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35 replies on “Knicks Morning News (2026.09.07)”
I think Clint can definitely do the job but the thought of trading Deuce for him makes me want to cry. And that GM in Houston is a shark, so you’re probably right about what it would cost.
My dark horse center is Old Man Horford. Even at 40 (41 in June) I trust him in the Mitch role. He was playing 30+ playoff mpg at a ~3.0 bpm clip in ’24 & ’25, and he seems like every bit the ageless outlier LeBron is.
Need to wait and for the Warriors to be bad, though. I don’t think they can waive the white flag of Steph until they’re out.
I doubt that Horford would be available at a price that makes sense, unless it becomes clear that he is totally washed. Trading Duece for him is a total non-starter for me. I would prefer Capela because he’s a good defensive counter to Drummond, but again, not at the cost of Deuce. I’m not trading Deuce for any player that doesn’t have significant upside. If they did some kind of Deuce, Dadiet and Jones package for Capela and could make the salaries work under the apron, I’d at least understand the logic of it, but would not be happy or relieved. Deuce is an excellent jack-of-all-trades guard….remember, lots of smart folks here, on KFS, etc. were calling for him to start over Bridges…so the idea that Alvarado and Shamet, and to a lesser degree, Kolek have made him redundant doesn’t resonate with me. Deuce also indicated that his sports hernia surgery set him back more than he revealed, so having the summer to fully recover and being in a contract year might portend a great season from him. That means that his value might go up before the December 15 trade restrictions drop, and a move for a better player than the old retreads might become available.
I have a hard time picturing the Warriors being assholes to 40-year-old Al Horford if they’re not contending in February. He’d likely be a buy out candidate or available for something modest like expiring salary and a 2nd round pick.
Trading Deuce for anyone’s backup center remains a nonstarter for me. Deuce is too good for that and we’re in no position to throw him away. I appreciate everything Alvarado and Landry did these playoffs but we can’t count on them for the next 3 years. Either could turn into a pumpkin at midnight.
I agree on the GSW being good to Horford, but my guess is that Leon will have addressed the 3rd C issue long before February. It’s also possible that if the Warriors are irrelevant, it’s partly because Horford is totally washed. There’s also no guarantee that Horford might prefer to come here, rather than, say, Boston or Miami. But if the rather remote possibility that all four conditions happen (the Warriors are completely out of it, Horford is not totally washed, Leon has not addressed the 3rd C situation, and Horford wants to come here) then sure, why not?
Hard pass on Horford. Nothing against him or where his skills are now, but shades of 2013 when the ageing vets that helped us to a 54 win season pooped out in the playoffs. Our 3rd big has to have hops, given the age decline of our 2nd.
Think unless KAT signs extension at a number Brock can live with, he’s gone as soon as Leon determines this is roughly the best package he can get. Zero chance Leon let’s KAT strong arm him into a near max deal.
So the question becomes, where is he going and what can we get back?
Think Sengun and Adams is a good haul considering Giannis went for scrubs + picks.
He’s a young 24 year old center, 2X All Star, highly skilled with elite court vision + Adams who fills a need and perfectly replaces Mitch on the offensive glass.
If not Sengun+Adams, then who? – Leon doesn’t want draft picks. He needs a center that makes less than $40m.
Director, cannot envision that scenario ever happening. The chances of us repeating with a KAT resigning at a reasonable amount are not great, but a trade of KAT without a repeat, even if objectively a better future team, would be a disaster for Leon as well as Dolan. Also Leon has a long relationship with KAT that means something–maybe not strong enough to trade him for Giannis–but suspect stronger than a contract impasse. And can’t see KAT turning down a non-Brock number to run the risk of getting traded to a non-contender in the hopes of getting whatever number his agent wanted.
With me, who liked but was not enamoured with KAT, everything turned on the moment we won the conference and him whispering into Jalen’s ear–4 more.
Sure but I’m talking about Horford as the 2nd big, assuming at some point it becomes clear Drummond isn’t going to cut it.
