[FOXsports] Knicks intent on rebuilding and not afraid to say it (Wednesday, October 10, 2018 11:01:46 PM)
The New York Knicks are focused on rebuilding and not being shy about it
(Wednesday, October 10, 2018 2:05:00 PM)
A week before the season starts and eight months since his ACL surgery, Kristaps Porzingis’ progress remains limited to a “slow drip” that’s frustrating the All-Star, according to Knicks coach David Fizdale.
In other words, Porzingis is still not sprinting and his recovery timetable has not been…
(Wednesday, October 10, 2018 9:54:37 PM)
Ron Baker and Enes Kanter took advantage of a special opportunity to dress up for Halloween on Wednesday when they visited local schools while donning Thor and Venom costumes.
(Wednesday, October 10, 2018 8:39:41 PM)
Knicks star F Kristaps Porzingis is frustrated he can’t be on the court, but Fizdale is working with his leadership qualities off the court.
(Wednesday, October 10, 2018 2:15:11 PM)
Knicks rookie Mitchell Robinson (ankle) will make his return to the Knicks for their preseason finale on Friday night, head coach David Fizdale told reporters Wednesday.
(Wednesday, October 10, 2018 7:17:47 PM)
There was Tim Hardaway Jr., the second-generation stud. Tim Hardaway Jr., the first-round Knicks draft pick and All-Rookie first-teamer and would-be Carmelo Anthony sidekick. Tim Hardaway Jr., the trade chip for an impetuous Phil Jackson. Tim Hardaway Jr., the D-Leaguer and ground-up Atlanta reclamation project. Tim Hardaway Jr., the opportune free agent and recipient of…
(Wednesday, October 10, 2018 1:39:17 PM)
Mitchell Robinson is a major-league prospect, everyone around the Knicks agrees. He just may be spending some time in the minor leagues. Robinson, the Knicks’ second-round pick, will return to the floor for the preseason finale Friday against the Nets after missing the past two games due to a sprained ankle. But the absence underlined…
61 replies on “Knicks Morning News (2018.10.11)”
I watched some Lakers-Warriors last night and that Lakers team can run out a lot of really interesting lineups. Also, Travis Wear is apparently still in the NBA somehow
Havent had time to read much at knickerblogger lately, sorry if this was already addressed re: the Trier situation.
We’re over the cap so we can’t offer him anything more than the minimum, right? We might have the BAE (ie. we could use part of that) but that is a maximum of 2 years (or did we waste that on Ron Baker last year?). Did we use all of the nontaxpayer MLE between MitchRob and Hezonja?
I’m just not sure what the options are. He definitely seems like a keeper – someone we would want on more than a 2-way that just turns him into a RFA at the end of this year. It’s only 4 preseason games of course but a TS of 68.8 on a usage of ~25 is pretty amazing.
There’s definitely no reason to do anything right now — we can use up his 45 days with the big club and maintain our flexbility, punt the decision until that point. As far as I can tell there’s no specific downside for Trier either (other than the lack of a guarantee) – he will still get paid like an NBA player (I think they get the minimum NBA salary during days with the big club?). I don’t see any benefit in dumping a guaranteed contract just to give Trier that guaranteed contract unless they have their eyes on another 2-way possibility. The fact that they gave the 2nd two-way to a super-low-ceiling guy like Hicks makes me think they don’t have an obvious candidate for another 2-way.
Travis Wear is a poor man’s Jason Smith.
LeBron got Travis Wear a contract so he couldn’t practice his lockdown D on James for another team
Re the yankees payroll, good piece in FG today. Puts 2018 savings at 100 million. But it appears Hubert was quite correct. The marginal value of staying under the cap and avoiding repeater tax is only around 15 million per year. Although the value to being under the 200 million threshhold in 2018 was 100 million to the Steinbrenners.
“Mere dollar figures might not do justice to how much room the Yankees have to spend this winter, so let’s put it another way: New York could sign Patrick Corbin, Clayton Kershaw, and Manny Machado and still end up spending the same amount on payroll and taxes as they did in the 2015 and -16 seasons. The Yankees have an enormous amount of payroll room and virtually no limits on players they can acquire. With their exit from the playoffs, it’s now up to them to decide which players they want for next season.”
https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/the-yankees-have-a-lot-of-payroll-to-use/
Season is almost here. Did they move it up a couple of weeks recently? I remember games starting end of October traditionally….
Good article, thanks for posting it Owen. Long story short, this offseason was basically the Yankees’ entire justification for staying under the threshold in 2018. I never thought I’d say this about the New York Yankees but we’re going to learn a lot about their willingness to spend to win in the next few months.
