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Waiting for Mike Brown, Part 2 – Posting & Toasting
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Thursday Posted & Toasted Notes: SLAM’d OG, Brunson in Chicago, Sidetalk Drummond – Posting & Toasting
Knicks’ Jalen Brunson expected to have wrist/forearm surgery on Tuesday – SNY
Jersey worn by Jalen Brunson in G1 of NBA Finals sells for $1M-plus – ESPN
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165 replies on “Knicks Morning News (2026.07.10)”
You know what’s crazy? Knicks fans everywhere going from bemoaning KAT’s play for a while and dreaming up trades involving him, to not comfortable with the idea that he could be in another jersey! What he did since we were down 2-1 to Atlanta was transformational- and not just for him. Him, Brunson, Hart, and OG have officially reached legendary status for Knicks fans IMO. Funny how an elite playoff run culminating in a chip will change the way fans view you lol
You know what’s really crazy.
KAT was the same KAT the entire time, just the way we used him on both sides changed. He certainly didn’t suddenly get better at this age with all the mileage on him and bad knees and fingers.
Perfectly cromulent candidates for our “don’t F things up while you’re in there for a few minutes” center position, for now:
Asa Newell
Luka Garza
Danny Wolf
Zach Collins
Thomas Bryant
DaRon Holmes
Charles Bassey
Jay Huff
Drew Timme
Colin Castleton
Adem Bona
Khaman Maluach
Don’t buy that one bit, Strat.
What about Jordan Clarkson? Everyone just using him wrong the whole time, too?
Both of these guys saw the light when their careers hung in the balance.
Doogie I appreciate the efforts you’ve made into becoming something other than the chief of the typo police but I’m not sure how much it adds when you list a bunch of guys who obviously aren’t gettable and ask if we should get them.
On what planet is Phoenix trading Maluach one season after drafting him 10th? Zach Collins literally just re-signed with the Bulls (on a hideous contract, IMO). Ditto for Bassey with the Warriors. I could go on.
If you’ve got a plausible trade or signing idea, by all means, let it rip. But this shtick is barely an improvement on starting the day with “fellas, should we trade for Jokic?”
I had no idea about the signings you just mentioned; sorry. Then we’re back to Velencia and Nick Richards. 🙂
That said, though, why couldn’t the likes of Bassey, Maluach, etc. be trade targets? I wasn’t only thinking about free-agent pick-ups when I wrote my post.
Hot take. KAT’s transformation had as much to do with Brunson also altering his game as KAT altering his. We did go back to ISO Brunson a lot in the finals and also the amazing run at the end of game one of the ECF, but otherwise, Brunson deferred more and played off ball more and I think that helped KAT unlock his inner Jokic.
This should be the MO going forward. When we can cook on offense running through KAT, which will be most of the time, we should. Then when that’s taken away from us or we want to throw the team a different look, we go Brunson ISO.
And yeah, Hubs, I do think it’s fair to say other coaches didn’t use KAT and Clarkson this way. If they’re able to do this, then they always had it in them to some degree. They just didn’t have coaches that were patient enough with them to let them find this new way of playing or the team didn’t need/want them to play that way.
My dream scenario for this year’s Summer League team is for Pac Man to ball out and elevate his trade stock from mere salary filler to player that some other team with an OK surplus center may actually want.
Realistically, Gondo, I don’t think that many front offices are going to have completely different takes on players just because they ball out in Summer League against mostly inferior competition. They might keep more of an eye on a player, but they’re doubtful going to be all, “I *need* to get my hands on that guy right now!” 🙂
i similarly think of kat’s offensive jokic moment as largely driven by scheme. but i also think it was mostly contextual, and wasn’t some radical secret plan we were waiting to roll out or were too dumb to have tried before. we just did more of it, partly because the conditions were ripe for it against particular opponents. outside of really seven games of bliss, kat mostly went back to normal. in the last two series he averaged 15 12 and 3+ per 36 with a 61% TS and was mostly mia in the 4th on offense. i do think there is a good chance we exploit the kat-hub tool more often in the right situations next year, and it will provide a marginal benefit. but unlikely a sea change.
it’s the defensive side that seems more surprising and harder to analyze. kat really did look better on defense in the playoffs to me than he had previously. he has had some good moments, especially when playing the 4 next to rudy — even guarding guys like kd in the playoffs — but he’s had very few even short defensive runs at the 5 like he did in these playoffs.
he didn’t suddenly turn into a good help-defending rim protector. and i do think some of our scheme adjustments played a role. we had a lot more success blitz-hedging with jalen while also taking kat out of pure drop (which i thought we did too much of during the year) and leaning every more heavily on josh and og to guard the back line. i also thought kat had some relatively favorable defensive matchups in that his strength is as a one-on-defender of 4s and 5s and we had matchups where that skill could be leaned on and mattered. still, i thought he played better than usual on that end even adjusting for context. but i am less confident (yet unsure) there will be much carryforward there.
The adjustment the Knicks made around the halfway point of the regular season, in which they prioritized funneling their opponents to the sidelines rather than the middle of the floor, seems to have unlocked not only WingStop’s defensive potential but also KAT’s. That change in scheme had a domino effect.
