I don’t know, man, I don’t even want to share it, but there’s so little Knicks news out there, that I guess I have to go with some Enes Kanter nonsense, as quoted by Yahoo! Sports’ Ryan Young:
“Not many people know that, but players talk. From different teams, they talk,” Kanter said on Bleacher Report’s The Full 48 podcast. “I’m not blaming anybody. I had an amazing time with the Knicks. But other teammates that I talked to or if they’re on different teams, they always said, ‘Amazing city, MSG is amazing everything is so good, but the ownership.’ They would just keep saying, ‘But the ownership.’ … Some of the players I guess are just scared to come here and don’t even want to deal with that.”
Kanter then noted that he was irked that if they were not playing him because they were developing the youth, why did they then start playing Deandre Jordan? Obviously, the answer was to suck up to Kevin Durant, but I guess that’s not something Kanter wants to hear.
Anyhow, like I note, it’s not much, but it’s sort of quasi-Knicks news, and that’s better than nuthin’.
47 replies on “Yahoo!: Enes Kanter: Players are scared to play for Knicks because of owner James Dolan”
The comments by the “top” commenter are sweating Kool Aid. Thank you Mike K and everyone for this place.
chumpsdeplorables5 hours ago
Knicks are the only team that now has 14 players who average double digit scoring, this is the deepest bench in the NBA. They are at least two deep at every position now. This team has the potential to win many games.
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chumpsdeplorables
chumpsdeplorables5 hours ago
RJ Barrett was the projected No. 1 pick in the Draft entering last season, before teammate Zion Williamson usurped the crown from him. Still, Kevin Boyle, who has coached five top-3 NBA Draft picks, said Barrett is “arguably the best player in the Draft.” Only three freshmen in the history of Division 1 basketball have scored more points than Barrett — Kevin Durant (903), Trae Young (876) and Michael Beasley (866). Barrett scored 860 points in his lone year at Duke.
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chumpsdeplorables
chumpsdeplorables5 hours ago
As Kobe Bryant pointed out recently, New York is a desirable destination. He said his ONLY regret in the NBA is that he didn’t get a chance to play in MSG, the MECCA!!!!! Even if the NY Knicks are bad the allure of playing in Madison Square Garden can make up for that.
‘“I always kind of dreamed about playing in New York and what that would have been like. It’s true. As a fan, the Garden was the historical arena. It’s like the last one left…there is Madison Square Garden. “So, there is like three historical arenas. Chicago Stadium and Boston Garden were torn down. The only thing left was MSG. So, I always wanted to be a part of that history and play in it. So, New York was a team … it would have been pretty good to play in that city.”’
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Frank should absolutely never run another PnR set.
What’s the over under on Frank’s minutes this year? I think 450 is a fair mark.
Does Kanter really think not many people know this?
Z-man, i a agree that the and one drive wasn’t that impressive. The only notable thing was that he finished through contact, which is not something he’s been noted for in the past. I was more impressed by the play where he did a nice floater with no hesitation and a short stop and pop with no hesitation either. Both shots were very clean and were the sort of thing he didn’t do last season
If we consider everything (health, trade block, general suckiness) I think I’d bet on the under on Frank’s minutes.
Always loved that Enes…
And speaking of loving and a former Knick, Joakim Noah got engaged to a Victoria’s Secret model. Glad he got something out of his time here….
Kanter’s a guy who works the media VERY well — and has, when you take his on-court value out of the equation, an extremely sympathetic story — on top of putting up empty stats and occasionally having a big game on a big stage. I like Beck, but he was one of many otherwise sensible basketball writers who kept crying foul when the Knicks benched Kanter. Even if the reasons were bogus (allegedly, Dolan and the FO didn’t like all the attention he was getting), he should have been benched at that stage of the season.
Serbia loses to Argentina in a stunner!! Got to think USA will win the whole thing now.
I don’t know about that. Australia has already given them problems and France is almost as good, judging by the last game for them both.
Team USA losing to a team that has Frank as its starting PG would be suboptimal.
But good for Frank’s option and/or trade value!
Not to mention Spain is undefeated
If Frank can successfully defend Kemba, that will have an impact on the US’s chances
Honestly, this gets tired. Do the players the Knicks sign in free agency not count as players?
