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Knicks Morning News (2024.10.16)

The site is up & running again, so that’s a thing. šŸ˜€

96 replies on “Knicks Morning News (2024.10.16)”

Thank you Mike!

Three hot Knicks rookies, a Jazz pickoff, a Judge homer. The old server must have gotten some wires crossed.

Wow, all it took to crash the site was Dadiet going off for 16 points! That, or us talking about multiple games in one night.

Was exciting to watch the rookiesā€™ highlights today. Yes, itā€™s preseason. Yes, itā€™s against one of the absolute worst teams in the league. But all three showed off genuine skill, and ways that they could help the team if called upon. With the Shamet injury (more on that in next comment), itā€™s not hard to see Kolek helping immediately. And Huk could easily be our emergency center over Sims.

Just a wondering…if the Knicks just wanted to be nice, could they guarantee Shamet and then waive him, and then sign Warren (or some other vet’s min guy) and still stay under the second apron?

Nah..it was definitely Shamet getting hurt that shut it down LOL

All jokes aside..do we waive him and offer Warren or Mook a deal? I think we’re good with our reserve guards if we let Shamet go. A little small, but Payne, Deuce, and Kolek have shown me enough to give me confidence in our backup guards. A healthy Shamet would have been one hell of a luxury though- with the way he’d been playing

Ha! Great minds, Z

I read somewhere that if the Knicks waive Shamet now, it will leave a 15k cap hit and room under the 2nd apron to sign a vet min guy and convert a 2 way

I read somewhere that if the Knicks waive Shamet now, it will leave a 15k cap hit and room under the 2nd apron to sign a vet min guy and convert a 2 way

Of course we should do it, it’s only Dolan’s money! šŸ˜€

If Shamet is out a whole, that sucks for him. Which scenario would seem most likely: 1)Warren gets signed and joins the rotation, 2)A current FA gets signed and joins the rotation, 3)The Knicks keep Shamet and put Kolek in the rotation, 4)Sims or Hukporti goes in the rotation, 5)Dadiet goes in the rotation, 6)8-man rotation?

There’s no question in my mind that Hukporti is a legit NBA prospect. Really a great find at #58, even better than Sims…not that Huk is better than Sims at the moment, but with any development at all he will be.

Dadiet looked great, but it is way too early to judge whether he will help anytime soon or is more of a 3-year project who may or may not pan out. But he is fluid on offense, the shot looks much better than it did in summer league and he showed skill with both hands around the basket. He also seemed committed on the defensive end with nice footwork for a 19yo. Also showed a bit of toughness on the boards.

I’m sticking to the “Kolek needs to model his game after Stockton” narrative. He talks the same game and already has the facial bumps and bruises to mimic him. But he has continue to get physically stronger if he’s going to last playing that way.

Went last night. Really liked watching Huk. Wasnā€™t at all impressed with Kolek.

Just a wonderingā€¦if the Knicks just wanted to be nice, could they guarantee Shamet and then waive him, and then sign Warren (or some other vetā€™s min guy) and still stay under the second apron?

I think Leon understands it is in his and the teams best interest to be as accommodating to Shamet as possible. But cap implications (business) have to come first.

Alan, i think the most likely are 1 or 2. Although i wouldn’t be surprised if it’s 3, Kolek has been playing really well.

Seemed too small. He was like sidearming passes too, that annoyed me. I dunno. Didnā€™t get the hype.

Havenā€™t watched a minute of preseason so Iā€™ll take ya word on that heā€™s been playing well. Iā€™m lukewarm, but optimistic.

“Went last night. Really liked watching Huk. Wasnā€™t at all impressed with Kolek.”

Kolek only shot 2-9, but had 8 rebounds and 9 assists in 24 minutes with only 2 turnovers. The Knicks were +5 in his minutes. I am guessing that some of those minutes were against Charlotte’s starters, including Lonzo and Miller.

But Huk has a great motor and is sneaky athletic. He can really run the floor and is a ferocious dunker in traffic. Nothing not to like!