By the time the playoffs rolled around, everybody had bought in and was fully committed on the defensive end. We supposedly had two defensive liabilities in our starting five, Brunson and KAT, yet we defended our ass off in the second half and then had become the best defensive team in the league by the time the playoffs rolled around.
If you put guys in the right scheme and get them to really buy into a team concept, you can accomplish a lot. Brunson, KAT, Shamet, and Clarkson were all considered to be poor defenders but all of those guys contributed.
Thibs was never able to get this team to play this kind of defense despite having a lot of the same personnel. The buy in and scheme just wasn’t there. The last Thibs team was a middle of the pack defensive team in both the regular season and the playoffs.
Dadiet’s trade value right now is strictly salary filler. If he can show over the next week that a kid not yet old enough to drink might turn into a useful NBA player, that valuation could increase to something more, no?
Anything is possible in this league!
I disagree. I think it was about buy in. KAT whined all year about getting less shots, almost brought the whole team down with him. Other coaches probably thought about using him differently but didn’t want to have that fight.
KAT and Clarkson both needed to see their careers flash before their eyes before they were willing to change.
This is what I give Leon the most credit for. He did the same thing for Mike Brown that Pat Riley did for Erik Spoelstra. KAT thought he could get the coach fired. Instead Leon almost traded him to Washington.
That had to happen, and it changed KAT’s whole attitude.
For Clarkson, it was simpler — he just had to get benched. At that point he had to be afraid his career was almost over.
Facts!! – Clarkson realized quickly that vet min for another 3-4 yrs is his best possible outcome and he then immeditately focused on defensive and rebounding effort and stopped chucking low percentage shots and off the dribble threes.
He actually shocked me. Not many people are self aware liek that and even less embrace corrective action.
Clarkson yes, but in what sense did KAT’s career ‘hang in the balance?’
He might have ended up with a less prestigious legacy but he was gonna be earning another $300m or so either way and at worst end up regarded as comparable to Melo, who does not appear to be grief-stricken at having achieved not much beyond gobs and gobs of pointz and money.
His Knicks career and his relevance as a basketball player were in jeopardy. Following the MLK Day debacle it was widely reported that Leon was exploring KAT trades to Memphis, Washington, Charlotte, and Orlando.
I’ll throw another “come to Jesus” player out there, albeit to a much lesser extent — Jeremy Sochan. He suddenly cut off his dipshit “look at me!” hair and started playing ferocious defense.
Between him, Clarkson, and KAT, it felt like there was a sudden, massive buy-in.
I’d need to go back and watch the whole season again, but I honestly can’t remember noticing Shamet’s defense at all early in the season, whereas somewhere late it was really hard not to notice how much up in people’s grill he was getting.
KAT in January after losing to the Pistons: “I’m the one being asked to make all the sacrifices around here”
KAT in May after beating the Hawks: “How many shots I take? 4? [shrugs]”
I think a little more than scheme went into that.
I mean yeah but those are things we care about as fans and largely project onto players. KAT was gonna be fine if we traded him. It’s not like Porzingis went on to drink himself to death in a seedy Latvian pub.
Now Shamet, I was surprised. He played like a man possessed and I figured it was to earn himself one more bag, but then he went ahead and stayed with us on a bargain deal. Gotta think the guy who shot 92% from 3 for a series and defended like a sociopath could have got $8m or so from somebody.
Players legitimately hate getting traded. Especially to Memphis.
Raven, take a look at the play where Landry dislocates his shoulder. Not that it showed particularly good defensive awareness, but what tenacity. That stuff-non guaranteed player fighting through a screen no matter what- can become infectious. They kept him, smiling wearing LLBean clothes during team photos, which says it all.
Yuck (for the options, not for the article itself): https://www.si.com/nba/knicks/onsi/12-centers-knicks-could-sign-kevon-looney-off-board-01kx09ykbqsy
Key targets and realistic trade scenarios include:Moussa Diabaté (Charlotte Hornets): Considered a top aggressive target for the front office. The Charlotte Hornets athletic big man provides strong rim-running and defensive mobility. Packages for Diabaté could revolve around Knicks assets like Miles McBride or Pacôme Dadiet.Goga Bitadze (Orlando Magic): A longstanding New York Knicks target who would give the team solid, floor-spacing rim protection off the bench.Yves Missi (New Orleans Pelicans): The Knicks aggressively tried to deal for the young Pelicans big man. While New Orleans rejected initial advances, he remains a stylistic ideal for New York’s rotation.Ryan Kalkbrenner (Charlotte Hornets): A cost-controlled, young center who could become available if the Hornets are searching for guard depth.
The answer, of course, is both.
The scheme improved, and the buy-in improved. One fed into the other.
Whatever it was, we went 28-11 down the stretch and then found yet another gear in game 4 of the first round of the playoffs. In the second half of the season we were playing like a 60 win team.
I’m gaga for Goga. Really hoping we can make something work with Deuce/Pac Daddy somehow.
There’s got to be a way
Dadiet greatly improved his scoring in the g-league this past season, but I don’t think he does anything else near an NBA level. His passing and rebounding numbers were both poor and, in the little I watched, he didn’t show much on the defensive end. Even as a 20yo, 1.5 asts to 2.7 TOs is pretty terrible given that it’s the g-league.
