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Dumping Deuce Not Advised – Posting & Toasting
Karl-Anthony Towns’ Dad Rips Jimmy Butler, Says Knicks Star ‘Bypassed’ His Legacy After NBA Title – BleacherReport
Knicks enter camp looking to perfect their championship offense – Posting & Toasting
It’s high time the Yankees follow the Knicks’ lead in New York – The New York Times
Miles McBride reiterates wish for contract extension with Knicks: ‘I love being in New York’ – SNY
Knicks’ Jalen Brunson to host 52nd season premiere of ‘Saturday Night Live’ – SNY
Madison Square Garden to split Knicks, Rangers into separate publicly traded companies – The Athletic – The New York Times
Pod Strickland Episode 627: 2nd Apron Tightrope – The Strickland
Which Team Is The Knicks Biggest Threat In The East?! feat. Dan Devine (Yahoo!) | Knicks Film School – Knicks Film School
How The NBA Cup Helped the Knicks Win The NBA Finals – Knicks Fan TV
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75 replies on “Knicks Morning News (2026.10.02)”
Let’s hope today is more chill than yesterday?
Big man news: Jalen Duren blinked and took the $200 million that Detroit was offering. That is a big risk on the Pistons’ part, given how bad he looked in the playoffs, and just how hard it is to build a team when you’re paying a non-shooting big that much money.
Dallas guaranteed Moussa Cisse’s contract. Since we signed them to the offer sheet that Dallas matched, does the CBA allow them to trade him to us this season? Or is that option completely off the table now?
I’m wondering why the Pistons wanted a weight clause, Duren always looked chiseled to me.
Pistons are going to look very different this year. I don’t see Collins making them better, Beef Stew is gone, and Duren has to deal with negative pub. Didn’t JB say that they will never lose to the Knicks again? Looking forward to playing them.
Re: Cicce, I think it’s off the table. I like him but not enough to care all that much.
The swap of Tobias Harris for John Collins feels like a big negative for them. They just have so little shot creation outside of Cade. Ivey busting for them is huge, because he was supposed to be the one to take some of that playmaking load off of Cade. Harris in the playoffs showed that he could still generate offense on his own when needed. Who else on this roster can do that? You’ve got guys who can shoot but not dribble, guys like Ausar who can dribble but can’t shoot (meaning he’ll be guarded entirely as a driver), etc.
So soup is the preseason games, and the regular season is the main course? Or regular season is the soup and the playoffs are the main course? 😀
My wife’s soups are crazy good, especially a 7-vegetable puree from my mother’s sephardic recipe that is specific to the holidays. there’s shreds of briskie meat in it, so I can’t have the “original” recipe any more due to this alpha gal business.
Not a soup guy other than chicken soup with matzoh balls.
I think he’s off the table, for this season. Probably Leon was just helping Cissé’s agent. My hope is that we have a plan to grab a much better player by the deadline. We just need to be patient.
Her chicken broths is also ridiculously good. Her motto is “I don’t want it to taste like a chicken ran through it.”
Seems wise for Duren to have taken that deal. In the current environment that seems like a really nice number.
I agree, Owen. Good deal for both sides. He’s only 22 so as with Wemby I can give him some grace for stuff that happened in the playoffs.
There was a rumor the other day that he might be traded for AD. That would have been dumb, but at the same time, a healthy AD (does that even exist?) would have been a frightening prospect on that team. It would also make the Wizards somewhat interesting.
Speaking of the Wiz, does anyone other than me think that they could be a play-in team this year?
Z-Man, possible re the Wiz but so many variables. There is of course How much will Davis play. They’ve got loads of bigs but they are all suspect — Sarr, Ayton, and Vuckevic is a lot of height, but are any of them real pluses? They also have a bucket full of rotation wings, but will any break out? One of them, of course, is Knicks-killer Champagnie. To me the big question is does Dybantsa hit the ground running. If so, the other pieces may fall into place quite nicely, including I think Trae finding the right role. So an interesting team to watch evolve (or fail to) this year.