Yeah itā€™s funny. Looked up towards the end and saw his line and ā€œah thatā€™s not too badā€

Dadiet looked great, but it is way too early to judge whether he will help anytime soon or is more of a 3-year project who may or may not pan out. But he is fluid on offense, the shot looks much better than it did in summer league and he showed skill with both hands around the basket. He also seemed committed on the defensive end with nice footwork for a 19yo. Also showed a bit of toughness on the boards.

All of this… but it is easy to see what the scouts saw in this 18 year old player. He has an amazingly high ceiling. I was most impressed with the intensity he ran the offensive sets as well as his obvious physical skill set.

The summer league grab ass chuck em up to get noticed style of ball clearly wasn’t conducive to showing his skills.

Thibs will make him work to earn any minutes he gets, unlike the Kevin Knox experience.

Thanks Mike for resurging the site again! šŸ™‚

I’m totally in love with Kolek, he has a stellar BB-IQ, it looks like he does the right thing even when he turns the ball over.

Huk’s could be a great find at the bottom of the draft and Dadiet is promising, don’t forget that he already did play against grown men (the same is true for Huk), let’s give him a couple of years to grow.

These are exactly the games where Precious did shine in the past but yesterday there were glimpses of a slightly better offensive arsenal.
I’m totally fine with him as a backup-4.

The Yankees are winning despite Aaron Boone and their own clown-like ability to stumble on their own feet: two out on the bases in the same inning? Is stupidity contagious*?

Preseason game against the opponents second-stringers and Lamelo Ball after a made three turns to the crowd and makes the 3-fingers sign? He’s a buffoon.

* yes it is, see a lot of elections worldwide

It was reported that Paul George has a ‘bone bruise’ and will be reevaluated in a week. This is a situation that is fluid.

Depending on the severity bone bruises can be very tricky and can lead to serious long term consequences. I’d be holding my breath if I was Philly…

Rumors are that Boston is gonna cut Lonnie Walker for luxury tax reasons, he could be a nice replacement for Shamet.

“Rumors are that Boston is gonna cut Lonnie Walker for luxury tax reasons, he could be a nice replacement for Shamet.”

Man, I would jump all over that. Although I really like TJ Warren if he is reasonably healthy.

“P&T has a good summary of the players available on the waiver wire by position.”

We *have* to pick up Alex Fudge, just because…….well, you know.

Or we can just pick up Thanasis and hope.

1. I still love Kolek as the eventual backup PG.

2. I’m even more convinced that Huk is going to pass Sims on the depth chart soon. I think defense will be the key for him. He already has more skills on offense.

3. I haven’t spoken much about Dadiet other than to say he’s a wildcard that might be able to contribute in the 2nd half of the season or long term and that he might also be used as a trade chip if an important deal comes up. Last night was encouraging on all fronts, but I sure wouldn’t be axious to trade him.

I think the main thing with all the rookies is going to be defense.

4. One last thing. Deuce is starting to lose me a little. His handle is a little better, but he’s a not a true PG (like Kolek), he’s very undersized at SG and he’s developing a score first mentality that’s leading to shots I don’t think he should be taking. I like him better as a lower usage scorer focusing on harassing the opposing PG the full length of the court and being efficient. I’d like to see him paired with someone like Bridges who can also make some plays and defend the bigger Gs.

I’m still not sure what the bench rotations should be because I want Kolek on the court soon, but I’m not sure what the pairings should be. At this point I don’t like Kolek and Deuce together much. I also like him with Bridges. I’ll have to see more.

Not to argue with Oaktrees, but Macri nicely describes what I was seeing on the screen from Kolek:

‘Fewer than 10 seconds come off the clock between when the ball crosses halfcourt and when Ariel Hukporti slams it down. In that span of time, there are six passes and four total dribbles. Kolek has the ball three different times. Twice he gets rid of it as soon as he gets it, and on the third, he drives the lane immediately.

These are the sorts of possessions that allow you to score 111 points despite $160 million worth of NBA players sitting on the bench on a night when your team doesnā€™t even shoot it particularly well. No one player had to put the team on his back. It was constant movement and motion, displayed as much by Kolek (and his team-high nine assists) as anyone.’

