Jake Nisse on the most important trade for the Knicks not involving the Knicks!
Someone had to do it.
After the Knicks were linked to All Star guard Russell Westbrook as a possible trade target, the Wizards pulled the trigger Wednesday night, sending oft-injured star John Wall and a first-round pick to the Houston Rockets, according ESPN. The Athletic reports that there are protections on the pick through the 2026 Draft.
Phew.
Unless, of course, the Wizards and/or the Rockets flip one of their newly acquired point guards to the Knicks later, of course. But that’s a fear for another day! For now, this is a great thing.
And because we have to have all poll, all the time…
Sorry, there are no polls available at the moment.
193 replies on “NY Post: Rockets trade Russell Westbrook for John Wall in shocking NBA blockbuster”
I mean, I see why many people would consider this a double L trade, but I don’t think so…
I voted Houston just because of the pick, but I think it’s pretty tied. No one got much different in terms of basketball, but it’s a distraction less for both franchises (both Wall and Russell wanted out).
Basketball-wise, I think the Wizards got better, since John Wall played his last game in 2018, and Westbrook has had less injuries, but whatever. Knicks fans can now breath relieved.
Houston got an upgrade defensively and a 1st round pick for a guy who didn’t fit with their best player (even though literally nobody fits next to Harden these days).
Also, it would be foolish to believe that the Knicks won’t try to get in on the James Harden sweepstakes. There’s no way Dolan wants to see Harden and Durant together across the river, and we can realistically offer the Rockets 4 1st round picks and a swap over the next 3 drafts. The play could be to pump up Julius Randle’s value under Thibs (lol), pair him with Robinson, Smith Jr, and a legion of draft picks for Harden, and then sign Gobert in free agency. Crazier things have likely been discussed at MSG, like bringing in David Fizdale because KD is a lock to be a Knick.
I think the Wizards won the trade simply because they’re closer to their objective than Houston. The Wizards want to keep Beal so they were never tanking in the first place, and Westbrook is more helpful in terms of reaching the 7th seed in the east than whatever John Wall is able to do after 2 years on the sidelines. The Rockets, on the other hand, should be desperate to convince Harden to stay, mostly because they have no picks so tanking isn’t a good option, but grabbing Wall and a 2023 protected first is very unlikely to convince Harden to stay. Wall was never great to begin with and he last played in December 2018, there’s no way he’ll be even remotely the same player he was, specially since he’s a career .324 shooter from 3 who probably lost his only elite attribute which was speed.
I don’t think Washington will be any good, but they’ll be exciting to watch and Westbrook will draw some interest, which is welcome for a team that has so often been forgotten lately, while Houston still looks like a dumpster fire basically.
Neither team as currently constituted wins a championship next year, so it’s a wash.
I will admit that I think Westbrook is one of the worst players in the league – because his counting stats put him on a tier 1 payment scale, but his actual value is so much lower and he burns so many possessions. He’s a fugazi star, like Derrick Coleman once was. Those guys are worse than just regular NBA guys who suck because their usage is so high and their damage so widespread. I also wonder what a locker room is like when your point guard is routinely going 8-22.
Anyway, they (Wall/Westbrook) ain’t on the Knicks, so I’m lighting up a cigar. And if this creates a potential landing spot for Harden, at least that makes some sense. I mean, I hate Hardenball and dislike watching him play, but he is a legit offensive star.
The trade , IMO, is a wash and just shifts disfunction. My hope, however, is that Houston turns out to be better, so they push down that Dallas 1st round pick. But Wall is not as good or healthy as Westbrook, which is why that conditional 1st is included.
Dallas’ unprotected 1RP is such a fragile asset and it all comes down to how many games Luka Doncic plays. If Luka has a season ending injury early on, the Knicks will very likely have 2 picks in the top 7 of this draft. If Luka is an ironman and plays 60+ games they’re a bottom 4 playoff team.
trade makes sense for both teams… really wish we saw more of the rockets with cp3…. washington is actually kinda sorta interesting instead of totally forgettable…. wall was not going to give anyone anything for the rest of his career and he wasn’t all that good healthy anyway…..
westbrook could conceivably have a bounceback year…. and washington has enough good interesting young talent to surprise…. they will at least be watchable and i always root for more watchable games…
The real winner is the Knicks being saved from themselves.
The only problem with that scenario is that there’s no way in hell that Harden would accept a trade to the Knicks. It’s clear as day that he wants to compete for a ring. He’s already 31. He left 50 million per year on the table. His window is right freaking now. He wouldn’t come to New York to see his buddies in Brooklyn outclassing his team.
Could we please agree about not mentioning a possible freaky season-ending Luka Doncic injury every time we mention the Dallas pick? I know both things are deeply connected and interest the Knicks, but we do not need to speak that evil into existence, y’know? I know nobody really hopes that something like that happen, but it feels uncomfortable even discussing it.
I think discussing injuries with Doncic is fair game because he’s been injury prone so far. For instance, I think it’d be fair game to say “If Player X gets injured, Team Y is in trouble” if Player X has a history of injuries. So guys like Durant, Kyrie, Zion and Luka are fair game.
Now, if you start saying, “If Devin Booker suffers a freak injury, the Suns are in trouble” or “If Dame suffers a fluke injury, the Blazers will be toast,” then yeah, that’s probably a bit of a stretch.
The protections on the pick are so strong that I think we have to look at it largely on the basis of the two players. If Wall somehow gets healthy again, he might be better than late-stage Russ, but for this season, I see a higher probability of a vengeful Russ carrying the Wiz to the playoffs than I do Wall being both healthy and good enough to both appease Harden and help carry the Rockets deeper into the playoffs. So I voted Washington.
And shame on Brian for not including the Knicks as a third choice. We could still deal for one of these guys down the road, but we’re spared from our worst impulses for now.
Harden doesn’t have a no trade clause though. For us, we would be adding him to a team with space for another max contract slot in a year where Rudy Gobert and Giannis Antetokounmpo could be free agents. Macri always says that nobody wants to be the first guy in the door, so the Knicks know they either have to draft a superstar (and it does not seem this team wants to wait and develop) or land one in a trade. If you land Harden at the deadline and don’t empty your entire boat of assets, you could have Harden and Gobert together with Toppin and one of Quickly and Barrett.
Ultimately I think James Harden ends up in Philly because nobody will be willing to outbid Morey’s Ben Simmons + everything but Embiid package, but I’m pretty sure the Knicks will be convincing themselves that a Harden trade gets us meetings with the big fish.
Meanwhile, Berman guested on Macri’s latest podcast. I haven’t listened to the whole thing yet, but it’s a pleasant surprise, in that Berman’s analysis of both the team and the new front office is much sharper and more measured than the stuff he’s written about lately for the Post. i.e., he agrees with us that it’s good the team didn’t bring in big name veterans, though he says that was Plan A all along.
All the answers would be the Knicks! The current options are less obvious.
Accidentally posted this on the last thread:
Houston is acting very Knicksy. Two recovering former all stars in their new starting lineup. So glad we don’t have that problem anymore.
And yeah..Harden is definitely getting traded. Most likely for Brooklyn’s package and I don’t wanna see that. I’d love to see him traded back to OKC for SGA and some of that War Chest that Presti has built up, but Harden wants a chip so that’s not gonna happen
A Houston beat writer tweeted last night that they are sticking to their guns in only wanting to trade Harden if they get a young franchise cornerstone, plus a picks package similar to what Milwaukee gave up for Jrue. Brooklyn can do the latter but not the former, whereas the Sixers can do both by using Simmons if they want to.
Totes mentioned on the last thread that he thinks that Harden winds up on the Nets, but he would hate that. I get the sentiment, but my guess is that if that trade went through, the Nets would potentially be amazing for 2 years, 3 tops, but would be so bereft of assets that they would then be crippled for a long time. And that’s if KD and Irving stay healthy. Even the best case sort of fits our timeline if we rebuild somewhat properly. Honestly, I’d rather see the Nets win it all than either more LeBron or the Celtics.
Z-Man, I only care about the Nets to the degree that their success would influence what our management does. i.e., if Dolan gets so angry about Brooklyn winning a title and/or dominating the back pages that he pushes Rose to make a lot of stupid short-term moves.
Which feels wholly plausible to me. Time is a flat circle.
