News & Blogs
The New York Knicks don’t need to be way better, but they could be – Posting & Toasting
2026 NBA offseason rankings: Knicks, Warriors, Trail Blazers among bottom 10 – The New York Times
Knicks Front Office Member Announces Exit After 2026 NBA Championship – Posting & Toasting
Jordan Clarkson re-signing with Knicks on one-year deal – SNY
Sources: Knicks executive Rosas leaving team after four years – ESPN
3 habits Knicks can carry over from championship run to 2026-27 NBA season – SNY
The Knicks New Big 3 Is Scary! 👀 – Knicks Fan TV
Pod Strickland Episode 616 feat. Sam – Eastern Conference Over/Unders – The Strickland
YT News
66 replies on “Knicks Morning News (2026.08.04)”
This confuses me. Diawara had surgery to repair a fractured pinky, but also played a bit in summer league? https://dailyknicks.com/new-york-knicks-recently-surfaced-mohamed-diawara-clip-put-post-surgery-fears-rest
Did he get the injury during summer league? Was he playing in Vegas with the fracture, and that’s why he looked so awful?
Strongly disagree with KYN. Sorry my european fellow, but people here know “one thing or two” about basketball and we value the teams we had. Of course, we’re usually talking about ways to get better, and that means trading players for someone we think will make us better. Hell, we’re champions and it is a disaster that one player is gone. Even being Mitch, i don’t recall a championship team bringing back so many players. Mitch was like 8th on our depth chart. And i happen to think he had a very underwhelming playoffs. There were more games he was a non factor than not. But yeah, without a (proper) replacement, we’ll talk like it’s the end of the world, that’s what people do on sports foruns. And that doesn’t mean we don’t value our team… the champs! 🧡💙
It definitely has a nice ring to it… NY Knicks, the NBA Champs! 🙂
Well, let’s hope that explains it, Alan. We’ll have to wait and see how he looks against NBA competition. I also think there’s players that are not suited for the chaos that is a summer league game, and in an NBA game they’ll look much better. Be it one thing or the other, what would be great is if we get back the Diawara we were afraid of not being able to sign to a longer deal. Good times. 😀
Then you don’t recall nearly every championship team in NBA history.
Never start a day with Mitch slander, Cyber 🙂
Thanks. Super friendly to start the day.
At least the Nuggets lost Bruce Brown and Jeff Green, so it happens.
Yeah, nice try. I read it first.
“At least the Nuggets lost Bruce Brown and Jeff Green, so it happens.”
I don’t think it’s gone so well for the Nuggies since they won their chip, either. I don’t want to suffer the same “one-and-done” fate, at least not for a stupid reason. Still wish we’d just sign Liam Robbins(on) to a cheapie contract (just for right now) and call it a day. By the way, doesn’t the fact that Sochan went away mean that we have a little bit more cash in our pocketbooks for Robbins, or better?
I’m pretty sure if we don’t repeat it won’t be because of Mitch, we have time to address the backup C position. Of course, i’m sad we let him go, but that’s life. We’re almost at full strength, and that’s what matters. What i wish is injury luck again, so fingers crossed.
Mitch was actually one of the youngest guys on the team. His loss is going to be felt for a long time, not just next year.
“8th on the depth chart” is not how I’d describe him. You can’t just count minutes to measure impact. He was a core piece, a very effective one, and impossible to replace.
It seems like absolutely normal Knick injury news and just as well explained as many injuries in the past.
“Then you don’t recall nearly every championship team in NBA history.”
cyber, don’t even bother with this nonsense, it’s already been debunked.
🤷
Supposing that I’m among people in here that know something about basketball I’d say that we all value differently and not always fairly.
Throwing rocks at LRose, Thibs, Randle, Bridges, Kat, Hart and even Brunson among others when things go shit ain’t that strange or new in sports.
As long as the salary cap is the same for every team Every Fan wants to win the chip and feels bad while his superstars, stars, role players and rest of the squad are not playing as good as the equaly paid Champions.