Also:

‘Sure, Pacome Dadiet has Kolek to thank for much of his big night, with Tyler assisting on 11 of his 16 points, all scored in the second quarter. ‘

I’m aware it doesn’t materially change anything but I’m pretty bummed about the Shamet injury. Obviously it just sucks for him as someone who looked like he had won a roster, even rotation, spot on a contender against the odds, but I also felt like he had a chance to be sneakily valuable for us this year. With all the defensive attention our top 3/4 figure to get, a guy who can just gun away like him could’ve been a real weapon.

Hope the injury isn’t too bad and he can help us at some point, but a serious shoulder injury seems like a worst-case scenario for a pure shooter type.

If Lonnie is available and willing to take a minimum the conversation should end there.

Last season, MSG Network planned to have former Knick and lead ESPN analyst Mark Jackson join the crew, but Knicks president Leon Rose put a kibosh on the arrangement, denying Jackson a seat on the team plane because of an old quarrel with assistant coach Darren Erman.

More reason to like Leon

Itā€™s kind of shocking the front office didnā€™t learn anything from their Isaiah Hartenstein blunder wrt Precious Achiuwa. With Mitch out for at least half a year and no real PF on the roster, Precious is going to play 2000 minutes by default and we didnā€™t put ourselves in position to be the beneficiary of any potential improvement.

Noble, not to argue with you (don’t you hate when people say this at the start of an argument?), but my vote is for TJ Warren after the one-game small sample size. He’s a 6’8″ forward, not yet another 6’4″ guard, and based on yesterday he was throwing himself around and doing a whole suite of small but good things.

I would have said he was washed before that game, but he was playing hard, and well.

One last thing. Deuce is starting to lose me a little.

Iā€™m loving the shooting but I donā€™t see the quality defender people talk about. I highly doubt the viability of a Brunson-Deuce defensive backcourt.

Last season, MSG Network planned to have former Knick and lead ESPN analyst Mark Jackson join the crew, but Knicks president Leon Rose put a kibosh on the arrangement, denying Jackson a seat on the team plane because of an old quarrel with assistant coach Darren Erman.

More reason to like Leon

If you’re Mark Jackson, you can’t be too happy about this

I’ve never even heard of Darren Erman before but he’s already in my pantheon of heroes.

Hands down, man down, this is one of Leon’s best decisions yet!

Fuck Mark Jackson. Bravo Leon.

I listened to a clip of Clyde trying to pronounce Hukporti and it almost broke my heart. Going to miss him so much. He’s been the core of my Knicks experience my entire life.

Would love it if Dadi-o ended up better than the two French kids at the top of the draft.

If youā€™re Mark Jackson, you canā€™t be too happy about this

But if you’re a Knicks fan you should be in bliss šŸ˜‰

you guys saw a much more exciting huk-daddy showing than i did. kolek was up and down but still love him. also how do you get a bat out of your house.

Deuce is playing the role of go-to scorer for a bunch of 2nd unit guys. He isn’t going to look great.

His defense is more dogged than good. He’ll pick you up full-court and get physical but he’s no better than average talent-wise.

He never looked like anything more than a token NBA PG. Have him bring the ball up and pass it to a wing that can actually run an offense.

Very useful bench player/6th man type.

also how do you get a bat out of your house.

Ouch PT, not a funny situation!

I had one years ago and it took me hours of fighting to get him out (I was armed with a broom)… and the SOB always went for the hair, not at all an ideal situation a flying rat zeroing to your head…

pt, if you’re gonna do it yourself, bundle up so no skin is showing (like a ski mask and so forth, gloves, long sleeved sweater, etc.) and use a light blanket or shirt or the equivalent to snag it out of the air or cover it when it lands, then take it outside and let it go.

If it makes contact with you, get your rabies shots forthwith. Odds are low, but the shots are no longer so bad, and untreated rabies is death.

you guys saw a much more exciting huk-daddy showing than i did.

I only saw Huk’s dunks. I loved those. I don’t recall him looking so explosive in SL. I thought he’d be out of the league in a year based on that. Apparently he was injured in Vegas, which I did not know.

I wasn’t impressed with Dadiet, though it was good to see his shots go in. He looks slow.

also how do you get a bat out of your house.

