Knicks Morning News (2024.06.27)

Like Brian, I’m willing I-Hart resigning into existence.

Damn, what a lineup they will have if/when that happens.

It seems like folks who said it would be fine to start negotiations at $35M shouldnt be thinking that Leon got taken to the woodshed on a contract that starts at $36.2M (if OG is getting 8% a year raises but the cap is going up 10% a year, the % of cap actually decreases over the life of the contract, correct?) in a world where he could have been paid $42M in the first year.

It also seems typical that the guy who advanced the idea floated by a beat writer that OG didn’t like the ‘Nova boys or his role is now advancing the idea that his team manipulated OG’s market by floating the idea that he had multiple max offers. When your entire bullshit narrative blows up in your face, just fabricate another reason to extend the narrative! In this case, it’s: Leon’s son was bullshitting Leon about OG’s market. You know, the same Leon’s son that bullshitted the Knicks about interest in Brunson before he swindled Leon into bidding against himself whild signing the overrated Brunson to an inflated free agent contract.

And now the narrative switches to “yeah, we’re good but look how many draft assets it cost us!”

Why not look at it the other way around and ask “how many draft assets could a new GM acquire in a complete teardown with Brunson, OG, Bridges, etc. going out?
Answer: we could probably get all the first rounders and the swap back just with Brunson!

Can’t we sign and trade Burks to BRK to avoid the 1st apron? Say 5M+5M with a team option on the 2nd year.

Can’t we sign and trade Burks to BRK to avoid the 1st apron? Say 5M+5M with a team option on the 2nd year.

I think so? Burks would have to agree also though and he might think he can get more on the open market or just not want to play in Brooklyn. We could also just include Deuce.

Remember BRK needs to agree also.

Can’t we sign and trade Burks to BRK to avoid the 1st apron? Say 5M+5M with a team option on the 2nd year.

yeah pretty much; it has to be three+ years and can’t be a team option but the out years don’t have to be guaranteed. but because taking a player in a sign and trade caps you at the first apron it may not be that easy to find a taker.

here’s a p daddy video for others who knew nothing about him. it’s mainly: shot, length and pray for rain (ie he’s still very young).

https://youtu.be/ydkJoq8Adak?si=6XH4VxWZD1PbYWW5

yeah pretty much; it has to be three+ years and can’t be a team option but the out years don’t have to be guaranteed.

Doesn’t that mean the first two years have to be guaranteed? I thought that only the last year of a contract can be nonguaranteed. Feels like that would make it harder to convince Burks to agree.

Random CBA questions:

1) I assume it does, but does the second round pick exception $ count against the aprons?

2) if you are over the second apron 3 times in 5 years, your pick goes to the end of the first round. Does that still happen if you don’t own your pick? For instance – I can imagine us being a 2nd apron team in 25-26. Let’s say we are a second apron team in 25-26, 26-27, and 27-28. CBA says that our 2029 pick then goes to end of the first round…. but that’s a pick that we traded to BKN. Does that still go to end of the first round?

by the way – this is what Fran Fraschilla wrote about Dadiet before the draft:

6-9 wing Pacome Dadiet will be the fourth Frenchman in the first round tomorrow. Love his future. One German coach in the BBL where he played this year told me he’s better at the same age than Franz Wagner. High praise. Remember Franz spent two more years at Michigan before NBA.

Fraschilla is very tied into European basketball. Famously loved Porzingis before the draft if I remember correctly.

Doesn’t that mean the first two years have to be guaranteed? I thought that only the last year of a contract can be nonguaranteed.

no only the first. the last year only applies to options.

yeah pretty much; it has to be three+ years and can’t be a team option but the out years don’t have to be guaranteed. but because taking a player in a sign and trade caps you at the first apron it may not be that easy to find a taker.

Thanks. I’m hoping to keep Deuce, but it won’t be easy. If we can’t find a taker for the sign and trade, we’ll probably wait to know what happens with iHart. If he agrees to the money we can give him, we include Deuce in the trade to avoid the 1st apron, and if he doesn’t maybe we keep Deuce and work under the 1st apron?

Am I the only one who found it slightly suspicious that we did a draft day deal with OKC? Really hard to value the myriad of 2nd rounder possibilities, but maybe Presti using his perceived leverage to”do this trade and I’ll lay off iHart”.

Here’s to hoping we draft at least 1 player tonight — hoping for some frontcourt depth – perhaps Mogbo, Bona, Filipowski, Ighodaro.

RE: Hartenstein – I remain skeptical that someone will pony up 4/100 for him but what do I know. The cap teams are:

Philly – no way do they use their $ on him, and I can’t imagine iHart wants to play 15 min/game.

Detroit – already so many centers, and does iHart really want to go from a real contender to the worst team in the league?

Charlotte – don’t they love Mark Williams?

Orlando – this seems possible as they need more variety on offense, but they already have tons of bigs.

Utah – I suppose it depends on what they do with Markkanen. Does Danny Ainge want to spend that $ when they already have Walker Kessler?

OKC – nah

1) I assume it does, but does the second round pick exception $ count against the aprons?

yes but it’s a minimum anyway

2) if you are over the second apron 3 times in 5 years, your pick goes to the end of the first round. Does that still happen if you don’t own your pick? For instance – I can imagine us being a 2nd apron team in 25-26. Let’s say we are a second apron team in 25-26, 26-27, and 27-28. CBA says that our 2029 pick then goes to end of the first round…. but that’s a pick that we traded to BKN. Does that still go to end of the first round?

can’t happen because the relevant pick is 7 years after the initial second apron year. so if that was 24-25 then the 2032 pick would be frozen before finding out over the subsequent 4 years whether it is kicked to the back.

I think it’s easier to find bigs during free agency, maybe even a good UDFA. Shouldn’t we go for Kolek with #38 if he’s still available? We need a back PG and he’s a senior so he’s probably ready to play that role from the get go.

Orlando – this seems possible as they need more variety on offense, but they already have tons of bigs.

I think Orlando is the real threat, they don’t seem to fully trust Wendell Carter Jr, while Bitadze and Moritz Wagner are only backups. And they have a lot of money to spend (49.5M in practical cap space according to Spotrac.com).

Z-Mans tarting off the day by sua sponte unleashing some resentments!!

The in-out since 2022 chart I posted last night is objectively dreadful, Z. Accepting or denying is a personal choice.

Will this team be as good from 2025-33 as it would have been with a more normal approach and better asset management? No, it will not be.

Will Leon’s bizarre approach “work” or be “successful”? Depends on your definitions of those terms. Under the definition in the paragraph above — one of multiple valid definitions — no, it will not.

And what happened to the Januariasts? If the January team was a 60+ win team or a net rating juggernaut, why then would you vastly overpay to add a role piece?

I think Orlando is the real threat, they don’t seem to fully trust Wendell Carter Jr, while Bitadze and Moritz Wagner are only backups. And they have a lot of money to spend (49.5M in practical cap space according to Spotrac.com).

Also no state tax in FL. Really is a big differentiator. considering probably 10.9% state tax in NY, a 4/100 deal would be worth like 35+ more million in FL than the max we can give him. Even if his life will not be measurably different to most people (still will be filthy rich either way), that seems like a lot of $.

https://nypost.com/2024/06/26/sports/knicks-mikal-bridges-blockbuster-a-definitive-jalen-brunson-sign/

Good column by Bondy today, noting the change in “philosophy” in using the asset chest not to jump Brunson, but to augment him. As he notes, it’s now up to JB to really be a tentpole. If he’s not, we got big problems.

I still think he’s just over the line. That said, I would not have depleted the asset chest for a role piece. But we’ll see.

In addition to essentially punting on the draft entirely from 2021-31, they also project to be a consistent second apron team once JB and JR extend — dependent on precise salary cap numbers of course. They have very little flexibility.

And let’s not revise history and move goalposts, as Bondy kind of notes — the “asset chest” was never contemplated to be dumped for the “final piece.” It was always “earmarked” for a superstar or superstar-adjacent. This trade was never part of the “plan.” (Which leads to whether there were … cough … other factors at play in it being made, but only time will tell on that one.)

Will this team be as good from 2025-33 as it would have been with a more normal approach and better asset management?

What relevance does 2032-33 have? The very definition of goal post moving.

I am going to guess that Sims gets added to the Bridges trade and Hartenstein stays given the events from the draft. What the team did in the draft was not what I wanted to see, but I’m not mad at it. They made it very clear that they want Hartenstein to stay and they value the C combo of he and Mitch. That said, I hope we make both picks today. Mogbo and Bronny?

The Knicks will be playing basketball in 2029 and 2033. The current management of the team is responsible for planning for those seasons. (As we see in, for example, the Spurs trading last night for draft assets in 2030 and 2031.)

In terms of the second apron, given all the limitations on other transactions, the type of draft picks they spent on Mikal are way more valuable under the new CBA than pre-apron.

Can we please stop referring to Bridges as a role player? (Or maybe it’s just one poster who is)

It’s almost as annoying as mezzanine

On this team, as many pointed out when the trade was a KB hypothetical (*), he will be a role player. A very good one.

(*) And half-plus of the board was against it at like 60% of what the price turned out to be, including one poster, now avidly cheerleading it, who opined that Mikal might not even be worthy of being in closing lineups.

the plan was to use picks to get a superstar but we signed a superstar in free agency instead so they pivoted from star chasing to building around the superstar

This Pacome seems like a decent enough developmental prostpect, he’s tall and can shoot and he looks like he moves well for a kid that tall. But he’s going to be 19 next year and just going off what I’ve read and listened to he needs some work on his defense and playmaking

Shouldn’t we go for Kolek with #38 if he’s still available?

We might be able to package all 5 of the second round picks we got from OKC to move up from 38 to 31.

We mortgaged a bit of the future to make a run with this core, which was a reasonable move. If we bring Hartenstein back we’re going to be formidable for at least a few years. Brunson-Bridges-OG-Randle-Hartenstein with a core bench unit of McBride-DDV-Hart-Robinson is pretty fierce. Add in a ring chaser or two on the vet min and that’s a deep and versatile two-way team without a lot of weaknesses. Could maybe use a smidge more shot creation.

That team might not be a favorite to win a title, but it’s close enough for me. There’s a lot of parity in the league now.

the plan was to use picks to get a superstar but we signed a superstar in free agency instead so they pivoted from star chasing to building around the superstar

Yeah, I know — and then vastly overpaid for a secondary piece. That’s what I’m saying.

Once you get the superstar in free agency that you were hoarding the draft picks for, there’s no longer a basketball need to spend a superstar amount of them on a non-superstar. You pivot to using them normally.

QED.

The … interesting … thing about all of this is that Leon has premised this all on JB as tentpole, Z is one of Leon’s biggest board defenders … and yet … Z is one of JB’s biggest board critics. Tough one to square … but that’s Z.

Wait, wait wait. When did Leon say what his draft assets were earmarked for? What if you’re like wrong? That’s only your opinion man. What if like you took one moment to consider that in a world of many varying possibilities that Leon is, like, possibly maybe even probably better at this shit than you are just based on resource discrepancy, data access and like relative experience. And maybe just maybe the Knicks are not only good but potentially great if the market trends and timing fortune their young talented bones. And what if they added mikal like the Celtics were adding KP (a role player) to you know add the cialis to the orgy to really give it the what’s what. And like if they have a similar effect in making a good team just otherwise next level then there really is a risk here that needed to be at the very least considered if not otherwise accepted with open arms. And Mikal is just better than KP for many reasons except at being tall. But maybe I’m wrong to be admiring the work that Leon has put out. This team has a much higher ceiling than the 90s Knicks as they’re striking with no Michael Jordan in ascendency.

I think it’s easier to find bigs during free agency, maybe even a good UDFA. Shouldn’t we go for Kolek with #38 if he’s still available? We need a back PG and he’s a senior so he’s probably ready to play that role from the get go.

We don’t really need a backup PG if we keep Deuce. Mikal will run the 2nd unit offense with Deuce & Donte as capable enough ballhandlers.

Kolek seems decent, but I’d rather have a 3&D guy there unless the PG is actually running the offense. We might have Rokas anyway.

I am disappointed we didn’t take Collier. I think with a season or two as an understudy (i.e. 3rd string PG) he could have developed into an excellent Brunson backup. At the very least take a flyer on Kolek.

I am further disappointed that the return we got for a first round pick was a steaming pile of shit.

The intensity of that disappointment is on the low side, however, due to how good things look overall. But Boston won a chip and they still took a flyer on a guy. I don’t understand what the thinking was.

Once you get the superstar in free agency that you were hoarding the draft picks for, there’s no longer a basketball need to spend a superstar amount of them on a non-superstar. You pivot to using them normally.

sure, I think a lot of us think we overpaid for Mikal.