I don’t get it, though. Who’s trading a “franchise cornerstone” period? The best young players we have seen traded in these big deals have been Brandon Ingram and SGA and Ingram hadn’t really shown any signs of actually being that good at the time of the trade and SGA isn’t really that good.
Houston also has much more leverage than those other situations, though, because of how much longer the Beard is under contract. I feel like they could extract Simmons if they play their cards right.
Maybe, Alan. Or maybe the smooth-takling Rose convinces him that they sold their souls and trying to out-star-fuck them will lead to another decade of topping out at early playoff exits. Or maybe Rose pulls a Miami/Dallas-style fast rebuild out of his ass. So much depends on Obi and RJ, and to a lesser degree Mitch. If they shine, anything could happen.
I have that Macri/Berman podcast a listen to and am at a loss to explain how you could cover the Knicks for a living and think Julius Randle is the teams best player
I was thinking Philly is in the driver’s seat to land Harden, but I don’t know how much that works anymore with Wall now in Houston. Do you take on Ben Simmons with Wall on your books already when neither guy is a shooting threat and they both need the ball? You’d be paying close to $80M a year for diminishing value.
I don’t know. The more I think about this is the more I believe the Knicks are in prime position to land James Harden. It’s going to cost us everything, but there’s a select group of teams I can see as a long term destination for Harden:
Brooklyn – I don’t think Fertita will send him here even if they offer the best deal, and they can’t.
Golden State – they’ll probably have two picks in the top 20 of this draft and they’re not going to wait around for Wiseman to develop or for Klay’s achilles to heal. Wiseman plus the GSW/MIN picks will be a hard offer to beat.
Miami – do they have the assets? Probably not.
Boston – Ainge could offer Jaylen Brown and a host of picks and they have that TPE to make the trade work.
New York – Our best package looks like RJ Barrett, Obi Toppin, Kevin Knox, Mitchell Robinson, both 2021 picks, both 2023 picks, and swap rights in 2022 and 2024. You give up everything, go hard after Rudy Gobert which allows you to walk into 21-22 with the best offensive and defensive players in the league. We’ve seen Thibs’ Wolves trade for Butler with no guarantees that he’d stick around so I can see his Knicks doing something similar.
It all depends on who Houston wants. I can see their coveting Jaylen Brown, and it’s doubly spiteful to send Harden to an Atlantic Division rival instead of Brooklyn. Philly can offer Simmons but Houston has to move Wall in order for that to work, and that’s going to cost assets neither team can afford. Brooklyn’s offer won’t be enough to offset that low pick value. I don’t know who outbids us.
I can’t imagine a dumber trade than this. If it happens even I might give up on the team.
It would be a smart move for them, but Stevens might have a coronary and Smart might punch Harden if the face.
The reason I think it was a terrible trade for Houston is because the thing they needed most is cap relief. They traded for the only supermax contract even more untradeable than Westbrook’s and got a measly mid-first rounder for it. I have no doubt that if they were a little more patient they could have dumped Westbrook for smaller/shorter/more movable contracts. Maybe they would have had to throw in the draft pick they got for Covington, but imho it would have been worth it.
I’m with you on this, but I definitely believe this team is very much in the star chasing business. We wanted to sign Gordon Hayward and trade for CP3. We’re keeping tabs on Victor Oladipo and we took Obi Toppin over a higher upside guy like Avdija or Lewis Jr. We kept cap flexibility going forward and every draft asset we landed due to the cap space flip is more of a trade chip than an actual building block. There’s just no way the Knicks don’t call and get in on this Harden stuff, especially if it means Brooklyn won’t get a top 5 at worst player in the league.
I’d be so much more excited to draft Cade Cunningham/Evan Mobley and Ayo Dosunmu, but I think the only that happens is if God himself intervenes and keeps our Knicks on the draft and development path.
There’s star-chasing and there’s getting pennies on the dollar for your best assets. There are few players in the history of the league in their primes that would merit a trade like that. Harden is not one of them.
I fully believe Fertita’s Rockets are the new Knicks. Morey’s in Philly turning water to wine and Houston is giving Christian Wood $40M before he’s played 2,000 NBA minutes, signing DeMarcus Cousins, and trading for John Wall. They might actually trade Harden to Brooklyn for their assortment of solid starters.
The Milwaukee Bucks just traded like 4 first round picks for Jrue Holiday. Houston would be an NBA laughingstock if they got less than that.
Berman’s use is being the guy who people leak shit to. Not for anything having to do with actually evaluating basketball. Unless you’re referring to Macri, in which case, that’s disappointing.
Ha, I haven’t gotten up to that part yet. There’s an argument to be made that at the moment, Blue and Orange Julius is our best offensive player, in that he can initiate offense for himself in a way that Mitch can’t, but I really don’t want to re-litigate yesterday’s Clarke/RJ debate.
Per Woj, AD is close to finalizing a 5-year, $190 million deal with the Lakers. I wasn’t expecting him to ever come here, but now he’s really not coming here.
TGHR, none of the examples you cite jibe with your proposed trade. If we offered a decent package we could have had CP3 or Westbrook easily. Hayward was available for just cap space. If Oladipo could be had on the cheap, we would have him by now, and clearly they won’t overpay for him. Toppin was widely considered a top-5 pick and has just as much upside as Avdija, maybe more. Kira would have been a reach. You are suggesting that Dolan will force a trade twice as dumb as Melo, STAT and Bargnani combined to preempt BKN from getting Harden. That degree of paranoia might merit a check-in at the nearest mental health crisis center.
Expecting Vermin to be KB-level enlightened is a bridge too far. The other day Scal asked Frank Asshola why Knicks fans made such a big deal about Mitch, what did they see that he wasn’t seeing. Frank was dismissive, like “I dunno, he blocks a lot of shots and has some big dunks…”
No need to go this far at 8AM, but okay.
I also want to clarify my stance on a Harden to NY trade:
Having James Harden and cap space makes us a major player in free agency and the NBA landscape. I’m also not suggesting that we should offer the house for Harden, but simply that few if any teams have a better offer than our best offer. Looking at the Anthony Davis trade, LAL gave up Ball, Ingram, Hart, and a king’s ransom worth of picks. Jrue Holiday just got traded for 3 1sts and Eric Bledsoe, who is still a good basketball player. I can’t see Houston settling for less than 3 1s and a young blue chip prospect. Maybe Barrett, Randle, the 2021s and Dallas’ 2023 is all takes, but I don’t believe the Knicks will sit by idly and not at the very least hike the price up on Brooklyn.
If Wall really is healthy, I think it works better for Houston(if Harden stays) because Wall won’t hijack the offense like Westbrook, and he shoots better. Plus he’s a better playmaker. But I still expect Harden to force his way out. You just can’t bank on Wall and Boogie bein healthy- especially if you want a chip as bad as Harden does. I kinda feel bad for Silas
Thinking about the trade I think you have to conclude that in all likelihood Washington won the asset game – Wall is a total wildcard, but it’s very likely to be a low card. I think Wall is almost getting the benefit of the doubt for not having played in so long, whereas we’ve all been witness to Westbrook’s decline. But Westbrook is only a little less than 2 years older, and Wall literally hasn’t been healthy in three years. Seriously, this time in 2017 was the last truly healthy stretch he had. That’s more than an eternity in the lifespan of an NBA basketball player. On average I have to think that one pretty heavily protected 1st for the exchange of a total unknown for a guy in Westbrook who (warts and all) is still generally playing at an all-star level has to be good for Washington.
Butt strategically I like it much more for Houston. For Washington the upside here is what? Maybe instead of losing in the play-in tournament they can squeak through and lose in the 1st round instead? I think their road to winning a 1st round series in the next few years is very, very narrow even after this deal. Throwing future 1st round picks in to try to bolster that level of team is not only Bad NBA Management 101, it’s the lesson they teach on like the first day of class. For Houston, on the other hand, the move makes sense from a strategic perspective – they’ve already played basically every card they have to try to contend in Harden’s prime and weren’t particularly close last year. Taking a gamble on Wall doesn’t really cost them anything in terms of championship equity since they had none to spend and in the likely event that he’s a total zero they’re in pretty much the same situation they were otherwise – looking to trade Harden and kick off a rebuild, but will be doing it with an extra pick in their pocket.