Put an Austin Wells jersey on him

We had bats in our house years ago, and in one instance it was sitting above the door and I approached it with a towel to grab. The little bastard spread its wings and hissed at me and I almost shit my pants! Did manage to get it out the window eventually

Also at my fraternity in college we had no screens, so I kept a tennis racket next to my bed for whenever they flew in. Almost became routine.

thanks. lost sight of the damn thing and unclear if it flew the coop so now it’s either burn the house down or live in perpetual fear. well, more fear.

Yeah, tennis rackets seem sensible, but outside of animal welfare concerns bats have been decimated by white-nose syndrome over the last 20 years, in some cases 90% population declines. A bat can eat literally thousands of mosquitoes every night. With all the fun diseases showing up that are transmitted by mosquito bites, it’s not a bad thing to try and keep them on the landscape. As sporting as whacking one out of the air might be.

Jowles may beg to differ, but that’s my take.

The siteā€™s doing double duty today (the bot started another thread)

Oh good, one for the Knicks and one for the Yankees.

how do you get a bat out of your house.

Turn the lights on inside and turn the lights off outside.

Put an Austin Wells jersey on him

Comment of the day so far.

Noble, not to argue with you (donā€™t you hate when people say this at the start of an argument?), but my vote is for TJ Warren after the one-game small sample size.

I argue for a living, so I’m rarely even granted the fake nicety.

I’ve also been impressed-relative-to-expectations by Warren, but Lonnie is 25 and has been a cromulent NBA wing for two years. Last year in particular he shot 38% from 3 despite a very low 3PM AST % rate of .712.

I have much, much more faith in him just continuing to do what he’s been doing recently than I do in Warren reviving a moribund career at age 31.

@StevePopper
Just walked into Knicks practice facility and Landry Shamet was ahead of me with his right arm in a sling. No update on severity of the injury yet.

Walker’s younger, but he’s another 6’4″ guy. At least something to consider versus Warren (or Mook, for that matter, though Mook lacks flexibility in other ways).

Sling unfortunately means one thing. Though really strange way he seemed to injure it when you see the play, so maybe there is hope. From a Knicks standpoint, not concerned as his preseason play was gravy but really feel for him, especially since he got injured on a hustle play in a meaningless game. Leon, do the right thing (again).

Hubert, that list left me truly befuddled after a quick skim. I’ve looked at these listings for years, and I’ve never felt as ambivalent about one as I did this one. At the same time, I’m not sure what I’d do differently (skipping Aaron “under 30% from 3” Gordon, of course… ; ).

Probably some combo of a moment in time where older players are aging up and out, with younger players aging in super fast. Along with half the players in the league now being similar-feeling stretch bigs who can hit threes (outside of Aaron Gordon, of course…).

RJ 20 spots higher than Donte could be disqualifying.

Aaron Gordon is typically around
50 on all these things, though. Heā€™s a really good player.

The Ringer just came out with THEIR rankings, and it feels a bit better. They have Donte at 82, RJ at 84, Josh Hart at 94. Both have Bridges slightly ahead of OG (44 vs. 50). Hubert’s man AG gets shoved down a bit to 59.

https://nbarankings.theringer.com/

E will only chime in when the players are ranked in tiers! šŸ˜€
Who does that? The Athletic?

@JLEdwardsIII
Thibs said Shamet has been meeting with medical people and he hasn’t heard anything definitive.

@JLEdwardsIII
I asked Thibs if there was a world where he take a little bit into regular season to settle on a rotation. He said “it’s important to settle on a rotation, but everyone has to stay ready.”

Sounds like he knows what he wants to do already.

I know these rankings are meaningless but we have 4 starters in the top 50 and the 5th one is in the top 100.

And then 4 other dudes (Randle, DDV, IQ and RJ) who are also all in the top 100 who were very recently on our team.

DAMN LEON!

I’m still reveling in how our misfit bench is actually better than the 22nd ranked team (via Clutchsports, I don’t think the Hornets deserve to be that high — but beating any full-strength NBA team with just your backups is pretty amazing).