These things can both be true:

1. It was an overpay
2. It was the correct move

The Knicks’ window is NOW. This is the part of the win curve where you push the chips in. Bridges is a good, versatile two-way player who is also the most durable player in the league. Sure it would have been great to trade for Luka Doncic but those players don’t change teams often.

We needed to make the biggest upgrade we could while Brunson is still in his window. Yes, it was an overpay. Also, who cares? Better to overpay than to keep the powder dry forever.

“I am going to guess that Sims gets added to the Bridges trade and Hartenstein stays given the events from the draft. What the team did in the draft was not what I wanted to see, but I’m not mad at it. They made it very clear that they want Hartenstein to stay and they value the C combo of he and Mitch. That said, I hope we make both picks today. Mogbo and Bronny?”

Poindexter, you beat me to it, as I was going to post much the same thing. By not taking any number of PF/C types that were available to us, it was in a way messaging iHart that “we want you to stay; we’re not replacing you.” Risky? Maybe. But hopefully the message got across.

“The Knicks will be playing basketball in 2029 and 2033.”

We don’t know that for *sure*. In February 2020, did we think a virus that would wipe out millions the world over was about to arrive? Just sayin’.

We don’t really need a backup PG if we keep Deuce.

I think we do. In fact I’d rather sign Dennis Smith to backup Brunson next year than let Deuce do it. Deuce is not a PG and he can’t guard PGs, either. He’s a tiny 2 with heart.

But more importantly, there are more years than next year. And I think by his 2nd season Collier will be a considerably better backup PG than Deuce.

@NY_KnicksPR
Miles McBride underwent a procedure this week on the fifth toe of his right foot. He is expected to resume basketball activities later this summer.

I totally understand the rationale behind these moves and at the same time I’m happy I didn’t lose any sleep on draft night, few furnitures in my house would have pass the night unbroken… 😉

– I never broke a sweat about OG.
His contract will start at 36M and changes, more or less the expected range, and will probably raise less than the salary cap for all his existence (8% vs 10%?).
However the 5th year and no incentives based on games played are a surprise.

– No pick spent on a center does say something about I-Hart? I hope so, I’ll be heartbroken if he leaves expecially on a CBA technicality (if he gets a 25M/year contract more power to him).
In Brock we trust.

– I don’t know enough about Dadiet and he’s a nice little lottery ticket (not “lottery pick” 🙂 ).
What I know is that in the last 30 or so years we have had more draft & stash picks that people like to remember, and as far as I can remember they all remained stashed.
Maybe Rokas or Dadiet will be the exceptions.

– Speaking of Rokas, no pick on a backup-backup PG raises his chances to be the 12th man?
He’ll play soon in the Olympics Qualification Tournament,
if Lithunia will earn a spot for the Paris Games he would be unavailable for SL games, but clashing against olympic competition is far better to gauge him.

– Leon’s work is not over yet (and Brock’s too). Let’s wait for the next moves.

Find someone who loves you like Leon Rose loves not making first round picks.

I’m done trying to explain/justify/defend the Rose FO’s approach to the draft. It is what it is, and the rest of the roster building has been so excellent that I just have to accept it as the cost of doing business.

That being said, there was a lot of reporting over the last week that because of the new CBA, second round picks have become much more valuable in the eyes of GMs who are either at the second apron or worried about being there. Since we’re now going to be an apron team, may as well start hoarding them, either to use or to trade. I guess?

Dadiet reportedly has been telling everyone that he does not want to be a draft-and-stash, so I wonder if the Knicks intend to roster him and have him spend the year in Westchester. If nothing else, I appreciate them taking a gamble on an upside pick, rather than going for another high-floor/low-ceiling guy.

No pick spent on a center does say something about I-Hart?

It just means there was an unexpected run on centers early, Max. Edey went in the top 10, Riley took Ware, and Missi went off the board before us, too.

Find someone who loves you like Leon Rose loves not making first round picks.

That’s excellent. You should be a writer.

I made the mistake of listening to the Bill Simmons podcast about the Bridges trade on the way into work today — and based on the discussion here and on that podcast, I really do think that Julius Randle has become criminally underrated – and this is coming from me –> a guy who routinely roasted Randle and wanted him traded multiple times. Simmons actually suggested that Randle’s trade value is a late first and salary filler — dude has made 2nd team all-NBA 2 of the last 3 years! 24/9/5 last year with 57 TS!

I actually think we are completely fine at “shot creation” on the 2nd unit assuming health. At start of the 2nd quarter, we will probably be rolling out 4 out of Deuce, Hart, DDV, Bridges, and Randle + a center. All 4 of the noncenters can dribble/pass/shoot and I’d put that lineup up against any 2nd unit in the league and feel 1000% comfortable.

Julius Randle as your #1 or #2 doesn’t work. In the current state of things, Julius is probably #3 or #4 on this team in terms of offensive creation – a perfect spot for him.

That being said, there was a lot of reporting over the last week that because of the new CBA, second round picks have become much more valuable in the eyes of GMs who are either at the second apron or worried about being there. Since we’re now going to be an apron team, may as well start hoarding them, either to use or to trade. I guess?

I think this is why Leon did what he did last night. Why commit to salary on a late first round pick on a loaded team competing for a player who wouldn’t play much, if at all, their first year. Yeah maybe by second or third year that player is in the rotation but by then, now their cheap contract is up and you gotta make a decision (aka IQ dilemna).

2nd round picks you basically get to set the terms of the contract and if they work out, you can usually sign them for uber cheap for their first “real” contract (see Mitch and McBride). Sure they usually don’t work out but that’s why you amass a bunch of them, invite them to training camp and see who sticks. Put them in the G-League to grow (like we did with Deuce). And eventually you get a few that make their way to the rotation.

Considering Leon just traded a bunch of our future firsts for Bridges, grabbing a bunch of future seconds makes sense.

Not for nothing, but I was pleasantly surprised that the draft nerds on reddit love Pacome “Pac-Man” Dadiet.

My assessment of him is basically dead on with what this video suggests.

In a very limited role and with low volume across the board, this kid actually flashed shockingly decent shot creation upside, shooting, and touch. The playmaking is non-existent but he also has like 3 clips of live dribble one handed passes which tells you that there is something there and he’s not like a Cam Whitmore ball stopper or something.

Dadiet has become one of my favorite prospects this cycle because of all this. He’s so young that I doubt he plays much in the NBA next year, but I legit think his ceiling is a starting SF on a good team which is wild considering he’s commonly mocked as a 2nd rounder, and well behind prospects like Cody Williams who have wayyyyy less ball skill and potential IMO.

Late lottery for me.

Man, I really want the Thunder to take him. He could be such a good fit in OKC after a couple years of development, and I have way more faith in him becoming an impactful player than I do in Dieng. Whether OKC trades down, trades for an additional pick, or takes him in the lottery, I just want him on the Thunder.

The big thing with Dadiet is how much strength/athleticism he can add. He’s got an incredible frame for strength despite not seeming all that strong currently.

Projectable upside for scoring, shooting, strength? Not a ball stopper? Sign me up. There was a 13 minute youtube scouting report compilation linked to the reddit post that I didn’t watch all the way through, but seemed to be mostly canning spot-up threes.

Someone had a more measured take, calling him a Wilson Chandler type. But honestly, adding a Wilson Chandler would be a success already.

QED. LOL. GTFOH.

We did not overpay.
1) not all first are the same. These will be late first rounders. Bucks pick – late round. NYK 25/27 – late round (I expect to be in contention for at least 5 years based on the current roster). 29/31 and 28 swap – I have faith Leon will keep the team competitive. Also, who cares about 28-33. We weren’t competitive for 20 years. 20 YEARS. The next 5 years as a championship contender, yes please. You can’t hoard assets and rebuild forever. Now is the time.
1edit) it’s like the “we overpaid crowd” is completely forgetting Mikal’s contract. The contract vs his current market value is worth another 20 million player.
2) Mikal was my #1 target. He gives us everything we need. There is ZERO question — he fits perfectly with the culture and the Nova boys. Any other target, we have too many mouths to feed. OG and Mikal will be a nightmare on defense. He shoots the 3. He can create his own shot. He hasn’t missed a game or practice since high school.
3) has everyone forgotten we have Randle in an attractive contract. I think folks are significantly underestimating his trade value. He is certainly worth more than 2 late round firsts or picks 6+ years out.
4) When OG was healthy we had a contending team without Randle. Now we have also have Mikal and Randle.
5) we have a bench of Deuce, jHart AND Divo. I think we keep iHart too.

This is by far the most excited I’ve been as a Knicks fan since Ewing/Oak/Starks. I like this team better.

Gripes about winning or losing this trade are certifiable. 1) we won and 2) who cares , this team can win a chip. QED

I’d agree with Swift and Alan if Leon had gotten some good future seconds. Because when they talk about 2nds being more valuable, they mean the high 2nd round picks of teams who miss the playoffs.

But the ones we got are very bad. The 2026 Warriors pick is probably the only one we got that doesn’t currently project to be in the 2nd half of the 2nd round. And even there we’re betting against Steph Curry.

Overall it strikes me as another really bad draft night, another missed opportunity that will cost us down the road. But like others have said, it’s the cost of doing business with the guy who brought us Brunson, Bridges, and OG. This isn’t like 2021. I can be disappointed, but now the guy who disappointed me has a long list of great deeds on the other side of his ledger, and the good outweighs the bad.

Honestly I’m just disappointed I didn’t spend last night streaming The Acolyte or something. And I hear that’s awful.

based on the discussion here and on that podcast, I really do think that Julius Randle has become criminally underrated – and this is coming from me –> a guy who routinely roasted Randle and wanted him traded multiple times.

Frank, I agree and once upon a time after one of his tantrums and “I’m not interested in defense” game I wanted him traded for a bag of deflated basketballs 😀 (to be fair he almost single handedly destroyed our season that year and Thibs couldn’t control him).

At his current contract he’s a really nice piece to have, especially if he’s going to buy in on defense.

My worries are about his possible extension/next contract.

Turning #24 into 6 second round picks, some of which will not be that bad, is ok with me, especially if the underlying reasoning is to leave space to sign I-Hart if his heart (no pun intended) tells him to stay.

We can debate Mikal’s value to death, but I’m glad the front office did not take the current window for granted. NBA windows close as quickly as they open, so you have to go for it when they do (especially for a team that has lived in a windowless basement for much of the 21st century). Yeah those 29/31 picks might come back to haunt us as the core will have aged, but what’s 3 years for a team that has endured this for a quarter century?

Given the cap shit I don’t understand I thought there was a decent chance we’d stash one of our picks (I thought maybe they’d take the spanish PG, because he apparently is comfortable playing in europe next year) and trade one for some future pick, but I thought it would be something like a somewhat protected 2026 1st. Maybe we’re packaging some 2s to get someone to take Burks or shake or we want to move up tonight

@NY_KnicksPR
Miles McBride underwent a procedure this week on the fifth toe of his right foot. He is expected to resume basketball activities later this summer.

Likely to loose spot in rotation, somewhat likely to be traded, surgery. Deuce has had better weeks.

More Dadiet praise from the user whose comment I pulled first from the reddit thread. (“Guys, you’re still trying to replace djphan. I told you we can’t do it, and we can’t do it. Now, what we might be able to do is re-create him. Re-create him in the aggregate.”)

One of the youngest players in the draft, Dadiet is a total upside swing. What surprised me about watching his film is that he actually has some shot creation, which is not something you typically see in a guy who plays 14 mpg. When he gets the ball in a handoff or going around a screen downhill, he has a pretty remarkable ability to decelerate and rise up before the defender can react, and these looks really impressed me. I was also shocked to see him taking some movement 3s and actually making them. Overall, this kid is WAY more skilled than I could believe given his fringe 1st round projection, and his shot diet is convincing me that he will be a shooter. Guys who become NBA shooters take his midrange and 3P shot diet, and to my point – Synergy grades him at the 90th percentile for off-the-dibble shooting for his age. I thought his handle was great for his size and age with some decent counters for defenders who keep up with him, and his tape is extremely strange. He pretty much exclusively has high difficult, live dribble one handed passes out of the PnR (indeed, Synergy grades him as 93rd percentile as PnR ball handler) but very few actual examples. Defensively, he slides well laterally and has decent hands. I’m sure he will be fine as a defender. Overall, I’m convinced he’s straight up just a better prospect than Salaun and a better bet than other total question marks. I believe the shooting, I believe the handle, and the frame is good. He’s a raw prospect with all the requisite skills I would want, and he is the upside swing I think people believe Salaun is.