How many times did we read in here that Kat or Bridges or OG doesn’t play as great as a 70M, 50M or 40M Max player?
It’s Always about Comparing
That’s fair, KYN. But yesterday, and unless i misread it, you were saying we only valued this team because they were Champions, and even replying to Rama that said we value super high the 90s teams and they didn’t win it all. Which is a fact, we indeed value those teams fondly.
No worries, Hubert is right, i may have not made myself clear when i said Mitch was 8th on the depth chart. He is more valuable than that, and he’ll be missed. And i love him (or at least, i loved him until he painted the truck in green! LOL). As i said, i think he had an underwhelming playoffs, and i’m pretty sure we would’ve won it without him. What we need to happen to win it all is JB, KAT and OG playing the way they were playing in the playoffs (minus 3 games, i guess). Of course, the supporting cast is very important, but we’re keeping everybody except Mitch. I believe that Leon can find a proper solution for the backup C position come the trade deadline (or the buyout season).
So I’ve been thinking about the Nuggets and the Bucks recent championships vis a vis the Knicks. For the Nuggets it was their first ever and for the Bucks their first since 1971.
Now we have two restless fan bases who are concerned about the direction of their teams, and in the Nuggets case, how do they get back to the mountaintop with one of the greatest players in NBA history?
So I wonder how long the Knicks post championship glow will last? This season it’s house money, I think we all agree it’s all gravy whether we make it to the Finals or not. But if things start to go south i.e. first or second round exits in a few years, at what point do start questioning management?
Just some random August sports desert musings…..
fwiw cyber this is an instance of tone gone bad. I was actually making fun of myself in that original post and thought the smile would clarify that but it didn’t.
the idea was you made a benign comment about Mitch & I’m drinking my cappuccino so I respond to it by going over the top.
But I’ve actually been up since 5 and my coffee high ended hours ago. I was just chillin out being too meta for my own good.
You can’t build or maintain a championship team with that type of effort from the GM. Chill out. Let Leon & team cook.
Leon proved that he knows how to build a championship contending team as he did it twice already. Think of him as Pat Riley. We can question and point out all the mistakes but we should never question if he’s still the best man for the job.
That mentality is the difference that separates one and done champions & dynasties built on continuity and culture.
Mitch did certain things that will be very hard to replace via cheap backups. He was the best backup C in the NBA. The Celts signed him to a market-level deal, considering his health issues.
As such, you don’t try to duplicate Mitch’s impact by signing another Mitch. You try to modify your schemes and substitution patterns to create a similar impact on winning in other ways.
That starts with replacing Mitch with the most similar player available on a near-minimum deal. Drummond is a pretty good signing in that regard, the closest thing to the ol’ 80-20 proposition out there. But the 20% (or whatever) lost is still very significant. But you can still get some of what Mitch did back into the old schemes. The question becomes, how do you replace that 20% (or whatever) with subsequent moves?
Leon has a long time to work that problem. Given his track record, I am giving him the benefit of the doubt. At the very least, I’m expecting that the dropoff will be pretty minimal when all is said and done. Might that still be enough to cost a successful title defense? Sure.
I think there’s a difference between losing a championship glow and questioning management.
For me the glow will be off by the spring. I’m not going into a second round series against the Celtics or Sixers or Pacers thinking “I don’t mind if we lose.”
But I’m also not going to blame leon rose if one of those teams beats us.
I’ll blame Dolan 🙂
From The Athletic Bounce today in their list of best available free agents remaining (so don’t shoot the messenger):
Nick Richards (28): The six-year veteran big man can rebound and score around the rim. He’s a decent free-throw shooter. You could do a lot worse for a backup big man.
That’s the way, blaming Dolan we can all agree with. LOL
Joining the DTF St. Louis recommendation that circulated here a few weeks ago. A wonderful series, and if you like character development and stories about friendship don’t miss it.
DTF St Louis is beautifully bizarre and both more compelling and more funny than you might imagine based on the premise, I definitely recommend it.
Comparing (again!) the two eras there’s a difference between the difficulties those two teams had to face.