Basically, Dadiet needs to show he can score to maintain his baseline. To show he’s actually worth investing in long-term, he’ll need to come in and show some serious rebounding or passing improvement to move the needle.
His rebounding and assists actually decreased from his first year to his second (G League).
Agreed. But the original argument was that it isn’t: “ KAT was the same KAT the entire time, just the way we used him on both sides changed”
Trying to construct a trade for Goga helps you realize how flawed the idea that ducking the 2nd apron brought us “flexibility” is.
We’re out of mid-level salary now. Literally everyone on the roster is making either over $20M or under $6M in 2026-2027.
So for a trade for Goga and his $7.6M salary to be legal, it almost certainly has to include three outgoing players on our end (unless you want to trade Shamet for him, which can’t be done until December 15th anyway).
Deuce and Dadiet comes up short. You have to include Kolek, Diawara (no can do until December 15th), or one of the vet-min guys (no can do until December 15th) too.
We haven’t even broached whether any of this is advisable on either our or Orlando’s end. It’s simply become nearly impossible to trade for someone in this salary range.
Sorry if it offends, but I will continue to be disgruntled, for many, many reasons, that James Dolan refused to keep together the team that brought me the most joy I have ever experienced as a sports fan.
As I said earlier, if Pac comes out of SL looking anything like “20 y.o. kid who you can see a potentially useful player in someday if you squint hard enough,” there might be at least one prospective trade partner out there who may see him as having more value than “just a guy with $2.9 million in matching salary,” which is what he’s currently worth.
That’s my dream, anyway.
Now that I’ve started using the Sportrac trade machine instead of the ESPN one (which is trash) I feel like I have a lot better understanding of how the cap stuff works.
It seems like if you can get a trade to work in the Sportrac one, it’s a legit trade. It factors in all of the relevant parameters.
What makes it worse is that so many people agreed with him that it would have been suicidal.
We can’t do shit now. But if we’d have given everyone shorter deals with higher AAVs at different salary bands, you know what we would have had?
FLEXIBILITY!
I honestly think this is has to be some sort of conspiracy among the owners to create a hard cap without negotiating one. There’s just no way a bunch of smart front offices can’t see the pros of going over.
Charlotte and New Orleans would probably prefer to just keep their good developing young bigs and wouldn’t really be all that interested in a good but “win now” player like McBride. Deuce would seem to me to have more value to a contender like Orlando, but their trade target Bitazde makes too much money for us to acquire.
So yeah. Flexibility. The flexibility we had was to bring back the good backup C we already had, but… reasons.
Spotrac is by far and away the best place for cap stuff
Keith Smith who runs a lot of the spotrac NBA stuff is worth a follow on social media for capology stuff
Also, going down to Vegas for a week on Sunday to catch some SL. Hoping to somehow network my way into a basketball related job seeing as I spend most of my job hours on this site anyway
No offense taken here. Like you, I am far from gruntled. We really had a solid shot to set ourselves up to repeat and now we’re much worse off and will need much more luck to do so. It fuckin’ sucks.
Can’t we do something for Goga with Deuce/Pac/Clarkson? He’s not included in the Spotrac trade machine yet so I can’t check
We’re not “much” worse off. But we are worse off for no legitimate reason.
Not until December 15th, since Clarkson was just signed.
And after Dec 15th it’s pretty hard to do a 3-for-1 trade, so cross Goga off your list.
We are much worse off. Last season we had 2/3 of our Center minutes at All-NBA level and 1/3 at borderline All-Star level. If anything that is underselling Mitch, who was our BPM leader for the season.
Now we have 1/3 of our Center minutes at replacement level. That is a major downgrade.
Outside of pure production, our team flexibility and versatility has taken a major hit. A key factor in our run was our ability to adapt to so many different schemes and win in different ways. Mitch enabled us to access elite rim protection and mitigated KAT’s main weaknesses.
KAT’s weaknesses are now greatly accentuated. 2 quick fouls and our defense is structurally compromised for the whole game.
Mitch’s skillset made us so much more than the sum of our parts. Without it, we are closer to their aggregate FMV. FMV is for losers in the NBA.
I trust Drum to approximate Mitch’s rebounding, but unless we can replicate his defensive anchoring and rim pressure, we are way worse off.
He didn’t whine all year. He complained about it until basically the all-star break.
and after game three against the hawks, rick brunson was laying into Jalen. No one was laying into KAT.
KAT’s comments to me were more about him not knowing his role, which I think is a fair thing to talk about and it never felt like it was some my way or Brown is out kind of complaining.
The flexibility whining is incredibly disingenuous. It isn’t about this year, guys. It’s about the next three or four years. I get that the same disingenuous crybabies from the last half decade want to continue to be disingenuous crybabies, but it would be great if the same folks never complain about anybody else’s tedious schtick ever again, being that they have no problem engaging in it themselves
By the way, at last count, there is one team that is currently over the second apron, OKC.. It remains to be seen whether they will stay there. Even if they do, they have a billion extra draft picks, an a roster full of young talent,and all of their own picks, while we have almost zero trade bait.
