[NYDN] Walt Frazier: Porzingis should’ve played against the Warriors (Wednesday, January 24, 2018 5:31:36 PM)
Given the moment and the opponent, Walt Frazier believes Kristaps Porzingis should’ve played Tuesday.
[NYDN] Porzingis questionable for Thursday’s game with knee soreness (Wednesday, January 24, 2018 1:38:17 PM)
Kristaps Porzingis may miss his second straight game with knee soreness.
[NYDN] Willy Hernangomez opens up about his uncertain future with Knicks (Wednesday, January 24, 2018 6:34:34 AM)
Do the Knicks believe in Willy Hernangomez?
[SNY Knicks] Ntilikina named to World Team for Rising Stars Challenge (Wednesday, January 24, 2018 7:30:00 PM)
Knicks PG Frank Ntilikina is heading to the NBA’s All-Star Weekend as part of the World Team in the Rising Stars Challenge, the club announced Wednesday.
[SNY Knicks] Hernangomez hopes to reunite with former teammate Doncic (Wednesday, January 24, 2018 5:25:00 PM)
The NBA Draft may still be six months away, but that isn’t stopping Knicks C Willy Hernangomez from stating his desire to join forces with former teammate Luka Doncic.
[SNY Knicks] Hornacek believes his team fought hard against All-Star studded Warriors (Wednesday, January 24, 2018 10:20:31 AM)
It was a night the Knicks desperately needed their All-Star to perform. Instead, he didn’t even suit up.
[NYTimes] On Pro Basketball: Does an All-Star Draft Held in Private Make a Sound? (Thursday, January 25, 2018 10:00:24 AM)
A novel approach to this year’s N.B.A. All-Star game, with captains picking the teams, has been undermined in an effort to protect players’ feelings.
(Wednesday, January 24, 2018 10:31:16 PM)
DENVER — Thanks for the sentiment Kevin Durant, but Michael Beasley seems like he would rather stick with the Knicks next season than bolt to the Warriors’ juggernaut. Kevin Durant talked a lot about his D.C. buddy Beasley in his postgame press conference Tuesday night after the Knicks’ 123-112 loss at Golden State, lavishing plaudits…
(Wednesday, January 24, 2018 8:57:33 PM)
DENVER — All-Star weekend isn’t known for defense, but Knicks rookie point guard Frank Ntilikina has been selected mostly on the basis of those skills. Despite modest stats, the eighth-overall pick, out of France, in the 2017 draft was picked Wednesday for the World Team in the Rising Stars Challenge that features the NBA’s top…
(Wednesday, January 24, 2018 8:22:46 PM)
Walt “Clyde” Frazier’s message to Kristaps Porzingis: Suck it up. The Knicks legend said the first-time All-Star should have played Tuesday night against the defending champion Warriors, even though the team said he was suffering from left “knee irritation.” “He’s on the threshold of greatness, but you got to go against the Warriors, man,” Frazier…
(Wednesday, January 24, 2018 2:29:54 PM)
DENVER — Kristaps Porzingis said he believes his chance of returning to play Thursday against Denver is “74 percent.’’ The Knicks officially listed Porzingis as questionable with an irritated left knee that caused him to miss a loss Tuesday in Golden State. But it appears likely Porzingis won’t miss a game for the eighth time…
(Wednesday, January 24, 2018 7:42:19 AM)
OAKLAND, Calif. — Knicks center Willy Hernangomez would love to be teammates again with Luka Doncic. The question is which NBA jersey either will be wearing next season. The 6-foot-6 Doncic, playing for Real Madrid, is slated as a high lottery pick in June. Hernangomez, who played with Doncic on the Spanish League power in…
(Wednesday, January 24, 2018 8:47:17 PM)
DENVER — At the end of Knicks practice on Wednesday at the Pepsi Center, coach Jeff Hornacek gathered the players around in a semicircle in front of the Nuggets’ Western Division championship banners. Team president Steve Mills and GM Scott Perry were also present.
72 replies on “Knicks Morning News (2018.01.25)”
We shouldn’t give him a max extension this summer. We should wait until summer of 2019 to pay him when we’ll be able to sign players first and then go over cap. The problem is that KP’s gonna want the extension in the summer of 2018 to mitigate risk of serious injury or more mediocre play.