Julius Randle was probably the best free agent out there after the big names Durant, Kyrie, Kemba, and Kawhi. You could argue he is a better free agent get than Kyrie, Kemba or even Durant (bc of the injury). And he chose the Knicks. Does that not count as a NBA player choosing the Knicks?
What about the other guys we all signed? The guys who agreed to come here on short deals with team options? Are we to believe they would have not had a single offer from any other team if The Knicks didn’t sign them?
What about when Melo forced a trade to be here? What about Tyson Chandler, who just won an NBA title?
We’ve been out of the running for free agents many off seasons because of poor cap management. I’m not a fan of Dolan and I don’t know how Mills stays around, but The Knicks have been pretty no drama now since Phil left. Even the KP trade was executed quietly with little drama when it could have been dragged out and played up in the media.
Durant got hurt. Once Durant went down, the math for The Knicks changed. Lets not act like The Knicks were falling all over themselves to sign an injured Durant cause they weren’t. If he didn’t get hurt and he wanted The Knicks over Brooklyn, does Kyrie not come with him? Kawhi was never really on the table.
You can argue with the Knicks strategy this summer. I get that. But once Durant went down, we actually played it smart.
agreed.
marcus morris reneged on the spurs to come here. does he not talk to other players?
His track record says Frank will be trash against the U.S. tomorrow.
Ehh, Morris reneged on the Spurs because he’s betting on himself to score a better deal next year when the FA class is weaker. The Spurs offer was $41million over 4 years. He’s making over $4.5 million more this year by choosing the Knicks.
Knicks significantly overpaid most of these guys to bring them in. Nobody was offering Portis close to $15mil a year. Or Gibson @ $10mil a year. Or Ellington @ $8mil a year.
Randle wasn’t a big overpay. So that’s good. He may have other reasons for signing in NY that outweigh the Dolan factor like wanting to be the defacto #1 option, nightlife, I dunno.
Doesn’t change the fact that the Knicks had to overpay a bunch of mediocre vets to get them to sign here. Certainly doesn’t refute anything that Kanter said.
The Knicks were the 30th-ranked offense last year. They added one of the league’s better volume scorers entering his athletic prime to play next to this generation’s Tyson Chandler. I’m not mad.
The rest of it was total nonsense, but I’m not mad about Randle.
Most of it was nonsense, not all. Payton definitely made sense. At least one veteran 3-point shooter made sense. Morris and/or Gibson made sense, Morris because he’s instantly one of our better players, Gibson for defense/culture/leadership. It’s signing ALL of those guys that was nonsensical, especially since we have so many young guys who need development time. You don’t want a garbage roster like we had last year, especially with the flattened lottery odds, but the FO created a minutes logjam for a coach who thus far hasn’t demonstrated the level of creativity or ego management to be able to make work.
I agree on Payton, and Gibson’s mentorship on the defensive end could pay out. But then I start thinking about how Payton is the best Knicks PG since Felton or Lin (Kidd was a SG) and get sad. And the rest of it, including Morris, doesn’t make much sense to me. Morris is a complement for a good team like the Spurs, not a bridge to get from a top lottery pick to the #10 slot.
You’d be extremely wrong, but I guess you could argue it.
Im just not confident in Morris being a good player. He doesn’t pass, he doesn’t create shots and his whole career he was a mediocre shooter and rebounder. He’s a useful player because he can defend and can hit 3s, so he was a pretty good piece for the Celtics for example, but I don’t see him having too much impact for a team that still lacks shot creation and passing.
I guess if Payton figures it out, he’s a pretty good passer, but his inability to score or shoot from 3 limits his ceiling. If all these players are at their best, a Payton / Ellington / Morris / Randle / Mitch lineup could be dangerous for stretches, as it is a very good rebounding group with good shooting that can work defensively and score inside. They might win some games, and you can replace Ellington for Barett to help with shot creation, specially if Barrett can hit 3s. I still don’t see a team that will win 30+ games, but it should be a lot more watchable than the recent seasons.
When you consider Randle’s age, production, upside and price, you very easily can argue that he is a better signing than those guys.
Durant’s contract is 4 years $164 million. Oh and there is a 15 percent trade kicker in the contract. The first year Brooklyn is paying him to basically rehab. When he gets back, he will have missed a full year of basketball, will be way past the age of 30 and coming off one of the worst injuries in basketball. He will not be anywhere close to the elite player he’s been up to this point.