They line about KAT’s career hanging in the balance… does it get any more ridiculous than that?
“ Hoping to somehow network my way into a basketball related job…”
Good luck EB, but please confine your search to WC teams and convince them to go above the aprons, preferably for multiple years. And don’t join OKC.
See Mike K, this is why “go fuck yourself Z-Man” posts get tons of upvotes.
Hey, look who’s day drinking.
Never thought I’d die fighting side by side with a JK47
The number is still climbing! Up to 11 now.
https://knickerblogger.net/2026/07/knicks-morning-news-2026-07-08/#comment-1025551
Hey, does anybody not know how Hubert or TNFH feels about not going over the second apron? Because you’re gonna hear about it probably 10,000 more times, hopefully by then you’ll get it.
I don’t think this is true, and I think it’s a good thing it’s not true. If it really were the case that Leon and co. were the ones spearheading a decision to sacrifice known quality in Jalen Brunson’s age 30 season for wholly theoretical quality in his age 31, 32, and so on seasons, I would be very worried that they may well have lucked into a championship, because that would be very stupid.
Luckily, I believe all of the reliable reporting on the matter, which specifically indicates the front office knew 2026-2027 should be the priority but were rug pulled by a guy who we recently learned is obsessed with the sexual orientation of people who go to games.
The topic of trading for Goga was mentioned, and I noticed no one had weighed in on the cap mechanics involved.
So I did something unimaginable to you: I wrote something some people might find helpful.
We can have a second argument about Dolan‘s character, in which case I would be 100% on yours and probably everybody else’s side. But that’s not what this is about. This is about whether it’s better to go for the possibly higher reward, but definitely higher long-term risk or whether it’s better to spread the risk out at the cost of the maximum potential to win a championship this year.
Again, 28 of the 29 other owners are not maximizing their chances this year by going into the second apron. And the one that is has incredible advantages over every other team in the NBA. And it’s still not a sure thing that they will do so when it all shakes out.
More importantly, everybody knows how you feel about it. Repeating it over and over again just makes you fucking annoying. That’s actually the definition of whining, isn’t it?
I should also say that I’m not even disagreeing with the premise that it would’ve been better to go over the second apron. Only that there are reasons why an owner wouldn’t do it that are not just about screwing the fan base, or about prioritizing money over championship potential.But it’s a done deal, and we still have a great fucking team. And whining about it isn’t going to change things. I mean, are we going to hear throughout the season and about how much better we be if we had Mitch? I sure hope not.
This isn’t wrong. I do think if we were able to sign Valanciuanas we would be able to claw some of that back, because JV is probably a league average backup C. He has his flaws but he’s not a bum— .630 TS% on 26.1 USG% as a backup C isn’t chump change. His 0.0 BPM also suggests some league average-ishness as well. He doesn’t defend much but he can do positive things on a basketball court.
I’d feel pretty good about it if he was the new backup C. It’d be less of a downgrade than Mitch-to-Drummond.
“So I did something unimaginable to you: I wrote something some people might find helpful.“
Oh, is that all you were doing? My bad, thanks for clarifying.
“I do think if we were able to sign Valanciuanas we would be able to claw some of that back, because JV is probably a league average backup C. He has his flaws but he’s not a bum— .630 TS% on 26.1 USG% as a backup C isn’t chump change. His 0.0 BPM also suggests some league average-ishness as well. He doesn’t defend much but he can do positive things on a basketball court.
I’d feel pretty good about it if he was the new backup C. It’d be less of a downgrade than Mitch-to-Drummond.”
I agree. So the question once again becomes: What the hell are we waiting for? For someone else (e.g., the Lakers) to pick him up first so that we cannot?
The New York Knicks are monitoring recently waived center Jonas Valančiūnas to bolster their frontcourt depth. Denver released the veteran, making him a free agent, and the Knicks are interested in adding him as a depth option alongside Andre Drummond.The Knicks are evaluating their big-man rotation following the departure of Mitchell Robinson. Valančiūnas is an appealing target because he offers significant size, rebounding, and playoff experience. However, there are a few factors that complicate a potential pairing in New York:Prior History: New York Knicks President Leon Rose previously represented the big man as his agent, providing a longstanding relationship between the two sides.Waivers: Before they can sign him on a veteran minimum contract, Valančiūnas must clear waivers. His $10 million salary for 2026-2027 could be claimed by another team with cap space.Overseas Threat: Valančiūnas has previously considered leaving the NBA to return to Europe and play for Žalgiris Kaunas, which remains a possibility for the veteran.
There’s a 48hr waiting period where a team can take on his current contract. Think it was first announced at night, so we may not be able to claim him yet.
I have two aprons I use atm. One has a bunch of roosters on it and it says “cocks” the other has a bunch of little woodsy birds on it and it says “peckers”. One of them is my second apron.
I’m reading that his clearing waivers period has passed. It’s going to feel like a big kick in the butt if he joins the Lakers instead (worst-case scenario), or goes back to Europe (only slightly less painful), rather than playing for us. Rose used to represent him, too. Hope that helps.
https://x.com/statdefender/status/2075614655448584320
More details here if you subscribe to Stein’s substack: https://marcstein.substack.com/p/the-latest-on-the-raptors-would-be
I wonder if the Brunson move will go from an anomaly to something more stars consider, now that they’ve seen how it worked out for us.
