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170 replies on “Knicks Morning News (2026.07.16)”
Here’s a Knick-specific trivia question (that I think is pretty easy, all things considered, although some of the guys towards the end are difficult, to be sure).
There are 14 players who have scored at least 8,000 points AS a Knick (as a reference for how long it takes to get to 8,000 points, neither Julius Randle nor Jalen Brunson have reached 8,000 points as a Knick. Brunson presumably will blow by 8,000 easily next season, and surely will end his career as one of the highest-scoring Knicks ever).
Can you name them?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
Ewing and Melo are the two gimmes. I feel reasonably confident in Allan Houston. Clyde and Willis?
Who else was both with the team long enough and was at least a good scorer? Bernard was brilliant, but only briefly. Oakley was here a long time but not much of a scorer.
Richie Guerin?
1. Ewing
2. Clyde
3. Willis
4. Houston
5.
6. Guerin
7. Melo
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
Oakley fell shy of 8,000. He’s actually just slightly ahead of Brunson.
By the way, it’s hard to believe that Melo only got as high as 7th, right? It seemed for a moment there that he had a chance to be #2 on that list.
14,617 for Clyde, 10,186 for Melo, so it’s not like he had far to go. Brunson will basically have to double his current total to get to #2, which actually seems pretty likely for a dude who will almost assuredly retire as a Knick.
Yeah, I would have guessed Melo was top 3.
Let’s say a player averages 70 games per season, to get to 8000 pts, he’d need to:
– if played for 5 seasons, 22.8 PPG
– 6 seasons, 19.0 PPG
– 7 seasons, 16.3 PPG
Not easy to guess who they are.
Jamal Crawford? Marbury?
I’m enjoying these trivia questions, Brian. Great choice for this dead part of the calendar.
Hmmm…Bill Cartwright? Dick Barnett? Bill Bradley?
Monroe?
Dick McGuire?
Oh, Monroe is a good one. I forgot how long he played here, well after Clyde got traded. And Barnett was probably here long enough?
Michael Ray Richardson? King? Starks was there from about ’90 to ’98; I would guess he averaged 800 points or more per season.
I don’t think Michael Ray or Bernard were here long enough. I’m thinking Latrell wasn’t here long enough either. Starks seems like a good guess.
One guy who scored a lot but I also don’t think was here long enough was Bob McAdoo.
Lance Thomas? (just kidding!)
DeBusschere?? Bradley??? Russell???? Not Lucas…
I would definitely say Cartwright.
1. Ewing
2. Clyde
3. Willis
4. Houston
5.
6. Guerin
7. Melo
8. Earl the Pearl
9. Barnett
10. Bradley
11. Cartwright
12. Starks
13.
14.
No DeBusschere, Russell, Latrell, Bernard, Michael Ray, Marbury, Crawford, or McAdoo.
Dick McGuire is someone I would have thought of, but not even 5,000 points as a Knick!
DeBusschere was here for like 6 years and not a big scorer, so I don’t think so but wouldn’t be shocked.
Bradley spent his whole career here so he’s probably higher than Dave, might be borderline.
Cazzie is a definite no.
Missed your update, Brian…is McGuire also not on the list? I figured his number is retired…
Looking at the remaining three guys, I’d have guessed #5, and eventually I’d get #13, but I don’t think I’d have gotten #14 (I mean, I guess if I named enough Knicks).
McGuire never even averaged 10 points a game as a Knick, amazingly enough! He was famous for his assists, not his points.
Here’s a stab in the dark: Trent Tucker?
pat cummings, trent tucker, gerald wilkins?
5725 for Tucker.
Walt Bellamy? He wasn’t here very long but put up lots of points…
1. Ewing
2. Clyde
3. Willis
4. Houston
5.
6. Guerin
7. Melo
8. Earl the Pearl
9. Barnett
10. Bradley
11. Cartwright
12. Starks
13.
14. Gerald Wilkins
I don’t think I’d have ever thought Wilkins scored that many points, but I guess he lasted here for a while!
Mark Jackson & Gerald Wilkins
EDIT: oops, missed the update & pepper’s post
unfortunately
Wow, great guess on Gerald. I probably saw him live over 100 times so should have known!
Bellamy actually did reach 5,072 points in his short time here, so you’re right, he scored a TON.