Overall it strikes me as another really bad draft night

We did actually draft someone so that bumps it up higher than the last two to me, even if I don’t know shit about the kid we took

I’m going to miss Divo’s 3 bombs in the starting lineup. Two questions:

1) Do we have a minutes crunch?
2) Is McBride the official backup PG now? Do we believe Mikal a good enough shot creator to allow Brunson to sit for 5-6 minutes at a time during the regular season?

Seriously — have the overpay crowd trade evaluators lost their minds? Mikal makes 14 less than OG — let’s assume in open market Mikal would make the same. You basically get to keep Mitch ~$14mm for free. I assume there would be no complaints about this trade if we didn’t have Mitch and we got him too? Because this trade is equivalent to that if Mikal was on a market contract.

Speaking of Star Wars, I’m beginning to believe that if we don’t bring Hartenstein back we’ve assembled a Death Star with a thermal exhaust port named Mitch.

Kyle Lowry on a vet min ring-chasing deal might end up being the backup PG.

Kyle Lowry on a vet min ring-chasing deal might end up being the backup PG.

Would love that, that man can play for my team any time

especially if the underlying reasoning is to leave space to sign I-Hart if his heart

Someone is going to have to explain to me how this helps us sign Hartenstein.

I assume you can’t leave a roster spot empty and go over the hard cap to sign a vet min guy, as that would be a soft cap.

So the 26th pick would make ~$2.6MM. Anyone we use to fill the roster spot is going to make at least $2.2MM. I don’t get it.

1) Do we have a minutes crunch?
2) Is McBride the official backup PG now? Do we believe Mikal a good enough shot creator to allow Brunson to sit for 5-6 minutes at a time during the regular season?

1. We shouldn’t but it’ll come down to Thibs’ managing of the roster. Last year, Boston’s top 6 guys played between 35 and 26 minutes/game and their next 3 guys were between 22 and 16. There’s no reason we shouldn’t be able to do the same.

2. I hope not. Other than being short, he hasn’t looked like a PG at all since he’s been here.

I’ve seen Dadiet’s comps as Jaime Jaquez/Sean Elliott.

I hope not. Other than being short, he hasn’t looked like a PG at all since he’s been here.

Right, so we still have an issue with the back up PG, or in other words with Thibs playing Brunson too many minutes.

Last year, Boston’s top 6 guys played between 35 and 26 minutes/game and their next 3 guys were between 22 and 16. There’s no reason we shouldn’t be able to do the same.

Assuming best case scenario with iHart back and Mitch healthy, they share the C minutes. If Randle, Brunson, OG and Mikal play 33-35 mpg, that leaves a bit less than 60 minutes for the backup PG, Hart and Divo, who are both deserving starters. There’s a bit of a squeeze here.

Draft Jamal Shead
Sign Lowry to be back up PG & Shead mentor

If Dadiet becomes Sean Elliott I will be jumping with joy, that’s a guy who would be getting some serious money in today’s league.

Someone is going to have to explain to me how this helps us sign Hartenstein.

I assume you can’t leave a roster spot empty and go over the hard cap to sign a vet min guy, as that would be a soft cap.

So the 26th pick would make ~$2.6MM. Anyone we use to fill the roster spot is going to make at least $2.2MM. I don’t get it.

Have a look here: https://x.com/TheCohencidence/status/1806173512492572717

He basically has the full roster under the second apron while giving I-Hart 16.2m (and there’s some change, so they can probably max him and I think Aller should know how).

I think Orlando is the real threat, they don’t seem to fully trust Wendell Carter Jr, while Bitadze and Moritz Wagner are only backups. And they have a lot of money to spend (49.5M in practical cap space according to Spotrac.com).

Did some further snooping on reddit and looked at what the Magic subreddit thinks of iHart. They like him a lot. To them he’s an upgrade over Wendell Carter, Jr, who doesn’t take enough 3s as a stretch 5 (3 3PA per game vs. 5 3PA for Brook Lopez and Porzingis). iHart doesn’t fit their need for floor spacing around Banchero so he’s not a perfect fit, but his defense and rebounding would raise their floor.

Apparently the Magic were in the running to sign iHart but lost out to us, so we know their front office likes him. The Magic struggled to score in the playoffs vs Cleveland (lost 2 games in the series, scoring 80 points apiece). And most of the kvetching on r/orlandomagic is about lack of shooting and spacing around Banchero and Franz Wagner. Orlando has too many guards that can’t shoot. Adding iHart will have them treading water regarding that, I think.

So based on my oppo research, Orlando is a legit threat to sign iHart away. It all depends on what direction their FO is going to build around Banchero and Wagner the Younger. Are they going to double down on what they’ve got, or keep the powder dry for more offense?

Btw we gave up pick #1 tonight in the OG trade. That was always the one thing about that trade that annoyed me.

We work so hard to avoid putting these firsts into trades, then we just burn them when they’re on the clock.

I’d also jump for joy if he became Jaime Jaquez. I’d pretty much be happy if he could give us 10-12 productive minutes per game.

Orlando desperately needs shooting. Their defense has been more than fine. I really don’t see the I-Hart fit there. They should throw some money at the likes of Buddy Hield and Tyus Jones.

Thank you, Marechal, that’s quite helpful. I did not know that “2nd round exception” was a thing.

The problem with that salary sheet, though, is it’s ignoring the whole first apron problem with the Brooklyn trade. Sims and McBride can’t both be here if we’re going over the first apron. So it likely is a coincidence.

1. I don’t think we are done even assuming they manage to bring I-Hart back. We could use a little more bench depth, especially at PG, just in case there are multiple injuries – which will surely happen.

2. I think it’s likely they are going to use the five 2nd rounders they traded for to grease the wheels of any moves they make, especially if it’s required to bring back I-Hart.

3. If Rokas is NBA ready, I wonder how much he’d cost and if we could fit him in somehow as the backup PG. Other than that we are going to have to hope someone is ring chasing for cheap.

4. I was hoping we’d figure out a way to pull it all off (OG and I-Hart) and add at least one young talent they really like, but I’m not sure what to make of Dadiet. Did they draft him because they really like him or did they draft because he was in the mix at that spot and they could stash him to save money? I guess we’ll know if they stash him.

It wouldn’t surprise me at all if Randle isn’t valued highly around the league as he isn’t the prototype forward in today’s NBA and a lot of teams would struggle to fit him into their lineup.

He’s not a good 3-point shooter so a lot of teams would already be out on him. There are bigs that aren’t good/great 3-point shooters but those are guys like Giannis, Anthony Davis, and Zion. Those 3 are all way better at getting to the rim and finishing then Randle is. Randle takes about 25% of his shots at the rim and finishes mid to high 60s. Anthony Davis takes about 35% of his shots at the rim and finishes at around 75%. Giannis and Zion take over half their shots at the rim and finish at 80% and 70%.

On top of that, a lot of people here still think of the Randle from 4 years ago who was an active and engaged defender. He hasn’t been that guy in 4 years. He’s not an engaged defender anymore and spends a ton of that time arguing with refs instead of playing defense.

Finally, he’s been in the playoffs twice and has played terrible in both of them. Like actively harming the team and should be benched terrible.

I’m not a Randle stan, but neither am I a Randle basher. He’s a really, really good player, and the fact that we are adding him back “for free” is a really happy circumstance. I’d also point out that (I believe) he was at least partlially or largely injured in both of those playoff runs in which he did indeed pretty much suck.

Btw we gave up pick #1 tonight in the OG trade. That was always the one thing about that trade that annoyed me.

The Athletic mock draft has a “Johnny Furphy” going at 31… I can’t say I’m really torn up about losing out on a chance to get him

Thank you, Marechal, that’s quite helpful. I did not know that “2nd round exception” was a thing.

it’s got nothing to do with the exception. it’s just that a min salary for a player with no experience is $1.16 million and not $2+ million.

Finally, he’s been in the playoffs twice and has played terrible in both of them. Like actively harming the team and should be benched terrible.

It’s a sample size of 2. In 2021 we had a completely different roster where Derrick Rose was our second-best player in the playoffs. Last year, Randle was playing on an ankle that he got surgery on immediately after we were eliminated. If that’s what you draw a decisive conclusion from, be my guest

If Randle, Brunson, OG and Mikal play 33-35 mpg, that leaves a bit less than 60 minutes for the backup PG, Hart and Divo, who are both deserving starters. There’s a bit of a squeeze here.

Easy answer is that, other than Brunson, those guys won’t be playing 33-35 MPG unless they play some smallball 5.

There’s 144 minutes available at the 2, 3, and 4. Even just splitting that out evenly is 28.8 MPG for Randle, OG, Hart, Mikal, and DDV. Keep OG around 28 MPG to try and keep him healthy, DDV and Hart probably play 25 MPG or less (unless DDV also backs up Brunson), and as long as Thibs doesn’t try and play guys 40 MPG everyone should be reasonably happy.

Plus, guys are going to get injured and miss time, so that’ll open up additional playing time for other guys.

Bold predictions.

We will resign iHart. He’s the starting center on a championship caliber team in the media capital of the country/world. FO and ownership will figure out creative ways to make up for the money (business opportunities outside of MSG, modeling/acting gigs for his wife). Brunson and the rest of the gang are probably in his ear as we speak.

We will keep Deuce. The moves last night were made to keep Deuce. Thibs loves him. His PG skills will continue to develop.

Randle will play the 5 some this season. Cause now that we have Mikal, we can slide OG over to the 4 more. It will be in small spurts to start but you will see the Brunson, DDV, Mikal, OG, Randle death line up used a lot come playoff time next year.

Final prediction. Knicks are hanging a championship banner next year. Book mark this thread. I’m calling it now.

Excerpt from today’s Begley column, re our draft night maneuvering: https://sny.tv/articles/knicks-nba-draft-night-moves-bit-more-financial-flexibility

Teams with cap space can offer Hartenstein much more than $72 million over four years. With Hartenstein expected to be a top target for several teams, it has become unlikely that the Knicks will be able to retain their center. (Hartenstein, of course, could choose to take significantly less money and come back to New York.)

With Hartenstein’s situation up in the air, you can expect the Knicks to continue to search for ways to shed salary and avoid the first apron.

What they did Wednesday gave them a little flexibility, but they’ll need to do more in order to field a roster that can compete with the top teams in the NBA.

The tone here seems a bit less final than it was previously. So maybe we’re not done yet?

It’s a sample size of 2. In 2021 we had a completely different roster where Derrick Rose was our second-best player in the playoffs. Last year, Randle was playing on an ankle that he got surgery on immediately after we were eliminated. If that’s what you draw a decisive conclusion from, be my guest

Sure, it’s a small sample size and I don’t think he’s guaranteed to play that badly going forward. But you can’t just ignore that he shot 29% and 37% from the field in those games.

And, that wasn’t the only point I brought up. He’s also a below average shooter, a non-elite finisher, and a disinterested at best defender. If he was on, like, the Blazers or Wizards how much would you give up to trade for him?

(*) And half-plus of the board was against it at like 60% of what the price turned out to be, including one poster, now avidly cheerleading it, who opined that Mikal might not even be worthy of being in closing lineups.

Here is the trade proposal I was responding to, everyone can be the judge of whether this is a good faith characterization!

Look, E is not going to make a win prediction, not going to predict how far this team goes in the playoffs, not going to say what would constitute Leon Rose proving him wrong, and is just generally never going to say anything interesting or that might leave him vulnerable to being objectively wrong in the future. He’s learned his lesson from all of the times he has tried to do something like that.

I maintain that there should be a rule that he needs to do one of these things in order to garner responses. I will admit that “vaguely hinting, though not even saying definitively, that the Knicks will not win a championship, and further hinting that this proves him right about everything” is a very effective form of trolling, because in any given year it is almost definitionally true that any given team will not win the championship, but E has a way of dressing up this utterly banal “prediction” in ways that make it sound provocative.

But at the end of the day, literally all of his posts just boil down to that one idea. He doesn’t think the Knicks will win a championship under Leon Rose. Sometimes this takes the form of saying they’d have a better chance of doing so if Tom Thibodeau recognized the greatness of Cam Reddish and Frank Ntilikina, sometimes it takes the form of saying Dejounte Murray is the skeleton key to 65 wins. But it’s all the same shit and none of it is novel or interesting.

it’s got nothing to do with the exception. it’s just that a min salary for a player with no experience is $1.16 million and not $2+ million.

Thank you further.

So essentially every roster spot counts at least $1.16MM towards the hard cap, therefore we trimmed a considerable $1.5MM by punting.

All this makes me wonder why didn’t just put one of these picks into the Bridges trade and keep one of the ’25 picks. I can’t imagine that would have been a deal breaker for the Nets.