Almost anybody in the East other than Brooklyn and Milwaukee at least has a shot at the play-in, Z-man. Tanking incentives are gone, and most teams have improved their talent base.
Hell, it wouldn’t completely shock me if the Nets at least made things interesting, if Randle and MPJ play like they’re capable of and the young backcourt develops quickly.
I just wonder if the Wizards might make a Pistons-like breakout. The key for me is that they have lots of defensive length behind Trae. He is still one of the great passers in this league and they have a ton of rim-runners, so they could lead the NBA in dunks. They should also be ferocious on the boards. Shooting is a weakness, but they can score in lots of ways and when Trae gets hot and bends the defense they will be very tough.
It depends on how much AD actually plays, I think. And also whether having Trae and AD on the court keeps Dybantsa and the other kids from getting the touches they need to develop properly. It’s an unusual team construction.
I still wish Davis would have stayed in Dallas. It may not have lasted long, but I would have liked to have seen a healthy Davis, Flagg, Irving, Lively etc… to see how good they would be this year. I guess Nico would have liked to have seen that also. 😉 What an injury wipeout that group had.
Simmons was just talking about this and how he doesn’t think these player agents are being real with some of them about what is realistic for max money now with the 2nd apron. It’s not just the Knicks! Most teams are never going to want to go into the 2nd apron except maybe for a season and because of that, no player, even dudes like Jokic, are gonna get these crazy max contracts where they make 30 or 35 percent of the cap because it kills any chance of the team building a contender.
But some players seems to be stuck in 2010’s mentality and think just because they’re eligible for a super max contract that they’re entitled to it.
I won’t get into the morality of the 2nd apron in regards to owners who are billionaires putting a cap on how much their superstars can make. But it’s just a reality that not everyone seems to understand yet.
I mean 50 million a year for a center who can’t stretch the floor and just had a horrible playoffs seems pretty fucking good to me.
I just caught up on yesterday’s thread. Just for record, I think teams are screwed regardless of whether they go over the 2nd apron or don’t. It’s a matter of whether you want be screwed immediately by giving up a good player or possibly screwed even worse long term if you don’t get back under it quickly. It’s a Kobayashi Maru test.
Yes and the problem is they put this 2nd apron business in place while not adjusting the salaries that veteran players are eligible for.
I get parity but it’s ridiculous that teams are now having to constantly make these choices, especially with players they drafted and developed.
And no, they shouldn’t lower the salary max that players can get. They need to just raise the aprons considerably.
Apologies if I missed it when I bolted yesterday, but the fact that Josh Hart is going to play the rest of his career with a mangled finger — because once he gets surgery on it, he’ll never be able to play again — is just wild. Love that hustlebunny, but my god.
https://sny.tv/articles/knicks-josh-hart-finger-surgery-not-option-1012026
“Hell, it wouldn’t completely shock me if the Nets at least made things interesting,…”
I’ll be rooting for the Nets next season (as long as it is not at the expense of the Knicks). Julius deserves more respect than he gets, and being the A player on yet another lotto predicted but overachieving team helps cement his legacy, particularly as it relates to his tenure here. And when I think of the 13 other teams in the Eastern Conference, I would want the Nets to win every game.
Admittedly, I do have a soft spot for them, as when the Knicks were clearly declining after the 73 title due to retirements, rooting for the original Julius at that time kept me an avid fan of basketball.
“… but the fact that Josh Hart is going to play the rest of his career with a mangled finger — because once he gets surgery on it, he’ll never be able to play again — is just wild. Love that hustlebunny, but my god.”
You used to lose your ring finger because you didn’t pay a debt (know it is true per my four fingered great uncle but can’t think of any film confirmation Alan). Josh can lose his finger or keep it and make about 75million. Not exactly a tough choice for most people with 5 working fingers…
100% agree.
I may have been a bit over the top in the past in saying that these rules are wildly overcomplcated for no good reason, but I still think the rules could be very simple, address the major issues and do just as good a job as all the complexity we have now. Nothing is perfect. There are too many bright people looking for inefficiencies in the rules to design a perfect system, but sometimes trying to adds complexity that makes matters worse.