Pat Cummings didn’t even hit 3,000 here.
With his second stint, Jackson got over 5,000 points, but not over 6,000.
Man, I’m running out of ideas. Ray Williams? Willie Naulls? Sweetwater Clifton?
was kurt thomas already lobbed out there?
1. Ewing
2. Clyde
3. Willis
4. Houston
5.
6. Guerin
7. Melo
8. Earl the Pearl
9. Barnett
10. Bradley
11. Cartwright
12. Starks
13. Willie Naulls
14. Gerald Wilkins
Naulls is a historic Knick, the first Black captain in U.S. sports!
Clifton didn’t get to 5,000. Williams DID, but not to 6,000, but that’s still a lot of points for a dude who was here for just four seasons.
Kurt Thomas was just shy of 6,000.
I’ve been watching the Knicks since 1985 and I can’t for the life of me think of who would be as high as number 5 on that list? At 13- Nauls? They always mention him on the broadcast.
Someone beat me to it.
The top four guys BELOW 8,000 are:
Harry Gallatin
Charles Oakley
Jalen Brunson
Julius Randle
I’m thinking that #5 has to be an old-timer. Neil Johnson?
As SOMEwhat of a hint (not much of one, as, well, I think we all figure if you’re top five in all-time scoring for a longstanding NBA team, this is probably going to be the case), the top ten are all in the Hall of Fame (ha, except Allan Houston. I forgot he was there).
Johnson didn’t really score much for the Knicks.
Ernie Vandeweghe?
Carl Braun?
Vandeweghe didn’t get to 3,000.
Also, I mean absolutely no offense, but seeing you pull Ernie Vandeweghe and not the correct name is kind of mind-boggling to me. 🙂 I KNOW you know this guy!
1. Ewing
2. Clyde
3. Willis
4. Houston
5. Carl Braun
6. Guerin
7. Melo
8. Earl the Pearl
9. Barnett
10. Bradley
11. Cartwright
12. Starks
13. Willie Naulls
14. Gerald Wilkins
Braun played for the Knicks for a dozen years, was a five-time All-Star, and second team All-NBA in 1954. He luckily played for the Celtics for one final year, so he got to retire with a ring.
He was in the Army for the 1950-51 and 1951-52 seasons, so he missed out on two of the Knicks’ Finals in those years, and you have to wonder if the Knicks would have won a title earlier had he been around.
Top 10 are all in the hall? Houston is in the hall of fame?
I felt pretty confident once I thought of Braun. Can’t believe it took me so long to think of him!
Good guess z man!
Ha, I totally forgot he was there. Okay, NOT him. 😉
A bit of Z-man trivia, which makes me feel even more stupid: Carl Braun and Ernie Vandeweghe are both alumni of my alma mater. I must have looked at their plaques, trophies, and pictures in the gym a million times!
Houston was headed to the hall of fame if he didn’t have degenerative osteoarthritis of his knees. He was peaking at the end of his relatively short career.
Both Ernie *and* Kiki Vandeweghe played for the Knicks, and probably didn’t even get to 8,000 points *combined*.
Kiki was one of the most disappointing Knicks of my season-ticket era. He was softer than Charmin and totally washed as an offensive player.
Wow Wilkins is shocking. I would’ve guessed he was around David Lee territory.
“Wow Wilkins is shocking. I would’ve guessed he was around David Lee territory.”
He played 555 games for us and averaged about 15 per.
We talk often about how historically bad the PG position was for this team for most of the era between Clyde/Earl and Brunson. But small forward has had some rough stretches as well. Post-Bernard, you got the likes of Kenny Walker, Johnny Newman, Kiki, X-Man (only good in his one playoffs with us), Charles Smith. Eventually, someone realized we should play Mason there, and then he was followed by LJ, and then Spree played forward a lot when he shared the court with Houston. But soon you get to Tim Thomas, the decaying corpse of Penny Hardaway, Junkyard Dog Jerome Thomas, etc., until Melo shows up.
He was also “the Jordan stopper.” And for a couple of years, he was the subject of every trade proposal someone called into WFAN to get Ewing a sidekick: “Just send Oakley, Wilkins, and picks for [All-Star player]!”
“But soon you get to Tim Thomas, the decaying corpse of Penny Hardaway, Junkyard Dog Jerome Thomas, etc., until Melo shows up.”