The fact that the Knicks could offer I-Hart the EB max in a way already makes it a little bit harder for other teams to bid for him. If the Knicks were capped out, teams could think that offering I-Hart 4/80 would be enough (or even, say, 3/60). But now they might think that the Knicks could cover that, which makes their decision trickier: do they want to offer 4/90 or 4/100 for a center?

I’m not arguing that it is a decisive move, but I like that the Knicks are at least making it harder for others to sign him, thus increasing their own possibility of doing so.

Here’s a question for the capologists:

What would happen if the Knicks signed OG and I-Hart before making the Mikal trade? Would it make the Mikal trade invalid, even if technically they would not have been hard capped at the time of the trade? I thought that the sequencing of transactions could be used as a way to manipulate these things, but maybe not?

Final prediction. Knicks are hanging a championship banner next year. Book mark this thread. I’m calling it now.

Swift! Yikes. Jinx? Haha.

Like you, I’m tempted to anchor my houseboat at Championship Island this year. I’m just still nervous about all the injury rehab TB(fucking)D.

How many games will our fearsome five actually play as a unit?

Injuries as far as I know:

JB — foot, hand (?)
Randle — shoulder
OG — elbow, hamstring
IHart — leg (?)
Mitch — foot
Hart — ab muscle (?)

I hope there’s a plan, Stans.

I also noticed Begley backing down slightly on iHart.

My read of things is that the Knicks have left open both the possibility that they are hard capped at the first apron if iHart walks, and the possibility of getting out from under that if he agrees to 4/$72.5M.

My old Hebrew school buddy Jeremy Cohen has done yeoman’s work on this front, but the long and short of it is:

-Adding Dadiet and 3* 2nd round picks signed to the minimum gets us pretty much exactly an iHart sized ~$16.6M under the second apron. So we’d obviously have to get the order of operations correct, but we could pull this off with the Achiuwa/Burks S&T idea.

-If iHart walks, we can just complete the trade as is and be far enough under the first apron to use the full taxpayer MLE on a center e.g. Goga.

I actually don’t think Leon and co. know exactly what the plan is yet. There’s a good chance they’re waiting on iHart to test the market and make a decision, and they want to leave open the possibility he returns.

*3 instead of 2 because funnily enough the minimum salary for a player with no experience is less than a minimum roster charge, so we’d actually save money by getting another 2RP and signing the player immediately.

What they did Wednesday gave them a little flexibility, but they’ll need to do more in order to field a roster that can compete with the top teams in the NBA

But what they did Wednesday gave them the flexibility to do what they could have just done Wednesday by selecting players in the draft.

What would happen if the Knicks signed OG and I-Hart before making the Mikal trade?

We wouldn’t have been able to make it as currently constructed because we would have been over the first apron.

We are currently making the Bridges trade using the 125% matching salary exception in trades. That isn’t available to teams over the first apron.

I made the mistake of listening to the Bill Simmons podcast about the Bridges trade on the way into work today — and based on the discussion here and on that podcast, I really do think that Julius Randle has become criminally underrated

He can speak for himself and I’m curious as to his thought, but reading and inferring tea leaves from his posting, I think if you put truth serum in Z-Man, he’d say he thinks Randle is as good as Brunson or at the very least the gap between the two is way less than commonly perceived.

We wouldn’t have been able to make it as constructed because we would have been over the first apron.

Got it. So the first apron hard cap applies retroactively by blocking potential trades. This CBA is terrible.

Look, E is not going to make a win prediction, not going to predict how far this team goes in the playoffs, not going to say what would constitute Leon Rose proving him wrong, and is just generally never going to say anything interesting or that might leave him vulnerable to being objectively wrong in the future. He’s learned his lesson from all of the times he has tried to do something like that.

In actuality, I made like 3-4 predictions before this morning’s breakfast.

But at the end of the day, literally all of his posts just boil down to that one idea. He doesn’t think the Knicks will win a championship under Leon Rose.

There’s no sense whatsoever in which they “boil down to that one idea.”

If Julius regains full fitness (likely), buys into his role as 3rd/4th option (likely), remains healthy (likely), he will be the 2nd best player on this team.

There’s a bit of a squeeze here.

AKA, the redundancy that dare not speak its name.

help me milo…I am destined to be haunted the entire day wondering about this:

exactly which is the fifth toe of the right foot?

isn’t there like five to choose from?

too early…

My posts “boil down” to “What would make the Knicks the best team now and in the future, with the ultimate goal not just winning regular season games but seriously contending for championships as frequently as possible?”

That’s the sole criteria. It’s never been anything else.

The “redundancy” is also known as “having too many good players” which is also known as a “high class problem”

I still don’t understand why we can’t draft a 2nd round player tonight, use part of the taxpayer MLE to sign him to just enough to match the salary difference between (Bogdanovic+Jefferies) – Mikal Bridges, and complete the trade that way.

(B-R numbers)
Bogdanovic -> $19,032,850
Jefferies -> 2,463,946
Total = 21,496,796

Bridges -> 23,300,000

Bridges – (Jefferies + Bogdanovic) = 1,803,204

Sign 2nd round pick X to a contract starting at 1,803,204 with decreasing $ down to minimum for rest of contract, have Dolan hand a $650K check (or whatever the difference is between the 1803204 and minimum 2nd round exception $). Done!

wow, we have a pretty nice four player core…

I’d list them in order as:
– jalen
– OG
– julius
– mikal

with donte and josh off the bench, that really is a nice lineup…

What would make the Knicks the best team now and in the future?

If you defined the future, it would mean you have to make predictions. But you won’t and your “sole” criteria is actually “infinite”.

Between the Knicks and a piece I’m writing about The Bear season 3 premiere, I’ve got serious apron brain this morning.

Redundancy is not qualitative. You need redundancy sometimes. Like two kidneys. Like two testicles. Like the heavy thud of a sub woofer.

@geo: “exactly which is the fifth toe of the right foot? isn’t there like five to choose from?”

I’m thinking it’s the pinkie toe. If it were on the other side they’d probably say “big toe.” There are not *really* “five to choose from” because there is no way that any of the three “middle” toes should be classified as the “fifth” one.

Does this help ease your worried mind?

NBA draft intro to the bear?

“@NY_KnicksPR
Miles McBride underwent a procedure this week on the fifth toe of his right foot. He is expected to resume basketball activities later this summer.

Likely to loose spot in rotation, somewhat likely to be traded, surgery. Deuce has had better weeks.”

Ok, I misspoke. Was wondering why they didn’t put the usual “successful” in, got concerned, and realised that procedure is different than surgery. Sounds like they just whacked it with a hammer. Anyway, still a bad week for him.

I still don’t understand why we can’t draft a 2nd round player tonight, use part of the taxpayer MLE to sign him to just enough to match the salary difference between (Bogdanovic+Jefferies) – Mikal Bridges, and complete the trade that way.

taxpayer mle capped at two years. sign and trade minimum of three years.

I actually don’t think Leon and co. know exactly what the plan is yet. There’s a good chance they’re waiting on iHart to test the market and make a decision, and they want to leave open the possibility he returns.

Like I said yesterday, imo there’s a plan A, B, and C.

First, the Knicks were too close to serious contender status to even contemplate OG leaving. It was close to 100% he was coming back no matter what it cost.

From there, we’ve been reduced to speculating on what the various plans are after that because no one is telling us who they are talking to, who is available in a trade, what other moves they would consider to facilitate their goals, what I-Hart values most, how much he’s being offered etc..

I guess it’s fun for some people to speculate and play GM, but operating with almost no information is kind of tough. 🙂

We know we need a starting C or very high quality backup to Mitch because of the latter’s injury history. (I’m not entirely convinced Mitch is staying)

Some of us think we need to add a backup PG that’s NBA ready.

I think they’ll definitely accomplish a satisfactory plan at C just like I was 99% sure on OG. This team is too close to be fucking around and they are too competent to make a massive blunder. They have a good plan.

procedure is different than surgery

As someone who has had many procedures the past two years, but only a few honest-to-goodness surgeries, there is a significant difference. But the procedures can have big complications to them.

“As someone who has had many procedures the past two years, but only a few honest-to-goodness surgeries, there is a significant difference. But the procedures can have big complications to them.”

Jeezus. I turned 60 this year and have never had a surgery *or* a procedure. The worst that’s happened to me is that I had to admit that the laser surgery I got 25 years ago “wore off” (as they told me it probably would) and I now need glasses for reading restaurant tabs, etc. Guess I’ll start counting my lucky stars today.

I am mildy disappointed that we didn’t take Filipowski last night. I think he could be a nice backup at 4 or 5. Maybe this means retaining IHart is still in play. What time does round 2 kickoff?

Alan, do you remember a movie from back in the 90’s called “Losing Isaiah”? A close relative of mine actually wrote the book

The title keeps coming to mind when I think about I-Hart )-:

“I am mildy disappointed that we didn’t take Filipowski last night. I think he could be a nice backup at 4 or 5. Maybe this means retaining IHart is still in play. What time does round 2 kickoff?”

I could have posted the exact same sentiments, Henny Youngman.

The team discussed the possibility of including Miles McBride in the Bridges trade, according to league sources — and not because they are itching to trade away a 23-year-old fireball on a minuscule contract, only $13 million over the next three seasons. It’s math. If they wanted to, the Knicks could find a third team to route McBride to, acquire a future first-round pick in the process and avoid the first-apron hard cap. His salary plus Bogdanović’s would just barely top Bridges’. But they have since shied away from that scenario, a league source said

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5595937/2024/06/27/knicks-offseason-free-agency-trade-draft/

I still don’t understand why we can’t draft a 2nd round player tonight, use part of the taxpayer MLE to sign him to just enough to match the salary difference between (Bogdanovic+Jefferies) – Mikal Bridges, and complete the trade that way.

Ran it by Jeremy Cohen. He’s not ruling out it could work, but raised some potential issues:

-There might be a six month trade restriction on TPMLE signings, though he’s not sure.

-We might actually need to roster guys at the 2RP minimum rather than accrue minimum roster charges to make this all work, given the tightness of the margins here.

-It is possible that, somewhat similar to the Sims situation, the NBA says this is a minimum contract. I disagree with Jeremy on this–I see no way they could declare that about a contract that is explicitly ~$600K more than the literal minimum–but I guess it’s possible they don’t appreciate the blatant circumvention and say the aggregation rule applies to any two contracts at the veteran’ minimum and below.

We will get below the cap. We have plenty of 2nds to bribe teams to take Sims or whoever off our hands. And as a last resort, we can always trade Mitch for bench parts (which Leon was measuring with the Washington stuff). Once that happens, we will have the midlevel to offer to a backup PG/initiator for the bench or a backup C to replace Mitch, whichever is needed. So we could see a 15-man roster like:

PG: Brunson, Dinwiddie, Shake
SG: Mikal, Donte, Deuce
SF: OG, Hart, Dadiet
PF: Randle, Mogbo, Toppin the Younger
C: Hartenstein, Mitch, Bona or FA Mo Bamba-type

But the procedures can have big complications to them.

This is a pinkie toe, not a cardiac ablation. They could amputate the bloody thing and he could still play. 🙂 https://www.google.com/imgres?q=ronnie%20lott%27s%20amputated%20finger&imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fqph.cf2.quoracdn.net%2Fmain-qimg-f91758397f33c21145fbd601e492c174-lq&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.quora.com%2FWhat-NFL-player-cut-a-portion-of-his-finger-off-to-continue-his-career&docid=ZsXAorMpUZdF2M&tbnid=q-l6hizfIlre6M&vet=12ahUKEwiUoeyXl_yGAxULRjABHe23Cj0QM3oECBoQAA..i&w=602&h=262&hcb=2&ved=2ahUKEwiUoeyXl_yGAxULRjABHe23Cj0QM3oECBoQAA

This is a pinkie toe, not a cardiac ablation. They could amputate the bloody thing and he could still play.

I don’t think that’s true. Toes and fingers aren’t the same thing and, as far as I know, the pinky toe is very important for balance and walking/running. I’m sure you could eventually adjust to not having the toe but I don’t know how long that would take.

Ess-dog

I agree.

They have a history of liking to use 2nd round picks to help facilitate smaller deals. They have a lot of those now. They could even make a move that gets back a pick. They are going to get where they have to be financially one way or the other. It’s just a matter who the starting and backup C is going to be. That depends on how much I-Hart is offered, what his priorities are and who else is available. After that, you try to get a ring chaser to add a little depth.

Jonas Valanciunas is still out there and Mitch has ties to New Orleans.

Goga Bitadze is still out there.