Some noise about Randle and Frank involved in a deal for Buddy Heild. Makes some sense but I think there would need to be more to it than that.
BTW, I keep looking at our roster and can’t help but wonder where defense (aside from our centers) is coming from. Thibs has a lot of work to do.
This is what I mean about kind of giving Wall the benefit of the doubt because he hasn’t been healthy. Obviously there’s the massive acknowledged risk that he just can’t stay on the court, but the assumption in comments like this seems to be that if he can stay on the court he still looks like roughly the same player. Even guys who stay totally healthy almost always decline somewhat between 27 and 30. Many of them decline dramatically during that period. What’s the expected level of decline for a guy that age who barely played during that period? How confident are we that John Wall can still play at an all-star level? At a starter level? At a replacement level?
I think the trade was more or less a wash. They both got rid of players that wanted out. Washington got the better player (perhaps a lot better given we don’t know what Wall has left) but Houston got a pick they will desperately need when the inevitable rebuild starts.
Both teams were not in a good position before the trade and both are not in a good position now.
I think Washington is understandably desperate to keep Beal. He can be a major piece, but it’s going to be hard to build a contender from their current position.
Houston should have done everything they could to just to blow up the team, get some space, get some picks and/or young players and start over. They aren’t going anywhere from here quickly and Harden’s value will eventually start diminishing. They should probably go all out to trade him for the seeds of a rebuild.
Sad as I would be to say goodbye to the hope that one day Frank becomes the platonic ideal of himself, that’s a no-brainer trade in terms of rebalancing the roster — which is why we’d probably have to give up more to make it happen.
I’m not a big Hield fan on his current contract.
WAS won the trade simply because Westbrook is durable and still able to dominate the ball for 38 minutes a night. As literally everyone notes, Wall hasn’t played a game since 2018. Contracts are a wash and the pick compensation is minimal.
Shouldn’t be surprised when Beal asks for a trade. I wonder if WAS is dumb enough to trade him for Wiggins. Pretty sure GSW would do that in a heartbeat. They’d get slaughtered on defense but score 120 a night.
You kidding? I called the suicide hotline just from reading your post
I mean Walton just said that Hield is not a guaranteed starter and he’s signed for $20 mill for the next 4 years. That’s a huge red flag for me.
Why can’t we wait for a preseason game or two before we rush into a deal?
Glass Half,
You can’t compare a trade the Bucks made to a theoretical Harden trade.
Every trade is different. There is no set base or limit to what a star player can or cannot get in a trade because every team’s situation is different at the time they make that trade and some teams make brilliant trades and other make dumb ones.
The Bucks are terrified of losing Giannis after this season. He’s a top 5 player who is just entering his prime. If he stays, they are contenders for the next 5 years. If he leaves, they completely start over and are bottom dwellers. So yeah, they traded a bunch of picks to get Holiday because they are going all in right now.
Houston is in a completely different situation. Yes, Harden is way better than Holiday but he’s also at the end of his prime. He’s got 2 seasons tops where he’s a top 5 player. Houston all ready went all in with him when they traded for CP3 and they got to game 7 of the WCF and have been slowly sliding backwards since.
So its a completely different scenario for them. I’m not saying they’re going to trade him for nothing. But they also can’t necessarily expect a team like The Knicks to trade all of their young players and picks for 2 seasons of prime Harden surrounded by nobodies with no draft capital.
I get that you think The Knicks are the same ole star f*cking Knicks but I just don’t see them trading everything to get James Harden. Are Giannis or Gobert going to leave their current situations to team up with one or two seasons of good Harden when they can stay where they are or go to a better team? Rose has shown himself to not be stupid. The stuff about Haywood and CP3…maybe those were just ideas he was contemplating. You want to hold it against him that he thought about maybe getting those dudes when, in fact, did not. He didn’t offer Haywood a contract like Charlotte did. He didn’t offer FVV a huge contract to entice him away from Toronto. Why would he blow his load for Harden?
Yeah the fact that the pick has so much protection on it to me makes it a win for Washington. Russ’ has more in the tank and its a shorter contract. Hell, they might be able to flip Russ in a few months or next year and get a pick back somewhere.
The wildcard is Wall, though. If he actually can return to form (a huge “if”) then Houston has won the trade. But odds are that won’t happen.
washington should send beal and the holiday pick package to houston for harden just for the laughs
I’d pass on that Hield deal. Yes, it arranges the pieces better on this roster, but who cares really? That’s just shuffling deck chairs at this point and taking on a long-term, big-money commitment for a good-not-great player as he enters his 30s (and giving up on Frank for whatever that is or is not worth) to do so…I just don’t see the point. This roster is built to go 25-47 and it’s going to do so admirably.
The Hield proposal makes sense in that Randle is superfluous on this team and we need shooting, but it doesn’t make sense in that Hield is not very good and has a bad contract. It’s not a terrible deal, but I wouldn’t be excited by it that’s for sure.
given the pick protections and the likely counterfactual, i think this trade is a win for the wizards. they didn’t want to trade beal and they are stuck in wall’s contract. despite being 2 years young he has a much better chance of being completely dead money than rwb. the wizards are actually plus 1 or 2 per 100 last year in the 1000 minutes that bertans and beal played together. rwb is a half decent fit with those two, but only if the wiz can bring in a little more defense via trade. they signed rolo (who tried shooting 3s last year fyi), but pairing bryant and rui with the big 3 is a defensive nightmare. it’s not ideal, but if they do a half decent job of shoring up the defense and rui and/or deni become productive, their next two years are a nice leap from what probably would have happened, and they didn’t crater either their cap or their future assets.
His contract is surprisingly good. It decreases after this season. Heild is a legit tier-3 starter.
20/21: $25M
21/22: $19M
22/23: $19M
23/24: $21M
By that measure, every trade in the NBA makes you the laughingstock… Now seriously, MIL is sending 1sts way into the future (2025, 2027) and swaps (2024, 2026) which might bite them hard. They wanted gone all-in with Antetokounmpo and did not have any other assets to trade. Picks that far into the future are hard to trade except for teams willing to openly admit that they are not contending till 2025, and there are very few of those (even if there should be way more).
Do you think the Rockets are willing to sell their fans 2 first round picks and 2 swaps that will happen in 4 or 5 years? They want a shiny new toy, and there arent too many of those available. The most reallistic trades are with a playoff team that can part with a semi-young player to improve to contender status. Somebody like:
-Ben Simmons
-Oladipo
-Jaylen Brown
along a couple of presumably very low 1st round picks, and some swaps. But you are not getting a young franchise cornerstone. No team is trading Trae Young/Zion/Doncic/Ja Morant in a rush when they are looking at 8 years of great play ahead for 2 years of Harden when the rest of the team might not be ready to contend. I dont know if we could sell on RJ Barrett to be that guy. He definitely has a chance to be a great player, but I do not consider it to be a high chance, and he still has the Duke #3 draft pick shine to sell to the Houston fanbase. In any case, if you plan to get Harden, you keep Mitchell Robinson. Also, NYK 1st round picks tend to very valuable ones, even if you get Harden, you do not offer 4 of those, because it is still the Knicks and things can get ugly fast (a NYK 1st has been worth more than two 1st from MIL and play with…
I specifically said $20 mill and he is not a legit tier 3 starter, again, he was taken out of the starting lineup last year and even after Bogs got traded, Walton would not commit to starting him. He’s a TH2-level player on an even worse contract. We don’t need that right now.
Yeah, I think Buddy is overpaid, but he’s a very good high volume 3 point shooter, which is something that is going to be in demand in the league moving forward, so his deal should be moveable. He really sucks on defense and isn’t much of a passer, which is why I’d rather not have him, but I’ve seen this team do a lot dumber shit.
Sacto not starting him doesn’t mean much, they’re a clown organization
It just makes no sense on this team. We finally have a clean cap and I don’t get the rush to sully it with the first shiny object that pops up. Let Burks give you 10% less on O and 80% better on D. Then go on to the next Burks.
According to one article I read, Hield views his reduction in minutes as a ruse by Kings management to prevent him from reaching some performance based incentives in his deal that could be worth as much as an extra $3 MM/yr. He’s unhappy with the team and reportedly wants out and the team appears willing to accommodate him. A package of Randle + Frank would work from a salary standpoint. If both sides are indeed motivated, that alone should be enough to git er dun.