Ruruland will contend that Melo started it.
That’s funny, BE!
Good conversation about KAT. It really remains a mystery what happened. Maybe not that much I guess. More of the same in a slightly different package. The defense was definitely better.
I haven’t listened to Bill Simmons in a long time but the colonoscopy pod got me engaged again and I really enjoyed the most recent one where they try to make sense of the advanced stats around Jaylen Brown.
It’s interesting in a rubbernecking sort of way, you love to see Celtics fans in pain, and just sort of amusing that Knicks fans are trying to sort out how KAT turned into the best player in the playoffs and they are trying to figure out how the Celtics won 56 games and were better when Jaylen was off the court.
Also, completely agree with whoever said OG really leveled up in the playoffs. We have a big three. He really is one of the best players in the NBA.
Macri did a good podcast with longtime TWolves beat writer Jon Krawczynski, where they talked through several aspects of KAT’s roller coaster season. Lots of good talk there about KAT’s defensive transformation. The one thin I wish Macri had gotten into was the whole Point KAT thing, and whether Krawczynski was surprised how effective that was, at least in the Atlanta and Philly series.
I agree with what others have said about it, btw. It was matchup-dependent in the playoffs, working well against Atlanta (which had no size) and Philly (whose big man can’t move), and was largely neutralized by Cleveland (two mobile and agile big men) and San Antonio (alien with a mile-wide wingspan). So I would guess Brown will deploy it on some nights but not others.
I think you may be overlooking what Sam Presti did with the Thunder last year, which was actually far more significant than what we did with Brunson: he got both Chet and Jalen to waive their Rose rule escalators. Now each of them will be making 25% of the cap when they were both eligible for 30%.
That’s probably what San Antonio is proposing to Wemby.
This is going to be the big reveal that the NBA is starting a new franchise in Seattle with LeBron headlining.
(How do I submit this to the NBA and get royalties for this idea?)
That’s the point though… the thing Jonas can do at an OK level, we have others who can do those things at an elite level, – so he won’t be allowed to do any of them on this team…and the things that we will need him to do, – he can’t do.
Ask Mitch…he said it many times, only allowed to contribute with cardio.
I think it will be. Fact is there is a disconnect right now between the cap/second apron and what teams can potentially offer a max player. It’s becoming very hard to build and sustain a real winner if you completely max out your best player.
LeBron will always choose what’s best for him and this time it’s not Cleveland or Miami but Philladelphia. Book it.
I don’t really see it this way. We don’t have a high usage, high efficiency player who is on our bench. We can stagger some of the starters and get high quality usage that way, but KAT, Brunson, and Clarkson were the only guys on the team with USG over 20. JV would be the main scoring punch off the bench if he was on the roster. He scored 23.4 per 36 with high efficiency. Run the offense through him against another team’s second unit and you’ll get some hoops.
two good links
https://x.com/dylangonzalez21/status/2075661201896329485?s=46
https://youtu.be/ECBM46z1tqo?is=HnpV9xJqVKeqNuZh
The New York Knicks are monitoring recently waived center Jonas Valančiūnas to bolster their frontcourt depth. Denver released the veteran, making him a free agent, and the Knicks are interested in adding him as a depth option alongside Andre Drummond.
the min towers
Hey do you know who has incredible advantages over every other team in the NBA? The New York Knickerbockers! We get to be the most valuable franchise in the NBA despite being hot garbage for most of our history. We had one great year and our valuation increased by a billion dollars.
As a result, we can afford things other teams can’t, like carrying one of the most bloated payrolls in the league despite many years of futility. If we had a championship level team we’d be more able to keep it together than anyone else.
Instead we are getting outspent by the Oklahoma City motherfucking Thunder. It’s a disgrace.
I agree that JV is an upgrade over Drummond, and there is benefit to having two replacement level-ish backup bigs instead of one.
However, there’s still a gaping hole where Mitch’s defensive anchoring and rim protection was, and signing JV at this point kinda forecloses any avenues to fill that hole.
JV’s scoring is nice but my impression is that it’s Enes Kanter-esque in that it slows down the game and doesn’t drive great team offense.
I won’t be devastated if we get JV but I’d be far from happy as it signals we’re just gonna accept sucking on defense 1/3 of the time (when KAT sits). Sucking on defense 1/3 of the time will rule being elite on both ends, which is kind of a requirement for true contenderdom.
“Luke Kornet” says “you know” as much as I do (to my wife’s massive, you know, annoyance)
Was the Mitchell Robinson/Luke Kornet center rotation the funniest of all-time? Discuss.
There’s some chatter now about Embiid and draft capital to Washington for Anthony Davis. They have the same terrible contract for the next two years, but Embiid has a third year.
If I’m Washington I would not want my young core anywhere around Embiid.
Pags, first, as one of the most despicable trolls to ever pollute this board, I don’t give even a shitstain about what you think about decorum. It’s pretty rich that you would even weigh in.