Jerome Williams was the Junkyard Dog. 🙂
Gerald was an exciting player. Not very efficient, but played hard, hit some 3’s and threw down some ferocious dunks, not quite like his brother but was generally fun to watch until the team actually got good. In any case, he was a really good find at #47 in the Patrick Ewing draft.
I still remember the 3 pointer Gerald Wilkins hit to put us up 5 in the 1Q of game 7 in Chicago 1992. It was the last time I was happy that day.
Harkening back to yesterday’s list of most 3-pointers, how the volume has changed! Gerald Wilkins hit a *total* of 200 or so 3s over his 7 years here, hit them at a 31 percent clip, and was considered a pretty good 3-point shooter. LOL
Raven trivia, played against Kiki at the 14th Street Y, I presume illegally (for Kiki).
Did he dominate? The couple of times I played against NBA players of any level in pickup games, they were so much better than everyone else that it wasn’t even funny. Basically just throw the ball up in the vicinity of the basket so they could catch and dunk. Of course, in my case it was a Slam Dunk Champion.
Anyone want to guess who it might have been? Hints are that it was in the mid-1980s on courts at the University of Delaware, and the player was from the town that the university is in.
Where will Brunson be on that list once his time with the Knicks is over?
Really good point, Alan. Bernard set the bar so high that it is unmatched to this day. And that was the era of great small forwards.
Kennny Walker was one of those guys I knew would be a huge disappointment the second he was drafted. And in that sense, he didn’t disappoint!
That was one of the weirdest drafts ever. The vast majority of memorable players were taken well outside the top-15. Brad Daugherty was a fine #1, but Len Bias passed away, Chris Washburn washed out almost immediately, Kenny Walker, William Bedford, and Brad Sellers (a Z-man fave at draft time) all were busts, Tarpley faded quickly, and Person and Harper were good but not great.
Meanwhile, Sabonis (24) Price (25) Rodman (27) McMillen (30) Otis Smith (41) Hornacek (46) and Drazen (60) rose to the top of that class.
Sorry! Dude never won the Slam Dunk contest. He had back-to-back-to-back third place finishes (the only three years he was in the NBA—oddly, he was dunking in his team’s city for two of those three seasons), but *did* have a signature dunk he was known for.
Dee Brown?
Doubt he will pass Patrick, but he could definitely grab the #2 spot. All he needs is six more years averaging 1600 pts per season.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1Rw6DosJ_8
^ presumably the signature dunk Doogie alluded to
Two former Knicks were US Senators. Dollar Bill was the obvious one, who was the other?
Hubert got it: the inimitable Terence Stansbury, from Newark, DE.
“Two former Knicks were US Senators. Dollar Bill was the obvious one, who was the other?”
I interned for Bill in his Senate office while studying at American University in 1984, and also worked on his Senate re-election campaign that year. Very nice man.
I really don’t think that there were any other former Knicks who were *United States Senators*. That’s a pretty lofty position, and not one that would easily be reached by former professional athletes. (Yeah, yeah, Tom McMillen, etc.. I know. But he never reached the Senate.) Is that who you were referring to?
The other thing that he and Bradley had in common is that they were both Rhodes Scholars.
We basically traded Huk for Drum. Why don’t we also “basically” trade Mitch (and more) for Luka Garza (18/9 per 36, on .577 shooting from the field and .769 from the FT line)? Not great, but certainly cromulent, and certainly tall at 6-foot-10.
Yes Doogie, thought he reached the Senate, but he was a mere representative. Bradley came to my high school to campaign for Allard Lowenstein when Lowenstein was running for Congress.
Mazel Tov to Landry Shamet who got engaged yesterday on Lake Como ( romantic choice)
Is Jemison good enough to be our 3rd center, or is he more of a 4th guy hopping from G-League to NBA when needed? I remember reading/hearing he was a very good communicator on defense and getting people organized. I liked his spot minutes. He seems strong too.
I read he has averaged 4 offensive rebounds per 36 in his more than 1,000 career minutes. And has done well with that in the G-League too.
Maybe he would be a good placeholder until we make a trade later in the season?
I also would love to have another “taller” player that can play PF. Maybe someone like Kelly Olynyk?