That being said, I’d prefer to stand pat and suck with Randle this year rather than aspire to mediocrity with BH for the next three. Plus, I’m one of those misguided souls who still harbors an irrational affection for Frank and hope he sticks around. If the Kings are truly dangling Hield. I hope Rose does not take the bait.
Z-Man,
This is where you and I are on opposite ends of the “how to fix the Knicks” spectrum. He’s better than all the current wings on the Knicks and $20M is not a bad contract. He’s the kind of talent that says to free agents that there is talent on the Knicks. And yes, he fits in well.
BHield for Randle: Ok
BHield for Randle + 1 beer: No
BHield for Randle + Frank: Fuck Off
No need whatever to put Frank in that deal, particularly if, as asserted, he’s a “bust” with “no value.” I’d be fine with Randle for Hield.
Hield isn’t on a terrible contract unless he’s truly godawful on defense. I suspect he mailed it in last year on a dysfunctional Kings team that benched him.
Burks isn’t exactly known for his defense and last year was his only year at above league average efficiency. This means Bullock & Burks to the bench & Rivers IS backup PG. Suddenly, we’d have a crap ton of shooting.
Payton/Rivers
Hield/Burks
RJ/Bullock
Toppin/Spellman/MKG
Mitch/Noel
We could also stagger Payton and RJ so we only have 1 non-shooter on the court at a time (unless MKG is above Spellman on the depth chart).
A reasonable Knicks package for Harden incl.
Randle+RJ+Knox+DSJ+2 to 3 first round picks wouldn’t hurt me but i see it pretty impossible to persuade Houston.
I threw this rumor out there but I make the trade … if I were the Kings.
And I really don’t think it happens.
The Kings played hardball with him when negotiating his extension last season and he clearly didn’t like it. Eventually, they settled on a four-year, $94 million deal that could reach $106 million if he hits certain performance bonuses.
It’s hard to hit those bonuses from the bench, though. So, naturally, when he was benched last season in place of Bogdan Bogdanovic, he wasn’t happy about that either.
https://www.prosportsdaily.com/articles/buddy-hield-liked-a-tweet-that-sure-made-it-seem-hes-unhappy-with-the-kings-661746.html
The devil is in the details. What, exactly, is it that Hield needs to do in order to reach those performance bonuses? More to the point(zz): Do Knicks fans really want to spend the next three years watching an unleashed Hield “bonus-chasing” as the the team’s #1 or 1A option?
Pass.
“He’s (Giannis) a top 5 player who is just entering his prime.”
He’s a back to back MVP who is just entering his prime.
Hield is like the fully realized version of Nick Young and I always thought Nick Young was going to be a Knick so this all feels very likely to me.
I wouldn’t be super excited about that trade, but hypothetically, if we give Hield some burn and he gets lots of pointz, that’s a tradeable asset, no? And if not, he’s a perfectly cromulent starter on a non-albatross contract that gives us elite shooting, which Mitch and Barrett would probably benefit from. I’d prefer to just use Burks, who like Z-man notes does like 80% of what Hield does at a tiny fraction of the same price, but I wouldn’t feel especially bad if we dump Randle/Frank for Hield. Heck, Sacramento is dumb enough that we might be able to throw in Knox for a pick.
I don’t envy Thib’s job with this roster. There are a lot of players with different strengths and weaknesses that seem at least close enough in ability that when you also consider age and upside it’s going to tricky to distribute the minutes. Some players we’d probably like to see get minutes may wind up buried at the end of the bench unless there are injuries. Some injuries will surely happen along the way, but there are a few logjams for who’s going to be first man off the bench and who will get buried and some questions about who will start.
Sacto is MIllsdale level of clownshoes and I have little doubt they did that to Hield. I put no stock whatever in their basketball decisions.
Are we talking import or domestic beer?
#Knew Your Nicks: BHield for Randle: Ok
BHield for Randle + 1 beer: No
BHield for Randle + Frank: Fuck Off
Are we talking import or domestic beer?#
Bootleg Lager of the lowest grade! Unknown Origin! lol
Who says no to Hield for Randle and DSJ?
(Which puts DSJ somewhere below Bootleg Lager.)
Throw in Knox for a pick?
I’m more interested in clearing detritus than getting Hield, to be honest…
Putting Frank or Knox as a freebie or a sweetener in a possible Randle trade ain’t that smart imo.
I’d love to watch them both play under a true Nba coach before i wave them my blue hat and my orange handkerchief.
Randle + Perry= Hield + 2021 & 2023 2nd round picks.
This isn’t really what I’m saying. I’m saying that:
1) James Harden is a top 5 player overall and a top 2 regular season player. He’s going to command a haul back in any trade.
2) The Knicks still want star players based on everything out there.
3) Feel how you want to, but none of the GMs in the Atlantic Division will just let Brooklyn have easy negotiations with Houston.
I don’t think the Knicks should offer the house for anybody. I am firmly against any trade for a star player on his 3rd contract, but if you don’t think the Knicks will be involved in talks for James Harden you are kidding yourself. You don’t acquire 2 dozen 2RPs because you plan on one day having a roster comprised of 2nd round picks. You do it because you’re stocking your asset trove for a trade, and Harden is as big a fish as you’ll see on the trade market. I also don’t think that our absolute best offer is what it would take to land Harden, either as much as I was comparing what we could give as opposed to what the Nets or 76ers could pony up (considering they won’t trade Kyrie).
I’m actually not pessimistic about this front office nor do I think they will rush to make a bad decision. I never really thought Westbrook or Wall were ever in play here, and I respect that they put a price on everything. Harden, however, is a game changing talent who makes us a very real threat to sign the biggest free agent names. Leon Rose’s staff knows that, and there will be interest from our FO if only so that Brooklyn can’t steal Harden for nothing.
“Who says no to Hield for Randle and DSJ?
(Which puts DSJ somewhere below Bootleg Lager.)
Throw in Knox for a pick?
I’m more interested in clearing detritus than getting Hield, to be honest…”
There were times during the previous season when i wanted the knicks to trade Randle and DSJ for almost anything possible. A shoe, an egg, something…
Thibs makes me wanna watch EVEN if DSJ is able to become an nba player again!
Also, the Buddy Hield talk is probably just Knicks-Twitter conspiracy theory stuff. It doesn’t make any sense for the Knicks to take an older player with a longer deal even if he fits the team better. It speaks to Buddy Hield’s value around the league if a team that already has Marvin Bagley and Tyrese Halliburton would trade him for Julius Randle and Frank Ntilikina.
Nothing to see here.
Is a straight swap of Randle for Hield even possible, salary-wise? IIRC, Randle’s salary is several million less than the $25 MM Hield is slated to earn in 20/21. Correct me if I’m wrong, but wouldn’t the Knicks have to throw in either Frank or DSJ to make the numbers work?
no we have enough cap room to do it straight up
I don’t know if it would work or not but I think you can do a straight swap if the salaries are within a certain percentage of each other (like 5 percent of something like that). So it could be within the margin.
I would totally throw in DSJ and not be worried about it. Frank I would want to hold on to if possible.
Harden belongs on a team like the Jazz. If you do dumb math and replace Mitchell’s shot attempts with Harden’s on last year’s Jazz team, they add about 240 points (~3.5 per game) and also gain whatever Harden gains as a passer (about double the AST rate). Let’s say that Harden’s passes are fully offset by his matador defense. Jazz go from a MOV of 2.4 to ~6, which is 5th in the league, ahead of the LeCoast Lakers. Instant title contenders. And while one might assume that SLC’s meager strip clubs per capita figure might affect his approval of a trade to SLC, see this robust study:
https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/dt0ucg/i_analyzed_james_hardens_performance_in_every_nba/
Also I will not tolerate more aggression between Z-man and djphan. Both worthy contributors, deserving of mutual respect, even if djphan has never been more wrong about a player than he is about Clarke. The two of you will play nice or I will write another post threatening you with nebulous, toothless censure!
I think the Wizards made out like bandits. Going from completely dead money in Wall to Westbrook, who was actually really good for a lot of last season, at the price of one heavily protected pick is a huge win.
Now, it doesn’t really bring them any closer to contention but they’ve never really strived for that anyway and some excitement for the next two years instead of the dreck that was scheduled to take place might honestly be more valuable to them than that pick.