Ugh!
I finally found something to beef with Brunson over lol
The team did a “Hill you would die on” video, and JB said “Darth Vader is the greatest villain of all time”
*sigh*
I would have gone with either Megatron or Dr Doom
TRADE HIM IMMEDIATELY!! 💀💀
Tried to watch Star Wars. My daughter took one look at Darth and ran out of the room.
He’s legit. Jalen got that one right.
LOL! That’s dope! Vader is a mf though
Megatron?!?!?
Duren signing for $200 instead of $287 max is good for Detroit. Perfect salary for 2nd best player on the team. This is in the OG neighborhood.
By opting out of his 2028–29 player option, Brunson will have two distinct paths to lock in his next contract:
A. The “Early” Veteran Extension (Summer 2027)
Brunson becomes eligible to sign an early extension a year ahead of time in July 2027. Because NBA contract rules limit the starting salary of a veteran extension to 140% of his previous salary, his earnings are capped.
• Projected Value: 4 years, ~$257 million to $286 million.
B. The “Late” Free Agency Max (Summer 2028)
If he passes on the early extension and waits until he hits true free agency in 2028, he becomes a 10-year veteran. This officially qualifies him for a Full Max Contract worth 35% of the entire salary cap with 8% annual raises.
• Projected Value: 5 years, ~$418 million
If Brunson told Leon he will choose B when the time comes. There is no shot in hell KAT is on this team unless he takes same money as Duren just did.
I suppose it comes down to whether one thinks superteams are inherently bad.
I, for one, hated when the Warriors were in the finals 5 straight years, and for 3-4 of them it was almost a sure thing that they would be. And for 4 straight years they played the Cavs. OTOH, I absolutely love that nearly half the league has been to the finals in the past 8 years.
And for the most part, a given team has a core, and that core can stay together even with the second apron. The Knicks can easily keep 4 or 5 of their core players together with just a bit of compromise on both sides. Same with the Spurs, Thunder, and lots of other teams.
I do think that there will be changes in the next CBA. I wonder if upping the player portion of BRI will help. I also think that the max salary should be topped at 30%. Maybe minimum salaries should not count against the cap at all. Maybe certain classes of players would be exempt from the repeater tax. There’s plenty of room for innovation. Sometimes it takes time and experience to work out the kinks. But I don’t think the quest for parity is going away.
I would go with Thanos….
I’m with you Zman. Not a fan of dynasties either. I’m with you on 30% max.
For simplicity and fairness, the multiyear contracts should not be in nominal dollar terms but in percentages of future salary cap which should be one fixed number that no team can go over.
Example: Duren signs a 5 year deal in which he will receive 25% of the salary cap in each of the 5 yrs.
No one knows what the exact total $$ number will be but ownership, fans and players are all on same page.
The more I think about it, the more worried I am about the Sixers. I just get a feeling that Embiid finally has a group around him that can preserve his health and take tons of pressure off of him. I know that betting on his health is a fool’s errand, but now he can just revert to being the “Mitch” of his team, except on steroids.
A lot will depend on whether LeBron can help turn Huk and Bona into plus players. Then beyond those two guys you have KCP, Barlow, Wade, and Simons filling out the bench. And they still have a little wiggle room under the aprons…not sure what they can do with it at this point, but still.
love the character, BUT – Darth Vader was a tool…
they totally messed up the marvel movie, BUT – En Sabah Nur is always gonna be number one for me…
although lacking soup in its name, Beef Stew is pretty awesome too…
yeah, it’s stew not soup…still…
Vader choked a guy over a Zoom call. That’s hard to beat in the villain category. I tried to do that many times without success.
I’m not worried about the 76ers because even healthy Embiid ain’t what he used to be and I don’t think any amount of preserving him during the regular season will make a difference. It feels like he’s now at the point where he can’t play more than 30 minutes a game even if he’s healthy and if he does play 30ish minutes one game, he almost always has to sit the next game. I can’t see him holding up in a grueling series.