Jemison is sort of stiff and unskilled and seems like a slow jumper, so I don’t see any upside. But he is big and strong, and I believe Clarence thinks he’s hot, so there’s that.
Here’s the main rub with Jemison. His TOV% is ghastly. He’s committed 68 turnovers in his NBA career, and 24 of them are offensive fouls. He’s also a lousy defensive rebounder and a foul machine.
He’s almost 27, so any upside is a pipe dream. If he’s willing to continue as a 2-way (if he’s even eliginle) then sure. But this is the most emergency-ist of emergency bigs.
Actually it’s me who thinks he’s hot, just don’t tell Lady Raven.
I’d be fine seeing him open as the third-string center and see if he is Huk-cromulent. If not, we’ll know soon enough and can figure out a Plan C.
Olynyk would be fine if we had a second option better than Drummond. He’s smart, can shoot, and is kind of dirty, but also seems kind of washed. Not sure what folks think of his personality and locker room fit. Ideally you want someone who can compete with Drummond for that second spot, and with enough upside to supplant him, at least situationally. I think someone at that level will eventually shake loose, either by getting waived or via trade.
Shams:
Ahh, Raven, I knew it was someone. What happens on KB stays on KB.
Dan Devine attempts to answer the question of whether the 25-26 squad is the best Knicks team ever:
https://sports.yahoo.com/nba/article/best-knicks-team-ever-with-franchises-first-nba-championship-in-53-years-these-knicks-are-building-their-case-165158370.html
C’mon, Kelly Olynyk is 35 years old now. Hardest of nos.
“C’mon, Kelly Olynyk is 35 years old now. Hardest of nos.”
35 is not super-old for a non-rotation vet C per se, but Olynyk looks washed as hell.
“The NBA is probing the signed $64 million free-agent deal for Gary Trent Jr. with the Milwaukee Bucks, per a league spokesperson.”
Shocker.
Thanks for the additional info on Jemison and Olynyk. I was curious if they could be temporary guys. I think in a perfect world we have a good rim protector though.
Question:
On February 12, 2027 (the day after the trade deadline) will the #2 Center on the Knicks be
1) somebody currently on the roster; or
2) a player few, if any, of us has considered a possibility so far?
None of the flotsam and jetsam presently on the market is good enough to supplant Drummond as #2 so an upgrade will almost certainly have to come via trade. Does Leon have enough disposable assets in hand to pull one off?
“35 is not super-old for a non-rotation vet C per se, but Olynyk looks washed as hell.”
Yeah, that’s what I was actually alluding to. I should have stated it that way. (Thanks.) Olynyk would have been OK a few years ago, but not anymore.
well gondo, i’m hanging on to the possibility that andre comes in refreshed and renewed with the chance to spotlight his talents…
AND, at some point before the trade deadline leon and co. figure out a way to scoop up some promising young front court player…
think it will be someone we’ve already highlighted and are lusting after…
better to believe in positive outcomes, makes the day go by smoother…
Gonzo, that’s a question that would require a total guess to answer. That’s because the Drummond “as is” is much closer to the floor than the ceiling of what a contender would want in a #2 C, but finding someone to displace him would require Leon to a) get incredibly lucky by jumping on a bargain-bin kid who pans out, or b) make a trade involving someone other than a non-rotation player. Now, if somehow Drummond goes all geo and outperforms his recent stints (Mike Brown seems to be good at getting players to do that, from KAT to Clarkson) then the conversation might shift.
One thing we can bank on: Leon and his team are going to scour the Earth for a potentially better alternative, and that will include the period after February 12, when teams start to buy out or waive guys. I believe we will be limited to players making less than the NTPMLE prior to being waived, but you never know when a team that is out of the running might cut bait. The only caveat there is that the changed lottery structure might make it more likely that shitty teams keep good players because they don’t want to get relegated.
My confidence is pretty high that Leon and his team will be able to acquire a good backup before the deadline, either just using the salaries of spare parts plus a bunch of seconds, or by sacrificing Deuce if Deuce and the team can’t come to an agreement on an extension. And if we have that guy in house before the playoffs, I’ll be able to move past the Mitch angst of it all.
But if Drummond is still the Drummond of the last few years, the first half of the season could feature some ugliness on the nights when KAT is either out or just in one of his periodic bouts with stupid foul trouble. there could be some ugly nights over the first half of the season.