His making the All Star team is the worst thing that could have happened. First of all, he didn’t deserve it on merit being the only member of the East or West team who’s got a NEGATIVE BPM. Second, in his mind he may view himself as a max player because of this even though his performance is nowhere near that of a max player at this stage. He’s still potential which may or may not be realized. The bottom line is an early max extension isn’t justified and waiting would give the team more flexibility but a whining, All Star unicorn might force the front office to have to extend him this summer.
Daily News reporting Utah Jazz have keen interest in Willy. Since they already have Gobert, my guess is that they want to acquire him in a Rubio or Hood deal and then flip him for a wing. Rubio for Lance/Jack/Willy works in the trade machine. Without discussing the merits of such a deal, it would be better to wait until summer to make such a trade. We could tank and evaluate Trey Burke in the process. If Trey is meh, Knicks could trade Lance/Willy/Trey for Rubio the day after the season ends IF so desired (note we could substitute Baker for Burke or just add Baker to Burke and deal would work also). If we want Rubio this summer, my hope would be that a package of Lance/Baker/Burke/Chicago pick might be sufficient and we either keep or flip Willy. Not gonna happen but I’d be ecstatic if we tank, get a high draft pick, and acquire Rubio and Kyle Anderson this summer.
Starters: Rubio/Hardaway/Anderson/KP/KOQ
Bench: Frank/Dotson/Draft Pick/Noah
We've gotta be very cautious in how we handle WHG situation. If we play him and he's terrible on defense and subject of comic GIFs, his value will plummet. The coaches have to make a decision as to whether they believe he's gonna be Amare-like on defense for his career based upon his play in practice. If yes, they shouldn't play him much the rest of this season and either trade him at deadline or this summer.
It’s depressing that we could be pretty awful for the rest of the year and still wind up in the exact same lottery position we’re in right now. Just don’t see who we could leapfrog.
From the Zach Lowe / Brian Windhorst podcast yesterday it sounds like that Cavs/Kings trades is going to happen, which is too bad – I really wanted to see us trade Lee+OQuinn for Shump/Frye and extract the Cavs 1st round pick.
However — in the reported Kings trade, the Cavs are holding onto their 2018 1st. Windhorst was saying something like Shump + Frye + Cavs 2nd round pick for Hill (which sounds like not such a great deal for Sac, but whatever).
Would anyone here take on JR Smith’s contract (~14MM only fully guaranteed next season with 3.8MM buyout for 2019-20) to get that 2018 1st?
Trade might be something like — JR + Osman + Cavs 1st for Lee, O’Quinn, and Chicago’s 2nd.
JR has been horrible this year, and obviously he is not a good locker room presence. Osman plays 9 minutes per game. Combining the NYK and Sac deals, the Cavs could be trading away 4 minus players (Shump/Frye/JR/Osman) and getting George Hill, Lee, and KOQ at the net cost of essentially moving down 15 spots or so in the draft (CLE 1st –> CHI 2nd).
Their defense would be immeasurably better. They could start Hill, Lee, Lebron, Love, KOQ and bring Wade, Isiah, Crowder, Tristan Thompson, and Korver off the bench. Their long-term cap situation would be a little bit worse in that Lee is fully guaranteed in 2019-20 whereas JR has only that partial guarantee. And they would still retain that Brooklyn pick.
For us – we get off a little bit of money in 2019-20 from the partial JR guarantee (but take on about ~5MM in salary for next season in that Osman+JR is about $17MM while Lee was only $12MM)
We get a flyer in Osman on a cheap contract.
We move up ~15 spots in the draft.
We advance the tank this season.
I dunno, maybe the Cavs would even do it without the Chicago pick?
If we can trade away KOQ and Lee, I think it’s pretty possible that Utah, Charlotte, Chicago, and the Lakers might leapfrog us, leaving us at #8. Especially if KP has more games where he hides from tough competition (seriously, WTF was that all about?)
Let’s see today edition of “Land Of Hope and Dreams”…
…but while we’re choosing which team to fleece, how tank we must tank, how long the queue of free agents begging to play for us will be next summer and other amenities,
please keep JR Smith as far as possible from our locker room… far as in “another galaxy” far…
Could you imagine the educational value of every combination of Smith, Shumpert and Beas on our young players?