Drummond’s like Kolek last year… he’s acceptable from October to March but at some point we’ll need a guy we can trust to play 12 mpg in the Finals against Dylan Harper or Ajay Mitchell without destroying the integrity of the defense.
And I think the probability that Horford at 40 is better at that than Drummond at 33 is extremely high.
Maybe I’m too harsh on Drummond and he can reinvent himself like Clarkson. Then this is moot.
Director, you are making some pretty dubious assumptions. KAT has already indicated that he would take less than the supermax. Even if he was adamant about getting it, there is little evidence that any team would be willing to sign-and-trade for him on a supermax salary or anything close to it.
You seem to be ignoring how cap-conscious contending teams are. Nobody wants a 35yo KAT locked up on a max contract, and certainly not at the expense of Sengun, who just turned 24 and already has 3 consecutive 4+ BPM seasons under his belt. As Durant is nearing the end, seems like they would be well-served to trade him for picks, and then build around Sengun rather than Overpaying an aging KAT and trying to build around that salary.
There is little reason to worry that Leon will not meet KAT at a price point that makes sense for both sides, or would be interested in trading him for two bigs who don’t create the perfect spacing with Brunson, etc. that KAT does. This is especially true for Adams, who is injury-prone and getting old, probably not even much of an upgrade over Drummond.
I am pretty sure that KAT would way rather take something in the area of a $50M AAV extension to finish out his prime in NY rather than move to Houston, of all places, even with the dramatically lower taxes.
Zman, you’re spot on and your outlook is very, very rational.
Why hasn’t he signed the extension yet? -Talk is cheap.
Wether it’s in two weeks when training camp starts or not, – at some point Leon is gonna print the contract, hand it to him and go for his afternoon nap. When he wakes up, if its signed he’s a Knick for life, if not he’s on a trading block.
Not sure Brock is signing off on 50. Think it needs to be closer to OG’s 40.
“Not sure Brock is signing off on 50. Think it needs to be closer to OG’s 40.”
Brock does not sign off on anything. Leon (and Dolan) do. Brock advises them on the repercussions and options at 50 v some lesser number. They make the decisions in negotiations with KAT and his agent, likely providing the Brock analysis
I think we should wait and sign Gueye with our last bit of cap space when Atlanta cuts him. They have 17 players signed and have to cut two players. Looking at their roster, unless they want to eat Hield’s $20 million over two years, Gueye, who is their only unguaranteed contract, is very likely to be cut along with either Carter or Nembhard. It is possible they could cut both Carter and Nembhard but that leaves them very thin at the 1. So my guess is Gueye will be cut.
He is more of a combo 4/5 but he is a very good defender according to every metric and is young with upside. He could give us minutes at the 5 and be insurance at the 4 in case Diawara turns into a pumpkin or OG misses any time.
I also think we should keep sniffing around New Orleans and Sacramento for a true backup center. They both have their #1 center set in Queen and Sabonis and have two young centers either of which would be great for us fighting for the backup role. In New Orleans it’s Missi and Matkovic and in Sacramento it’s Raynaud and Caldwell.
Both teams need point guard depth more than a third center so we could offer Kolek and a couple of 2nds for whoever loses the battle for the backup spot for either team.
My guess is it will be Matkovic and Cardwell that are on the outside of their rotations and either one would be excellent for us.
On a side note I really wish we hadn’t resigned Clarkson since Konchar would be a much better use of that roster spot. Unfortunately I don’t think we can sign him since we need at least one if not two more players that can play the 4 and 5. If Gueye or someone else promising doesn’t shake loose Eubanks would be a perfectly cromulent 3rd string center if he is willing to sign a non-guaranteed contract but I would much rather find someone better if possible.
I think Towns opts out of next year and signs a 4/$180-200 million contract extension. I could see him accepting a contract along the lines of OGs. Starting at $45 million next year and climbing.
I was hoping/thinking that I would be more excited about Gueye when I checked him out, but he’s pretty meh for what we need. We need a true center, first of all…….