Kyrie Irving is older than Randle. He also has had ego/teammate issues at both The Celtics and The Cavs. Oh, and he isn’t exactly an workhorse either.
Kemba is 31 years old. Durable but he’s not going to be at his peak for the back end of his contract.
Age, terms of contract, length, future possible production vs. past production. Ask yourself if the Knicks had paid Durant, Kyrie or Kemba those contracts, would you be happy with that? Seriously?
I don’t agree that it’s extremely wrong. Durant is super-risky. Kyrie is injury-prone and a chemistry-killer. Kemba is grossly overpaid. They’re better players on paper but not better signings for this team right now. Randle wasn’t as splashy, but his contract is a much better fit in the grand scheme of things.
I mean, if you were only signing Kemba Walker, then yes, in that very specific scenario (where you would only sign Kemba Walker and no one else), you’d rather have Randle, but I’d easily prefer Durant and either one of Kyrie or Kemba to the Knicks’ free agent haul. Easily.
Morris is a very decent 2-way player. He’s underrated in the same way that Klay is underrated, not on Klay’s level, but in that his defense is not fully appreciated.
Payton is fine as a bridge to a better team, it’s been a long time since we had a legit triple-double guy at PG.
We actually do have shot creation…Trier, DSjr, Randle, Barrett (and possibly Iggy?) are all guys who can get their own shot. I’m looking forward to seeing whether Trier develops. He has a chance to be a 20+ scorer at good efficiency, maybe he improves a bit on D.
The more I think about it the more it seems pretty clear there are worse teams in the league than the Knicks, and that we’re probably not going to be accidentitanking to another 17 win season. This is probably an upper 20 win team, with some ability to scratch out some more wins if the veterans play lots of minutes and bring the scrappitude.
I’ve been used to rooting for the team to lose, but I’ll be pulling for them to win this year. So that’s… well, it’s something.
I would not want Durant at that price, age, and health status under any circumstances, let alone on a team full of holes. Adding Kyrie or Kemba murders the cap for the next 4-5 years. Kemba has not been all that good on O (below avg TS% last year, not a volume assist guy) and is a zero on D. Kyrie is a selfish boor that alienates his team and is a huge injury risk. Celts fans HATED him.
JK, If all players play pretty much as they did last year, I agree with you wholeheartedly. That’s the thing about a young team, you never know whether guys will gel and improve over their historical record. Look how Atlanta and Sacto took a big step forward largely on improvement of younger guys over expectations.
Randle is probably the only younger guy that can stay the same and you’d be happy. Payton probably plays like he did once he got healthy last year, probably gives $8 mill worth of production but I doubt the shot improves much, so he’s pretty much a given. Ellington, Morris, Gibson, and Bullock are what they are.
But we have no idea what will become of RJ, Knox, DSjr, Trier, Mitch, Iggy, or Frank. Any one of them could take a quantum leap, like Fox and Young did last year. Dotson and Portis also have room to improve and maybe the vets push them to a higher level of play.
I’m dying for training camp/preseason already!
Honestly, if we signed KD and one of Kemba/Kyrie, I’d be terrified that this would be the second coming of the STAT/Melo era. I have no trepidation whatsoever about this team, which is the main plus for me.
Well, check that, I do legitimately fear that RJ will be a huge disappointment and that Knox will continue to play like a total bust. But at least that’s recoverable. Long-term guaranteed contracts to aging/injury-prone/overrated stars is not.
Kemba and Kyrie are, according PIPM, RPM, et al., among the best players in the league. Kemba’s estimate is adding 10-12 wins; Kyrie added seomwhere around 7 wins according to PIPM, due to the injuries. (RPM does not like Kyrie so much, but still a very good player.)
Randle advanced percentiles:
POE 63rd
PIPM 57th
RPM 78th
RAPM 80th
A superstar? No, or not yet, at least. But excellent value from a durable player entering his athletic prime? Fuck yes. And I would gladly take the next two years of Randle over Durant’s age-32 season after not playing a minute of competitive NBA ball for 17 months. And add his 33 and 34 seasons, too, for good measure. Anyone here want to pay a 34-year-old Durant $42.7M in 2022-23?