Not sure I like this for the clubhouse, but I could see the Yankees signing Machado to play 3B, then moving Andujar to a small market team for a good SP who they don’t want to pay. Toronto and Marcus Stroman comes to mind. I don’t love it….he’s going to be rookie of the year. but, they certainly have the $$ to make that work. They are going to be short SPs whatever they do….even if the over-pay Corbin. And if you sign Machado you can’t be sending out this trash as your 4th starter. They could sign Machado and then be a Tanaka injury away from disaster.
The alternative I would pursue would be turning Chad Green into a SP. but, that means re-signing 2 of the 3 of robertson/britton/betances. I’m not sure that’s $$ well spent.
Yeah, it was moved up in the last couple of years to reduce the number of back-to-backs and 3 games in 4 nights.
Overdosing on Fox News, I assume. I’m a little more concerned about the sideshow known as the Trump Administration thoroughly embarrassing this country on a daily basis. I’m also more concerned about Mitch McConnell saying “fuck you” to the majority of the American public, and Paul Ryan touting his singular accomplishment (cutting taxes for the ultra-wealthy) while he counts down the days before getting a cushy sinecure with some “think tank” funded by the Koch brothers. Concerned about a credibly-accused rapist on the Supreme Court, on another who openly disregards judicial precedent, the possibility of the First Daughter being the U.N. delegate, a brazen, bald-faced liar as the WH spokesperson, a bunch of ex-Goldman executives allowed to run a two-track presidency while they repeal every consumer protection in the financial services industry, the craven deregulation of environmental protections. Should I keep going?
But please, yes: tell me more about how I should be afraid of the flash mob of private-citizen assholes making fools of themselves and misrepresenting the tens of thousands of Portlanders who oppose to the senile, corrupt wannabe-Mussolini that you probably voted for.
And yeah, Ted Wheeler is a fucking moron. What do you expect me to do: stoop for a bum mayor because his tie has the same shade of blue as mine? What do you think I am, a Republican?
In a couple of years there’ll probably only be like 10 starting pitchers in the whole league.
https://www.theringer.com/mlb/2018/10/11/17962146/bullpenning-starting-pitcher-protagonist-cost
I don’t see how you could possibly get equal value for Andujar unless you’re getting a clear-cut ace who hasn’t taken on a massive FA contract. He’s team-controlled until 2021 and then three years of arbitration before he hits the open market. According to Spotrac, he’s the #41 best value in the league (Judge #7, Hicks #20, Torres #38). He definitely needs to figure out how to play third base (no problem, just like teaching Bargnani how to play help defense), but how bad would he have to be to pay 10 times more for a couple extra WAR?
I would guess a position change for Andujar — either to LF or 1B — would be a lot more likely than a trade. And that would only happen if we signed Machado. (Or if we still had Brandon Drury and he was injury-free.) Otherwise, I think the team will live with his glove at the hot corner and hope he can get better, rather than creating a new hole in the lineup.
Haralabob hired by Mavs as their head of quantitative research. Interested in how he ran the cost/benefit to taking a job where he can’t bet on NBA games.
Wow. Just caught up on the rest of yesterday’s thread and I simply can’t believe some of the things I read…
Ron Baker is incredible!
The Mets deserve a lot for DeGrom, for sure. But you’re not getting more for him at 30 than the White Sox got for Sale at 26. Andujar and Sheffield is absolutely comparable to Moncada and Kopech. IMO it’s a superior offer. And I’m suggesting adding more.
Pretty sure we should replace the yawning intellectual void that is the NYT op-ed section entirely with Jowles rants.
I forgot the WearBear was a Lebron stopper.
Remember when Phil traded a second round pick — which will turn out to be a very high second round pick, most likely — to Philadelphia to avoid eating Travis Outlaw’s contract because Travis Wear was too valuable to cut? Good times.
Any predictions on who blinks first between Noah and Perry?
To be fair, the White Sox also got Basabe in the Sale deal. He’s probably a little below a Florial level prospect but still very solid.
In general though I agree that the Yankees could probably put together the most competitive package for DeGrom. At that point it would be up to the Wilpons to decide whether they’re running a baseball team or an outlet for their personal grudges.
I was quietly begging Ntilikilla to chill the fuck out so that I could preemptively chill the fuck out. It was all about me.
They are just as inane and as inconstant with the facts….