I hope KAT stays. I want the Knicks to play the beautiful basketball we were so fortunate to witness last spring, at least one more time. It was so amazing, that i now don’t think about all the (bad) seasons we had to endure to get to that point. 🧡💙
I think Ben’s points are all reasonable, although Gueye would be a disappointment for me because regardless of how the Hawks have deployed him, he seems more like a big wing than a small C. He doesn’t rebound much at all and seems like any big with lower body strength will dominate on the offensive glass against him. I would rather have him as a replacement for someone like Dadiet rather than relying on him as a 3rd C.
I’m also higher on Clarkson than I would be on Konchar. Hopefully he will have a productive off-season and come back more ready for his role.
You’re going to need to explain why we should want to sell KAT for a significantly worse player in Sengun just to acquire a backup C.
If Mo D was smart, he would be working on rim protection and rebounding because center might be one of his best bets at getting more minutes.
He has a longer standing reach than Diabate and a much better vertical than Kalkbrenner. Plus, if he could hold down the fort at center defensively, that could give us 48 minutes of 5-out potential.
I don’t think Mo has the physical profile of a C. His length and lateral quickness is probably more valuable out on the perimeter. I could see him getting some minutes at the 5 in a small-ball lineup, but like Gueye, he’d likely get pushed around underneath by guys with real C chops. I’d way rather go with someone established (if unexciting) like Eubanks than experiment with either Mo in this critical depth spot.
OG seems very fair priced these days…
think the best way to value/price your starters is by cap percentage…
fingers crossed we can keep our 2 high end to around 30%…OG at 26% is perfect…
Karl-Anthony Towns: $57,078,728 (34.6%)
OG Anunoby: $42,500,000 (25.8%)
Jalen Brunson: $37,739,521 (22.9%)
Mikal Bridges: $33,482,145 (20.3%)
Josh Hart: $20,923,760 (12.7%)
OG is incredible and obviously worth every penny we have paid him (and paid for him…hi E!). Still, it’s hard to stay under the second apron while paying everyone what they deserve.
The KAT decision is clearly a delicate one on both sides. I think it comes down to how much KAT and Brunson make combined, and then how that money is split up. I think that they should both make something in $225-250M range over the next 5 years. Leon should try to backload that salary as much as possible. That would involve Brunson opting out and getting paid something in the $50-52M AAV range for the duration of KAT’s deal, plus another 2 years where he will likely be significantly overpaid to make up for his earlier sacrifices. KAT would make something in the $40-45M range over the ensuing 5 years, either by opting in and taking less afterwards or opting out and flattening things out.
Then you build out OG’s extension around that. He’s great, but that salary is not sustainable past his current opt-out year. If he refuses to take less, one of him or KAT has to be traded. So if KAT wants a no-trade clause, he’s gonna have to earn it by either waiting or taking less now.
At least that’s how I see it. Unless there’s a major change in the CBA, I can’t see all of OG, KAT, and Brunson getting paid over 25% of the cap more than 3 years out.
If Brunson wants to get paid then I’d say him at 33-35% of the cap and OG and KAT around 25-26% is possible moving forward. Then keep Hart around 10% and Bridges around 20% and we have about the same amount in our starting lineup as we do now.
I know that is a bit low for KAT buts he’s made the most by far out of everyone on the team and will be declining by the end of this extension.
I know it’s a bit low for Brunson and he has sacrificed he will be 32 once his next contract/extension kicks in and as a small guard his value will likely decrease in his mid 30s at least a little. We cannot afford to pay him more than 35%. If we do then our team is going to very much resemble the last couple Golden State years.
So we need KAT to go below 30% on this extension and Brunson not to insist on the very maximum possible when he is up or keeping the team together will become impossible.
Somehow my mind keeps returning to Liam Robbins(on). The dude is big, man.
How is 33-35% of the cap low for Brunson? Especially when we’re talking about his age 32-35 seasons?