Without a figure like LeBron to keep them in check, one knucklehead you could survive, two you’ll go mad, three will nuke your locker…
On a side note: JR is shooting .367 overall and .335 from 3PT, Shumpert .379 and .269… and they have LeBron passing them the ball!
…. At their outrageous price we better keep Baker and Thomas…
@5
Knicks-GSW was a chance to rest your star player in a game they obviously wouldn’t win, what exactly is wrong with that? It’s not up to KP whether he plays in that situation.
@4. Yes, I’d do that deal, and then I’d cut JR. I’d try and make it the lesser of our 2 second rounders, but otherwise yes.
We get a first and Osman – essentially as good as a first for each of KOQ and Lee, only one of them the pick was already made and it’s a guy with upside at a known position of need.
We make our cap marginally worse next year but it’s pretry unlikely we have room next year anyway. We make it better the year after. We make room to see what Willy can do. I like it.
yeah we could stretch waive JR (or maybe just straight cut him to avoid stuffing that dead money into future years). He’d prob land on his feet somewhere as a post-deadline signing.
I’ll sign on for that trade if JR is cut.
Wow – Houston took 51 3’s yesterday and shot 41% on them.
51 3’s
9 mid-range shots
22 shots in the restricted area
23 free throws (only made 11 of them)
So out of ~93 shooting possessions, 84 of them were ideal Morey possessions. Unreal.
That’s also why they got smoked by the Spurs.
For their sake cp3 can help remedy some of this issues
O’Quinn to Golden State for Young and their 1st round pick may be more than speculation. The Knicks have no long term use for Young, but that will make it easier to move Lee because they’ll have someone to use as a backup 2/3 for this year.
i would try to get looney instead of young…. if we trade both koq and kanter then we would be all of a sudden shallow in our frontcourt….
Willy, KP, Noah?
depending on noah for heavy minutes and a full season would be a mistake…. and wily still isn’t a sure thing… it would be nice to have another chip to play with in case wily actually isn’t starter material….
I would do the JR deal, cut him, and put him in the front office, where he belongs.
I will be in attendance tonight in Denver; is there anything that anyone wants me to scream? I usually yell defense, but I don’t think I’ll bother
It might be tough to get both Looney and their 1st round pick. I’m not really sure GS’s 1st round pick is good enough for O’Quinn. It’s basically an early 2nd round pick with some of the financial obligations of a 1st round pick. But we have no idea what kind of offers are out there (if any) for him or any of our other Cs.
Who’s Willy?
Young, solid . . . potential All-Star?
No defense, no rebounding, good scorer that’s a net minus?
The sooner the knicks know, the better. Or, Jeff Hornacek already knows?
I love kd praising Beasley. The warriors FO have to be listening.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see them make an offer for him.
Take whatever the hell we can get from GSW for O’Quinn. If that’s their 1st round pick? Great. We’re losing him in July anyway, and he’s a guy I’d love to see play big minutes and win a championship.
Willy had 5 assists the other night in 17 minutes.
Granted, he has some issues with TOs and PFs and his stats this year and last may be inflated a little because he plays minutes in garbage time. But I don’t see how he’s not going to be close to as good as Kanter for way less the cost. Kanter is a walking empty boxscore stat. Willy may or may not be a starter, but he needs the minutes for us to find out. Kanter is not the solution.
Kanter’s not the solution for sure but Willy’s only advantage on Kanter is his salary.
Kanter’s using Willy to mop up the floor in practice, or else Willy couldn’t have morphed from “core piece” to “my ass is part of the bench”, especially given his friendship with KP.
Answering Hoolahoop’s question, yes, after one and a half year Hornacek knows and so does anybody else on the staff.
Even with that, I’ll prefer to keep Willy and trade Kanter, for monetary reasons only.
Kanter owns the offensive glass and is virtually unstoppable with the ball deep in the paint. He’s deceptively strong, runs the floor and brings a toughness that the knicks desperately need, especially when going against top tier teams that get physical. Good attitude. Good locker room guy. Loves playing in NYC.