Honestly, that pick is so heavily protected you could even justify the trade from an asset collection perspective–Westbrook could conceivably play himself into having more trade value than that pick.
As for the Rockets, maybe you could argue they had to do something like this but not getting more from Washington seems like a huge negotiating failure. Was there ever a possibility that Washington would offer less as time went on, and Beal’s contractual clock ticked?
Before we spend multiple days debating the merits of a Randle/Frank for Hield trade it’s worth noting this “rumor” is based on Frank changing his Instagram bio or something.
Anyway, maybe I’m wrong but I don’t think Hield has entered distressed asset territory such that they’d trade him for our pupu platter of guys we don’t want. There would probably be at least decent one pick and/or a guy we actually do want involved. For that reason I’m definitely out.
The hypothetical asset neutral Randle/Frank trade is a tougher call. I think I’d do it because Hield’s skillset is so highly sought after we could probably flip him for assets without much pain. However that’s exactly why we ain’t getting him for Randle and Frank so it’s an academic question.
100% agree.
I would agree that no halfway sensible team would accept Randle/Frank or Randle/DSJ for Buddy, but this is the Kings we’re talking about. They might be the only team dumber than us, and they seem to be antagonizing Buddy with the contract stuff.
If the reports out of Sactown are true, it’s by now apparent that Hield wants out and that the Kings are eager to be shut of him. That’s a bad starting place in any negotiation, regardless of the actual or perceived value of the asset.
There will no doubt be suitors other than the Knicks who come a knockin’. With all of them believing Sacto to be a highly motivated seller and thereby dealing from a position of weakness, I’d be surprised if anyone ponies up anything of significant value. The Kings will be left to choose from the best of several low ball offers. I agree that someone else will likely offer a better poo poo platter than Randle/Frank but I’ll be genuinely surprised if the winning bid winds up being all that much better.
Kinda surprised nearly half the board said Houston did better with this trade.
The Buddy Hield thing isn’t happening, so no need to waste time on it.
Matching salaries is only an issue if we are over the cap. We currently have ~$19 million in cap space. We could do the trade (salary wise) for Frank’s ~$6M alone.
Guys, you’re forgetting one key element that could make this trade possible for us.
Perry has information about someone in The King’s organization from his time there and can use it to blackmail them unless they make a lopsided trade in our favor that helps him keep his job!
Last night I voted Washington as the winners. They got out from under Wall at the cost of only one protected pick? Wow.
Yeah, Hield for Randle would be easy to say “yes” to, but I’d imagine that they would want more, and not DSJ or Frank. Maybe Knox?
The Kings are dumb, like Knicks-dumb, I’m not sure we need more other than Hield wants out and Randle scores points.
How about Randle-Toppin-a poster of Frank dunking in Gobert’s face signed by Frank for Hield-Halliburton-6 pack of Bud?
there is a “new” regime in Sacto, like Dumars and Monte McNair…so perhaps with more competency then Vlade…so I thought there would be an uptick in quality but the Bogdonavic situation cast a shadow of doubt on this theory…but one more questionable move, i.e, trading Hield for Randle like quality would suggest it is more of the same for that organeyezation…
just curious – why do folks think there is still hope for kevin knox to turn in to a good player?
just from “rumors” it seems our front office values him a lot – i like the kid a lot myself, as a person…i just am having a hard time seeing what value (or potential value) he brings to the floor…
what’s the best case for kevin knox?
#just curious – why do folks think there is still hope for kevin knox to turn in to a good player?#
Kool Shoot mechanics
Young
New Coach
#what’s the best case for kevin knox?#
Cloudy Sky is the limit
Tobias Harris is the guy I think of as an upside scenario. Sweet stroke for a bigger wing, some secondary shot creation chops, sort of average-ish at a lot of things.
I also like him as a comp because part of what it’s important to understand about Tobias Harris is that he’s been consistently valued more highly than you’d expect based on his numbers in part because big wings who can shoot are such a highly desired player type – super versatile, fit in every lineup. That’s the pro-Knox case I would make if forced to argue that position: if he can just become sort of decent-ish at a bunch of things he’s currently really bad at and start making the amount of 3s you’d think he should based on how the shot looks, well then his size and shooting ability will make him a really nice piece. It’s a reach obviously but that’s the case.
Any argument you make for Frank’s offense or RJ Barrett applies to Knox. He’s young, he can kinda shoot, he can handle the ball a bit, he’s shown some ability to defend in spurts.
I could definitely see him developing into a solid stretch PF at some point. I don’t know that I’d wait 5 years for that, but who knows. Look, it worked for Brandon Ingram.
there really isn’t any hope for kevin knox.. there is no precedent for any non-pg making it in the nba with a 2p fg% below 40% in their rookie year.. let alone their first two….
his only hope of getting another contract is to get hot and turn into a 3p specialist… but he’s not really shooting all that great from deep either so *shrug*…. i’m sure there are people who will be nice or inherently think that everyone has a chance or just stanning knox… but there just isn’t anything here….
As an art person, I just want to add that Brooklyn’s new Basquiat-themed jerseys are both hideous and embarrassing (and are also a clear play by a cabal of billionaire art collectors like Tsai to further boost the value of their own Basquiats). Who is the Nets’ target market? Dan Bilzerian? When is the special KAWS Christmas-edition jersey going to drop?
It was a pretty severe bummer to see Knox’s shooting numbers regress in his second season. You could sort of squint at his 3PT% as a rookie and see a path for him but stinking out the joint as a sophomore was not a great sign. You could see how he COULD be a useful player but it’s getting into “if my aunt had balls” territory.
just because brandon ingram exists doesn’t mean there’s a free license to invoke ingram on every terrible young player…
I personally do believe Keith Smart fucked up everyone’s shot last year, including Knox. So it’s possible it bounces back. Anyways, 3pt shooting is noisy so it could come around. Tall-ish players who can shoot are valuable.
But yes, Knox is hilariously awful at basketball.
Yeah, Knox sucks. But that’s as close as I can get to justifying him on an NBA contract. Frank jumped up into over .400 2FG% territory last year. I don’t think it’s a completely lost cause, but I don’t particularly want to hold his contract.
Knox could use a few years overseas.
I forgot to mention that Knox seems like a good kid also so maybe the Creator has a master plan for him that will be revealed gloriously in front of our 2yrstortured eyes
It’s no so much that they did better as it is they had to move Westbrook to have any chance of avoiding a total meltdown in Houston. Westbrook and Harden both want out and and don’t want to play with each other. Houston is trying desperately to keep Harden unless they get a spectacular offer.
Wall is valued much higher among players than on this forum. So to the extent they keep Harden happy for now, get a player that fits better, and pick up an asset, I’m sure they are satisfied.
If Wall is a shell of his best and Harden is asking out again after a month or two, it’s really not a bigger issue than having Westbrook. Either way they have a shit contract they can’t move easily and an unhappy superstar, At least this this way they got an asset, albeit nothing special.
Houston is not going anywhere important quickly no matter what they do from here. That’s why I am saying they should trade Harden while he still has his maximum value, start the rebuild with the pick from Washington and whatever they get for Harden, and just ride out the Wall contract while they start the rebuild. If they start from the ground up with kids and picks, having dead money for 3 years isn’t going to hurt that much. It’s going to take that long to just off the ground.
The big mistake was paying for Westbrook to begin with.
As a connoisseur of bad basketball I appreciate Kevin Knox. He’s not a first tier guy like Andrea Bargnani or Darko but his giraffe on roller skates has kind of redefined the genre and is something to build his brand around. I don’t see him being a GIF king like Bargs or owning the greatest nickname in the history of basketball but there is a lot of potential there, no doubt.
Knox honestly could figure his shot out. At (infrequent) times, he shoots the ball so purely It barely tickles the net going through and you sort of see why he went in the lottery. Then the rest of his game happens.
Seems like a great kid but have never understood why he is in the NBA.
I tend to discount anything that happened a) under Hornacek and Fizdale and b) before age 21. Knox was terrible under Miller as well, but he was still 20 years old. I would bet against him, but am trusting in Thibs for now, maxing of Wiggins aside. I’m withholding judgement on everyone until I see a couple of preseason games.
