ceiling on his max minutes in key games and also allows the other team to massage the matchups. even last year when things were a bit less dire he shot 5.4 FTA per 36 in the playoffs. i thought mazzulla fortunately flubbed the scratch a mitch strategy in game 2, and there were several chances to get him more than 1 fta or out of the game before he finally went to it very late to get him benched when that really shouldn’t have been their play when they were up 4 and OG was on the bench. but the worse he shoots the more of a siren song it will be.
Good coaches with the right players will easily neutralize Mitch. They will either play 5-out or combine boxing him out with hack-a-Mitch.
think this a wild overstatement. i don’t think it’s that easy to neutralize mitch with 5-out. mitch has wreaked havoc against some attempts to 5-out him with, as i believe you called it, his “orb freak show” game. admittedly this is surely something coaches will try and sometimes it will work, but time and again mitch has proven harder to gameplan than it looks. when you team box out mitch you leave orb for others or significantly slow your transition offense. i don’t think it’s that simple and i agree with silky’s main point that there is a great deal of ruin in a mitch and he will still emerge from it as having unusual playoff high end impact — sometimes — for a player at his likely salary. if you try to second spectrum the knicks performance with mitch on a opponents putting 5 out lineups on the floor they do better than you would guess.
And that’s if, if, if he stays healthy after a long regular season and grueling early rounds of the playoffs.
yes there’s no avoiding this issue.
First, “Misses Robinson” is so good that I pray no one beyond the board hears of it. Bravo! (Alas)
Second, that was my post, not Silky/Alecto/Being.
Third, why would you leave out all they other playoffs, Z-man? What about Mitch dominating Cleveland a couple years ago? No, he has not dominated every series. But he has dominated maybe half of them, which is pretty damn good for a mid-level salary, which is about what he is. The point remains: who can you get for that salary who can swing a series?
Yes, but…
He’s the 7th man.
The top 6 guys need to be able to navigate those high leverage moments. If they can’t, the issue is we have the wrong top 6, not that the 7th man can’t shoot FTs.
What problem can’t be solved by putting him in the correct role? If he comes in the game with two 2 mins left in the 1Q and plays the first 6 mins of the 2Q, and you repeat that in the 2nd half, that’s 16 minutes (minimum) of Mitch against 2nd units. It solves his conditioning problem. It solves the hack-a-Mitch problem. And it probably gives us one of the best second units in the entire NBA.
And as a bonus, when he’s kicking ass, you can keep him in the game until they foul themselves into the penalty to get him out. Thibs did that brilliantly against Boston. Then Brunson gets the last 5 minutes of every half with the opponent in the penalty.
I see no problems here. I see one of the most unique, game-changing weapons in the NBA.
The problem is if you want Mitch to be a starter and the savior of the defense. He’s not that. He’s a bench player, and a very impactful one.
He’s got a lot of brothers
Knicks net rating is currently 8.6, good for 3rd in the NBA, and OKC’s is literally twice that
I remember last year, there was some media sentiment of, “Every team had better go for it in the next two years, before Wemby and the Spurs dominate the league for the next decade.” At the level OKC is playing right now, feels like every other team wouldn’t be unreasonable to consider tanking.
I don’t think putting guys in a pecking order is as useful as where they are in their positional order. Mitch is either a starting C or the primary back-up C for a weak defensive and foul-prone starting C, depending on the coach. His role should be as much of a #6 as Deuce’s is, except it can’t be because of his limitations, both physically and situationally. He also happens to be our sixth highest paid player.
As a point of order, Mitch makes 12.95M this season not 18M. He signed a 4 year declining contract.
“Mitch’s impact isn’t worth his sub-MLE contract” doesn’t square very well with “the fact that Mitch can be taken off the floor if the opposing team is willing to rack up fouls is a major problem.” If his impact is limited and he’s a novelty act and whatever, why should we care about the latter?