Must be somewhat demoralizing for Charlotte…

Our old pal Doug McBuckets just signed with the Kings.

Also, Begley updated the story I linked to earlier to suggest another option:

The Knicks could also convert both Hukporti and Kevin McCullar Jr. to standard contracts. There would be a financial incentive to converting players theyā€™ve drafted (such as Hukporti and McCullar Jr.) as opposed to signing/converting a player they didnā€™t draft, as Keith Smith explains. Converting two rookies would give them a little more space under the second apron and get them to 14 standard NBA contracts. It would also leave them without an immediate replacement for Shamet.

I know these rankings are meaningless but we have 4 starters in the top 50 and the 5th one is in the top 100.

Ok but the Celtics have 5 in the top 50…

Ok but the Celtics have 5 in the top 50ā€¦

Always with the down vibes…

It’s kind of his thing. You have to admire his commitment to the bit. šŸ™‚

51. OG Anunoby
53. RJ Barrett (genuinely shocking)

Yep, and as noted multiple times since the virtual day of the trade, there’s a very good chance this is going to be flip-flopped at this time next year.

Is what it is and what it is is that I like this team. With the one more weapon they’d have if they hadn’t overly dissipated assets (*) in this final act, they’d be the best team in the association.

(*) Dejounte is 43rd.

E will only chime in when the players are ranked in tiers! šŸ˜€

The tiers are coming!!! (I assume)

Iā€™m still reveling in how our misfit bench is actually better than the 22nd ranked team (via Clutchsports, I donā€™t think the Hornets deserve to be that high ā€” but beating any full-strength NBA team with just your backups is pretty amazing).

Must be somewhat demoralizing for Charlotteā€¦

someone mentioned it when we first played Charlotte earlier this pre-season – that the hornets would be one of the worse teams in the league…

at the time I thought that would be wrong…last night sure made it seem like they are one of the worst teams in the league…

Weā€™ll have Preciousā€™ full bird rights if we want ā€™em.

Yeah but weā€™ll have to go over the second apron to use them. Would have been smart to lock in his value before the season we know heā€™s going to play a ton of minutes.

(*) Dejounte is 43rd.

Now this is commitment to a bit.

Tell me again, why would this work when he wasn’t good alongside Trae Young?

I’m pretty sure it’s all because he had a couple good games against the Celtics in the first round of the 2023 playoffs.

As was the case with iHart, there’s no reason to believe Precious was willing to lock himself into a long-term, cheap deal. Players are loathe to do that for all the obvious reasons.

thereā€™s no reason to believe Precious was willing to lock himself into a long-term, cheap deal.

Thereā€™s every reason to believe a player would sign for more money; thatā€™s what 99.99% of them have done for the last 100 years.

A two year $13M deal isnā€™t cheap to someone whose career earnings is $12M and had to sit on the sidelines for months waiting for a single offer. If he breaks his leg this year it could be his last contract.

We had the foresight to do it with Deuce and he didnā€™t hesitate to lock himself in.

You know how iHart made the calculation that it was worth foregoing a 3rd guaranteed year, because if he played well he would likely get more as a free agent, and it turned out to be wildly, wildly, accurate? Precious probably took notice!

Donā€™t worry Donnie Yankees donā€™t play tonight.

But apparently the Mets and the Liberty do.

You know how iHart made the calculation that it was worth foregoing a 3rd guaranteed year

No, he didnā€™t. Thatā€™s your hindsight conjuring a story that never happened.

Hartenstein didnā€™t forego anything. He took the most money that was offered to him, and it was only two years.

Precious did the same.

These guys arenā€™t taking calculated risks. Theyā€™re doing what every athlete of all time has done: taking the most money they can get while they can.

Hubert, if Victor Wembanyama theoretically could’ve gotten a 5th guaranteed year on his rookie-scale deal, would he have done it? Why or why not?

Well Melo and Amare were too rich, Tyson was too tall, Landry and Jeremy were too clean-cut, and Novak was too goofy. If JR and Walker are out, we’ve narrowed it down quite a bit…

Balkman. (Or maybe Jerome James, since he said it was ā€œjust a jokeā€.)

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