As to your take about the “richness” of the Knicks relative to other franchises, whatever, I’m not in the business of telling rich folks how much they should overpay for assets just to make me happy. I can draw the line at where everyone else is drawing it. If you don’t get the advantages that OKC has, I won’t stoop to explain it to you or anyone else. And if they actually get under the apron before the trade deadline, that would make 30 out of 30 teams.
But feel free to whine about it all you want. Just know that it’s not Dolan (the one constant in this world of Knicks fandom) who is killing the championship vibe on this blog.
The Knicks are not going to replace Mitch’s 15-20 mpg worth of effectiveness with personnel at this price point. They are gonna have to do it schematically. If folks think that’s unlikely or even impossible, that’s a reasonable pessimistic take. I happen to think it’s possible. We’ll see.
How many backup centers in the league were more valuable than Valanciunas last year? There aren’t a whole lot of good backup centers out there.
I’m asking this in all seriousness— who are the top 10 or so backup centers in the league?
Lebron not going back to Cleveland is stupid of him. They have an actual need for him. And if they don’t win, he can still say that he won a title for every team he played with.
Going to Philly and failing seems dumb to me.
“There’s some chatter now about Embiid and draft capital to Washington for Anthony Davis. They have the same terrible contract for the next two years, but Embiid has a third year.
If I’m Washington I would not want my young core anywhere around Embiid.”
Then it would just be a race to see which guy plays less for his new team. (And I’m in complete agreement regarding keeping Embiid away from the great new DC vibes. And I’m in DC, so I know how super-excited everyone seems to be about the Wiz this upcoming season. They’re talking playoffs, or at least play-in.)
Above the Break substack:
Goga Bitadze: Orlando Magic
I cannot stress this enough. I’m a huge Goga Bitadze fan. He’s one of the best backup centers in the league because he’s easily good enough to be a starter. He’s an excellent drop coverage defensive anchor, rebounder, and screener. Having just turned 26, he is in the prime of his career and could conceivably get better. Is he a playoff difference maker? No, but he’s like 35th on this list, so who cares? Bitadze is a player every team would love to have, but his lack of versatility and offensive game keep him in the elite backup tier.
Steven Adams: Houston Rockets
Due to age and injury, Adams has slipped from the starter quality tier, but he might be the most impactful bench center in the league. This is not hyperbole; Adams is far and away the best offensive rebounder in the league. When Adams was on the court last season, the Rockets posted a 41.4% offensive rebound rate, up from 29.3% when he sat. Just for reference, the league average offensive rebound rate was 25.2%. Insane doesn’t even really begin to describe it. It should be noted that he’s also an elite screener, overall rebounder, and showed more defensive mobility as the season wore on. Since I’m confident the Rockets will be judicious with his minutes, I can’t really place him any higher, but I sure as hell wanted to.
Robert Williams III: Portland Trailblazers
If it wasn’t for injuries, Time Lord would be a top-10 center for me. Unfortunately, Missed-Time Lord would be a more apt nickname. Since 2022-23, a three-season span, Williams has played 61 total games. It’s entirely possible he is cooked physically, but I can’t give up on him yet because of what he did when healthy. At his best, he was the best defensive player on the best defensive team in the league. While Marcus Smart was erroneously awarded Defensive Player of the Year in 2021-22, it was Time Lord’s incredible ability to cover ground and the rim that made the Celtics such a devastating defense. He was also a monstrous vertical threat as a roll man and a surprisingly solid passer. Hopefully, he can stay healthy on the Jonathan Isaac plan, where he plays 12 to 17 highly impactful minutes a night and settles into a player you wish could play more.
Donovan Clingan: Portland Trailblazers
This is a bet on potential and role. Clingan had a solid rookie season, particularly defensively, but only started 37 games and averaged 19.8 minutes per contest. With Deandre Ayton gone, and the aforementioned Robert Williams likely relegated to a curated minutes load, Clingan is poised to anchor what should be a strong Trailblazers’ defense. There are warts in Clingan’s game that still need to be ironed out. He averaged 5.1 fouls per 36 minutes, was poor at finishing around the rim, and isn’t adept at defending in space. However, this is a massive person (7’2) who is excellent at massive people things– defending the rim, rebounding, screening– and should only get better in their second NBA season.
Nic Claxton: Brooklyn Nets
The past couple of seasons have not been kind to Nic Claxton. After breaking out in 2022-23 alongside Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant, Claxton has seen the Nets roster disassembled and sold off for parts like a beloved store recently purchased by a private equity group. As the state of the roster has crumbled, so has Claxton’s impact, which raises the question of whether his breakout was all that real, or if playing next to two Hall of Famers made him look good. While his defensive impact has waned substantially, I still think he’s solid on that end, but he’s a supply-dependent center on offense, surrounded by unreliable suppliers. Unfortunately, Claxton has proven to be little more than a facsimile of his surroundings, and right now, his surroundings are dire.
If Lebron goes to Minnesota, I’m sorry, that dude just straight up DUMB.
Daniel Gafford (Dallas Mavericks): An athletic, dynamic lob threat and rim protector who often finishes games or brings explosive energy off the bench.