PIPM and RPM? Hard to place any credibility in those stats. Even so,
Kemba ranks rock bottom in D-PIPM. Of PGs that played 2000+ minutes, only rookies Trae Young and Collin Sexton were worse. Is he that good on offense that you want to spend $36 million on him in his age 31-32 season? Not me.
Kyrie was the 18th best player by PIPM but again, has lots of issues with health and chemistry. Kemba is quite a bit further down the list. Kyrie is the far superior player on both ends by the numbers, but if Boston fans couldn’t warm up to him, that’s enough to discourage me from wanting any part of his fragile, smug self.
Length of contract is a pretty huge consideration. If you could sign Kyrie for 2 years @$40 mill with a team option for a third year, sure, why not. But a guaranteed $36 mill in year 4? Or Kemba’s player option in year 4 @ $37 million? Ugh! By then, Kemba will be Melo Jr. without the moronic attitude.
Kyrie has a high “eating vaseline on YouTube” factor.
I honestly have high hopes for Randle. I get that he’s not a very good defender and that he’s an unconventional player in today’s NBA, and if his shooting regresses he’ll find it harder to score efficiently. But he has shown he can score consistently inside against pretty much anyone and he’s a big threat that will command the respect of defenders, plus he’s not even 25 yet. He’ll get to the line a bunch and score at will, while giving you good rebounding on both ends. I’m really excited to see if he can continue to get better, and if he does, he might be a real star.
I like Randle, too, just not more than those other guys. But once they were turned down by everyone else, then yes, I thought Randle was the one guy they signed where it was a really good use of money to get him (Payton and Morris were also fine, but not to the same extent as Randle). I’ve been pro-Randle for some time now. Even back in his Lakers days.
https://nypost.com/2019/09/10/kevin-durant-was-just-different-than-the-rest-of-the-warriors/
Just what everybody needs,,, to listen to the whining of another selfish billionaire justifying his actions. For the record Durant is a truly great player but I’m supposed to feel sorry for him that he didn’t feel enough love from the SF media and that’s why he left… he wasn’t considered a true Warrior by the media? Well…. he actually wasn’t…. he was a hired gun who rented himself to GS. Bully for him. He’s going to love the NY media when things don’t meet expectations.
For those who lost friends and relatives 18 years ago…. I still don’t have the right words…. God Bless…
I have been legitimately shocked by how poorly Durant has been handling his PR since he signed with the Nets. Everything he says is just so full of shit. It’s like, why did you even bother if all you are going to do is spout off some obvious bullshit?
I mean all he had to do was be honest and say the 3 years were nice, I helped everyone get 2 more ringzz and everyone including management made a shit-ton of money, but I’m sorry I exploded my leg trying to pull a Willis and get a third ring for the guys. At this point in my career the only mountain left to climb is being the Zubin Metha of my team not the second fiddle and winning another ring. I thought the Nyets were the best possibility and NYC ain’t bad for my brand either.
Don’t these guys have PR flacks???
Normally I’d post under the new thread but since it’s a 9/11 thread I will try to keep the basketball talk here and chime in on where the Randle signing ranks. I agree with Jowles’ assessment:
I know it sounds crazy, but Randle was a better free agent signing than post-achilles Durant.
As for Kemba and Kyrie, though, sorry but those guys are elite PGs no matter how you slice it and whinging Celtics fans don’t factor into the equation. Impossible to rank Randle above those deals.
Ultimately it’s hard to argue with swiftandabundant about the narrative Kanter is promoting being bullshit. Players sign here. Yes, some of have been overpaid. But no one turns down a contract from the Knicks because Dolan is a clown.
Stars don’t because we haven’t been good. If we put a solid base in place, I can’t imagine stars wouldn’t want to come here because of Dolan. If we had drafted better and gotten luckier, and had a SGA-Mitchell backcourt with Zion in the front, does anyone really think Dolan would be a factor in any free agent’s mind?
The US is losing to France 84 to 79 with 0:27 left. Frank is plus 17 having played about 24 minutes.
Now the US is fouling and France making free throws.
US is out. I didn’t know it was on ESPN2 or I would have watched.
As soon as there’s a link, I’ll give the game its own thread. It seems kind of weird to discuss it here.
Game thread up!
http://KnickerBlogger.Net/espn-com-frank-ntilikina-single-handedly-snaps-team-usas-58-game-winning-streak/