It’s no so much that they did better as it is they had to move Westbrook to have any chance of avoiding a total meltdown in Houston. Westbrook and Harden both want out and and don’t want to play with each other. Houston is trying desperately to keep Harden unless they get a spectacular offer.
Wall is valued much higher among players than on this forum. So to the extent they keep Harden happy for now, get a player that fits better, and pick up an asset, I’m sure they are satisfied.
If Wall is a shell of his best and Harden is asking out again after a month or two, it’s really not a bigger issue than having Westbrook. Either way they have a bad contract they can’t move easily and an unhappy superstar, At least this this way they got an asset, albeit nothing special.
Houston is not going anywhere important quickly no matter what they do from here. That’s why I am saying they should trade Harden while he still has his maximum value, start the rebuild with the pick from Washington and whatever they get for Harden, and just ride out the Wall contract while they start the rebuild. If they start from the ground up with kids and picks, having dead money for 3 years isn’t going to hurt that much. It’s going to take that long to just off the ground.
The big mistake was paying for Westbrook to begin with.
All of the Wall analysis on this forum has centered around the fact that the next time he takes an NBA floor will be the first time he has done so in 3 calendar years.
To me, the big problem with Knox is that typically when you are talking about projects you are talking about a guy that’s good on one side but a significant negative on the other side (typically offense). The “project” is improving him on his weaker side. Knox is below average on both sides. That’s a problem. lol
The offsetting plus is that he was particularly immature physically coming in and it was hurting him on both sides.
I thought he took a little step forward both offensively and defensively last year (I don’t care what the shot stats say). He was a little less lost on defense and his shot selection improved. The shot may not have fallen as often, but it will. He also got stronger. If he comes in even stronger this year (which I expect) he’ll take another step forward. If his shot is dropping it will be more noticeable statistically with the improved shot selection and strength. The problem is the path from where he is as a player and becoming a net plus player is a long one and he’s going to have to earn the minutes.
I agree with the analysis and your comment, but I think this forum has never regarded Wall particularly highly compared to what other star players in the league think of him.
If so, then I’d offer Randle and DSJ.
🙂
I don’t disagree with this as a general principle but one of the things that really worries me about Knox is that I thought he actually did clean up a lot of the low-hanging fruit that a coach would help him with last year. He reduced his usage significantly, took more assisted shots, shifted about 10% of his shots from 2s to 3s (primarily from a reduction in a variety of bad 2s, floater range out to the line); all of that looks to me like someone was actually doing an okay job with him last year, he just still couldn’t make the ball go through the net. There’s still more that a coach can do with him (e.g. still only 51% of his 2s were assisted last year which is up from his rookie year but still way too low) but the fact that he made major shot selection strides without any real uptick in his topline numbers was a red flag I thought.
if you don’t mind me asking ess-dog – what kind of art are you involved with?
I think both Houston and Washington were in terrible situations. Wall and Westbrook are probably the two worst contracts in the NBA. I think both teams improved their situation even if the situation is still terrible.
I think Houston just wanted Westbrook gone, I don’t think they could have started the season and expected Harden and him to coexist. Now with Wall, he is potentially nothing except a huge cap hit and maybe he will do something but I think for Houston even if Wall never plays basketball again it was a win for them.
For Washington, they did improve and now will be a probable playoff team in the East. Westbrook is not great but he does sort of lift a team from bad to mediocre all by himself. Washington has good shooters in Beal, Bertrans, and Bryant to surround Westbrook with. Any team with Westbrook has a ceiling of a bad playoff team and honestly, I think Washington is perfectly okay winning the 72 game equivalent of 45 games and losing in the first round for the next couple of years.
As for Hield, I would do it for Randle straight up or throw in DSj or Evans because I don’t think they are making the team but I wouldn’t throw in any sort of asset and might even try to pry a 2nd round pick from Sacramento. I think they still have their 2023 one.
I’m not high on either player at this point. Westbrook may have really fallen off a cliff at age 32 without a shooting game. But Wall isn’t exactly a sharpshooter either. At 30, you’d expect Wall to fall off a noticeable amount from his age 28 season.
The real question is whether Westbrook’s last season was a fluke or if he’s just hit a point in the age curve when he’s done as a great player.
I think they’re both done, but Wall’s best season by BPM is 4.7. That’s worse than 6 of Westbrook’s seasons by BPM.
i appreciate your stark honesty djphan…it made me laugh…i hate to say it, but, i’m not sure i see much hope for kevin either…
young, good looking stroke, kentucky, good work ethic…his minutes went from 28.8 year one to 17.9 year two…i wonder if he’ll even get 15 a game this year…
With Covid and all there’s a chance we actually see some 3 on 3 NBA action this season so I wouldn’t write Mr. Knox off quite yet.
If we trade Randle, I guess he could play at PF over Spellman. BPM likes Spellman a lot more than Knox. RAPTOR thinks both are terrible, but it still prefers Spellman.
lmao
I’m Spellman-curious. I’ve always liked his talent, but he seemed like he was going to eat his way out of the league before he ever got a chance to show what he could do. For a guy like that I could see 9 months off being either very good, or very, very bad.
We all want something good to happen, but I suspect the team is more or less set. If any significant trades occur it will probably be after they decide how good Toppin is (potentially making Randle more available with his value around the league restored) and after they see what Knox, Frank, DSJr, and Quickley do in their battle for minutes.
I agree, I like his game a lot. But the numbers don’t and he’s starting to run out of time to improve. Unfortunately, I’d guess he didn’t take the time to improve his diet. Not everyone is Jokic.
Some high praise for Toppin’s athleticism in an article from Begley:
I just took a quick peek at his Instagram hoping to find some shirtless “best shape of my life” style content. No such luck, he still looks pretty thick. His kid is awfully cute though so he’s got that going for him.
Spellman is tall and can shoot a little, so he’s worth a look on those grounds alone. There’s honestly not really a compelling reason to prioritize Knox over him at this point. Knox is two years younger but was a worse college prospect and has been worse in the NBA. For all intents and purposes they play the same position–Knox is not a 3 and never will be.
I don’t see Spellman amounting to much it’s not out of the question he becomes a mini-asset, either as a trade chip or a decent role player.
I dunno, man. Jokic is out here looking pretty fit anymore.
I think it’s incredibly important for Thibs, Rose, et. al, to analyze film and stats from the past, but to then start all of the young guys with a clean slate. They’ve been away for like 9 months, and if they worked on their games, give them a fair shot to show improvement. Give every player a fair shot to win minutes based on merit. Then once the season starts, treat them according to what they did in preseason. If Knox still plays like he did under Miller a year ago, get as much as you can for him, even as trade filler. I’d rather keep him around than, say, MKG.
The theoretical defense I’ve made of Knox in the past — while acknowledging that he is very likely a lost cause, and the process by which he was chosen should have gotten Mills, Perry, and Fiz all fired on the spot — goes something like this:
1)As others have said, on the nights when his jumper is falling, it looks as sweet and pure as anything this side of the Splash Brothers. If he ever becomes more consistent with it, you at least have a Novak-type on your hands, which is not a useless player.
2)When he has room to move, usually on the break, he’s much less ungainly and can actually look clever in how he maneuvers to the basket.
3)Related, on those nights when he remembers that he is supposed to rebound, his overall energy level goes way up both in terms of defensive effort and moving without the ball on offense.
4)The team’s roster construction and Fizdale’s ineptitude means that Knox has mostly played out of his optimal position, either at the 3 or even as a very tall and ungainly shooting guard. He’s barely gotten to play as a stretch 4, which seems a role at which he could one day be competent.
lol we good!
*Eyetest Warning*: I remember reading one article that said Knox’s improved block numbers came after a coach told him to focus on blocking more shots. He was on a streak of putting up some decent block numbers at one point. After awhile it ended. Later, he was told to start blocking shots again and he started doing it again. It makes me think Knox just doesn’t know what he’s supposed to be doing and gets paralyzed trying to figure it out. When he has clear directions he’s fine and has confidence. This isn’t an optimistic take, this really says he has no feeling at all for basketball which is more concerning for an NBA player.
Have any of the coaches tried telling him to throw the ball through the net instead of off the rim?
Probably, but they need to remind more often.
My armchair psychology isn’t in anyway a serious basketball take, nor will it make him a good basketball player. But I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone so lost on a basketball court. It’s more like Knox doesn’t know if he should be taking the shot, driving, passing or doing something else. He hesitates and then looks awkward or misses because of it. If he processes the game slowly, that’s not a good sign.