Yeah, he’s expensive, but that’s because he’s good.
Why are you guys down on Kanter?
Nah, they grew up together. That’s all.
Someone has to want Beasley off the bench for scoring right? If Lance can get interest then Beasley should as well.
Kanter is probably doing the same empty things in practice he’s doing on the court now as a starter.
He’s hanging around under the boards getting OREBs, but always late to get back on defense because of it and even when he gets back he’s getting torched unless KP covers for him.
This is the thing about Kanter. His boxscore stats have always looked very good. But all the on/off metrics say he’s a negative. I can buy that on/off stats are volatile and even adjusted on/off may not normalize for all the lineup changes perfectly. But his on/off has been bad with a lot of lineups and now multiple teams. They can’t all be that wrong. They are reflecting reality and not just theoretical boxscore values.
The problem is not that some people don’t see his boxscore stats. It’s that the boxscore models are overrating some of the things he does well and not capturing everything he does poorly.
We are paying for the boxscore perception.
I think Kanter’s a good player, could offensively anchor the second unit, where playing against inferior opponents minimize his defensive inability.
He’s tough, fearless and seems a genuine good guy, cleans the glasses and is one of the better post up players around, his footwork and moves are great.
For 10 mil instead of 18 I’ll take him every day.
And believe me, even doing empty things, he’s still mopping up the floor with Willy in practice…
@25 – I agree he’s not a scrub it his advanced stats are appalling and we’re now the third team in a row who won’t let him see the floor in crunch time. It’s not a great look.
Since we’ll increasingly close games with KP at the 5, and since Noah could also offer some late game minutes for defense, I’d be delighted to move Kanter, start Willy and let him, KP and Noah soak up the 48 mins we need covered at the C spot.
1) He’s an absolute trainwreck on defense
2) He clogs the paint on offense. When he’s the focus (ie. post-up) or gets the offensive rebound, that’s a good thing. Otherwise he basically makes everyone else worse. There have been so many times this year that a Knick has penetrated the paint only to find tons of help defenders because Kanter’s just standing under the rim.
I like Kanter – I appreciate how outspoken he is, both about basketball and non-basketball related stuff. I love how physical he is and how hard he tries. Trouble is he’s not a net positive despite his stats, and he makes too much $ for what he brings. He would be great as a backup center making MLE-type money.
+1. Nailed it.
Like others have said, Willy can probably give you 75% of what Kanter gives at 1/18th of the price. If you can trade Kanter for a decent haul you have to do it.
What does it mean “ kanter will surely decline his player option making him an unrestricted free agent”?
-From fan side
I thought the opposite was true
yes please chrisko…
“trade kanter, trade kanter”…followed by a rousing chorus of: “trade lee and o’quinn”…maybe then wrap it up with some: “bench jack, bench jack”…
yeah, that should work…have fun at the game 🙂
Kanter is good at some things (post scoring, offensive rebounding) and bad at other things-defense, passing the ball. I don’t think he’s a useless player, but he’s certainly overpaid and Willy can probably replace most, if not all, of his production at a fraction of the cost. If Enes opts in it’s not a big deal. Even if we screw up and don’t trade O’Quinn he’ll be gone next year.
I don’t think there’s an easy answer. Is Kanter willing to trade some salary next year in return for more guaranteed money? Only he knows the answer to that. You can make decent arguments for him to opt in or out.
That makes sense. From Hornacek’s perspective, I guess it’s hard playing a guy over someone that consistently kicks his ass.
Four centers and giving no minutes to the two you want/have to keep, and unable to make a decent deal for the two that are tradable. Knicksy.
As for Willy, I liked him a lot last year and would love to see him progress. I hate to say it, but one word comes to mind when I think of him playing defense. “Matador”
I mainly just want to see what Clyde is wearing in person.
Fi-re Do-lan
clap, clap, clap, clap, clap
Fi-re Do-lan
Kanter is the definitive box score good/eye test bad player. All of the good things that he does show up in a box score, and all of the bad things he does do not show up in a box score. The efficient scoring and the offensive rebound bring a lot of value, but he gives so much of that back by being such a pathetic defender. He’s hopeless as a pick and roll defender, which really kills his value.