The fact that we have to worry about hack-a-Mitch is a major testament to how impactful he is as our 6-8th man. Mazulla decided, rightly or wrongly, that it was worth getting into the penalty much earlier than Boston otherwise would’ve to get a ~20 MPG player off the floor. When this happens, we can swap him out for Karl-Anthony Towns, who is good.
I’m not saying it’s a nonissue, but this is not someone we rely on so heavily that we can’t simply soak up some fouls and then take him off the floor when other teams go to it. I’ll grant that it’s less likely to be an issue with some waiver wire filler…because no opposing coach will care about getting that guy off the floor.
Across every playoff series we’ve played with Mitch, we are 8.14 PTS/100 better with him on the floor, largely due to a stellar 110.4 defensive rating. This is the guy I’m to believe can be painlessly swapped out with, like, Precious Achiuwa and Ariel Huxporti?
Since the squad doesn’t have a game til Saturday, I wanna chime in (late as usual) on something else..
WHAT IS YOUR PLAN, DAVID STEARNS? The writing was on the wall with Alonso, and I still don’t agree with it. But he’s much easier to replace. But how do you let Devin Williams cost you Edwin Diaz? To make matters worse, that was a contract the Mets could have easily paid to have possibly best late inning combo in baseball- assuming Williams can regain his form. I’m not as worried about the starting rotation as much as most folks are because I think Tong and especially McLean are going to be special. They can probably have Vientos learn 1B and be ok there, but now they HAVE to add 2 bats like Bellinger and Tucker and figure out CF later. Hell, I’d even go after Suarez as a DH/Baty insurance. But Stearns has got to start heating up during the winter meetings because the Mets have lost 3 HUGE pieces. 2 of them homegrown and beloved
You’re describing a roster construction problem, not a Mitch problem.
The solution is to upgrade Hukporti for a reliable backup C like Marvin Bagley or Jock Landale, not to kick Mitch to the curb and sacrifice his series-swinging upside.
He also had 146 offensive rating against the Pacers, a series I keep hearing he was “easily neutralized” in.
I was just about to write what Hubert wrote except it was not going to be about replacing Huk with those losers, but rather give Huk enough floor time to verify if he’s the actual filler we need.
We know how to use Mitch to his best advantage, which is enormous and game-changing, if limited. The problem is what do we do when KAT is in foul trouble, or dinged up, or it’s the second of a back-to-back. I suspect Huk can fill that role if given the chance. If not, then sure, go pick some dink off the scrap pile.
I think of Mitch as something akin to an elite relief pitcher. But he’s great to close games with (not really, just for this analogy). You don’t use him as a starter, or a middle reliever, that’s foolish. You need a middle reliever to reach him. And you don’t trade him for a middling middle reliever, because he is incredibly valuable in his (limited) role.
I’m not saying it’s a nonissue, but this is not someone we rely on so heavily that we can’t simply soak up some fouls and then take him off the floor when other teams go to it.
but as we hopefully won’t have to find out, it’s going to be a more dramatic situation if he actually heads into the playoffs seen as a 20-30% FT shooter vs maybe a 40-50% ft shooter previously. not that teams will foul into the bonus 5 times in the first 2 minutes of the second quarter, but you will see the hacking ramp way up any time he is in the game and they are in or simply near the penalty. there were many opportunities passed up by opponents in the last few years that will be seized if he is really shooting this poorly come playoff time.
i have to admit that i was one of the biggest i dont care about the cup guys but now that were two games away from winning it i actually am a little bit excited by it still dont love the trip to vegas and the extra game that otherwise doesnt count tho
Now that I got that Stearns rant off my chest..
I like the current rotation alot more under Brown than I did with Thibs. He uses them well, and once Yabusele finds his groove, we are a legit 10 man rotation team once Shamet returns. And then in Huk,Kolek, and Diawara- we have 3 more guys who can play regular minutes if needed. Diawara might be good enough to play Yabusele’s minutes right now- at least until Yabu really settles in.