I dont’ want to see Andujar traded…..he’s going to be ROY, and he hit like 300 doubles. I’m just saying, I could see them grabbing machado and doing it. smart $$, for me…..Happ and Collin McHugh or keuchel. Then decide if Bird is your LH 1B platoon or not. if he’s not, sign Matt Adams to do it. They you have $$ to resign 1 of robinson, bettances or Britton. Let the other 2 go, sign a guy like Kelvim Herrera. add a journyman SP like Tyson Roth for depth. Then go for a 1 starter near the deadline.
Misleading article on espn:
Should read Enes Kanter dresses as Venom to scare the shit out of children from the Garden of Dreams Foundation with 225 Halloween costumes. Kanter was joined by Ron Baker, who dived on the floor to retrieve a dropped butterfinger bar.
Last year he said he stopped gambling.
I’ve been around gamblers for over 40 years. If you say you’ve stopped (after having been a winner) that’s probably just another way of saying you lost whatever edge you had. It’s hard to find consistent winners in any area of gambling, but when you do they don’t quit while they are still winning. At best, their edge shrank so much it stopped being lucrative enough to continue doing all the work involved in keeping their edge.
This is the most reasonable thing you have said on this board.
Also, it’s fair to assume that gaining an advantage against professionals is very different from gaining an edge against the average NBA front office.
Well maybe Travis Wear earned that roster spot on merit over some unknown draft pick. You could never truly understand the genius of the Zen Master. The Courtney Lee contract is an incredible asset. Arron Afflalo and Derrick Williams meant more to this franchise than Sacramento’s unprotected 2019 pick ever could. Robin Lopez will likely get traded for an asset or two this year, but does that take away all the memories of Derrick Rose’s Knicks tenure? Obviously not, and you can’t put a price on those.
I do. I think his value will never come close to what it is right now. And much of his value is attributable to his production per cost unit. Right now, the Yankees need straight production and can afford to overpay for it. If you can turn Andujar, Sheffield, and a prospect into Machado and DeGrom, I don’t give a fuck if you’re not getting great value.
Sounds like a small-market-club strategy and the perfect way to lock in two more Sox Astros ALCS series.
Someone said it yesterday and I couldn’t agree more: the greatest trick the Yankees pulled was getting their fans to buy into the notion of caring about payroll.
Unclear whether Robinson is starting in place of Kanter or next to him, since Vorkunov only named four starters.
It’s a big market. The smartest money in a large market tends to make it efficient. You aren’t competing against a bunch of small bettors that don’t know what the are doing. You are competing against guys that will move the market as soon as they find an inefficiency.
I’m still waiting for the first thing you say that’s correct. 🙂
How long did it take front offices to figure out that trading unprotected first rounders for past-prime vets was a terrible strategy? What about handing out max contracts for volume chuckers? That the 3-point shot was a game-breaking strategy?
It’s nonsense to cast the NBA as a league whose executives solve inefficiency problems quickly.
Vorkunov clarified that Lance is the fifth starter, so Robinson is playing center, not PF.
Four of the five starters for the regular season seem clear: Kanter, Lance, Knox and Hardaway. I would guess Burke still has the inside track to start at the point, but I also wouldn’t be surprised if Frank gets the job. Hoping Ron dives for so many loose balls that Mudiay is the first option to be cut if we can’t waive Noah (or when we have to convert Trier’s contract).
If you tried to understood one iota what I am talking about you’d know that Robin Lopez essentially became Derrick Rose whose cap space essentially became Hardaway Jr and Baker. So the correct question to ask would be, would you rather have Lopez to trade this year or Hardaway Jr and Baker now.
Of course since Jackson was smart enough to get rid of Hardaway the first time, I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t have made that move. It would be some other player in that salary slot. There are too many “what ifs” to debate, but that’s the way you have to think about it.
Robin Lopez was traded for cap space into which the Knicks could put new players of their own choosing in the FA market instead of trading him for players on the trade market this year.
It’s all the same BS except we rarely win deals or sign players at fair prices.
I agree with you on front offices.
IMHO, one reason front offices are often incompetent is that a big part of who rises to the top is related to politics instead of merit. If you are an idiot in gambling you will be broke quickly. If you are an idiot in basketball there are still plenty of jobs for you if you know the right people and say the right things. It’s kind of like Washington except less corrupt.
Treating the NBA front offices as if they were a replication of market based economics is probably the stupidest take I’ve seen get repeated over and over.
The Washington Wizards still employ ERNIE GRUNFELD. Scott Layden, the same piece of garbage that legitimately has a case for worst GM the Knicks have had even against Isiah, is employed by the Twolves in a decision making spot.
Yes, even terrible front offices will sometimes adjust to a trend or understand some of the issues with team building they fall on, but it’s very far from a market economy where inefficiencies are weeded our eventually. The Suns fired their GM 5 days into preseason with no replacement lined up because Sarver is an idiot, there’s no big time answer to all of this.