If Brunson wants to have a chance to win another championship, he’s gonna have to take less than that. Like a lot less.
And a good as Brunson is and as much as he has “sacrificed”, no one is gonna pay him anywhere close to $70M a year for his age 34 season.
On that note, I will reiterate that the Cavs have screwed themselves by paying Spida the full supermax. I guess they had to do that considering that the Cavs plays in Cleveland, but no one was gonna offer that much for him or anything close.
KAT would be crazy to take less than 50 million a year…
hard to believe he couldn’t get 55 out on the open market…
$50M is fair if he opts out, but not ideal. I would mildly disagree that he could get $55M from a contender with the current cap restrictions, but who knows?
OG has the most iconic shot in Knicks’ history, but I feel like whenever Leon decides he has to break up the band to set the team up for some kind of future success in the Fuck Dem Picks era, OG is going to be the one he moves. He makes more than Bridges, but assuming he stays healthy, his trade value will also be much higher.
I don’t know about OG being the one. I think it depends on who we can replace with another great player. That could be OG, but not necessarily. Since we are allergic to first round draft picks, I’m not sure where that replacement will come from. Next year our first round pick goes to Brooklyn, so our best shot at a useful player from the draft is Washington’s second rounder. We are good now, but León will have to do some magic to set us up for the future when this group gets old.
Selling high on players is really tough. That is especially true when the players have recently been pivotal members of the franchise’s first championship team in 53 years. I just don’t know how to replace either guy. I think that unless KAT agrees to a reasonable number, Leon is going to defer that decision as long as possible, even to the point of risking that KAT will walk. I hate to put it in these terms, but Leon should call any bluff that KAT’s agent throws his way. If they insist on a big number, Leon should tell them that he understands and politely hang up the phone. I’d be interested to find out which team is gonna make it worthwhile for KAT to have opted out of that $62M option.
Once the KAT situation is resolved, then you can think about OG. He doesn’t even become extension eligible until July 6, and by then we’ll know the deal with KAT.
Honestly, Mo would probably defend the 4 in most lineups anyway. OG already has a lot of experience defending centers quite well and has played there in a pinch. In fact, Brown might prefer him there during playoff games if Drummond or whoever are the other options. As long as we don’t wear him down before the playoffs.
The main issue with an OG/Mo frontcourt is very limited rebounding, but hopefully Mo can work on that.
Rebounding is a very hard thing to work on. I think that is why it translates so well from the lower levels, e.g. NCAA. Obviously you can learn how to box out, anticipate caroms, use tipping techniques, but lousy rebounders rarely become good ones, just less lousy.
I think Mo can evolve into a very switchable wing, especially since he seems to have a pretty good handle and court vision. He’s still only 21, so maybe his base fills out a bit and he can handle bigger, stronger, longer 4’s going forward. If OG was out for a couple of weeks and he had to play PF against the likes of Giannis, Mobley, LeBron, Banchero, etc. he will likely have a rough go. But hell, I hope Brown throws him in there for lots of reps early on to see if what he can handle.
As for OG, I agree he can certainly play C a few minutes a game, but I don’t like to see him there all that much. It’s a big ask for a guy who plays the way he does, and it takes him away from defending other players.
Mo Diawara averaged 5.3 rebs/36 and 0.3 blks/36. He has the length, but he doesn’t bring the skills you look for in a center. It’d take a lot of work to make the sort of improvements needed to play center.
I wouldn’t trust Diawara defending elite PFs. I think he’s better as an off-ball defender to eat up court space with his length and rotate to the rim when the C is pulled away.
There’s at least a line of thinking that says we didn’t miss a beat when OG was out during the playoffs and Mikal can step up to fill much of the same role for cheaper.
But I’d argue our roster is set to absorb the loss of Mikal much more easily. We have Shamet, Deuce, and Alvarado who can defend the PoA and smaller wings. We don’t have anyone on that level who can reliably play the 4, unless Diawara makes a big year 2 leap.
The Warriors 100% after next season.
Mr Curry would like to have a word with you.
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