I think Brown has to be really careful during the regular season. This team can be very special if they stay healthy and connected. It sounds easy, but I’m sure it’s not. I just hope we can mostly avoid that dreaded injury bug like we did last season. I also think that once Shamet’s back, Brown has to go with a 10 man rotation more often than not because without Yabusele out there with the 2nd unit, that’s a very small group.
Indeed, but the post was an extrapolation of what it might be if we re-sign him. Just a guess, but it’ll have to be more than than mid-level, because there’s competition at that price.
fred katz’ article posted here about the the chance in orb strategy and possession basketball was great. in a way i think it undersold how successful the 2025 celtics have been at this, oddly partly by overselling the total effect. because the celtics defense is actually kind of bad at countering opponents similar strategies, their “net chances” (using the terminology katz used in the article) advantage is only 6th in the league.
but this belies what they do without jaylen brown, where it erupts to a 5.2 net chance per game edge, a good bit higher than our league leading number. they are shooting an amazing 51 3pa per 100 without brown and rebounding missed 3s at 34%. i don’t think it was specifically mentioned in the article, but this has always been a less noticed feature of the 3pt exploitation, which is now compounded by higher orb rates: an equivalent TS between 3pa and 2pa and fts ceteris paribus favors the former due to more orb opportunities.
if you imagine the celtics shooting league average 3pa per 100 without brown, they would be at 37. so 14 of those 3s hypothetically become 2s and FTs at an equivalent TS (they are hitting 37% of 3s, so 55.5%) and they rebounded a typical blended 20% (2pa and free throws), of those misses, it would equate to 1.25 possessions from orbs per 100 from those misses. instead they get 4.75 extra possession on those marginal missed 3s. that possession delta of 3.5 times the more efficient post orb putback points per poss means they are adding 4.5 points per 100 when jaylen brown sits just in comparison to a more conventional shooting and rebounding profile at the exactly same hypothetical TS. this doesn’t capture all the tradeoffs but it’s a crazy accomplishment for lineups that have no star creator, and mazzulla has to get some credit for it.
I think the specialized relief pitcher is a good analogy for Mitch. Situationally, he can be devastatingly impactful in a playoff series.
Also agree with Hubs that the solution is to upgrade from Huk (or let Huk keep developing, which Brown seems to be doing). I suspect if we really need another vet big man, one might be available off the waiver wire or with a small trade.
I also suspect that Mitch will revert to the mean with his FT shooting to “really bad” as opposed to “horror show” that he is right now. And I also suspect that he (with the medical team’s advice) might be pacing himself. And whatever set back he had in the preseason is going to slowly work itself out as the season goes on. It’s not even mid-way through December, so he has time to get into shape and get his conditioning back up.
I appreciate ptmilo weighing in on the issue, and all the respectful rebuttals.
There appears to be a gap in the conversation imho. Some are concluding that it’s pretty black and white: either we keep Mitch and roll with his high and lows, or we trade him/let him walk and replace him with some vet’s minimum stiff with much less upside and no other benefit. I don’t think that those are the only outcomes. And if they are, one has to wonder: why would we only be able to get garbage back if we trade a “healthy” Mitch prior to the deadline? Keeping in mind that the chances of losing him for nothing this offseason are very real unless we go above the second apron to keep him.
If the Mets are willing to run out a payroll similar to the one they had last year, they can absolutely contend. They’re in a better position than some think because of the concentration of blue chip talent they have at AAA and AA. If they get a reasonable hit rate on their prospects who are already close to MLB, they’ll be able to fill holes internally over the next couple of years.
They need a premium bat, a rotation arm, and a high leverage reliever right now though, and they should be able to fill those roles with the $80M or whatever it is coming off the books. Stearns is a very risk-averse GM who really hoards prospects and hates long-term deals, but the whole point of having productive players on pre-arb contracts is that it allows you to make a mistake here and there in free agency. If you’re worrying about the back end of Cody Bellinger’s contract, and you burn a whole year of Lindor and Soto’s prime because you don’t want dead salary on the books in 2030, something has gone wrong.