I was kind of surprised to see that Nerlens Noel is younger than Andre Drummond. What happened to him? Did he just give up on basketball, period?
Ol’ Butterstumps?
In 2023, Noel signed a one-year, $3.1 million deal with the Sacramento Kings. However, on September 12, 2023, the Kings waived him, ending his NBA tenure. He also had a brief stint with the Brooklyn Nets earlier that year, but his contract expired and he was not re-signed.
Since leaving the NBA, there is no public record of him playing professionally overseas or in other sports.
Funny this should come up exactly now, as I just reloaded the page after having a conversation with my podcast partner about Jack Reacher and the many different ways the books attempt to describe the size of his hands.
Tom Cruise was good as Reacher and also possibly the biggest possible disappointment any casting decision has ever been for fans of a book
Like casting Tom Holland as Bernie Gunther
I believe I once tried to describe Nerlens’ hands as being the equivalent of Deadpool’s tiny baby hands in the scene where he’s on the couch with Leslie Uggams after having his arms torn off and was re-growing them…
It’s brutal for Gary Trent that news of him signing a nice contract immediately triggers a (wholly merited) league investigation.
One of Leon’s superpowers is his ability to pull blockbuster trades seemingly out of thin air. By my count, he’s managed three thus far:
1) OG – although frequently mentioned as a possible trade target, conventional wisdom held that Dolan’s lawsuit against the Raptors ruled out the possibility of there ever being any deal for him
2) Bridges – another trade deemed similarly impossible on account of Lil’ Brother’s long standing reluctance to deal with Big Brother
3) KAT – the biggest shocker of ‘em all. No one – not even our supposedly all-knowing beat reporters – saw that one coming in advance
So as we sit here today and speculate as to whether Leon will be able to cobble together a package of cheap contracts and 2nd rd picks that will bring back a good #2 C, I’m not counting him out. Not saying such a trade definitely will happen or even that it’s likely to happen, only that I’m glad we have a man at the helm who’s already demonstrated an ability for making equally improbable deals.
Undoubtedly yes.
He has the following picks:
2030 pick swap
2032 pick swap
2033 first
5 second round picks
That’s more than enough to acquire a solid center.
The problem is he doesn’t have the salaries, so you can probably count on one hand the number of guys he can trade for.
“The problem is he doesn’t have the salaries, so you can probably count on one hand the number of guys he can trade for.”
We only need one.
If the NBA comes down hard on them, maybe they’ll listen to offers on Kel’el Ware to supplement whatever draft picks they lose? Deuce + Dadiet (+ picks) works in the Sportrac Trade Machine and it would certainly be an upgrade over whatever the hell Trent was supposed to do for them. Or maybe the penalty is to force them to keep Trent on the roster!
This move also dips us even further from the 2nd apron so perhaps they can get more aggressive with the type of pick they send out. I know that Spo had fits with Ware because the kid believes he should start. But maybe, with our locker room, they can work to pacify him into accepting the role.
Just trying to think of any outside of the box candidates that Leon & Co can pounce on.
Hey Alan – I know you’ve linked to it in the past but would you mind reminding me what your new podcast is called? I’d like to sign up and support.
aside from presiding over the first championship in a very long freakin time…Leon’s outfit at the parade (i think it was black board shorts and a black tee , black shoes and black out shades) and the espy’s last night (more all black accentuated with the tux jacket but no other tux pieces, I think maybe KAT rocked a tux jacket too)…makes me even more appreciative that he’s on our side..
Speaking of trivia and Knicks backup bigs; did Josh Harrellson really date Erika Kirk?
Yeah, it’s funny. Cruise is at once horrible casting to play the character as written in the books, and yet light years better than the big guy who plays him on TV. The first Reacher movie in particular is very good. The second one, less so. The show has its moments, but I think Alan Ritchson doesn’t get the character at all, other than being big and muscular. (And even there, he’s too gym rat muscular.)
Thanks, Knicks and Giggles. It’s called TV Is Good. Links to it on every platform are here:
https://shows.acast.com/tv-is-good
There’s one episode where I monologue about the Knicks for 10 minutes. Some of our commenters have begged me to stop talking about the Knicks. Meanwhile, I just recorded a guest appearance on another podcast, Unspooled, and somehow a discussion of the movie Almost Famous turned into a five minute digression about LeBron, Brunson, and Carmelo — a digression I did not start, I should add.