There may be others that are not free agents where Mitch could be in the deal.

-There might be a six month trade restriction on TPMLE signings, though he’s not sure.

that’s only for free agents. drafted players signed under the t-mle (“standard contracts”) can be traded after 30 days. this obviously would not be a sign and trade but maybe that’s what makes it most interesting, because it is not trivial to get another team to hard cap themselves anyway.

i think the question isn’t whether it would be considered a minimum per se, which is obviously wrong, but rather whether it might be considered circumvention.

“…but rather whether it might be considered circumvention.”

Conduct “detrimental to the league” gets you 750k, tampering gets you a 2RP (Knicks, Suns, Philly (each of 2)), I say go for the circumvention.

I’m listening to zach lowe’s podcast and Givony told him he talked to Diadet’s agent and the agent said the Knicks are buying out his contract and bringing him over

why would it be considered circumvention? You draft a player, you sign him to a legal contract, and then decide to trade him.
I don’t see how it’s different from the Andrew Wiggins for Kevin Love deal in which they had to wait a month after Wiggins signed his contract to make the $ work under the cap.

-We might actually need to roster guys at the 2RP minimum rather than accrue minimum roster charges to make this all work, given the tightness of the margins here.

trading out this particular 2RP would actually give us a lot more cap room! (hard cap at 2nd rather than 1st apron)

And we could always just acquire more 2nds if we needed the bare minimum guys.

The trouble with the Precious Achiuwa plan is that Precious would have to agree to a S&T at a number that the Nets actually want. 3 for 13 or whatever has been floated seems quite low for Precious but who knows. But no way does Precious agree to a lowball contract to play for the Nets.

Trading the 2nd round pick would allow the Nets to choose their guy. Maybe that’s CBA circumvention but teams do that all the time- draft a guy for another team.

I’m listening to zach lowe’s podcast and Givony told him he talked to Diadet’s agent and the agent said the Knicks are buying out his contract and bringing him over

If true, I take that as a good sign in multiple ways.

1. That means he wasn’t just one of a few players that were similar and they ended up on him because they could stash him and save money. They liked him best and think he’s ready to be here and start developing now.

2. They must have something else lined up to save money or at least accomplish their goal at C.

I keep getting the feeling that Mitch is gone. They can’t depend on him as the starter. The problem is if they lose I-Hart also, they have to bring back a quality C to start along with a backup. I feel like something is at least brewing that we don’t know anything about.

I don’t think that’s true. Toes and fingers aren’t the same thing and, as far as I know, the pinky toe is very important for balance and walking/running. I’m sure you could eventually adjust to not having the toe but I don’t know how long that would take.

The only reason I would disagree is because in high school I had a friend who lost the three biggest toes on one foot in a lawn mower incident and he was a terrific running back in football who could fly and change directions annoyingly quickly. The human body is amazingly adaptable

When they say procedure on a pinkie toe, I’m thinking having the nail removed because of an ingrown nail or maybe an infected/abscessed blister attended to, etc.

If he had pins inserted in a comminuted fracture of the toe, they would have likely labeled it as surgery.

Buy you are correct … Murphy’s Law is always in play in the medical business.

The sudden existence of aprons at this point in time is absolute proof of Dolan’s Razor, btw.

In any other year we’d be bringing iHart back the KCP way, resigning Burks & Precious, making all our picks, and adding ring-chasing vets w reckless abandon.

Dolan’s Aprons.

“The Bulls are known to be looking to move Nikola Vucevic, along with the never-ending Zach LaVine saga. The Caruso trade both helps and hurts those efforts because Caruso’s contract was a quality lubricant for teams willing to take on those contracts, which now isn’t available.”

Not that I want him, but there could be others like this out there.

Conduct “detrimental to the league” gets you 750k, tampering gets you a 2RP (Knicks, Suns, Philly (each of 2)), I say go for the circumvention.

Circumvention is a special crime in the NBA. The league could cancel the Bridges trade like they nixed the Bogdanovic-to-Milwaukee deal a few years back.

The new CBA is bad no matter what the goal was.

Who designed this thing, lobbyists for Congress?

@JCMacriNBA
My (current) read on the Hartenstein situation…

It’s not that the Knicks can’t or won’t do what they need to do to avoid being hard capped at the first apron; it’s that they aren’t going to potentially make themselves worse without knowing I-Hart takes the 4/72.

why would it be considered circumvention? You draft a player, you sign him to a legal contract, and then decide to trade him.
I don’t see how it’s different from the Andrew Wiggins for Kevin Love deal in which they had to wait a month after Wiggins signed his contract to make the $ work under the cap.

it definitely might not. but it’s a bit different than wiggins who got his expected contract. here you’d have to sign a second rounder to a contract that looks richer than expected and rather convenient. the nba could at least argue this was uneconomic and intended to defeat the apron restrictions under section 13. but lots of stuff that could fit that contention don’t get challenged.

i think there’s no shot they lose ihart because of the hard cap issue anyway. they have too many degrees of freedom here. they are just waiting to see if they’ve lost him anyway before they decide whether to pay a given cost/risk of avoiding it. maybe a better mitch trade comes up, for example.

I am of course no lawyer but the 2nd round pick thing seems 100% legal to me. I can imagine the NBPA filing a grievance over the idea that the league can tell a team that they have to pay a player the minimum rather than whatever $ a team wants to pay that player.

The reason the aggregating of minimum salaries was taken out is the minimum player exception costs the team nothing to use over and over again – so teams have just piled these players into trade. If you use part of your taxpayer MLE on paying a 2nd rounder a little more than the minimum, you have less residual taxpayer MLE to use on other things – there is an opportunity cost to it.

The new CBA is bad no matter what the goal was.

The goal was to hinder large market teams like us precisely the way it is doing right now.

Who designed this thing?

Small market teams.

This deal is nirvana for them.

“The Bulls are known to be looking to move Nikola Vucevic, along with the never-ending Zach LaVine saga.

What about UFA Andre Drummond for the vet minimum?

He’s got a big butt and would be great operating out of the pinch post if we bring Big Chief Triangle back to replace Thibs….

As enthralling as CBA minutiae is, we should be a really fucking good team next year, like really, really fucking good, and Neil Paine makes some interesting points:

I’m fascinated by Mikal Bridges’ move to the Knicks. First, I love the further intensification of New York’s Villanova connection, which is a wild experiment in a team benefiting from preexisting chemistry built in college.

But Bridges himself is also incredibly interesting. For most of his time in Phoenix, he was a low-usage jack-of-all-trades type who was secretly very valuable, impacting the game with his efficiency and wing defense. (He had a higher Estimated RAPTOR for the 2021 Suns Finals team than either Devin Booker or Deandre Ayton, for instance.) Then he went to Brooklyn and made a remarkable mid-career transformation to a high-usage player, a change we have seldom seen before from a player who was in the middle of his prime.

Of course, that was arguably a drag on what made him so good before; his efficiency fell and his defensive impact was reduced. But now, Bridges is back in a situation where he can be more of a supporting player next to the Knicks’ other scorers. He’ll probably retain some of the added usage he picked up in Brooklyn, just because the Knicks don’t have any high-usage guys outside of Jalen Brunson and (when healthy) Julius Randle. But I’m really interested to see what might be the best version of Bridges — a blend of the little-things guy from early in Phoenix with a player who now has also been a 30% usage guy on an NBA team as well. That’s basically the full range of roles an NBA player can experience, and he can now call upon any of those modes when necessary going forward.

It’ll be fascinating to see how the usage shakes out. As Paine points out, Bridges is one of the few players that has, in his prime, been on both ends of the usage spectrum. It’s a little hard to tell exactly what his sweet spot is.

Brunson/Randle/Bridges/OG seems like the natural pecking order, but is it possible Bridges edging out Randle is actually optimal?

Regardless, we should have a lot of lineup flexibility that allows these guys to play different roles depending on personnel. Randle could find himself 3rd in the starting lineup pecking order, but commandeering bench units. DDV’s usage might actually go up as the undisputed 6th man.

The team raises a lot of questions, but unlike literally all of the other times that has been true in the last 30 years or so, they’re all fun questions about a team that could push for 60 wins with good-not-great luck.

He’s got a big butt and would be great operating out of the pinch post if we bring Big Chief Triangle back to replace Thibs…

Trey Lyles had the big butt that BCT fawned over. But he’s signed for next season.

The goal was to prevent large market teams from getting too good.

I’m not a lawyer. I don’t understand this CBA and don’t want to. They couldn’t pay me enough at his point in my life. But there are bright people whose job it is to cover the NBA that should understand it or at least have sources that do that are struggling with it.

Maybe this is hyperbole, but if the goal is to create better balance by enabling small market teams to compete, I think that could probably be done with 10 rules that a 3rd grader could understand. Instead we have all this complexity that requires of bunch of lawyers getting paid big money with job security.

it’s got nothing to do with the exception. it’s just that a min salary for a player with no experience is $1.16 million and not $2+ million.

ptmilo, I am reading Kevin Pelton’s trade grades right now and he says:

“Second-round picks making the minimum count at their salary ($1.16 million) for tax and apron purposes, whereas an undrafted rookie making the same amount counts as the veterans minimum ($2.1 million).”

https://www.espn.com/nba/insider/story/_/id/40396262/nba-trade-grades-2024-25-breaking-biggest-deals

Maybe this is hyperbole, but if the goal is to create better balance by enabling small market teams to compete, I think that could probably be done with 10 rules that a 3rd grader could understand. Instead we have all this complexity that requires of bunch of lawyers getting paid big money with job security.

Honestly, Strat, I think they did it this way to confuse the players union into signing it.

They have their own lawyers, too, but it did not seem like they knew what they agreed to.

Regardless, we should have a lot of lineup flexibility that allows these guys to play different roles depending on personnel.

I like the fact that when Randle or Brunson is out, Bridges has enough shot creation skills to pick up some of the slack. That’s what we were missing in the playoffs when Randle was out. It put too big a load on Brunson. He was terrific at it in many games, but it’s hard to do that every night when they are throwing the kitchen sink at you trying to stop you. Now even just on regular night we can sit one of either Randle or Brunson and with Mikal on the court it takes the pressure off because he’s a good enough 2nd option.

I really do think that Julius Randle has become criminally underrated… Simmons actually suggested that Randle’s trade value is a late first and salary filler — dude has made 2nd team all-NBA 2 of the last 3 years!

All NBA is a rating system in-and-of itself, so it’s possible that Randle is criminally over-rated by the sportswriters and broadcasters. He turns the ball over a lot, and he doesn’t like iPads — two things that don’t play well in today’s NBA.

Honestly, Strat, I think they did it this way to confuse the players union into signing it. It sure did sound like none of them knew what the fuck was up when it got done.

If I get any more cynical I’m going to start worrying about myself. 😉

Brunson/Randle/Bridges/OG seems like the natural pecking order, but is it possible Bridges edging out Randle is actually optimal?

I think Bridges is our #2 and that will be established very quickly. That’s why I am not at all concerned about the alleged overpay. Brunson & Bridges is our Tatum & Brown.

OG definitely #4, though. Probably even #5 if Hartenstein comes back. Hence his deal irked me more.

@wojespn
ESPN Sources: The Atlanta Hawks are trading F AJ Griffin to the Houston Rockets for the 44th pick in Thursday’s NBA Draft. Griffin, 20, was a 2022 first-round pick out of Duke.

Lots and lots of trades going on this afternoon.

The more I read about the French kid the more intrigued I am about him, looking forward to hopefully watching him during Summer League.

What the hell is Atlanta doing? Nothing they do ever makes sense to me.

Does this help ease your worried mind?

i don’t know doogie – why can’t folks just be clearer in their communications 😛

i hear you on the Lasik stuff…had mine done in 2004, and a whole lot of screen time (especially on my phone) has definitely adversely affected my sight…

i think i can still do the DMV eye chart thing though…although, that is a pretty low bar…

how are you dealing with the heat doogie?

we are gonna be over 100 all next week here in so cal…

good news is – i’m heading back up to san jose to visit bestest friend to geo…the weather there rarely tops the mid 80’s, so nice…

pretty sure when i return home, some stuff in the garden will be dead, oh well…plants are always easier to take care of than kids and a dog…

ptmilo, I am reading Kevin Pelton’s trade grades right now and he says:

“Second-round picks making the minimum count at their salary ($1.16 million) for tax and apron purposes, whereas an undrafted rookie making the same amount counts as the veterans minimum ($2.1 million).”

sorry, i must have been wrong about that. pelton isn’t your average writer; he’s pretty meticulous. i missed this provision but i guess this is additional protection so teams aren’t incentivized to favor signing rookies over veterans (they already reduce the veteran cap hits).