They kinda are though. That’s the nature of being way over the cap, but having a guy’s bird rights.
Appreciate the Mitch debate. This time December 2023 he was out with an ankle break; this time December 2024 we were wondering why he is still out. So having played enough to argue about him is a very good outcome.
That said, I wouldn’t move on from him this season, if the only reason is to try to upgrade his role. The guy delivers in big games, something that cannot be predicted until you actually deliver in big games. One thing we know is that we are going to have big games. Reason enough even if it costs us during the summer.
I don’t think it was an either/or or they liked Williams more.
The Mets realized that for whatever reason Diaz was likely to want out to LA if they would pay, so they grabbed Williams pre-emptively as a plan “B”. They didn’t want to be left with their dick in their hand if Diaz decided to bolt. If Diaz would have been amenable, they would have been happy to have both.
But it’s not, you can trade for roughly matching salaries with any team that’s not in the second apron. You can include second rounders to sweeten the pot.
And please don’t respond by asking me to provide names of players. When we were talking about Julius Randle, if I would’ve thrown out the name, Karl-Anthony Towns, you would have laughed at it. there’s possibly a GM out there who highly values Mitch and would be willing to give up something unexpectedly good for him. Or just looking to skirt aprons or the tax for next year and might value Mitch‘s expiring deal.
And again, if he’s not valued enough to bring back something great in return, it’s sort of emphasizes that we shouldn’t be paying him a whole lot.
It just feels like they’re didn’t try hard enough to keep a great player. Either that or I didn’t see the writing on the wall..or at least believe in it. Now I’m pissed that the LA Robbers are gonna get all that energy and overall great closer performance
On that note, what do folks realistically think that Mitch could bring back in a trade prior to the deadline?
I’m going to ask you for names, because the only teams that would make a deadline trade for expiring Mitch are contenders. Which teams would do that, and for which outgoing salaries?
Also, after this fake trade, what are the chances we find ourselves saying “man, we sure could use an additional rebounder and rim protector?”
“On that note, what do folks realistically think that Mitch could bring back in a trade prior to the deadline?”
I sorta think nothing and I am not trying to be facetious. His injury history, shrouded in mystery, has got to be the concern for the acquiring team. An acquiring team would view him as a win-now piece but trading for him when he is on a minutes restriction? And he would obviously have to stay healthy until the trade deadline, and be as effective as he currently is…which begs the question if you are an opposing GM “why are the Knicks, current contenders as we are, willing to trade him for what I am giving them?”
On the Mitch debate, I vote “if it’s not broke, don’t fix it”. He’s not the perfect player, but no one is. He has an important role on this team and he fills it well. Unless he’s part of a trade for a significant upgrade, I say we role with Mitch and let Brown figure out how to adjust if opposing coaches adjust.
I’m all for giving Huk a chance. The bottom line is we don’t need to give up Mitch to get filler.
If Huk can’t do it, you give up on Huk, not Mitch.
The Mets employ publicity staff and the such so you don’t see “the writing on the wall”. You, as a fan, aren’t supposed to get access to that information.
I find it very hard to believe the Mets got “outbid” for a million dollars a year for the same length of contract. William of Ockham says there is more to it than that.
The Bellinger situation is going to be quite interesting. He is a “perfect” fit for virutally every contending team in MLB.
Yea..I’d love Bellinger on the Mets. Can swing between 1st and Left easy
All that means is Mitch can’t fix the starting lineup’s problems.
We can easily solve this problem by using him correctly.
I also don’t think we could get much for Mitch for the reasons stated above.
I also don’t think it’s some foregone conclusion that we’re going to lose him unless we give him his max and blow up our cap situation.
I think there is a very real chance we could resign Mitch for a modest 2 or 3 year deal (with a team option) at a salary similar to what he’s making now.