Let the Ron Baker Era begin!
Obviously Phil Jackson would not have signed Tim Hardaway Jr. to his current contract. It doesn’t even contain a full no trade clause!
lmao
He would have signed some big guy with a good mid range shot, big butt, good hands, and decent post game.
Passing out of the pinch post is the most important thing ever
#Triangle4Eva
@38
My introduction to basketball as a kid was Frazier and Reed. They were (and still are) superheros to me. It was beautiful basketball and we won 2 championships right away. I can’t take losing anymore. I just can’t take it!
Concerned about a credibly-accused rapist on the Supreme Court
I really don’t mean to troll but were you as concerned about Bill Clinton, a credibly-accused rapist, in the White House? And not just 18 years ago but two years ago when voting for Hillary would have put him BACK in the White House?
The only way we can all co-exist is if we all play by the same rules. Not one set of rules for YOUR credibly-accused rapist and another set of rules for THE OTHER GUY’S credibly-accused rapist.
Mike
getting great value.
I would agree, if you can pull it off, but I don’t think you are getting degrom for andjuar and sheffield. The mets have 30 other clubs they can trade degrom to, for the highest bidder.
I’m not against the yankees spending $$, but not on this crop of FA pitchers. Corbin looks like Ellsbury II. I think the move is to keep some salary flexibility and then look to get a serious upgrade at the deadline.
Clinton wasn’t credibly accused of rape until 1999 and then by people who had previously testified the opposite under oath. I think anyone should be concerned about Bill Clinton’s conduct though and I think a lot of people wish they had been.
But anyway, it’s Dolan who is supposed to be ruining our lives, stay focused people!
>Concerned about a credibly-accused rapist on the Supreme Court
> I really don’t mean to troll but were you as concerned about Bill Clinton, a credibly-accused rapist, in the White House? And not just 18 years ago but two years ago when voting for Hillary would have put him BACK in the White House?
> The only way we can all co-exist is if we all play by the same rules. Not one set of rules for YOUR credibly-accused rapist and another set of rules for THE OTHER GUY’S credibly-accused rapist.
I didn’t write the first line, nor do I agree with it. Rapist is too strong a term for me.
Yet I’d like to talk about your two sets of rules. How does not voting for Hillary because of her husband’s sexual history, but then voting for and supporting Trump with his sexual history? Mind you that Bill’s role would have been a non-official one (the First Lady/Gentleman doesn’t hold any actual power in our government), while Trump would hold the highest office in the land.
And how could someone feel that Bill was guilty of sexual crimes that he denied, yet find room in their heart for Trump’s and Cavanaugh’s denials of their own sexual accusations?
Again you’re operating in bad faith here.
And to answer your question I didn’t vote for Bill (that I recall) and wasn’t so much into politics back then. However I did vote in 2000 and voted for Ralph Nader because I didn’t like how he tainted the office with the scandal, and felt Gore was an extension of that. Oh and mind you I supported Al Franken’s removal from office as well (and opposed Cavanuagh – which makes me more consistent than a certain Republican from Maine…)
that’s funny as hell chrisko 🙂
i thought the same exact thing…kanter must not spend too much time around kids…i asked my 7 year old god son about maybe going to see venom – he wasn’t having it at all…all those teeth are creepy as hell…
let’s not trade andujar…pass on machado…pass on harper…i was against bringing in stanton – but, i think that may end up working out…
shoot the yanks have been saving money for a couple of years now – time to go “buy” a pitcher or two…
cool to see ron will get the start on friday…maybe burke isn’t a lock to start the season as our pg?
“Concerned about a credibly-accused rapist on the Supreme Court”
Credibly?? Really? Accused, it’s the new guilty.
Even Ford didn’t accuse him of rape – the hysteria is so out of hand.
“My introduction to basketball as a kid was Frazier and Reed.” – It’s sad that we all have to go back so far for the best memories of this team. We deserve better. I used to think that ownership didn’t matter, that a good GM, coach and players could overcome a moron owner. I’ve been proven very wrong on that assumption many times over. So yeah, Dolan is ruining my basketball life.
Agree with you there.
Some of your other stuff, though… why choose between Robertson and Betances?
With Ron Baker and Mitchell Robinson, you only need 4 starters! It’s the new market efficiency!
I don’t want to join this supreme court conversation, but I have an interesting story here. One of my best friends is a hard core super liberal. We disagree about almost everything except environmental issues and most sexuality issues. We are on the same page there. He was screaming that Franken had to go and I argued with him for days about it. Our friends were laughing their asses off because the liberal wanted him out and the libertarian/conservative wanted him to stay. I’m not sure what that says except that both us saw past the politics and made the case based on other things. I’m pretty sure that’s a good thing,
I’m worried robertson and bettancis would cost 20m / year combined and too many years.