The more I read about the French kid the more intrigued I am about him, looking forward to hopefully watching him during Summer League.

Ditto.

So if we don’t get iHart, my spreadsheet says we can:

* Sign 38, 51, & Rokas
* Offer the full taxpayer MLE
* Cut Diakite & DaQuan
* Have $2.68M left
* Cut Sims for an additional $1.44M

If we cut Sims, we could afford Precious or Alien Bungalow’s asking price and possibly have enough left for a young minimum contract. Maybe Baby Obi.

Never mind about that last part. We’d either:

* Keep Sims & re-sign someone for $2.68M
* Keep Sims & sign a minimum
* Cut Sims and pay Burps more
* Cut Sims and get 2 minimums.

I think Bridges is our #2 and that will be established very quickly. That’s why I am not at all concerned about the alleged overpay. Brunson & Bridges is our Tatum & Brown.

OG definitely #4, though. Probably even #5 if Hartenstein comes back. Hence his deal irked me more.

#4 on offense, but #1 on defense, and that is also valuable.

And no way OG is #5 on offense if iHart is back. iHart can’t score away from the basket, come on.

@wojespn
The Sacramento Kings are trading Davion Mitchell and Sasha Vezenkov to the Toronto Raptors, sources tell ESPN.

It’s funny to see all these deals flying around and for once not lament that we didn’t get the chance to swoop in and take a chance on someone like Davion. Our team is great, and now it’s just a matter of finding out what iHart is going to do, and then whether it’s worth it to try to avoid getting hard-capped at the first apron in order to fill out the rest of the roster with cheap FAs.

When healthy Randle is our #2.

Philly started with PG and OG in their sights, and might end up with KCP, won’t they?

Leon likes familiarity, maybe we’ll select Juan Nuñez with pick #38. He was teammates with Pacôme Dadiet* at Ratiopharm Ulm.

*Can we start calling him Pacman? His name sounds strange to me!

Philly started with PG and OG in their sights, and might end up with KCP, won’t they?

That would be good news for us, but personally, I don’t mind seeing it be Morey striking out on top if it.

Assuming Leon pulls off iHart after we all speak it in existence for him and KP is out until ~ January. (had surgery yesterday), – the #1 seed is now base case scenario @ all star break. Think this year, – NY represents with 3 All-Stars. It’s going to be one hell of the season boys + these kids are awesome & super easy to root for.

Wouldn’t be surprised if Knicks begin season opening night at Boston.

The Sacramento Kings are trading Davion Mitchell and Sasha Vezenkov to the Toronto Raptors, sources tell ESPN.

Yeah, good news for Sasha!

Assuming Leon pulls off iHart after we all speak it in existence for him and KP is out until ~ January. (had surgery yesterday), – the #1 seed is now base case scenario @ all star break. Think this year, – NY represents with 3 All-Stars. It’s going to be one hell of the season boys + these kids are awesome & super easy to root for.

It’ll still be really tough to catch Boston even without KP. They went 21-4 in the 25 games he missed last season. Any team trying to catch Boston is going to need to win 60+.

I’m listening to zach lowe’s podcast and Givony told him he talked to Diadet’s agent and the agent said the Knicks are buying out his contract and bringing him over

That would be nice, draft and sign instead of draft and stash 🙂

Any team trying to catch Boston is going to need to win 60+.

They could very easily be in the championship hangover phase – I doubt they will be very concerned with seeding in the playoffs. Home court advantage means less and less these days.

So…still some intriguing guys on the board! Wonder which future second-rounders we’ll be getting.

Oh God there are already rumors on Twitter and thanks to Stephen A that Knicks will draft Bronny at 51.

Beyond the minutes distribution and who will be #1,2,3 in the offense, I’m just so excited to see these guys PLAY together.

What will all the PASSING & CUTTING look like? Will opponents ever score? What will Clyde say? I hope he’s looking up new versions of “sharing is caring.” 😉

Steely Dan probably could have saved some cash by not hiring Steve Gadd. He got triple scale. That was his nickname. That plus cocaine and it’s a huge overpay lol. Still, what would Aja have sounded like without him? Sometimes you gotta pay a premium for an elite role player.

I need to look at OG’s offensive numbers, but I believe he’ll improve a good bit on offense (more points and assists, higher usage)…

Beyond the minutes distribution and who will be #1,2,3 in the offense, I’m just so excited to see these guys PLAY together.

What will all the PASSING & CUTTING look like? Will opponents ever score? What will Clyde say? I hope he’s looking up new versions of “sharing is caring.” 😉

But please, Thibs, get your sh*t together drawing the inbound plays, ok? 🤭 😀

ha Dan, I’m listening to Aja right now (waiting to drop off car for service)…

although – it’s been playing in the car for a few years now, soooooo, not like a crazy coincidence or anything…

after someone mentioned it – I always listen for the drum outtro on aja…

my fave part though is the whistle…it just works for me…

you still soaking up the sun in beautiful puerto rico?

Don’t care about catching Boston during the regular season. It’d be nice, but I want to beat the stuffing out of them in the playoffs.

oh shoot, forgot to ask – how’d the screening stuff go clarence?

Randle will still be the number 2 I think but there will be night’s when Mikal will be the 2.

I guess you could say we have a 1A and two 2A’s lol.

Assuming Leon pulls off iHart after we all speak it in existence for him and KP is out until ~ January. (had surgery yesterday)

He’ll be back in November according to the Celtics. He may miss some early games.

I need to look at OG’s offensive numbers, but I believe he’ll improve a good bit on offense (more points and assists, higher usage)…

Maybe, but he’s never really shown those offensive skills going back to college. He’s a DPOY caliber player who can seamlessly fit into any team’s offense because he can handle the ball a little big, finish at the rim, and hit 3s at a good rate which is way more than you can say for most DPOY players that aren’t also MVP caliber.

you still soaking up the sun in beautiful puerto rico?

So freakin hot. Following here for Ks news. Hoping Yanks get back on track. Waves are flat. Having an awesome vacation though. So happy with what Knicks have been able to do

KOLEK!!!!!

Ok, I’ve totally bought in on Kolek as our backup PG next year. I’m looking forward to some other team taking him and us trading our pick for nothing.

surprise; i like it

That’s pretty fun.

YES!!!

Trading up for a pick!!

Sure why not.

Now I’m excited for Summer League!

OMG did that just happen?!

Someone mentioned Kolek on this thread, i think i remember. 😀

I am ECSTATIC, can someone confiscate Leon’s phone before he trades him?

I am ECSTATIC, can someone confiscate Leon’s phone before he trades him?

LOL!

PS: OMG! Haven’t thought about it, now you’ve made me nervous! 😀

Don’t love Kolek but I can’t complain about him in the 2nd round

That’s good value for a guy who was routinely mocked in the first round between 18 and 28.

Do we still have #38?

Sounds like we still have #38, but are looking to trade it.

Cool, whatever, just protect Kolek at all costs.

Edit: Woj is saying we could be moving #38, while Begley says we “moved up” from #38 to take Kolek. Who knows. Protect Kolek.

What did we trade for 34?

What did we trade for 34?

Three 2nd rounders but haven’t seen any details on which ones.

What just happened? Someone post a tweet or something….

Knicks trading 38 to OKC.

Woj says we traded the 38 pick to OKC. No idea why OKC could possibly want more 2nd rounders.

What just happened? Someone post a tweet or something….

A tweet

Backup-PG in the bag and without 1st round money obligation.

The Family strikes again…

A tweet

Or something

What’s up with the Knicks and OKC? Are they trying to confuse us about who has what? 😀

What’s up with the Knicks and OKC? Are they trying to confuse us about who has what?

Yeah it’s really weird.

Serious question: Why is everyone so sure that moving up to #34 pretty much guarantees us getting Kolek? I’d love to be able to see it that way…….but doesn’t that still leave three teams ahead of us in the second round? Who are those three teams?

The draft is happening now. We literally traded up to 34 and drafted Kolek.

Serious question: Why is everyone so sure that moving up to #34 pretty much guarantees us getting Kolek? I’d love to be able to see it that way…….but doesn’t that still leave three teams ahead of us in the second round? Who are those three teams?

Well we already drafted him, so that makes me think we’ve got a pretty good chance

Doogie the round started an hour ago

Kolek plus the French guy isn’t bad, I’d have been happy with those picks at 24 and 25.

Well played all around, can’t really complain about this draft.

it would cool to pair kolek with oso at 40

We got 40 and cash considerations, so as of now, picking at 40.

Another funny guy! Hart is going to like him! 😀
https://x.com/KnicksMuse/status/1806429765168971845

How can OKC roster so many players?

We got 40? Hmm… Adem Bona seems Thibs-y.

And that McCullar guy who was often mocked to us is available.

I think I want Ulrich Chomche, though.

The second round is fun.

LOL At 4:00 I knew that the second round started at 4:00, but I was still working of course and then forgot all about it by 4:01. Glad we “stole” that guy so low!!!

How can OKC roster so many players?

Right?!

Their roster’s like a clown car.

@TommyBeer:

Tyler Kolek averaged 15.3 points, 4.9 rebounds, 7.7 assists, and 1.6 steals for Marquette last season.

Efficient offensive player. He shot:
49.6% from the floor
38.8% from downtown
85.1% from the FT line

At 23 years old and having spent three years as a starter in the Big East, he should be ready to contribute immediately.

His teammates loved him. Respected locker-room leader for Marquette. Good vision. Great passer.

A true plug-and-play pick, which is notable considering NY needs a backup PG. Kolek will compete for mins and a spot in teh reguar-season rotation.

https://x.com/TommyBeer/status/1806429656339697921

Sounds like Knicks were locked into somehow getting Kolek in this draft so will be interesting to see if he gets a legitimate shot at getting some backup PG mins this season.

We still on the clock at #40? A lot of outlets still say that it’s Portland.

So this pick that ESPN says is Portland’s is actually ours, correct?

Knicks traded 40 to Phoenix.

Apparently still have picks 51 and 56 in this draft.

Lmao we’re trading #40 to the Suns. Again, just protect Kolek at all costs.

Woj is saying it’s for 51 and 56…which can’t be right, because we already had 51!

“We got 40? Hmm… Adem Bona seems Thibs-y.

And that McCullar guy who was often mocked to us is available.

I think I want Ulrich Chomche, though.

The second round is fun.”

Not having Twitter is like being blind

did the suns just trick us into trading for our own pick? thought we already had 51?

Not having Twitter is like being blind

LOL

Looks like we have #51 from Washington, but not #56. Looks like #56 belongs to the Suns via Denver. Who the hell knows anymore?

did the suns just trick us into trading for our own pick? thought we already had 51?

It’s probably 56 and a future pick, Woj needs more coffee.

Looks like we have #51, but not #56. Looks like #56 belongs to the Suns via Denver. Who the hell knows anymore?

Doogie, you have the pick’s owners from yesterday. A lot of outlets don’t update the list based on the draft day trades.

Geo – thanks for asking. It was a great success. We’re live and selling out DVDs and streaming around the world. Reviews are mostly positive and we’re running like 60 40 with the general public. My hubby and I got some numbers from some seriously hot gents. Like I can’t find my panties hot.

It’s been a little bit of a whirlwind with the Knicks stuff and my boy from High school who came to the premiere and is on this blog (sup) and I were having trouble talking about dumb movie shit while the heavens were parting.

Just submitted first pass on the next project in development. Any contract bridge players here?

Woj is live on ESPN for their draft coverage so he’s probably scrambling to tweet during commercial breaks lol.

The plan outlined by Jeremy requires us to actually come away with three 2RPs…so if he’s right, we’ll be making some of these picks, eventually.

Leon Rose is the Jerry Dipoto of draft day.

@JakeLFischer:
Details on these seconds New York sent Portland, per sources: 2027 Minnesota, 2029 least favorable of Indiana/Washington, and New York’s own 2030 second-round pick.

The plan outlined by Jeremy requires us to actually come away with three 2RPs…so if he’s right, we’ll be making some of these picks, eventually.

We already have 2 in Rokas & Kolek, so we only need 1. Guessing it’s 56 so that we can trade 51 for a top-50 protected future

Kolek is gonna be our very own TJ McConnell.

Kolek is gonna be our very own TJ McConnell.

But one who can shoot from beyond the arc.

I keep seeing we traded 38 for 40. Not 40 and ___.

We still have Bronny in play!!!

Leon & Co. should schedule a webinar to explain us how to follow Knicks drafts…

Leon & Co. should schedule a webinar to explain us how to follow Knicks drafts…

It’s like a Hitchcock movie, i’m starting to like it. But only on the 2nd round. 😀

It was 38 for 40 and some Dolan Dollars. Whatever, protect Kolek.