And Lebron is very very very close to the edge of the cliff. He’s still Lebron but he is not a top 5 player. I don’t even know if he’s top 10. Probably still top 20 but again, injury risk is higher with him and he really has to coast in the regular season to be ok for the playoffs. I’m not saying Hart is better than Lebron but I think Hart can make him work his ass off every minute both of them are on the court and can outrebound and outhustle him and tire him out.
If Lebron gets hurt or father time just finally catches up with them, then they aren’t much better than last year. And Brown seems mecurial enough that if Embiid is constantly in and out of the line up, I could see him getting annoyed by that.
Maxey is awesome and young but gotta wonder how he might feel now being 4th fiddle on a team where he should be the first option.
It’s a lot of egos. Not a lot of outside shooting. And you’re banking on 41 year old Lebron and perpetually injured/compromised Embiid having perfect health seasons.
I could be wrong but it feels like Kobe, Nash and Dwight all over again or The Rockets when they got Barkley and Pippen.
R’as al Guhl…
Geo…is gumbo considered a soup?
Greatest screen villains of all time:
1. Hans Gruber
2. Velociraptor #2
3. Vincent Ludwig
4. Z-Man
I hear you, swift, but what worries me is that LeBron just took a team that pretty much sucked ass and beat the Rockets. Maxey and Brown are dynamic. I really like Edgecombe and think LeBron will help him.
Embiid is still the x-factor, but unlike last year’s team, this team can win with him as the 4th beat player on any given night.
Defense and shooting are the weaknesses they will have to overcome but they are gonna live at the FT line.
“Greatest screen villains of all time:
1. Hans Gruber
2. Velociraptor #2
3. Vincent Ludwig
4. Z-Man”
BANNED!
yes, yes it is…yummmmmm…
John Lithgow’s villain credentials are amazing considering how funny and non-villainous he is in real life.
Yup! Who else you know that can transform into a cannon..AND a handcannon lol
Ooooooo..I forgot about Apocalypse…dude is RUTHLESS! As is Doomsday
I would say that Megatron was the best nickname for a wide receiver in NFL history. Talk about scary!
As others have said here, Embiid’s health is a major X factor. At this point of his career (it’s going to be his age 32 season) it’s getting to where he’s only going to break down more and more. They’ll try to load manage him the best they can, but he’s always just one trip to the floor away from missing large amounts of time. Even when he does play, it seems like most of the time he’s either hobbled or trying to play his way into shape.
While I mostly can’t stand Wemby, I appreciate that he spoke out yesterday about how terrible it is that so many players are getting paid to promote gambling and prediction sites. Unsurprisingly, some of those players didn’t appreciate it.
oh yeah poindexter, almost forgot how hard that doomsday story hit when it first came out…
that was some line for DC to cross…
Dr. Lizardo was certainly a great villain…
I am not worried about the Sixers. Embiid is s traffic come on D, and that’s a problem. Also not sure they have enough outside shooting. And in general, defenders.
Cleveland may be the toughest competition. Their bigs have to get serious at some point, no?
I admire pretty much everything Wemby has said and done that isn’t related to basketball. It’s just that that’s a major caveat for a basketball player.
if, even bigger IF, the sixers go in to the post season healthy, hard to see them getting booted in either the first or second round, regardless of their playoff position…
lebron at this stage of his career feels like a team chemistry enhancer…brown has a chip already…nurse has a chip…hard to believe just better chemistry will beat them…
maybe wear them down in the 4th?
everyone will say it’s maxey leading the way…most likely it will be brown doing all the talking…
wemby feels like a major storyline for this nba season…
he started to get really desperate and dirty with minnie…simply elevated that aspect of his game from there…
maybe it was a young man cracking a bit under intense pressure…
maybe it’s a revelation as to what the competitive side of him really looks like…
doesn’t seem to lack for confidence…haven’t seen much basketball related aspects of humility…
might be one of those rare humans who love to compete – and win – all the time – and is also physically gifted, and works hard…
he’ll probably add some go to post move at some point…
probably improve his overall health and fitness…improve managing his game stamina…
whatever mitch johnson is doing/allowing pre-game is not going to work against elite teams…
it’s like they’re all in there huffing some crazy nitrous redbull concoction…
to see it happen to the thunder was surprising…to see it keep happening to us was – frustrating…until the 2nd or 3rd quarter at least 😜
ask yourself noble, if wemby was ours, what would you think…
go harder, get us that chip
Agreed, this was by far the most positive impression I’ve ever gotten from the dude.