He’s sort of “Exhibit A” for the kind of player who is overvalued by statistical models.
Yeah that’s the scary part — one thing about Hornacek is that it seems he’ll play who he thinks is performing best without regard to salary (Noah), ridicule (Jarret Jack), or perceived cornerstone of franchise (Willy). That probably means that Willy is not playing very well in practice.
Other possibility is that they are semi-close in practice, and we know we want to move Kanter, and so we’re bumping up his stats for that purpose. Willy gets upset, works extra hard, and is still under that sweet sweet contract for the next 2+ years.
I’ve said it before, Kanter is a great backup scoring big man. Coming off the bench at $8-10m he’d be a keeper. You’ve got to love his heart and toughness, but he’s overpaid.
I don’t know what % of Kanter Willy is or can be, but he needs to play in real games vs. opposing teams for regular rotation minutes for awhile. He looked good playing 20+ minutes late last season. Mirage or harbinger of things to come? Let’s find out.
As for what to chant in Denver, don’t insult any players, but I’d chant this loudly at Hornacek:
“PLAY THE KIDS! PLAY THE KIDS!”
🙂
Kanter not taking 4/4om, but we have our money in Noah . Crazy
I don’t buy the assumption that Willy does not look good in practice. Maybe, but there are other possibilities, too.
One, that Kanter and OQ are just playing well. Both do have their merits; it’s not like Willy is stuck behind two bums. Couple that with those two guys having “seniority” over him (and, unlike Noah, they are not old and oft-injured).
The Kanter issue is that the new GM just acquired him and probably wants him to play. Plus, playing Kanter and OQ helps with possibly getting trade value for them.
Will has two more years at a bargain basement salary. They may also just feel that there’s no rush to playing him yet, with two other guys that they might want to try to get something for.
It’s hard to rationalize playing Willy Hernangomez over Kyle O’Quinn and Enes Kanter. Those guys are time setters and are generally good basketball players. I like Willy but he’s not as good as either of those guys, so it’s fair that he isn’t playing. Hopefully we trade O’Quinn for Looney.
Oh btw, in case you didn’t see this video clip:
https://nypost.com/2018/01/25/frank-ntilikina-earns-spot-in-all-star-rookie-sophomore-game/
(scroll down)
https://nypost.com/2018/01/25/joakim-noah-abruptly-leaves-knicks-with-vague-reason/
Dotson just got called up. Maybe a Lee trade coming up?
Noah should just stay home and collect checks.
+1 on all of this for me.
The problem is we aren’t going to get him that cheaply. So I’d rather move on and test Willy.
I agree with the latter, but how do you know he’s not a net positive despite his stats? I suspect he’s not much of a net either positive or negative, but I haven’t seen anything compelling one way or another
Report – Noah to miss next 2 games for personal reasons.
If Noah misses 2 games will anyone even notice?
Dude is making serious coin and is not even playing. Just an epically bad and stupid contract.
If we move O’Quinn and either Willy or Kanter, what would you all think of taking a flyer on Noel. He is not sticking around in Dallas so maybe we could get him for the worse of our two 2nd round picks and some cash.
Long term he seems like a good fit with KP. He can defend the perimeter and is a great defender.
Every team wants Noel but no one can tell if he is a head case before committing big $.
Okay, what about Noah?
Tough, active, good defender, great passer, excellent PNRs, experienced, and stuck with him for 2 1/2 more seasons. And I doubt anyone is mopping the floors with him in practice.
Why not give him lots of minutes:
– until he gets injured, or
– plays himself out of the lineup, or
– plays well enough to make Kanter and KOQ tradable?
For the record, I don’t “know” anything. I’m just opinionated and moody when it comes to the Knicks. 🙂
I’m more of a boxscore and visual guy, but I understand that boxscore models don’t reflect everything that’s going on on the court and often disagree with each other because they weight things differently. They are not always right.
I’ve been less of an On/Off and RPM guy because of the volatility from season to season and difficulty the modelers have controlling for line ups and other issues.
However, if the on/off and RPM data seems to consistently suggest the same thing every year, with different lineups, and with different team, at some point i’m going to start questioning the boxscore models and trying to figure out what they might be missing. In Kanter’s case, I think they are overrating his OREBs and not picking up his weaknesses on defense.