Leon & Co. should schedule a webinar to explain us how to follow Knicks drafts…

Step 1. Mark the board with the Knicks pick
Step 2. Remove those picks
Step 3. Blindfold yourself and throw darts
Step 4. Get a list of draft eligible years
Step 5. More darts

@Woj

Atlanta and Miami flipped 43 and 44, per source.

I think the GMs like to troll everyone.

We still have Bronny in play!!!

Just to piss off Rich Paul? Sweet!

So when do we pick? I want Ulrich Chomche!

@Woj

Atlanta and Miami flipped 43 and 44, per source.

I think the GMs like to troll everyone.

The 2nd round is wild. We need more 2nd rounds.

I think the GMs like to troll everyone.

Yeah, that one is hilarious! Should i pick first, or do you want to go first? 😀

Seems shams and woj have given up trying to track Brock Aller’s second round maneuvering

Why are we trading down for nothing?

How did we get the 51st pick twice?

WHY IS THIS SO HARD TO FOLLOW????

So when do we pick? I want Ulrich Chomche!

Who? Are you trying to make life harder for Clyde? 😀

When we meet OKC in the Finals next year we should put all of our second round picks on the line

Ulrich Chomche is a Nigerian PF I didn’t know existed until 20 minutes ago, Cyber. His selection is very important to me.

This seems to be an actual incineration of a pick

Damn. Toronto is taking all my favorite players

That Beer tweet on Kolek makes him sound like a robot we designed on this blog last season (and every season for the last ten years).

Efficient offensive player. He shot:
49.6% from the floor
38.8% from downtown
85.1% from the FT line

His teammates loved him. Respected locker-room leader for Marquette. Good vision. Great passer.

How is this happening?!

Ulrich Chomche is a Nigerian PF I didn’t know existed until 20 minutes ago, Cyber. His selection is very important to me.

LOL

Please, oh G-d, find a way to keep iHart in the fold.

with orlando trading 47, i believe zero second round picks are being used by the original owner

How is this happening?!

Like, the Knicks became a competent organization and I’m still not sure if I’m dreaming.

At this stage I’m starting to think that even if things go tits up with the current team, the front office will find an effective way to pivot. This notion that we’re giving up all flexibility… if you have good players that other teams want, you have flexibility.

with orlando trading 47, i believe zero second round picks are being used by the original owner

Is that a fake stat? It seems plausible, which is why I’m asking.

They should just hand out baseball caps to second round draftees that say ?????

so we traded 51 to phoenix for a protected 2028 celtics 2nd and then got 51 back in the trade down. maybe sam rose is a market maker.

if you have good players that other teams want, you have flexibility.

Honestly that’s my take on all the hand-wringing about picks sent out. If (God forbid) this team needs blowing up, there will be plenty of picks on offer.

Is that a fake stat? It seems plausible, which is why I’m asking

i think it’s true but i’m not 100pct

with orlando trading 47, i believe zero second round picks are being used by the original owner

There’s a 22% chance Leon flips 51 for 52 and a lime and then flips 52 for our original 53, the forfeited 76ers pick, and a coconut to put the lime in

Is that a fake stat? It seems plausible, which is why I’m asking

i think it’s true but i’m not 100pct

seems to be true, cross-referencing tankathon with The Athletic

There’s a 22% chance Leon flips 51 for 52 and a lime and then flips 52 for our original 53 and a coconut to put the lime in

This is a rare situation where I wish this blog allowed graphics.

There’s a 22% chance Leon flips 51 for 52 and a lime and then flips 52 for our original 53 and a coconut to put the lime in

ha, nice EB…

Every time Stephen A speaks, I find myself daydreaming about a Scanners-like televised head explosion.

Harrison Ingram = Harrison Barnes x Brandon Ingram laboratory baby?

Villanova’s Jay Wright on CBS right now offering to teach Thibs how to inbound. Wants to “finish the job.”

I just ordered my Kolek jersey…a bit like a left handed Billy Donovan

Hornets trading 3 second rounders for Reggie Jackson.

Some franchises are actually just doomed, aren’t they?

Villanova’s Jay Wright on CBS right now offering to teach Thibs how to inbound. Wants to “finish the job.”

LOL

Hubert, Chomche is cameroonian like Embiid.

if you have good players that other teams want, you have flexibility.

Yeah but if you wildly overpay them, give them trade kickers and 5th year player options, teams don’t want your good player any more.

We can trade Bridges or Brunson but OG is now our Zach Lavine.

We’re going to end up with Kevin McCullar with one of these picks, aren’t we?

Tastycakes, I think the Hornets are getting three second rounders in order to take on Jackson’s deal. Not giving them up.

“Knicks back on the clock” is the most meaningless statement in the English language, but the Knicks are back on the clock

Edit: And ta-da, it’s gone

Kolek Knechted with the Knicks.

Nice. Actually a pretty good draft for Leon. Makes summer league way better and I love summer league.

We can trade Bridges or Brunson but OG is now our Zach Lavine.

Ooooh, Sal-TEE!!

Are we sure the Pacome Dadiet is going to play summer league?

I thought I read somewhere that he’s going to be playing on another team, but maybe I misunderstood.

Ajinca! Maybe Max knows him!

I thought I read somewhere that he’s going to be playing somewhere else, but maybe I misunderstood.

I think what you read is about Rokas, he’ll skip the summer league if Lithuania qualifies for the Olympics.

Tastycakes, I think the Hornets are getting three second rounders in order to take on Jackson’s deal. Not giving them up.

Ah, that was not how it was displayed on ESPN but it certainly makes more sense.

Anyone have Ajinca thoughts?

Stephen A tried to pretend he was really mad the Knicks traded Melvin Ajinca

Ajinca is gone. Dallas

We traded Ajinca for an unknown package

Kolek shoots left 😉 Plug and play.

Boston should draft Bronny just to troll LA

Ha, I missed the trade, because Twitter is such a mess thanks to El*n firing all the people there who knew what they were doing.

Do we actually have 56? How much of my time am I wasting here today?

@krispursiainen
Per sources, Enrique Freeman of the Akron Zips would have been the Knicks’ selection at #51 overall had he been on the board.

The Indiana Pacers took Freeman at #50, one pick before. This could explain why New York traded #51 to the Dallas Mavericks.

Who the fuck knows if we’re keeping it, but like McCullar here!

Re: Ajinca

Cyber (and Alan), I remember his cousin and that he did play really well, and better than Risacher, last year in the Euro Under-19 Tournament.
Very physical and compact, with short arm and a decent shot.

3-And-D raw project, but now he’s a Maverick 🙂

Edit: memory fail, it was Under-19 World Cup

You were right, Alan. McCullar it is.

Bronny stealing our thunder.. ESPN just skipped over 56 entirely, lol

We’re going to end up with Kevin McCullar with one of these picks, aren’t we?

So, we actually did end up with Kevin McCullar?!?!

OMG, this is amazing!
https://x.com/pacomedadiet/status/1806450523299778561/

Tyler Kolek and Kevin McCullar are massive upgrades on Charlie Brown and co., and I say that having no idea if they’ll be good or not.

No center pick, iHart plz 🙏

Tommy Beer is still at it.

@TommyBeer:

Over the last decade, only two players have won the Big East Player of the Year award in a season in which they shot over 47% from the floor, over 39% from 3PT territory and over 80% from the FT line:

Tyler Kolek and Jalen Brunson

https://x.com/TommyBeer/status/1806451815526912198

Damn, Kolek and McCullar both seem promising. Who needs the first round??

These guys have all been fucking up so who knows, but Shams says we have 58?

This rollercoaster was much funnier, the long distance peeing contest between FOs is a blast!

Please add a third round Mr. Silver 😀

Tyler Kolek and Kevin McCullar are massive upgrades on Charlie Brown and co

Yeah but at this rate they’re replacing Alec Burks and Precious Achiuwa.

NBA.com is … behind on their own draft?

56. Suns draft Kevin McCullar Jr. (Kansas) — Reportedly traded to Raptors (via Timberwolves, Knicks and Nuggets)

@ cyber — Love Dadiet in the Knicks gear as a kid. He’s so young. I think he’s wearing a Brunson jersey 😉

How many vias is too many vias?

Did we actually get anything for going from 38 to 40 to 56 to out?

What about going from 51 to 58? Did we get anything for that?

So looks like we selected Ariel Hukporti, a center from Germany, with pick #58.

58. Mavericks draft Ariel Hukporti (MHP Riesen) — Reportedly traded to Knicks

The 22-year-old has a strong frame as a seven-foot, 245-pound interior presence.

Cyber beat me to it. This year’s Sims? Played a lot of pro ball already. Ready to contribute.

Kevin O’Connor compared Hukporti to one-time Phil Jackson target Greg Monroe.

For those who missed all the action, in this year’s draft the Knicks selected:
Pick #25 – Pacôme Dadiet (SG, France)
Pick #34 – Tyler Kolek (PG, Marquette)
Pick #56 – Kevin McCullar Jr (SF, Kansas)
Pick #58 – Ariel Hukporti (C, Germany)

Comp for Kolek is TJ McConnell and for McCullar is Josh Hart. For the others i don’t know who the comps are.

I love KOC’s “shades of” on the Ringer draft board. They are almost all wildly optimistic, but it’s fun to remember randos like Greg Monroe and imagine a second round pick turning into a semi-useful rotation guy like him. (Useful? Greg Monroe was good once, I think)

Did McCullar go to us or the Suns?

WHY IS THIS SO HARD TO FOLLOW?

So we entered with 24, 25, and 38 and are leaving with Dadiet, Kolek, McCullar, Hukporti…and some future seconds maybe we’ll be able to figure out within, like, a year.

Pretty good IMO! B+ or so.

Well, who knows if they’re gonna be any good, but Leon did make some picks this time around 😉

Okay. Whisky time. Enjoy.

Assuming the first 3 picks play Summer League should be worth watching at least.

**
Did McCullar go to us or the Suns?

WHY IS THIS SO HARD TO FOLLOW?

**

NBA.com updated to : 56. Suns draft Kevin McCullar Jr. (Kansas) — Reportedly traded to Knicks

So there are some shades of The Incineration Draft, where we also went in with two first rounders and a second, traded down multiple times, and wound up taking one player in the first and three in the second. And we still have some future seconds.

If two of these guys turn out to be as useful as Grimes and Deuce… not bad at all. Making picks is fun!

Noble, Jeremy was right, we did select three players in the 2nd round. 😉

with orlando trading 47, i believe zero second round picks are being used by the original owner

And the Warriors ruin it by trading for their original pick

Sam Vecenie on Hukporti (from his draft guide):

“Hukporti is not going to be for everyone, but I can see certain organizations being interested. It all depends on how you value bigs who perform the non-negotiable aspects of being a big at a high level versus how you value upside to do more. Hukporti is in the former camp.
He’s an awesome rebounder and good rim protector, and I think he can play in drop coverage in the NBA.
He plays incredibly hard, and he’s willing to be physical. There’s no ego to his game. But I don’t see a ton of value beyond that.
Offense must be simple for him with transition play, screening, rim-running, offensive rebounding and dunking.
I don’t see much potential to shoot or score outside of 10 feet.
He gets far too sped up in terms of processing on offense to be a high-level passer.
However, I do like Hukporti more than recent international second-round center picks Tristan Vukčević (42nd to Washington in 2023), Khalifa Diop (39th to Cleveland in 2022), Karlo Matković (52nd in 2022) and Marko Simonovic (44th in 2020).
Hukporti is a potential backup center if he can just improve his processing ability, overall precision and general skill level a tad on
offense.”

Okay. Whisky time. Enjoy.

Don’t have whisky* so i’m going for a beer. Cheers, good people of KB. 🙂

*Well, i have one bottle but it’s a very good one. Maybe next year when we reach the ECF. Be aware, green nation, we’re here to take your crown! 🏆

Video highlights from Hukporti.
https://x.com/NBADraftWass/status/1716798100587569179

For those who missed all the action, in this year’s draft the Knicks selected:
Pick #25 – Pacôme Dadiet (SG, France)
Pick #34 – Tyler Kolek (PG, Marquette)
Pick #56 – Kevin McCullar Jr (SF, Kansas)
Pick #58 – Ariel Hukporti (C, Germany)

Comp for Kolek is TJ McConnell and for McCullar is Josh Hart. For the others i don’t know who the comps are.

Thanks! You saved me a lot of research!
And it looks like Hukporti is a 7′ defensive minded bruiser. Comp was Greg Monroe?

Man, using the draft is a lot of fun. It gives you guys you can wishcast a lot about, which is very fun!

