Knicks Morning News (2025.04.16)

Guarding Cade – Substack
04/16/2025 09:02:41

Knicks Star Jalen Brunson Makes Bold Detroit Pistons Statement – Sports Illustrated
04/16/2025 04:52:22

Pistons vs. Knicks full schedule set: Date, times, TV for first round of 2025 NBA playoffs – Detroit Free Press
04/16/2025 05:29:24

Knicks vs Pistons dates, times, schedule set for NBA playoffs first-round series – Bergen Record
04/16/2025 05:20:39

2025 NBA playoff bracket: Postseason picture, matchups, schedule as Warriors clinch West’s No. 7 seed – CBS Sports
04/16/2025 04:58:24

Pistons podcast: John Niyo, Coty Davis break down Knicks’ series – The Detroit News
04/16/2025 05:21:44

Knicks Notes: Rotation, McBride, Robinson, Towns, Bridges, Brunson, Toughness – Hoops Rumors
04/16/2025 03:47:00

NBA postseason preview: Stars, matchups and X factors that could decide the champion – ESPN
04/16/2025 02:30:00

Knicks? two-center lineup drawing praise from Tom Thibodeau – New York Post
04/16/2025 02:30:00

Knicks Playoff Palooza: A Saturday of Fun, Celebrities & Giveaways at Battery City Park on April 19 – WestSideSpirit.com
04/15/2025 22:45:38

Jalen Brunson found his rhythm and now the Knicks must find balance – New York Daily News
04/15/2025 22:48:47

62 replies on “Knicks Morning News (2025.04.16)”

Slow Knicks day. I fell aslep before the end of the Grizzlies game, I’m impressed they got themselves back in it enough to manage to fuck it up at the end

On a slow Knicks day maybe I can ask if anyone has any interest in KD or Zion. They figure to be the big names available this summer. I’m really not sure if either, even if they play above expectations for next year, provides a better fit than OG, who you’d probably be giving up… on the other hand, if this group is going to contend, you may need to crack some eggs at some point.

So weird that the Grizzlies are 4 games out of the 2nd seed and could get bounced before the playoffs.

probably no on zion and kd zion always injured and kd old and always inured

I wouldn’t be that opposed to trade KAT for Durant and a couple second rounders if we could make do with Mitch/Huk/??? at center. That would look way more like a typical Thibs team, but what’s the point in that anyway?

Big no to Zion.

Zion is always going to be tempting because he’s still extremely productive when he’s on the court but he’s got a may day parades worth of red flags

I would only consider KD for KAT straight up (with maybe a late first rounder or some second rounders thrown in).

Then you move Mitch back to starting center, start KD at PF and move OG back to SF.

But if you do that, you gotta get another back up center besides Huk (or Precious) who is good. Too bad we don’t have iHart 🙁

That would be a team more like last year’s January Knicks with KD instead of Randle.

The window would be short but we’d probably be improved from this year’s squad.

But, honestly, I’m kind of a no to both KD and, definitely, Zion.

zzion much like mitch that way

agree with walker

Only a team in desperate need of a massive change should take a risk on Zion, given the health. Honestly, Durant for Zion would make some sense for Phoenix, but Durant would refuse to go there, so it’s moot.

Durant is a better player than KAT, but older and more fragile, and gives us a much shorter window. The thing that makes the Bridges trade mostly not frightening is that we have a bunch of guys who are all in their primes, giving us a high floor that, barring catastrophic injuries, should mean we’re not gnashing our teeth about giving the Nets a bunch of high lottery picks. Start bringing in old guys — even one who’s among the 20 best players to ever wear an NBA uniform — and you risk getting really bad once they age out. I suppose the picks should be looked at as a sunk cost, but… I’d be very nervous.

I feel pretty good about my predraft evaluation of Zion. No interest in him either.

I’m not into Zion at all. Never was a huge fan, not even at draft time, in the sense that I thought the hype was way over the top, although admittedly I would have loved to have won the lottery and drafted him. I don’t see the breakout healthy Zion 3-season health stretch coming any time soon. Even if it is, he’s a lousy shooter and poor defender. Hard pass.

I think KD has a couple of good years left. It would all depend on the price. For me, KAT straight up for KD is a no-brainer. Maybe that changes after the playoffs if KAT shows up big time. Maybe not.

Zion’s interesting because maybe if NOP dumps him that acts as a wake up call and he starts taking his fitness seriously. He’s such an incredible talent and he puts up awesome numbers when he does play. But I don’t think we’re in a position to take that big a chance on someone. A team like Chicago, Atlanta, Portland, etc. maybe Indy should be looking at him.

Durant’s more interesting. He’s obviously still great and has stayed healthy since the achilles injury. I don’t know if the team would be willing to make such a big change and I don’t know what a trade would even look like; I think Phoenix is over the 2nd apron so they’re really restricted in what they can do. Barring a disaster or Phoenix just giving Durant away I don’t think I’d be interested.

No to Zion! He doesn’t defend and he remains an above average injury risk. Make it a HARD no.

No to Durant for me unless it’s Towns for Durant almost straight up (meaning we get the better player but he’s older and even less durable – I’m worried about KATs knee long term) and we also find a way to land Kessler. So I guess that means “no” because I don’t think we can pull it off.

I’d be more than willing to run it back with

Kessler/Mitch
Durant
OG
Bridges
Brunson

Hart to the bench.

On Macri’s podcast today, Katz used the phrases “Energizer bunny” and “hustle” to describe Josh Hart’s play style. Is it possible that E was just Fred Katz all along?!?!?