Is he a net plus or minus?
I really don’t know. But RPM seems to suggest he’s a negative just about every year. I suspect it’s right.
@56 Because he just left the team for personal reasons? Because to trade Kanter & KOQ you have to play and showcase them? Because Kanter and KOQ played well or at least better? Because “that” Noah was last seen in 2014? Because as far as Sunday, before the Lakers debacle, our players were talking playoffs as a legitimate goal? Pick one or more…
Let this fucking trade deadline pass, let us lose some other games, and everyone’ll be happy: remaining veterans’ll be glued to the bench, Frank, D-Dot and Willy will have a lot of minutes, Kornet and Hicks have 45 days to spend on the roster…
And we could start dreaming about draft and free agents…
🙂
@ 58
I don’t believe that Kanter and KOQ are being showcased. Everyone knows what they can do. And the personal reasons that Noah left are pretty obvious. He wants to play and feels he’s being treated unfairly. I know, every guy feels that way, but he’s at the end of his career and probably believes he’s proved himself in practice.
I’m not saying he’s right, but he does seem to have a legitimate gripe. He doesn’t even see garbage time. Hornicek seems like a good guy, but it does appear that Willy and Noah are in his doghouse.
How do you take just two games off for something like this?
True, but we’re not in the locker room.
I doubt that a team will put himself in a position that could lead to animosity with agents and problems with free agents (Melo already took care of this one) without a reason.
I really like Noah since his Florida days, his my kind of player, but injuries, suspension, contract… If only we had him 3-4 years early…
Now he is Phil’s last gift…
@56 or takes more games off “for personal reasons”
Until I see any evidence to the contrary I believe he’s as done as the turkey from last Thanksgiving.
“for personal reasons”
That’s an after the fact reason that he’s not going to play. Clearly, Noah felt he wasn’t going to get a chance on the court.
From the way Hornacek was quoted, Noah had permission to go. I would assume he has some sort of legitimate reason. And Dotson was called up because the Knicks temporarily have an open roster spot while Noah is on leave.
So in the last few days we read:
– Pleas for trading Kanter to Utah, where he was booed loudly one week ago because he publicy badmouth management after the trade to OKC.
– Pleas to do mobbing on Kanter, stick him on the bench until he surrender and decline his option or ask for a trade… but support for Noah for jumping the team for “personal reasons” maybe because he’s not playing enough (the real reason could be different)
– Pleas to play D-Dot 30 minutes vs. golden State… in the same moment in which he was playing 36 minutes in Westchester
– Pleas to play Noah over Kanter and KOQ, after months of calling out his contract and asking for the stretch provision
– Pleas for trading Frank and/or our 1st rounder plus other stuff for Kemba Walker and maybe other stuff… and then a myriad of trade proposals at the end of which I found myself totally lost (my personal plea: don’t bring back JR Smith)
– A fantastic, deep and very thoroughly researched back and forth chat on the merit of offensive boards, putbacks and the meaning of “possession”
The headlines couldn’t be more truthful: Statistical Analysis. Humor. Knicks.
🙂
I love KnickerBlogger, even from 4.100 miles away I love you all.
Yeah, that’s why I don’t buy taking 2 games off if you’re pissed that you’re not playing. If you’re pissed you’re not playing and want to leave the team because you’re pissed, you don’t make it two games. Now, if you’re dealing with a specific personal issue, then 2 games makes sense.
I think Noah was suspended for 2 games but the Knicks are too smart to say that publicly and allow the NY media to start a sh$tstorm.
Dotson may have been called up because apparently Hardaway is out tonight. (maybe back to back)
the plot thickens:
Because if there’s one thing that the New York media is known for is just taking the team’s official explanation for everything.
I can’t find the link, but I specifically read that the Knicks said they called up Dotson when the Noah roster spot came open. I think it was in the Post or the Daily News. If Noah is actually suspended, then that would explain the roster spot being free.
I’d rather deny it and hope at least 1 or 2 of them is responsible enough to not make stuff up without first hand sources than admit it and ensure they all cause a frenzy. Mills is no fool. He used the media well to get this job and Isola is going to make stuff up no matter what.