You can’t account for bad taste my man!
Noted and subscribed on YouTube and Spotify.
The circles of the Venn diagram are:
1. We have enough assets to acquire him
2. We have the salaries to trade for him without breaking up the core
3. We can stay under the second apron next year (a key filter that eliminates guys in their walk years like Diabate, Bitazde, Lively)
4. The player is good enough to be our backup C
5. The player isn’t too good for the bench
That’s a lot of circles!
I’ve only found 2 guys in the intersection: Ware & Ighodaro.
Yves Missi is borderline (I’m not sure he qualifies as good enough).
If you want outside the box, there is always 40 y/o Al Horford. And maybe Brook Lopez if he gets bought out.
Of course I’m limited to players there’s public information on. The front office can scour Europe & pick up intel on guys who don’t register in basketball reference.
No on Horford and Lopez. I want a guy 30 or under.
Yeah, the first season of Reacher was solid but i swiftly lost interest after that. Ritchson really isn’t a good actor.
My question of the day:
Who makes the playoffs first, Dybantsa’s Wizards or Peterson’s Jazz?
once again the current nba world champion new york knicks take to the court today…for another summer league game…
let’s go…
Actually had no idea about the game. Wonder if Mo and Daddy will play. Wonder if Kayil/Nickel/Robbins might shine. Hoping for a fantastic showing from Robbins (probably also the most unlikely outcome), as if we can squint and make something at all out of him it would be most useful to us.
ess-dog, Zach Lowe seems really high on the Jazz.
What’s going to be fascinating is that no team is incentivized to fully tank anymore. The ones who don’t own their own pick won’t necessarily try to lose, but they also won’t care if playing their young prospects more lands them into that bottom 3 relegation zone. So if almost every team in both conferences is trying to be at least competent, what does that look like, both on a team-by-team basis and in terms of overall competitiveness. Will win totals for the top teams go down? Will it turn out that the Jazz or Wizards will be genuinely good when they’re incentivized to play everyone and try to win? Or are some teams beyond the Kings and Nets genuinely bad, regardless of intention and effort level?
I don’t get this insistence of Leon as some ninja comes from. He made some moves that were out of nowhere, but he also made some much rumored moves, the same as most every NBA GM.
We were discussing the possibility of a KAT/Randle deal for weeks before it actually happened.
The Knicks’ biggest move during his tenure was so telegraphed that the Knicks literally had to give up a second round pick for tampering.
Pretty funny, Brian. I think after 20 or so years of the absolute worst possible decision-making, having someone who sometimes makes really good decisions feels like wizardry.
There are a coupla big men in this piece: https://www.hoopshype.com/story/sports/nba/2026/07/15/nba-oldest-players-at-2026-summer-league-jon-elmore-aaron-williams-and-more/90930701007/
I think we should sign one just as a feel-good story.
No, thanks. We don’t have roster spots available for feel-good.
“We were discussing the possibility of a KAT/Randle deal for weeks before it actually happened.”
Edit: didn’t get the joke.
We can certainly celebrate Leon’s awesome moves. I am very happy his moves won this team a title! But people repeatedly (and I truly mean people plural, this comes up a lot) talk about him only working in shadows or how we never get any leaks from this front office, and there have been NUMEROUS leaks and telegraphed moves over the years, so it’s just odd. Begley was saying weeks ago that the Knicks wouldn’t exceed the second apron and that Mitch was a likely goner. But how could he know when the Knicks only work in shadows and no one ever leaks anything?
Give Leon his flowers. He deserves them. Just don’t invent attributes for the guy.
Best GM’s / Front Offices in NY Sports History:
1st tier
Ed Barrow -Yankees
George Weiss – Yankees, Mets
Bill Torrey – Islanders
George Young – Giants
Eddie Donovan – Knicks
Gene Michael- Yankees
Brian Cashman (the 90’s version)
Ernie Accorsi – Giants
John McGraw – baseball Giants
Branch Rickey – Dodgers
Tier 2
Leon Rose – NYK
Neil Smith – Rangers
Frank Cashen – Mets
Al Rosen – Yankees
Gabe Paul – Yankees
Bing Devine – Mets
Johnny Murphy – Mets
Clive Toye – NY Cosmos
Weeb Ewbank – Jets
Bob Watson- Yankees
Disagree. Free agent signings can not be kept under wraps. That’s a market phenomemon.