We definitely value the effort and the competitive spirit and fighting of the 90s knicks who had to compete with extremely high competition and managed to contend for years.
This current team had to face less serious and experienced teams and the “shocking” playoff run was more reminiscent of Linsanity than a Dominant march of a juggernaut superteam.
I SERIOUSLY DOUBT that this squad would have remained intact in case of a 0-4 loss in the finals.
*as for the 90s teams despite loving their passion and mentality Who hasn’t throw rocks to Charles Smith, Starks, Greg Anthony and more who may did their best but unfortunately that wasn’t enough…
Trey Jemison signed a 2-way with the Raptors
Going to watch Voivod in a few hours
Anyone been to a show of them? Impressions?
The fact that Leon has no 2-ways signed and 2 open roster spots, while replacement level guys are coming off the board suggests to me that something crafty is going on behind the scenes. Not offering Trey J a 2-way seems suspicious. Is that just me?
Not sure when the glow will wear off.
My dad is still feeling the glow of 73.
I think this was such a good win, and so unexpected, that it will be like Mormon survival food on the shelf. Good for at least 15 years.
Its not just you…Leon is working.
I like Richards…but Leon an co believe that they need to do better that Richard in order to repeat.
Last time he was in this we don’t have a back up center position, he came away with KAT and moved Mitch to the pernament back up job.
I’m thinking they have to be out there sacrificing Deuce, salary fillers plus multiple swaps and/or 2nd round picks for a Derrick Lively type talent.
Be patient, my friends. We’re champions. Have to be discerning. Can’t just go exclusive with any available girl at the party.
The glow of the title will last forever, Owen. But how long will that glow shine on the team that you’re watching? That’s what I understood D-Mar’s point to be.
I’m sure Bucks fans still glow about ’21, but they weren’t glowing when they watched their team last season.
Hell even Warriors fans feel restless.
In terms of not-quite-championship material, the 80’s Yankees have a stronger pull on my heart than the 90’s Knicks. Mattingly, Winfield, Henderson, Guidry, and Randolph were dynamic HOF level players in their primes. Only lack of starter depth , Steinbrenner’s daily interferences and Righetti’s disastrous transition to the closer role held them back. The 94 Knicks were one basket away, but the drop-off in talent after Ewing, during his prime, was always on my mind.
The closest thing to this I have experienced is the 1987 Mets. That season ended in miserable fashion. It fucking sucked. But nowhere near how much it would have sucked if they had blown it in 1986.
No one is saying that they won’t get just as wrapped up as ever in next year and all the years to come. Only that the floor for pain has been raised like 20 flights above sheer hell.
When the Mets lost to the Yankees in the Subway Series, it was very painful. But the afterglow from 1986 still helped quite a bit. Nowadays, not so much.
I for one have never thrown rocks to Charles Smith, John Starks, or Greg Anthony. Probably no one else, either, as far as I can remember.
oh my goodness, what kind of wasted childhood did you experience – they didn’t have rock fights where you grew up?
Not really, but aren’t rock fights throwing rocks *at* each other, not *to* each other? Throwing rocks to each other sounds excessively boring, and is probably not something kids would want to do, anyway. (By the way, I grew up in central Joisey, not all that far from the Joisey Shore.)
Without a doubt. It’s what makes me think my concerns are based on emotion, not rationality. He did contribute a tiny bit – there were good defensive moments, and of course some success in earlier rounds vs Embiid and the “Twin Towers” of Cleveland – but overall his contributions were minimal. We’d certainly be more screwed now if we lost KAT for two months of the regular season without Mitch here, but if we separate the numbers from the lovable long-tenured player, it’s hard to argue it’s a major loss that will affect us on a title run.
Mostly I’m frustrated because we didn’t have to lose him, and he did give us options we no longer have. Depth and optionality are important pieces for any contender. But he’s gone, so whatever. We’ll see soon enough what his loss means, and if it’s mostly nostalgia and not the ability to compete on the highest level, I’m ok with that.