I was only teasing. I don’t disagree with you really at all. Him and Frank in consecutive years in the top-10 is really quite something just in terms of guys who most often look like they might have ended up on an NBA court completely accidentally.
That’s easy, we just have to make a list of what he should do, and he keeps it on the wrist-band to read it once in a while and get focused again! 😀
Lol, I know. Just being very clear because it’s the internet.
Yes, but how do you remind him to look at the wrist-band?
I think i remember a team that brought cards to show to the players, for them to know which defense scheme they should play. This happened in the NBA or did i dreamed it? We could have a card for “Kevin look at the wrist-band”! ;D
You mean like this
He’s extremely green.
To be honest, Mitch looks just as green to me at times. Same with Frank. The difference is that Mitch has such other worldly athleticism he can dunk and block shots like a wild man and be productive all while being clueless. lol
This is what you get sometimes when you draft young players. You get some very green players that are not really ready for prime time NBA basketball. You have to give them a chance to learn how to play the game better, fill out physically, mature, play under pressure and eventually become what they are going to become. He may be a bust, but it’s too soon to tell. Out of all them, he’s was the least ready because physically he was twig and can’t do in the NBA what he could do against other kids.
Man, his teammates are really talking up Toppin as freakishly athletic. He must be doing some impressive stuff.
maybe he’s the toppin on a 20y shit sundae…
Saw some comments on the previous thread that were needing an answer! 🙂
That’s cool. How did you like it? Most of the people here in Porto don’t like Lisbon, but i like it a lot, and when i was young my mother would go to Lisbon for board meetings and i would go with her and then i would be left by myself wandering on the city, with an age of 14 to 16… very good memories!
Next time, you must come to the north also, and take a look at my town. I’ll tell you what you should visit here. 😉
Nice to ear that in NY the availability of portuguese food is good. About Northern California, i’ll try to help by doing the following, whenever i’ll listen a restaurant owner complaining about the business, i’ll advise them “if you go to northern california you will be rich”. ;D
About the Port wine, have you tried the white? Normally people don’t know it, but it’s very good with the appetizers.
And also these two! :))
Man, now you have spoken to my heart, that sandwich is the trademark of Porto in snack-food! It’s delicious! The sauce is the “secret ingredient”, and in the best houses in Porto they bring the sauce aside so we can cover the sandwich in sauce each time we want.
Madredeus are outstanding, it was one of those fortunate moments, some great musicians were free at the same time, having been successful with their bands until that point. Then they inspired themselves in portuguese traditional music but perfected it in a way that i haven’t seen since. They were so good that they performed in sold out venues across the world, and doing that playing world music and singing in portuguese, it’s not easy. Didn’t knew Saturnia so i’m listening to them now, “Mindrama” is the song… i’m liking it.
By the way, i listen to radios from all over the world, and sometimes i listen to MK Radio which i think it’s a greek radio. Is it an airwave radio, or only from the internet? And from that radio i bookmarked a music called “Waves” from the band GAD, i think they are greek also.
I used to drive home through the Ironbound every night when I worked at the Star-Ledger and lived in Jersey City. So many amazing restaurants there.
Well, about today’s topics, i didn’t vote on the poll as i think there’s an option missing… and no, Brian, it isn’t the Knicks! 😉 I would vote on “none” as i don’t think this trade is useful for none of the teams.
You guys already detailed very well why this can be bad for Houston, but in Washington’s case noone pointed that the way to go for them was to trade Beal for as much assets as they could possibly get, and then tank hard for Cade. This seems Knicksy to me, they will have two years on the playoffs, both 1st round exits, and then it’s all downhill from there. Is this a good plan at all?
About Buddy Hield, i think there’s no solid rumor there, but for the sake of the argument i would part with Randle and DSJ for Hield, but wouldn’t be very happy with it. One of you guys proposed to throw another young lottery pick (Knox) to extract a 1RP from Sacto, and i would happily make that deal (Randle+DSJ+Knox for Hield+1RP).
That famous José Cid progressive rock album, “10.000 Anos Depois Entre Vénus e Marte” [Ten Thousand Years After, Between Venus and Mars], is really good indeed. But it’s the only thing by him that I know.
OT – ALERT
I have a question for the GUITARISTS here.
How much time and energy do you put into trying to figure out the correct picking technique in general or for a particular run of notes?
When I was a kid, I did what felt natural (which was mostly down strokes with some upstrokes) and held the pick the way it seemed comfortable. I took a few lessons in my teens and my teacher was like an alternate picking Nazi and forced me to alternate pick almost everything. I still find some patterns and licks really awkward using alternate picking. So I’ll occasionally throw in a little hybrid picking if I’m skipping over strings or do a few extra downstrokes when if feels more comfortable. Now I’m reading about sweep picking and all these shredding techniques with hammering and pull offs, while sweeping and on and on. Then there are all these videos suggesting I’m holding the pick at the wrong angle, using a pick that’s too soft, exposing too much pick and so on. I’m not sure I want my turn my guitar playing hobby into some frustrating effort to get better, but I don’t want to do everything wrong technically and hold myself back too much either. Any suggestions? .
Every time I get a little hopeful about Kevin Knox after he drains a couple of 3’s, he puts up one of those horrible, ugly, 10% chance of going in floaters, and I remember that he just sucks at basketball.
The day that Knox progresses to hopeful we’ll be talking about his defense (atrocious), by now we only look at the offense and not even then we can say he is an NBA player. I think he is a waste of time, we should use him as a trade piece sooner than later.
You need to learn all of the basic techniques and listen for them in songs. Then you’ll learn to use them intuitively. You can hammer-on, slide, bend or individually pick two notes as downstrokes or alternating picking, and they’ll all sound noticeably different. There’s no “right” or “wrong” way — but there will be times when it’s near impossible to replicate a sound or play cleanly if you’re using the wrong technique. Try different thickness picks. Try holding a pick and finger picking with your middle and ring fingers. Try finger style on electric guitar. Try lighter gauge strings. Try lowering the action. It’s all preference.
If you’re playing a passage that makes no sense — like you can’t decide whether to hammer or slide — it’s probable that the lick is above your ability level. Top level pros on social media like Adam Neely, Rotem Sivan and Julian Lage all advocate for the same thing: slow the fuck down and play what you’re learning cleanly. Play to a metronome and play with precision. Put the time in. With enough reps, the tempo will come. Trying to learn a new tough lick at full tempo is setting yourself up to play it poorly.
I’m at the point where I can do hammer ons, pull offs, bends, and decent vibrato, but I get into some clumsy picking situations.
Here’s one.
I do this one major scale exercise (imagine E major). On the high E string I pick frets, 7, 5, 4, then B string 7, then E string 5, 4, then B string 7, 5, then E string 4, then B string 7, 5, 4 and so on up the scale in that 3 note pattern. That takes me into some clumsy situations where I am changing strings on an upstroke or downstroke and it feels all wrong and hard to get the speed up.
I can’t tell if I’m just being an idiot trying to force alternate picking or whether I should actually force it until it stops feeling clumsy.
I hope that all makes sense.
There are many others, but that’s the easiest one to explain.
Best Frank Ntilikina career allegory I’ve ever seen
JK47, danvt, contributions are welcome.
Could Deeefense be James Dolan? (interrogative emoji)
The Athletic has an article of “What Knicks center Mitchell Robinson needs to improve in Year 3“:
Fouling – you all guessed this one, although i think he was getting a lot better with some sane defensive schemes by Miller, Fiz was awful at his job specially defense.
Shooting – “[Robinson] took one shot from more than 10 feet away last season. And missed. If Robinson wants to become a better offensive player, then adding a jump shot is the next step. If Robinson starts taking jumpers, and even making some, it could make him more dangerous diving to the rim and would add some versatility to his game.”. This one was easy also.