The apron stuff (which I know nothing about) has completely changed the game as far as how much teams are willing to pay guys. For the most part players outside of the in their prime, non injured superstars are not getting paid what they used to. There are the iHart exceptions and the really useful role players who are also in their prime and also not injury prone – a few of them make out like bandits every off season. But I just don’t see some scenario where a team is going to risk tying themselves down to 3 or 4 years of Mitch at 20 million plus a year. The risk is too great.
So I would not be surprised at all if we could bring him back in the fold for 10 to 15 million. He might even end up being one of these vets that has to settle for the vet minimum.
NOP receive:
– Mitch
– Dadiet
NYK receive:
– H. Jones
– Matkovic
Herb Jones is not good anymore.
Yes!
And all this attention to Mitch being unplayable in certain situations is like focusing on Mariano Rivera’s inability to start and give you 7 innings.
Again, if you go with Mitch being a specialized but highly effective closer, then you need middle relievers, inning eaters. There are very few centers out there that would be available and that could give us some of what Mitch gives us (and/or what he doesn’t, like outside shooting). I look across the NBA landscape and I just don’t see teams that would love to get Mitch and give us their highly effective center, even if he’s a backup.
You could get a somewhat cromulent inning eater, but you would be insane to trade your great closer for one. You would also, in my opinion, be insane not to do everything possible to see if the guy on your bench can eat innings effectively sooner than later.
The big problem at the moment is that Brown is using Yabujelly as the inning eater, and he’s not now nor will he ever be a center. I’m not even sure he’s an effective backup power forward, which is a thing we could use but don’t desperately need. I’d be happy to eat crow when the Yabusurgence happens, but I’m not holding my breath.
#FreeHuk
If you want a basketball comp for Mitch, look no further than TJ McConnell.
Did you ever see the Pacers try to stretch him out in the playoffs to help their starting 5?
Did you ever hear a Pacers fan complain that he only dominated for 18 minutes before he had to come out?
No. They love TJ McConnell bc he can fuck teams up for short periods that swing games.
That’s how you gotta use Mitch. You get limited, dominant minutes and you be glad you got them, not mad that he can’t give you more.
That’s how we used him against the Celtics and it never should have changed. We peter principled him.
I would say even with the injury concerns, if the Knicks trade Mitch it better be for a difference maker- because that’s exactly what Mitch is. For as renowned as Steven Adams is when it comes to offensive rebounding, his effect on winning pales in comparison to Mitch. A healthier and engaged Mitch is a sight to behold on both ends of the floor. I understand it’s easier to say Mitch has a lower trade value because of the history, but on this team? He’s incredibly important, and would remain incredibly important whether KAT is the starting center or not. Even if we somehow manage to use Kat in a trade for Giannis, I’d say Mitch’s imptance to this team goes up because who’s gonna play center full time? Certainly not Giannis. And unless something catastrophic happens in Denver or San Antonio, we’re never getting Jokic or Wemby- so that puts us in somewhat of a pickle when it comes to any Mitch decision. He’s the best we got, and the best in the league at what he does, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. If he’s willing to take an extension starting around 14-15 mil a season, we’d be lucky to have him
agree with hubs mcconnell comparison-related post several thousand percent i couldnt have written it better myself
That’s a dubious assumption. We picked up Josh Hart in a deadline trade where neither party was a contender. There are 3-way trades, etc. Yabusele and Dadiet can make the salary match higher.
Is this gonna be the new cromulent?
One more mention and I might actually look up what it means.
Mitch has officially become a weird outlier of a player. His offensive rebounding numbers look like a typo: he has a whopping 28.1 ORB%. For a reference point, the league leader in the NBA is Moussa Diabate, who clocks in an order of magnitude lower at 19.0.
On the other hand, he’s shooting .200 from the free throw line. Blocks are down. Mitch once led the league in TS%, and had a TS+ of 129. This year his TS+ is below average, it has plummeted to 96. His usage is at an all time low, now below 10%. Turnovers have shot through the roof.
All in all, he’s playing a pretty funky and not all that effective brand of basketball in my opinion. He’s basically an offensive rebounding golem who can smash everything in his path and grab the basketball when his teammates miss a FG attempt, but is growing increasingly hapless at every other facet of basketball.