LeBron taking the money is such an embarassment. A billionaire hawking for a gambling website?
IDK, overall I’m fine with adults spending their money however they like, but I feel that sports being in bed with gambling is a disaster waiting to happen. (And yes, prediction markets are gambling…)
Also, there’s a preseason game in 3 days – WHAT?!? I’m guessing none of our starters play but still…
Um, Skeletor has entered the chat.
Guys… Hannibal Lecter is right there.
I missed that wemby soundbite so far…curious to see how much coverage it gets in the media…
ha – stood out to you though al…nice…
can’t imagine what would happen if it’s a topic he sticks on…that could be some table turning stuff right there…
lots and lots of other tables out collecting though…still, good job wemby…I’ll make sure to listen…
predators are prevalent when access to prey becomes…unrestrained…
makes me wonder where the poverty level currently is in the country, what graph it looks like over the last 50 years or so…
great transfers of wealth away from, let’s say the bottom 90% or so – are sadly pretty obvious…not just looking back, in the moment…in the news…
like being on a runaway train, with casey jones’ near dead hands at the controls…
oh shit, what was the nice song from back in the day, oh yeah: don’t worry, be happy…and, there it is…
that’s a big distinction in classes: super powered versus super creepy…
Poor Minnie Mouse. She never had a chance.
geo, that was creepy, I asked AI what the poverty rate has been and it says that is it 12.1%. That’s not the creepy part — it’s that it has been at exactly 12.1% since 1992.
Clubber Lang.
The Joker
Nurse Rached
Angel Eyes
interesting raven, like the murder rate in america – the percentage of americans living below the poverty level is near or at its lowest levels ever recorded…around 10 to 11 percent…the percentage itself has stayed consistent from around 11 to 15%…
the income threshold, and other standards do change over time…
the catch is – lot more americans now than ever before – so lots more folks living on, or below, the edge…
funny, remember at some point learning about the caste system in india and thinking how rotten that was…
hell if we ain’t built some kind of capitalistic based caste system here in the good ol’ usa…
Clubber Lang was basically Mike Tyson before Mike Tyson
My wife just chimed in with Liberty Valance.
Strat: 2nd apron ” It’s a Kobayashi Maru test.”
Well the clippers tried to do a Kirk and it didn’t really work out. But maybe someone can cheat better?
Keyser Soze
I also very reluctantly have to admit I like what Wemby did. The whole sports gambling thing troubles me. Just one more sign I am middle-aging, along with thinking my kids math curriculum should be much tougher/onerous.
Btw, this is all the hills our guys wanted to die on.
I love you OG, but it’s bucatini not rigatoni. 🔥
https://x.com/budgetzendaya/status/2106039414547947860/video/1?s=46
Sensei Kreese
And the Fratellis.
The literal poverty rate is calculated based on a calculation developed in the sixties when rent was cheaper and food a bigger part of a family’s budget. It’s calculated just from the cost of food, and is not at all a good measure of poverty now. It’s hard to say what a good measure of the poverty rate is, but whatever it is, more people are poor than the official poverty rate says are poor..
Hannibal Lecter isn’t really the villain, though. He’s on Team Clarice the whole time.
For a blog that spent 20+ years rooting for the laundry, you gotta let Lecter slide.
Lucky you – by sophomore year my son was in calculus and I could no longer help with his homework. Somewhat embarrassing, but hey, calculus was my senior year and I let that rope slip a bit in the second semester…
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