Owen, this is a little misleading.
Most of the money they saved was actual payroll dollars. They trimmed $60 million in payroll, which saved them $30 million in taxes, and they got a revenue sharing bill estimated to be around $10mm less. That’s how they saved $100 million. (see breakdown below)
There’s this myth floating around that the yankees pay hundreds of millions in luxury tax every year. It’s nonsense. From 2003-2017, the yankees have paid an average of $22.8 million a year, roughly equal to the amount of money they’re throwing away on Jacoby Ellsbury. While this is suboptimal, it’s hardly crippling to a team that makes over $619mm in revenue.
When you have a team this good and you print money, pay the tax and shut up. They’re willingly throwing away their greatest advantage.
Fuck Bill Clinton.
Also, Bill Clinton was never nominated for a lifetime appointment. You can’t unring the bell that our Senate’s cowardly majority just rang on Brett Kavanaugh. And you’re out of your fucking mind if you think that a man of his temperament should be given a lifetime seat on the SCOTUS. Fucking insane.
Folks..you’re gonna hafta get your pitchforks out…I just had a frightening thought…
The 2 guards that our best PG plays best with are THJ and Ntilikina. It will likely be a revolving door on defense if Burke and THJ play alot of minutes together so Fiz may not want to start those 2. When Burke plays with Ntilikina, his defensive issues get covered a bit, plus it frees him up to be aggressive. Sooooo….maybe Fiz needs *throws up in mouth a little* Mudiay to start at PG. He does push the pace and is more of a playmaker with passing than Burke. He’d definitely be great for the tank. I think that’s the reason why Fiz keeps giving him chances. Burke is probably at his best paired with Ntilikina, but you shouldn’t start THJ at SF and there won’t be enough offense with the starters if THJ is the 6th man- so maybe right now Burke should come off the bench with Ntilikina.
But Mudiay f’n sucks. I had high hopes for him.
Also..if Ntilikina allegedly grew an inch and a half, why isn’t he being listed at 6’7″? He looks Otto Porter-ish right now, with more muscle.
Hubert – I was agreeing with you! I even said so I think. One way or another, the Steinbrenner’s are 100 million richer than they would otherwise be. Which is a lot of dough.
Its interesting we’re starting Baker at point guard. Baker, MitRob, and Thomas are not exactly 3 dynamic creators. I guess that’s why we pay Timmy the big bucks!
If Mudiay had been able to shoot at all he’d have won the starting job. He’s been by far the most effective playmaker in the preseason- over 10 assists per 36 with a 3 to 1 assist to turnover ratio. Frank’s at just 3 assist and 2 turnovers per 36. Maybe Ron will take the bull by the horns and grab the job! Barring that, given that Burke has looked more like Utah Burke than last year’s version I guess I’d start Frank by default. That said, I don’t think Frank’s future is at the point- I think he’s well below average in just about every phase of point guard play- aggression/getting team into good sets, handle, court vision (though he’s maybe just below average rather than well below here) etc… He does throw a nice pocket pass in the PNR when he can manage to set one up so there’s that. And he’s still a kid so there’s obviously room for improvement. The Knicks are going to suck anyway so you might as well see if there’s any hope for him at the point at all.
Owen, gotcha. I thought you were implying they were 100 million richer bc they avoided the tax
Burke averaged about 8 assists per 36 last season, and that’s a perfectly acceptable number, but it was out of line with his career averages.
What’s with “credibly accused”?
It’s such a terrible term on so many levels. It’s terrible if you think all accusations should be taken seriously bc it adds an extra level that allows people to dismiss accusations that may be legit but don’t fit a preconceived notion of what’s subjectively “credible”. And it’s terrible from an innocent til proven guilty standpoint bc it implies that even though there was no evidence, there is some level of presumed guilt. Just an awful phrase. Do people actually use this or is it something y’all just made up?
Has anyone else noticed that the Times seems to have given up on being a regular local sports paper for New York? The Post and the News have both had many stories about the Knicks during preseason, but the Times had maybe one, on Porzingis and the pace of his recovery. They seem to be only interested in publishing sports stories of national interest and even those tend to be ones about the politics of sport or something like that. It’s a real shame because in the past they seem to be more even handed than the News or the Post and they often came up with interesting off beat stories.
well, if you’re a fan of the tank – go big blue…
Chris Herring was the last Knicks beat writer I read.