And now one that i didn’t noticed yet:
Defensive rebounding – “Robinson ranked in the 38th percentile among all bigs in defensive rebounding rate last season, according to Cleaning The Glass. He had the fifth-lowest defensive rebounding rate of the 22 7-footers who played at least 500 minutes last season. But unlike Lopez, who ranked 20th on that list, the Knicks were not a better rebounding team with Robinson on the floor. Opponents saw their offensive rebounding numbers improve when he was playing as opposed to when he was sitting.” :O
From Business Insider, lol (https://www.businessinsider.com/james-dolan-annoyed-knicks-players-guitar-flights-2018-12)
Slow it down until you can play it cleanly. Then do it twenty times that way. Increase BPM (a fake stat) by 5 and do it again. Repeat.
Holy crap, that guy is a lunatic! I hope he only played the guitar, because if he also sang, i now can completely understand why the team isn’t developing and players are getting their shots broken! 😛
#Madredeus are outstanding,..#
“O Pastor” is what i call Eternal Music
#it’s not easy. Didn’t knew Saturnia so i’m listening to them now, “Mindrama” is the song… i’m liking it.#
Saturnia are one of the most exciting neopshychedelic/space prog bands of the last decades imo. The album Muzak(where Mindrama track is) is a great start to get to know them.
#By the way, i listen to radios from all over the world, and sometimes i listen to MK Radio which i think it’s a greek radio. Is it an airwave radio, or only from the internet? And from that radio i bookmarked a music called “Waves” from the band GAD, i think they are greek also.#
Totally unaware of Radio stations after the 90s.
I knew the melody of “waves” but didn’t know it was greek. Beautiful!
#According to O’Connor, Dolan used to play his guitar on the team plane, even after losses, bothering players and coaches. “It was the last thing the players and coaches wanted to hear,” a Knicks source told O’Connor. “I just remember the looks on their faces.#
Hahahaha!
That explains A LOT!
I like how they specified “even after losses.” As if his music would be palatable after a win.
That data about Mitch would be more interesting if defensive rebounding mattered but I have been reliably told over the years it doesn’t.
#That famous José Cid progressive rock album, “10.000 Anos Depois Entre Vénus e Marte” [Ten Thousand Years After, Between Venus and Mars], is really good indeed. But it’s the only thing by him that I know.#
Me too! That’s the one I’m talking about.
There’s one more famous Portuguese Prog album from the 70’s by a band called Quarteto 1111 called “Onde quando….” but i remember finding the melodies a little bit too pompous for my taste.
If i were Dolan I’d probably try to boost the players by playing Queen’s “We are the champions” with my guitar after a tough Loss
You’d play the guitar on the team plane, too, if it could get your band 881 YouTube subscribers.
He’s a billionaire. It’s crazy to me that he can’t buy more social media traction. But also it’s crazy to me that anyone has ever paid a dime for his shitty music in any form.
a buddy of mine just told me mark lanegan was a part of Mad Season…i really love river of deceit, i need to take some time to go through the whole album…
***How much time and energy do you put into trying to figure out the correct picking technique in general or for a particular run of notes?***
If you’re trying to do flatpick harmonics, like the way Robbie Robertson would, a lot. Otherwise, the pick is a crutch, not a tool. Learn to use your fingers.
Chris Paul was very politically magnanimous in saying that he didn’t want to come to MSG because of the covid restricted crowds. But really he was like “I don’t want to hear James fucking Dolan serenaded our losses 62 times a year, I’m too old for that shit.”
Not a Madradeus fan – too smooth – but based on the recs I’ll dig out the old CD and give them another listen. Liked them enough to buy the cd to begin with after all so I might not have given them a fair shake. Got them during a fado phase. Loved Amalia Rodrigues, Mariza, Carlos do Carmo, etc. and they may have only seemed too polished by contrast.
@geo
Check this one out:
Screaming Trees – Shadow of the season
Since people are talking about Mark Lanegan, his work with Queens of The Stone Age is very good. “Songs For the Deaf” is a great album. If you like some hard rock, geo, listen to the track “A Song For the Dead” (with his pal Dave Grohl drumming the hell out of his kit).
So Harden hasn’t shown up yet in Houston’s camp. Looks like he’s gonna play hardball to try to force his way to the Nets.
oh yeah leonam, that hit the spot…i know it’s good when my right leg starts shaking, and my head looks like one of them old school bobbing head dog dolls 🙂
only downside – i’m listening at work on my laptop speakers…this needs to be played much much much louder than what i’m capable of right now…
ha, the 7 year old just called to video chat – made him listen to the song, got to teach them good music while they’re young…
so KYN, do you have most of your music collection:
1). albums/records
2). CDs
3). Digital
do you have the “organized” and cataloged?
This is like saying that big men should only learn post moves. Don’t listen to this heathen advice.
#so KYN, do you have most of your music collection:
1). albums/records
2). CDs
3). Digital
do you have the “organized” and cataloged?#
20% vinyl 80% cds
No digital right now
Organized alphabetically by
– US60s/70s -UK 60s/70s -Germany 60s/70s -Rest of the World 60s/70s
-80’s-todays pop rock alternative etc
-Metal
-80s-todays psych prog space
-Greek all genres
-Jazz/Funk/Soul/Reggae
-OSTs
-Classical
-Japanese Issues
And they’re also catalogued and slowly but steadily rated
I’m a strummer who does a pretty good job around the campfire and at family gatherings when I’m sober. Considering that I’ve been playing 40+ years I should be much better, but alas, the fingers don’t do what I want them to. One tip…invest in a good instrument. My Martin D35 helps mask a lot of sins.
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lol
I try to learn 1 new blues lick per week or one new challenging song or technique per month. I just made it through Tommy Emmanual’s 4 step lesson for fingerstyle using an alternating base. That was tough for me. It took me a month. I can handle a single repeating base note per chord easily with finger picking, but that alternating base note in various patterns is requiring a total rewiring of my brain.
I just started what he said was the easiest song to start once you completed the lesson. It’s called Freight Train. I’m about a week into it and my head is ready to explode. If I think about what I have to do I get screwed up but I haven’t gotten it to the point where it’s on automatic pilot and just comes from inside your brain somewhere. I’m about half way through the song but I rarely make it past the 1st chord without spazzing out. lol I’m determined to finish that song and play it reasonably well by the end of December because I want to go on Delta Blues slide playing for 2021. If I can get to an acceptable level at slide over the course of year while still working on the rest of my playing I think I might actually start feeling pretty good about it all. I’m still trying to decide whether to start with “D” tuning or “G” tuning. Right now all I do is standard tuning. So this is going to be a tough challenge.
So am I the only non-guitarist on Knickerblogger Dot Net?
You and Z-man.
I’ll hold my own at the inaugural KB open mic zoom call…
PG13’s throwing Doc under the bus is appalling. Doc is not my favorite, but George has no one to blame but himself for his putrid playoff performance. So glad that whining primadonna isn’t on our team.
his usage remained the same…looking at his stats now – i can’t see (other than bpm and vorp) in what area he significantly regressed in…
other than speaking…
***This is like saying that big men should only learn post moves. Don’t listen to this heathen advice.***
Hahaha. Kind of. Except that post moves are not ubiquitous, unlike finger picking.
Gotta love it when players take demonstrably false positions and somehow don’t really get called on it (at least not to their faces).
I’m a drummer, and slowly learning to sing (badly) while I play.
#Alan:
So am I the only non-guitarist on Knickerblogger Dot Net?#
Jimmy Guitar’s influence is much bigger than we think
I’m never surprised when professional athletes show a real lack of introspection. To try to play basketball while literally millions of people watch you and boo you and post things about you on social media and write newspaper articles and blogs about you…you have to have some kind of pretty effective defense mechanism. If you start questioning yourself in that circumstance it’s pretty easy for me to imagine how quickly you could fall apart under that stress. Deflecting blame/criticism away from yourself has to be a key part of a lot of these guys mindsets, even (or maybe especially) if the criticism is totally deserved.
That said there’s really no need for him to speak on it publicly. And it’s a doubly bad look not only because he’s wrong as a matter of objective fact but also because the new coach was the #1 assistant last year.
Add me to the non-players list. Haven’t played an instrument since 7th grade, and that was a base drum.
I’mma need this new Last Chance U season to come out so I can flash my 15-minutes of fame (or at least 2 minutes) and get my weight up with you physically fit, internationally flavored, musically inclined literary laureates. Otherwise, I may have to change my handle to “Stuy-High Slacker” or something 🙂
I’ve tried to play guitar. One of my best friends is a fantastic guitarist and has tried to teach me how to play. He failed miserably due to my total lack of talent.