Luke Kornet (San Antonio Spurs): Widely considered to be one of the best backup fives, known for his high basketball IQ, excellent screen-setting, and efficient field-goal percentage.
Andre Drummond (New York Knicks): A veteran presence and elite rebounder who remains highly effective at grabbing boards and providing interior size.
Naz Reid (Charlotte Hornets): The versatile big man provides critical scoring punch, spacing, and scoring versatility when starters need a break.
Kevon Looney (Los Angeles Lakers): A seasoned three-time NBA champion signed by the Lakers, highly valued for his defensive IQ, championship pedigree, and elite rebounding.
Goga Bitadze (Orlando Magic): Often lauded on Substack as an elite backup center, he operates as a reliable defensive anchor and rebounder who could start for many teams.
Nikola Vucevic (Orlando Magic): A dependable veteran and former All-Star who gives Orlando necessary offensive punch and steady scoring off the bench.
Day’Ron Sharpe (Brooklyn Nets): Emerged as a reliable energy big who is a force on the offensive glass and anchors the paint for Brooklyn.
Nick Richards (Free Agent): A physical, traditional “old-school” big man who plays heavy minutes in the paint and provides great rebounding and size.
Jaxson Hayes (Utah Jazz): A high-flying energy backup center who excels at finishing lobs and blocking shots in transition.
I’m actually legit shocked that Oranges didn’t make this list.
So I guess we need to define the meaning of “replacement level player.” To me a replacement level player is a guy whose value can easily be replaced with a random low quality player from the G league or overseas or as an undated free agent. You could argue that guys like Huk and Jericho Sims are in this category. You can even sort of make the argument that Andre Drummond is in this category.
But a 0.0 BPM player is not “replacement level.” It doesn’t work like negative WAR in baseball. If we had both JV and Drummond, realistically we’d in better shape at backup C than most teams in the league.
Are we still not as good as we were last year? Well, last year we had this same team plus an elite backup center, and now we’d merely have an above average backup center. So, no, not on paper. It’s a downgrade. Could it work out anyway? Maybe.
When did I weigh in about decorum?
What an inane and dumb argument. Yes, James Dolan owns the team and is allowed to do what he wants. Yes, we can have opinions on it. Yes, our opinions have no force or effect. Like why even type this? You aren’t even conveying an actual thought.
You seriously think I don’t get OKC’s advantages? Did you not see any of my 100 previous posts about how they’ve hacked the NBA and they’re asset billionaires forever and ever?
Sorry but griping about Dolan is basically Holy Communion here on Knickerblogger. Constantly bitching about other people’s opinions, on the other hand, is annoying and fucking boring, especially when you’re doing exactly what you complain about, only dumber.
I regret that I had but one upvote to give JK’s post calling out your idiotic schtick.
well I’ve been scouring depth charts and salaries for weeks, so…
this is the top tier of backups, in no particular order:
– Mitch (or Queta)
– Naz Reid
– Daniel Gafford
– Steven Adams
– Isaiah Stewart
– Kel’el Ware
– Jaylin Williams
– Paul Reed
– Goga Bitazde
– Robert Williams
– Luke Kornet
– Collin Murray- Boyles
Borderline: Al Horford, Bobby Portis, Oso Ig
Pags, stop. Everyone’s ignoring him. Just leave him alone and let him scream into the void.
Shams:
Jeez.
#HeatCulture
i’m sure tyler herro is max annoying but bam has always had the fake tough guy vibe. let’s see him take on bobby p or owen’s wife.
I agree about Bam, but at the same time, few players talk shit about their teammates OPENLY quite as much as Herro. So it’s not that surprising to see a guy deck him.
oakaak trevor keels is looking like he may end up in the league
About to start our journey to the triple crown (SL, mid-season, Finals)
Winning Summer League with this squad would be even more of a miracle than the way Jalen and the guys tore through the playoffs.
2 minutes in. The ball has done a very good job bouncing
“Pags, stop. Everyone’s ignoring him. Just leave him alone and let him scream into the void.“
Sez the voice of reason who purposely reposted something from a previous thread just to keep the conversation going. Practice what you preach, sonny.
Except on that Diawara airball
…and that Dadiet airball
Ooh, Pags wants to be taken seriously. Sorry, that ship has sailed.
Tyler Nickel wearing 55. Get it? Dial 555.
Too slow to get back in the play after a close out.
Mo Dia is starting to attack the basket more aggressively, which could be fun
My strongest takeaway so far is they should sell the summer league jerseys. They’re cool, look comfortable, and have great potential as a kind of niche collector’s item. I could easily see myself explaining who Allonzo Trier is while rocking one.
1-8 from the field is… a start?
Nickel triple. His shot is so smooth.
Bam isn’t cut out to defend against my wife.
Nickell sounds absolutely hilarious when you listen to him get interviewed. Thst accent is far out. No opinion on his game yet.
Just praying Dadiet doesn’t tank his trade stock
I hate thinking this way but at this point I’m beginning to hope during pre-season Mitch gets a season ending injury so everyone here could finally STFU about letting him leave…
Dadiet with a nice backdoor cut
Think I’m gonna like double-nickel. Kid can stroke it.