Other than Danny Ainge being a flawed human and a terrible partner to work on anything…name ONE MAJOR TRADE that was leaked?
Before getting KAT we were talking about Randle playing stretch 5 and circled the used center bin & even reached out to Ainge for young Kessler to start until Mitch heals. Leon even covered the secret and falsey put out the expectations that Mich will be due at the end of December. Minnesotta would have squezzed another 1st, – if they knew Mitch was done until late Spring.
Leon is a bad boy and he moves in silence. That’s his superpower.
Wowsers.
Anyone have the ptmilo salary cap link he sent out a few weeks ago?
For the website he made
Several major acquisitions Leon made via trade/free agency were discussed here on KB prior to it happening. Brunson, OG, KAT, Mikal, Alvarado…I believe even Derrick Rose didn’t exactly come out of nowhere.
The ones that were kind of out of the blue that I can recall are Josh Hart and IHart The Grimes trade for Burks and Bogie seemed surprising as well.
Fair enough, Doogie. Now let’s watch some MFing summer league!
We’ve debunked this so many times but no amount of indisputable evidence changes some people’s minds.
We even know many of the moves he tried to make, like Yves Missi last month, and ten coaches he tried to interview.
Ironically I thought the KAT trade was one he hid well. Not that he was a target, we all knew that. But the timing of it was a surprise.
(The other weird narrative people cling to is “no one thought he could trade with Toronto or Brooklyn” when, in fact, it was widely reported that there were no issues trading with Toronto & Brooklyn.)
Derrick Rose, Donovan Mitchell, OG Anunoby, Mikal Bridges, KAT, Jose Alvarado, Yves Missi, both of our 2021 draft picks, our 2022 draft pick, our 2024 draft picks, and our 2026 draft picks.
The only trades I can think of that weren’t telegraphed were Cam Reddish & Josh Hart.
Mind you, this is not a criticism of Leon. There’s nothing wrong with people knowing what you’re going to do.
Again, we knew the Knicks were signing Brunson so far ahead of time that the Knicks literally had to surrender a second round pick. That’s not a “market phenomemon.”
We heard about every coach interview before it happened, including Mike Brown. We knew that they wanted to trade for Derrick Rose in 2021. I have found about 15 different articles from 2023 about the Knicks wanting to trade for OG Anunoby.
Yes, they had some trades out of nowhere. Of COURSE they did. But so does EVERY team. Just like how EVERY team has “sources” leaking shit. Just like the Knicks.
Yes, exactly. This is not even REMOTELY a criticism of Leon Rose. I like Leon Rose a lot. I just don’t know why people (and again, I say “people” because it’s not like, just one dude doing it. It’s a LOT of people) keep trying to build some weird fake mythology around him.
Oh, I almost forgot…
GIANNIS!
How can this still be a thing after that?
Pacome very active so far.
Wait, there’s more…
Grimes being shopped was leaked, bringing Burks back was leaked, drafting obi toppin was leaked, trying to trade up to draft tyrese maxey was leaked, and trying to trade up to get chris duarte was leaked.
Who is this summer league sideline reporter? Can we sign her?
This Jordain kid is shockingly bad. Liam is doing Liam thing though (blocks).
Hey Lin, STFU, please.
leon lands the right planes on the right runways…
and well, yabujelly happens…
like captain clutch he has a consistent history of success…
Kayil’s kickin and brickin…
Tyler’s shot is as pure as bolivian blow
What a great sleep aid these games are….just got a nice 2nd qtr nap in…
Nickel tickles the twine!
Robbins is definitely NBA-rugged.
Dadiet!
In 2026, I might just vote for Liam Robbins for Knicks 3rd-String Center! (He’s definitely huge.) Maybe Leon found another diamond in the rough (Diawara, Deuce, Mitch, etc.) that we would have never expected. Maybe *that’s* his superpower! Maybe…….
Large Liam may well be worth a two-way right?
Nickel is probably a lock for a two-way or minimum.
I like watching Kayil and think there might be something there, but the best-case scenario for him this year is being stashed.
“Large Liam may well be worth a two-way right?
Nickel is probably a lock for a two-way or minimum.