Facts. I’m 100% with you. We no longer have a front line answer against MIami, Orlando or even Cleveland. This team now matches up better vs Boston and Philadelphia than those three.
always amazes me thinking of some of the stupid shit I did as a kid, bunch of kids getting together for a rock fight is up there for sure…
grew up for a while next to macarthur airport in holbrook, remember one time a few of us thinking it would be a good idea to grab some flags from alongside the runaway to wave at planes…
also had some train tracks close by, they were another source of kid entertainment…
life has gotten me back though, now whenever oldest son gets out the house to do “stuff”, always worry about him getting home safe – cuz, god forbid he acts half as foolish as I did…
I think the thing with Mitch that his playoff stats don’t show is that he is literally the most elite “situational” player in the league and that is where the impact of his loss will potentially be most felt.
Like he might have a bad game or series but if it’s the last minute of the game and you’re doing the whole substituting offense for defense and vice versa game, putting Mitch on the floor to get one stop and rebound (or one offensive rebound)…there’s no one better in the league.
So those close, end of game situations he can be super valuable.
I think most nights in the regular season we won’t notice or miss him THAT much. In fact there might be times we think we’re better with Drummond (better shooting and free throws). But end of the game when you need a defensive stop…we now don’t have this secret weapon who can guard multiple positions out to the perimeter anymore.
“always amazes me thinking of some of the stupid shit I did as a kid, bunch of kids getting together for a rock fight is up there for sure…”
It doesn’t get much more stupid than back-diving off of small bridges without having any idea of the depth of the water—obviously life-changing (or even life-ending) if you get it wrong. Got lucky on those.
I think Mitch contributed way more than a tiny amount.
He was good against Atlanta and Philly.
He was ass against Cleveland.
But in the Finals he guarded Wemby on almost every single crunch time possession and gave up zero points. Which underscores a key point:
When healthy, we’ve had Mitch on the floor for nearly every critical defensive possession of the last 7 years (except the one in Atlanta, infamously).
The minutes per game thing diminishes which minutes he plays, like suggesting Mariano is easy to replace because he only gets 3 outs. Mitch played 100% of the most critical high leverage defensive possessions and excelled in them. And he played all the minutes KAT was in foul trouble, too. Those are also critical. We’re going to be a lot worse in those situations without him.
The dude was ass against Cleveland, for sure. But he had huge moments in the finals, and I don’t just mean the rebound. His defense on His whole game 5 was huge.
the difficulty with our situationship with Mitch after our situationship with KAT went full on relationship is that coach’s can literally take the situation with KAT being foul prone and game out the situations where Mitch is situationally sensational and leave us in a motherfucking situation. I still think the situation with is that we should still have Mitch.
And Mitch had a +9 net rating with Jalen Brunson for the playoffs, which suggests that his “struggles” were largely limited to when he was with the second unit, not when he was filling in for KAT in foul trouble.
His ability to step in for KAT and keep the offense humming with pick and rolls was huge, and there’s not many guys Leon can get who can do that.
I still think there’s just one: Ware. Director mentioned Lively, and I would love Derrick Lively. But he’s going to get paid this summer. Do you think Dolan’s going to change his mind about the second apron? If not, you’re giving up all your remaining assets for another guy you gotta let walk for nothing.
Mitch impacts winning. If he wasn’t injury prone & poor free throgh shooter, he’d be a top 15 center in this league and getting paid similar to iHart. He changed that Boston series two years ago and would have done the same for the Indiana series, if Thibs wasn’t stobborn.
I would compare Mitch more to a situational reliever, e.g. a guy who mostly gets lefties out but is less effective against righties. And also in the days before the DH.
He sure as hell ain’t Mariano.
I will miss Mitch tremendously. But he also worked his butt off for us, so I’m glad he got paid (and I’m a little bit glad we weren’t the team that ended up paying him).
It’s a tremendously delicate dance to assemble such a vivid team under the salary cap. I’m a loyal person, so I would have paid him, even over the second apron. But it’s Dolan’s money, and I won’t type here what I think of Dolan, since I don’t want to be banned from MSG.
I will miss Mitch the most if he ever actually hits a free throw as a Celtic.