BBA, you’re welcome to bring up a more interesting topic.
jason kapono was a dime store tyler nickel
Dadiet another good cut
“I hate thinking this way but at this point I’m beginning to hope during pre-season Mitch gets a season ending injury so everyone here could finally STFU about letting him leave…“
Hmmmm….
Hypothetically, if a Nets fan existed, they should be very upset to be losing
Dadiet doing his G-league thing.
ess-dog you know my strengths are annoying comments during game threads, I usually don’t have the intensity to bring strong takes on off days! Well unless the Yankees are annoying me.
I mean Mitch leaving was obviously a big story but shit man in the 18 years I’ve been a member of this site this topic might already be the most beaten to death in Knickerblogger history. What makes it even more annoying is it’s coming after winning the NBA championship and bringing back every single player on the team except the backup Center who was 8th in minutes played during the playoffs but reading some comments you’d think the Knicks are becoming the 1998 Marlins.
If he ever got an assist he’d be Double Nickels On The Dime.
Hat tip to any of you who get the reference
Nickel is money
Nickel might already be the best number 55 in Knicks history!
This is Jorts erasure
Mo might be overpaid.
BBA truth! (not about Mo)
BBA you didn’t stop talking about Thibs until we beat the Hawks.
I agree about Nets fans. Their number six pick isn’t doing anything special and they are barely ahead of the Knicks at the moment despite many more recent draft picks at better positions in the draft.
I think they should change the calender and make Lent 365 days out of the year.
Finally, Mo
At least both teams are playing hard on defense.
13 shots in 15 minutes is impressive chucking by Demin.
Is Kayil even there? He’s a DNP so far.
When I’m not fasting, I’ll be posting “Mitch is laughing his off” every time we have a bad quarter.
Based only on twitter highlights I am on fire for Tyler….
Nets are pulling away
I think they should change the calendar and make Lent 365 days out of the year”
Don’t forget leap year!
“When I’m not fasting, I’ll be posting “Mitch is laughing his off” every time we have a bad quarter.“
This says it all.
I suspect the delay in sorting out Kayli’s contract meant he arrived late to Vegas, missed work outs with, and just isn’t ready to play today.
Diawara is somehow a crisp -36 in 20:11 🙂
Can’t shoot, can’t pass, can’t dribble, can’t rebound, can’t defend.
What’s not to like?
Post game hot takes will be epic. 🙂
Expected results when a team skips the draft constantly
Pacome eventually has to transfer the smooth 3 point shot into makes…
I’m taking my talents away from my smart tv, because this summer league shit was terrible today.
Nickel 6-10 from 3 in 22 mins
If you want a positive, Nickel can really shoot.
Ok. Nickel was pure.
It does appear they were spot on with Mr. Nickel’s shooting.
Kyle Korver made $82,000,000 over a 17 year career by being able to shoot the eyes out of the basket and nothing else.
Duncan Robinson wouldn’t be a bad outcome .
Sounds like passing to Nickel is an automatic dime…
It happened. Exactly like the Thunder extensions:
Worth noting that what Wemby, Holmgren, and Williams did was different than what Brunson did.
Brunson took a max that was smaller than the max he could get a year later.
All these guys took a 5% haircut. It’s commendable, if not very annoying.
Hopefully KAT is paying attention.
https://x.com/NBA_NewYork/status/2075738214950731891
I should point out it’s not just a 5% haircut. Wemby, Chet, and Williams all took $250M instead of $300M.
That means each of those players gave up the same amount of money that our owner was not willing to pay in tax to keep the team together.
Seems like it might have been a dumb time for Dolan to start pinching the pennies.
And the drone keeps right on droning…
I thought Dadiet was ok today. He had 20 points on 16 shots and was -4 in 22 minutes, which is a good plus minus considering the Knicks lost by 26 points. He wasn’t hitting threes but he made a lot of nice cuts to get close to the basket scores or free throw attempts. Not spectacular, but competent. The Knicks needed rim protection and point guard play which is not his role.
JK, if Clyde pulls this out of his bag, I’ll be very impressed.
Knicks blah blah NBA blah blah summer blah blah blah.
Ohtani was a late scratch from his start tonight because of an injured knee but still led off with a home run. Yup.
How quickly they forget how they couldn’t forget a certain Frankie Smokes
Caleb Wilson…
Somehow was a minus 11
donnie, it’s too darn hot, too darn hot…
I am not sure if the kvetching about Mitch would even make our top 50.
Excited to see how many puns we can generate from our latest savior. But the highlights were great. Kid can shoot!!!
The Bondy quote was also pretty funny….
https://x.com/nba_newyork/status/2075738214950731891?s=46&t=0wqff4cNt-sCGcDs-uMExw
He gets them off awfully quick. https://www.facebook.com/reel/1297852835880349
So did I when I was 19
Ba-dum-bah
Keep in mind his 4 FTs counted for 7pts due to SL rules. He was not efficient.
Unsurprisingly, Dadiet was exactly who he was during the g-league season. He can slash but can’t shoot.
The rebounding was nice.
If Nickel has any ability to stay on the floor on defense, then he’ll be a great pick.
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