Perhaps some of this is a fitness issue, and maybe Mitch can work his way into better shape. He’s talented and has been a productive player, and you can often see that talent shining through. But sadly I think a lot of it is just wear and tear. His foot speed is noticeably slower and in general he moves like a guy who is in his late 30’s.
I answered the question.
Maybe they would throw in a pick as well, but that’s probably the most you could get for Mitch imo, so it’s really not worth trading him.
i’m sorry to say i had to look it up
ceteris paribus = all else equal
(et) cetera
par
it was there the whole time
and matkovic who ive advocated for in the past and is a good and efficient bench scorer is not much of a rim protector so a lateral move at best maybe herb jones could be good again not advocating for such a trade seems mitchs organic-grown home garden may not be serving him all that well
If we’re going to make a baseball analogy, I would refer to Mitch as a middle innings specialist who has electric (but diminished) stuff that works great against lefties, but who has chronic shoulder issues and is on a strict pitch count. He can’t be trusted to close games because he can’t get righties out and walks lots of batters.
Yeah, the bigger issue is that Mitch doesn’t look very good right now. If that’s not temporary… if the Mitch from 6 months ago is gone forever… that changes the math.
JK, you neglected to turn off the rate stats qualifier. Steven Adam’s and Clint Capela are 25.4 and 25.6, respectively. Capella has played almost as many minutes as Mitch, and Steven Adams has played 100 more minutes. Both are Steph Curry-esque from the FT line compared to Mitch.
https://nypost.com/2025/12/11/sports/knicks-give-update-as-miles-mcbride-sidelined-with-ankle-injury/
Paul Reed would have been a nice pickup in 2024.
Braves ink Suarez, Stearns better ink/obtain some effective innings eating starters, among other moves.
Part of me is glad we got the Magic because I want to annihilate them in Vegas with the whole league watching.
And part of me is terrified because Brunson, Shamet, and now Deuce all got injured on plays ranging from dirty to reckless.
When I called them thugs, some folks here compared them to the 90s Knicks because they were also called thugs. If this Magic team were anything like the 90s Knicks, I’d actually respect them. But the 90s Knicks punched you in the mouth and owned it. These guys sneak their foot into landing zone when you’re helpless, needlessly fall on your leg and pretend it wasn’t on purpose, and throw a ball at you and act like it was accident. They’re not tough at all. They’re just vile.
Maybe thugs was the wrong word. Shady little bitches is a much better description. If our 5 starters are healthy I expect us to kill them Saturday, and I can’t wait. I just hope we don’t lose someone else in the process.
This from The Athletic review of front offices:
“From landing an overseas rights player in seemingly every trade (New York has 15 of them now)…”
That’s insane. Anyone want to try and make a list?
Hugo Besson
Rokas Jokubaitis
Nnaji
That Spurs coach
Sergio Llull
Ognen Something
A bunch of 40yos. Idk, they are all listed here:
https://www.spotrac.com/nba/new-york-knicks/cap
o deus meus, hoc latinum loquentes effercio ita damnant frigus…
hopefully with both shamet and deuce sidelined we don’t see a big increase in jalen/mikal/josh’s minutes…
time for tyler to truly earn…shoot, maybe give mccullar jr. some run…guy’s 24, if not now, when…
the answer is definitely not more jordan clarkson…
And geo is definitely not Mike Brown
On a positive note, this is as good a time to lose Deuce for a week as any.
shouldnt that be o deuce meuce?
He’s sucked the last 2 games for Westchester but at least had 8ast, 3stls, and 2 blocks last game
Huk & Diawara also played for Westchester last night. Both did pretty well.
Here’s the boxscore if anyone cares:
https://gleague.nba.com/game/lin-vs-wes-2052500177?view=box-score
Tyler’s been on a nice little run. There was a minute there when I thought Brown was never going to play him but ever since he got back in the rotation he’s looked capable.