If Mitch weren’t injury prone and could hit his free throws he’d be much better than iHart.
“I will miss Mitch the most if he ever actually hits a free throw as a Celtic.”
“I will miss Mitch the most if he ever actually hits a free throw as a Celtic in a game against us.”
fify
I hate Mitch now. He’s a Celtic. 😉
“If Mitch weren’t injury prone and could hit his free throws he’d be much better than iHart.”
This seems like an exaggeration in that it totally dismisses all of the other things that iHart does that Mitch doesn’t. Anyway, it’s something you can say about virtually every player in the NBA…if he could do this or that he’d be better than Player X.
If my grandmother had wheels she’d be a bicycle…
Well I was just riffing off what someone else wrote about imaginary best-case Mitch, but since Z-Man bellyached I gave it the ol’ comparison, and really the only thing iHart does better than Mitch (discounting free throws, where he’s still only at .675) is assists. Oh yeah, three point shooting, at a whopping .239, vs. the null set.
Mitch scores a bit more per game, is a better rebounder, averages twice as many blocks, slight edge in steals, blows the door off in FG% and eFG%. He’s a tenth of a percent behind iHart in BPM, 2.4 vs 2.3. Beats iHart in TS% .681 to .623.
I did like iHart’s teardrop game, while Mitch again has the null set.
I suppose you could argue that iHart’s a better screener. Maybe.
I also think Mitch is more intimidating (see twice the block rate), so in terms of sending guards and wings back out of the paint and blowing up sets, Mitch wins that one.
As rama so eloquently put it, if his grandma had wheels, I think there’s a good argument that a healthy, free-throw-making (just equal to iHart’s .675) Mitch would be a more valuable (better) player.
wait what…
Speaking of funny memes, the Jalen Brunson at the wedding gifs are ubiquitous and generally pretty amusing…but they also creep me out a little bit for some reason.
Still, “”When you’re up 29 and think the game is over…” is a banger.
@geo
https://youtu.be/A-RfHC91Ewc?is=g-fEkDycnaNoxzXI
bravo rama…bravo…
I am more worried about our center position than I expected to be. It’s true León is a good GM and might make a reasonable deal for a center. But he is good because he has a well developed and relatively accurate sense of player value. For example, if he thinks Jemison isn’t going to be helpful, he’s probably right. He offered a contract to Cissé that was a fair contract, but not outrageous. The problem is that at the moment the league is over pricing centers. Jemison may not be worth it, but Toronto hired him. Dallas held onto Cissé even though they are overstocked on centers and also have too many players signed. Even if he wanted to overpay, he can’t because of the second apron. I’m not sure anything is actually going to come through for us because of this.
Where would that leave us? Probably with Liam Robbins on a two way (although he could get snapped up too). I expect that will get resolved in training camp. And our draft picks are another issue. Kayil cannot be offered a two way deal by rule. If we give him a guaranteed contract we won’t be able to keep Nickel because we won’t have space for another guaranteed contract and he can earn much more than a two way going back to college. I see no way we are signing both of them.
Lombard Lombard!
Nice to see Lombard having a great debut cause the Yankees need some positive vibes right now. Also Righetti was a very good closer wouldn’t exactly call that transition a disaster!
Unless he can get an outlier like Mitch, I think Leon’s probably focused on finding a shooting center since our 5-out lineups, even with Hart, started dominating in the playoffs.
They already nabbed Drummond who can hit threes, but hopefully Leon can still find someone above him on the depth chart.
Yes, they will probably lose an edge in situational defense, but fortifying their already historic offensive might be the smarter move.
“…and really the only thing iHart does better than Mitch….is assists….I did like iHart’s teardrop game…”
This is the rub right there. These two qualities that iHart has are enormous advantages over Mitch. They allow for options in how to run an offense that are just not there with Mitch on the floor. I think you are vastly understating the value of this stark difference. But hey, ymmv.
Ha ha. Suck it, Dodgers.
This site uses User Verification plugin to reduce spam. See how your comment data is processed.