Couldn’t be Greg monroe, who was one of the worst rim protectors in the nba and had some passing chops. I like the pick though.

From high school to the ECF…
https://x.com/Knicksbounce/status/1806461965037973552

Yeah but if you wildly overpay them, give them trade kickers and 5th year player options, teams don’t want your good player any more.

We can trade Bridges or Brunson but OG is now our Zach Lavine.

There is no evidence that they overpaid for OG.

OG will make 26% of the cap. The number sounds crazy because the cap is increasing so much. But it’s hardly unprecedented. Tyson Chandler was signed for 23% of the cap, and played a position that historically has earned less than wings. Lavine – a one-dimensional guard, so far from a position in high demand – makes 30%. OG’s raises are lower than the cap raises, so he will make a smaller percentage of the cap by year 4. The risk is health, but if it holds up, I bet he ends up opting out of that 5th year.

@cyber, man. That link is precious. Made my night.

PS — gotta be whisky bc two old men are gonna discuss the future of my country in a bit.

So there are some shades of The Incineration Draft, where we also went in with two first rounders and a second, traded down multiple times, and wound up taking one player in the first and three in the second.

And with Isaiah Collier as Jalen Johnson.

There is no evidence that they overpaid for OG.

There is the historical market for 0.1 bpm players.

Zach Lavine had max offers, too.

There is the historical market for 0.1 bpm players.

Zach Lavine had max offers, too.

Yes, and the Sun circles our flat Earth

@cyber, man. That link is precious. Made my night.

🧡💙

PS — gotta be whisky bc two old men are gonna discuss the future of my country in a bit.

That makes perfect sense! 😉

The fucking Yankees, man. Like a week ago I was doing 110 win math and now I’m contemplating a mental health break.

There is the historical market for 0.1 bpm players.

You trolling on this one?

BPM is nonsense for a player whose value is derived primarily from his ability be disruptive defensively, guard the opposing team’s best player on many nights, switch, and play good perimeter and help defense. He would have been in the conversation for all defense last year if he didn’t miss so many games. And he does all that while being very efficient on moderate usage. He’s a stud. If he can improve his handle and non dunking finishes (not impossible), he’s a super stud.

The fucking Yankees, man

Felt like a swoon was inevitable but man alive.

Pitching staff was on fire, now half these guys are turning into pumpkins.

They didn’t overpay for OG because it’s doctrinally/catechismically impossible for them to have overpaid for OG.

It’s an article of faith at this point, not really analysis. Is what it is. Take it in that spirit/vein.

Knicks best team in NY and sadly it’s not particularly close at the moment.

Well I guess the Rangers too but I was referring to my frustration with the Yankees collapsing in the summer which has become an annual trait under Boone.

There is the historical market for 0.1 bpm players.

Zach Lavine had max offers, too.

Ah yes, not disingenuous at all to rely on the metric so bad at capturing defensive value that it has Nikola Jokic as the best defensive player in the league by a country mile for the last 3 years.

Should we consider the historical market for 3.1 EPM players who are in the 99th percentile defensively, and the 93rd overall? Or nah?

I was out to dinner and aside from Kolek it was impossible to figure out what was happening during the draft except for Bronny to the Lakers

Well, everyone knows the old saying:

When you got BPM on your side, argue BPM.

When you got EPM on your side, argue EPM.

When you got neither on your side, pound the table.

On this Earth, Zach Lavine at 26 was a greater basketball asset than OG Anunoby ever will be, and you exist at the peak of delusion if you can’t accept that.

Things turn fast after you win a bidding war. OG is ours, but with his trade kicker and his player option, he probably always will be. There’s no flexibility with him. He is our Lavine now.

Man Carlos Rodon fucking sucks

Gregg Berhalter might be worse than Aaron Boone.

Things turn fast after you win a bidding war. OG is ours, but with his trade kicker and his player option, he probably always will be. There’s no flexibility with him. He is our Lavine now.

So, assuming OG plays the same number of games in the next 4 years as he did in the last 4, would you bet on him opting in or out?

There’s no flexibility with him.

If you’re second aproned, as they project to be as far as the eye can see, and you’ve given away the vast majority of your 1s, you have very little flexibility, period.

Well, everyone knows the old saying:

When you got BPM on your side, argue BPM.

When you got EPM on your side, argue EPM.

When you got neither on your side, pound the table.

I’ve been ardently pushing EPM & DARKO for a while. If you’re using defensive BPM you’re an idiot, ignorant, or a troll.

The flaws of defensive BPM have been discussed here for like a decade. It basically says you were on the floor and maybe grabbed rebounds, steals and blocks

The back end of OG’s contract might not look great. Don’t really care. We have probably three solid years to make a run, maybe a little longer than that. I’m not real worried about the 2028-2029 season right now.

“The … interesting … thing about all of this is that Leon has premised this all on JB as tentpole, Z is one of Leon’s biggest board defenders … and yet … Z is one of JB’s biggest board critics. Tough one to square … but that’s Z.”

Typical nonsense coming from E.

First, I have criticized Leon a multitude of times. He’s made plenty of mistakes, and was bailed out of The Mistake Of All Mistakes when he was rebuffed by Ainge during the Spida Chronicles. I’m just not a knee-jerk agenda-driven blatherer with a hate-boner for him, Thibs, and Randle, like you are, have always been, and continue to be.

Second, I was one of the first here to to go on the record with a firm prediction that Brunson would become a star….compared him to Lowry and FVV…and I think he has met or exceeded those expectations! I’m not sure what you mean by saying that I am one of his biggest critics here…maybe you can explain that to me?

E really just has no idea what he’s talking about, what the hell does he mean by “second aproned?” Being hard capped at the second apron and being above the second apron are two very different things with very different implications, but he doesn’t have the humility to admit he doesn’t understand this stuff all that well (which is stupid, there’s no shame in that, it’s all quite complicated). So we just get incoherent nonsense. Rinse and repeat.

It means what it obviously does given what I wrote — above the second apron. Once you’re above that, your flexibility shrinks to shit, other than drafting — and now they can’t draft in a bunch of drafts.

They still have to extend Jalen Brunson, Julius Randle, and Mikal Bridges. They’re going to be above the second apron for as far as the eye can see.

Was anyone on the board not happy about Brunson? It wasn’t the love fest it should have been, but I don’t remember many negative voices. I wish I had touted him as a future star, but at least I said he’d be top a 15 pg, which was better than bottom 1 in Elfrid. Mostly I was relieved – which was an appropriate emotion for team without a point at that time.

This is the creator of BPM, Daniel Myers, on BPM vs modern stats:

Recently in the NBA far more statistics have been gathered, either from play-by-play or hand tracking, which allow more detailed metrics. BPM does not include that data and should not be as accurate as stats that do include the additional information

In basketball terms, both Mikal and OG lagged behind Toronto RJ in literally every serious 23-24 stat category other than stocks.

TOR RJ tops the list of three (per 36) in points, rebounds, assists, TS%, USG. Clean sweep.

Not going to check but I assume the Raptors were a very good team and the Knicks were bad

Brooklyn sucked with Mikal. Toronto sucked with OG. The Knicks beat a higher seed in 5 games and gave the EC finalist a nice run with RJ. With a significantly lower playoff DRat than this year’s Knicks.

E’s just masturbating to an audience. Ignore him, it’s an ugly thing that shouldn’t be watched. In fact, I believe it might be a criminal offense. Certainly let’s not point out that he has a tiny weener. It’s the attention he craves.

Let us all have a whiskey (or beer) and to bed.

Cool stats E. How was RJ on defense? How did he do offensively in the other 95% or so of his career?

The Knicks beat a higher seed in 5 games and gave the EC finalist a nice run with RJ. With a significantly lower playoff DRat than this year’s Knicks.

ahahaha

E has two arguments:
– pounding the table
– pounding the pointzzzz!!!

E, what will RJ’s stat line (PTS/TRB/AST/TS%) be next season?

Man it fucking sucks that the Knicks are good.

The back end of OG’s contract might not look great. Don’t really care. We have probably three solid years to make a run, maybe a little longer than that. I’m not real worried about the 2028-2029 season right now.

I’m in the same boat. But the argument was presented that we have flexibility bc our guys will always be in demand. I don’t expect high demand for OG in two years. Not with a $40mm salary, a trade kicker, and a player option. That’s all I’m saying.

assuming OG plays the same number of games in the next 4 years as he did in the last 4, would you bet on him opting in or out?

I honestly don’t know. But what sucks about player options is he will likely choose whatever his team doesn’t want him to. A 5 year deal is better than a 4 year deal w a player option. And trade kickers blow.

joe with the evil side eye…

Did the Twitter people ever figure out what future value we received for all these trade downs?

I honestly don’t know. But what sucks about player options is he will likely choose whatever his team doesn’t want him to. A 5 year deal is better than a 4 year deal w a player option. And trade kickers blow.

The player option is certainly good for OG. My guess is that the Knicks preferred to go this route in exchange for a lower initial salary so that they could make the cap work if I-Hart signs. Given what the market looks like, I believe the report that he had max offers, possibly from Philly, so he gets a slightly lower AAV but more security/option to hit the market again at a not so advanced age.

If this team wins a championship I’ll be reading about the 2031 draft being busted so I’m surely not too worried about reading about how we got to here the wrong way. 😂

LEON WE NEED A CENTER!

@joshhart
·
3m
THEY TALKING ABOUT GOLF?!

lmao, Josh for president

First night in Brooklyn, dinner at Di An Di.

Incredible. Best Vietnamese meal I’ve ever had.

The big thing with OG is his health. IMO, if he stays healthy he’s going to get better. He’s going to improve his handle and improve his ability to finish in non dunk situations. Those are the two areas of weakness that can be corrected. I’m sure our coaching staff understands that and will insist he work on it. I also think he’s going to come in lighter and fitter next year. With the rising cap and his improvement his contract will look fine. The only way it’s going to be a problem is if he’s constantly injured and he declines because of that. It’s a risk, but I think if if gets fitter and drops some weight it will help. Maybe our new training hire will also help.

Best Vietnamese meal I’ve ever had.

How’s the Pho?

P.S. Mets are pretty hot these days, heh?

Unless I’m missing something, we can offer the non-tax MLE if we’re hardcapped at the 1st apron. If we use all our 2nd Rd exceptions, we can generate $8.1M for a FA by carrying a 14-man roster.

OG is probably more of a 20% of the cap player, but due to circumstances, Leon had to start him $25% to keep him. It’s not ideal, but those are the things that many well run teams do at this stage of team-building.

I’m not saying that this team is a favorite to win a title right now, or will be in the next 5 years. But I’m not going to lose sight of where this process started. A little more than four years ago, Leon took over a league-wide laughingstock with the worst roster in the NBA, one that didn’t have a single player that would bring back an unprotected first in a trade. In those 4 years, without any tanking (playoffs in 3 of 4 years), without a home run in the draft, without landing a traditional “big fish” (meaning Durant, or Giannis, or Jokic, or Embiid), and making several decisions along the way that were characterized here as horrific blunders, he still managed to built a roster that is widely considered to be a legit contender as it stands right now. I don’t like the price we paid Mikal, I don’t like OG’s contract, and Hart wasn’t a bargain either, but these overpays are balanced out by the underpays for Brunson, Randle, DDV, Mitch, iHart, and Deuce. We’ll be capped out soon and short on first round picks for a while, but so will lots of teams. We should have a very real 3-4 year window of seriously contending that didn’t seem possible as recently as this time two years ago. It’s not perfect, but it’s pretty damn exciting!

@jk did you happen to go to the bar directly next to di an di?

I’m a minority partner there!

I didn’t, but that area is just a couple blocks away from where I’m working for the next ten days. I will have to pop in for a drink sometime.

We have a DiDi here in LA that serves the best Vietnamese food I’ve ever had. Wonder if they’re connected.

I’ll be back in NYC (LA right now) this weekend. Happy to meet up and chat the rise of the Knicks, the downfall of AP, or life in general. Enjoy greenpoint!

If you haven’t yet try Paulie Gees restaurant, not the slice shop… it is pretty amazing.

But the argument was presented that we have flexibility bc our guys will always be in demand

I never argued that all of our guys would necessarily always be in demand. But if enough of them continue to hold value (good players on good contracts), there are paths to retool.

OG at 40M might be a difficult guy to trade, I don’t disagree there. But looking at the roster in aggregate, as it is today, the lack of our own picks isn’t inherently crippling.

Who knows, maybe we just drafted a rotation guy or two in the second round and suddenly we have more assets with value… (not sure when they are actually gonna play but we’ll see)

Are you guys kidding me. We have the second best odds to win a chip.

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