In my head I’ve had standings of who the most expendable Knick is if we need matching salary to trade or if we need to cut a guy to make room for someone. Three weeks ago Tyler was on top. Now I don’t know who is.
(McCullar doesn’t count because we can’t actually add someone if we drop him; it’s between Tyler, Huk, Pacome, Diawarra, and — if you’re Raven — Yabu).
With Shamet and Deuce out and Clarkson maddening, I’d really like to see Pacome get some run just out of curiosity.
Apparently we are interested in Jose Alvarado, so at least I got the team right.
Jose Alvarado is extremely cute, but he’s the dwarf version of Mitch — only useable as a secret weapon under select circumstances.
I’d love a long wing — you know, like Pacome Dadiet, but actually decent at basketball. Or Yabu, only 70 pounds lighter.
He is injured with an ankle sprain.
Unfortunately Pacome has also been out.
He’s most expendable to me by quite a margin. If we weren’t competing for a title this year my view would change, but he appears to be the furthest away from being useful.
Huk and Kolek both look like NBA players to me right now. Not sure they’re good NBA players, but at minimum they seem viable as end of bench guys.
Diawara on the wing without much of an offensive repertoire is a bit of a problem for longer stints, but can at least be used for defense and rebounding at ends of quarters.
Yabu & Alvarado’s deals line up reasonably well, it’d save us $1M on the dot. Probably need to throw in some sweetener.
We could use an actual PG and literally anyone who can play defense.
It would also let us sign a prorated deal for a 15th player when we get to, I think exactly, the midpoint of the season. We can also start cycling through 10-days as needed.
I have ben very impressed by Kolek, he’s been channeling his inner John Stockton lately, sticking his nose in there on D and getting to the rim or sticking a 3 here and there.
Not sure I’d trade Yabu just yet, especially in a trade that makes us even smaller.
We have more forwards on the roster than we have PGs and I think Alvarado is flat out better than Yabu even if Yabu starts shooting like last season.
PG is one out of 5 positions, forwards are sort of 3. We lack size and athleticism. If anything, we have a glut at SG. I’m fine with Deuce as our primary backup PG. but if they made the trade, I’d be more concerned than upset. And not all that concerned.
Guys, I just got fed a clip and Suni Lee thinks we are are going to win the title. OG is now unlocked.
not sure why we should care what she has to say about it but ok!
Is OG dating her? Did she unlock him? Was it figurative, or literal?
So very many questions…
Excellent X’s and O’s podcast on KFS with DJ and Jon breaking down the state of affairs. They discuss Mitch at length. The main takaways are that a) his offense is way ahead of his defense, and b) he’s getting a lot of assists by passing quickly out of offensive rebounds to open shooters. They also discussed how Josh Hart is being deployed, and how KAT shoots both more and better from 3 when Josh is on the floor with him.
After much though and consideration of what various KBers have posted, and in light of that video, here’s where I’m settling in re: Mitch:
-I think he should be actively shopped, but only traded if it is a clear win, either alone or with someone else, and including multi-team deals.
-It is unlikely that such a trade will materialize prior to the deadline, even if Leon is shopping him, which he may or may not be.
-Since he will likely be on the team all season and into the playoffs, I am hoping that at least some of his issues are due to lingering injury issues that will subside over time, especially on defense.
-I am expecting that his FT shooting is going to improve at least marginally, but will stagnate at or around 35-40%
-Brown should make every effort to develop Huk in case Mitch breaks down. There are a number of B2B’s coming up, but that’s not enough.
-Since he will be an UFA at season’s end, there should be a red line number that Leon will not exceed. I think that the number should be something like what he’s getting paid this year unless he demonstrates that he is progressing beyond having a hard minutes cap. If there is signigicant improvement in his mobility and durability, and his FT shooting does not hurt us in the playoffs, that number should go up.
-If he re-injures that foot, or has another debilitating lower leg injury, and that costs us in the playoffs, he should not be re-signed at any price above the minimum.