I like watching Kayil and think there might be something there, but the best-case scenario for him this year is being stashed.”
Agree on all three points.
And Dadiet is not making a case for himself. One step forward, two steps back.
Time’s running out for Dadiet…
2nd unit is keeping us in this.
Sellers and Akins providing a burst.
Oui…Dadiet est tres terrible….
Akins coming out party
Akins breakins some ankles!
Leon has to give Dadiet’s roster spot to a real player who could theoretically contribute.
I think we should definitely stash Kayil. Not stashing Dadiet was a mistake.
Interesting question. I’d vote 70’s Knicks, not because I’m an old guy.
The Knick’s offense is build around Brunson’s penetration and I don’t think he’d have anywhere near as much success with Clyde defending and they wouldn’t have to double Brunson much (which is a big part of the Knick’s offense).
KAT’s ribs would not survive 7 games vs Willis. Dave D could guard OG as he did Gus Johnson.
I just don’t think the match ups would favor 25/26. I know today’s game is different, but try guarding Pearl without hand checking.
“I think we should definitely stash Kayil. Not stashing Dadiet was a mistake.”
I don’t believe they had a choice, but could be wrong.
Man, do we suck.
“Man, do we suck.”
Not only that, but our 2020 elections were hacked! Our President just said so!!! 🙁
On a lighter note, if I were going to be the type of guy to cherry-pick Liam Robbins(on)’s stats to make a case for him, I would say that, if you look at his entire college career plus this Summer League (including tonight’s game), this is what you’d see:
18.14 points per 36
3.18 offensive rebounds per 36
9.49 total rebounds per 36
4.10 blocks per 36
47.8 FG shooting
69.1 FT shooting
I’ve been hoping for someone under 30 (he just turned 27 the other day), and someone 6-10 or taller (true center; he is 7-foot and 250 pounds), someone who can rebound and block shots a little bit for 8-10 minutes per game, and someone who can maybe hit a free throw.
In the absence of anyone else…….well, works for me!
Doogie or others, watched no SL (shame on me) — can Liam move his feet, like defensively?
Raven, somebody named Graham Ike had a pretty damn good game against him, if that answers your question.
someone already said it raven, liam looks very g league…plus he has a questionable availability record…
plus, he’d turn the ball over more than huk did…
Well I guess I won’t be floating my inflatable unicorn from Huk Island over to Liam Spit. Luckily ‘the universe has a way of leading you to where you’re supposed to be, at the moment you’re supposed to be there….’
Robbins reminds me of a guy named Greg Butler, a lovable scrub from the early Ewing era. I remember being at blowouts and hearing his name chanted as sort of a human victory cigar.Butler played 210 NBA minutes. That would be a good O/U for Robbins, and the under is the safer bet.
I dunno. I kinda dig him. But it could (likely) just be my desperation for a filled-out roster speaking.
Robbin’s looked OK today. He was the only starter with a plus minus greater than zero. His plus minus was +3 in 20 minutes of play and he had nine rebounds and four blocks. And this was in a game we were lucky to lose by only ten. My eye test impression is that his defense was good and caused problems for the Warriors. I am up for giving him a twoway and seeing what happens. Even if we find a better big man later, there are worse things in the world than having four centers on our roster.
It’s extremely likely that Robbins’ only NBA court time will be as an extra in the Hollwood full length movie version of the Knicks championship season…he will play Luke Kornet…
“Even if we find a better big man later, there are worse things in the world than having four centers on our roster.”
Who would be the fourth center if we picked up Robbins? KAT, Drum, Robbins, and _______? If I knew we already had three of them, I probably wouldn’t see any reason to pick up Robbins in the first place.
I was in the building for at least 200 of those. The Garden was never more alive than when Pitino pointed down the bench and Greg “We Want” Butler jumped up and snapped away his warmups. To this day, nothing matches it. Nothing.
Unbelievable. Literally.
And we basically traded Roaring Sparrow for him.
Doogie, we are obviously looking at veterans venters to hire at the minimum. I agree, the pickings are slim, but it could happen. For example we could hire Sochan as our third string center on a vet minimum contract. We can do that and hire Robbin’s on a two way which would give us four guys who can play center. We could potentially find a different vet minimum contract than Sochan. I don’t know who, but it could happen, for example if someone got waived by another team.
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