Yes to Zion, yes to Durant, no to firing Thibs, yes to SAS being president.

Oh, and free Knicksin2025 from his sunken place while we are at it.

Knicks Twitter is a bit miffed at a Randle quote from yesterday: “This is one of the few times — probably really the only time in my whole career — I feel like I have a chance to really play for something.”

I guess he’s trying to block out his awful 2nd rd performance vs Miami in 2023…

“I guess he’s trying to block out his awful 2nd rd performance vs Miami in 2023…”

Randle was hobbled going into that series after he re-injured his ankle in game 5 of the Cleveland series, even missing game 1. He required surgery on his ankle after the series. Maybe it’s you who should have blocked it out.

Is it even true that KD is better than KAT? I don’t think so unless he is still a really good defender, and Lord knows I haven’t watched enough Phoenix games to have a good grip on that.

If not, then you’re just trading KAT + filler for an equivalent guy who is in decline for what? Fit with Thibs because of Mitch at the 5?

Doesn’t take away from the fact Knicks were 2 wins away from the Conference Finals and one of the biggest reasons they didn’t get there was Randle’s play so to say this is the first time he’s really playing for something is kinda a stupid quote. Knicks actually went 3-1 against Boston that season too so even though they wouldn’t have beaten them they certainly had a puncher’s chance. Remember these were the Celtics before they acquired Jrue and KP.

Zion played the best ball of his career this year when he managed to get on the court, specifically on the defensive end, where his improvement was noticeable. It has been written about pretty extensively— his steals and blocks went up significantly, and he drew rave reviews for both his individual on-ball and pick and roll defense this year. Fans and pundits alike agree that he improved dramatically on that end this year. He can absolutely defend.

So, that’s a valuable player: a wrecking ball of an offensive player who is a plus defender, possibly even an impact player on the defensive end. He’ll never be a great shooter, and the injury concerns are a deal breaker for me personally, but he’s a great buy low candidate at this point of his career. If he could play the way he did this year over 82 games, he’d be a genuine star in the league.

I’m with Knicksiness on KD, as well as with Strat on needing step two, which is another good center, although not entirely sure Kessler is the answer (and pretty sure it’s a nonstarter, also what we’d have to give up if it were possible, which would further screw up the team).

Trae Young getting ejected for being a dick during a play-in game is so Trae Young. Especially right after nutmegging a guy.

Zero chance Leon is ever trading KAT for a 37 yr old KD with a bad achilies and whom the fanbase dislikes. KAT plus whatever picks for a 31yr old Giannis makes sense. Which means KAT likely is not going anywhere.

Stability and consistency of a guaranteed 50+ wins and 2nd round game 7 series by just bringing this team back is welcomed by me. Leon should just do what he does best this summer. SLEEP.

I’d love to watch Zion at his fully healthy best. I think it’s just hard to commit to him long term with the track record he has laid down. Maybe for some teams he’d be the right gamble.

I personally think that 90% of prime KD is better than 100% of prime KAT. It’s debatable whether KD is still at that level. His defense is certainly no worse than KAT and he plays PF where it is less of a liability. KD also has icewater in his veins. KAT has warm milk.

I’d prefer not to root for KD, he’s kind of a weirdo and primadonna. I think the concerns about his age and durability are legit. But my gut tells me that for a 1-2 year championship window, even the current version of KD gives you a better chance to get there than KAT.

Now, again, if KAT shows out in this playoff run, I’ll recalibrate. But at this moment, nothing I’ve seen from KAT has moved the needle much.

Zero chance Leon is ever trading KAT for a 37 yr old KD with a bad achilies and whom the fanbase dislikes.

The one and only reason it’s possible is that everyone that’s paying attention knows by now that Brunson and Towns together are going to be a meaningful defensive liability against the top teams. Too many teams have no weaknesses or a single weakness. The very best teams have all two way players. They are going to get attacked relentlessly.

We’ve all been biding our time waiting for Mitch to return to see if he and Towns together could somehow make it work defensively without sacrificing too much on offense, but there are going to be occasional matchup issues with that and Thibs didn’t even use it enough to know how much it might help overall.

Maybe we’ll learn more in the playoffs, but if doesn’t work, imo we have to move on from either Towns or Brunson and somehow get back a similar quality scorer (which will be mega tough). Brunson is not going anywhere, so…..

I hope I am wrong and/or Mitch solves the problem and stays healthy, but I’m not optimistic even though I love a lot of about this team and actually like Towns a lot. I just don’t like that pairing at all.

KAT has hit some pretty big 3s late in games this season. Problem has been he barely gets touches late in crunch time.

Hey, a random question from my kid who is in Copenhagen and wants to see game 1 at a bar that stays open late, anyone familiar with the city?

The We Here Knicks should have beaten Atlanta but let’s be real. They weren’t going to go much further than that.

Then Randle was hurt 2 years ago. Played but was hurt. Then last year didn’t play at all.

I think that quote probably just means that he’s going into the playoffs fully healthy on a team that is gelling and playing well and he has a chance to show he’s not a playoff bust this year.

Personally, Minny is the team in the West I’m rooting for. Nothing would make me happier than for DDV and Randle to get an extended run in the playoffs. Love those dudes. OAKAAK.

The challenge with KAT is that he plays a critical defensive position for and him at center limits massively any team’s defensive potential. The options are to try him at PF and get a viable, reliable starting center who can play defense and has a little more scoring threat than Mitch (like Kessler) to play alongside him; or you trade KAT and get a frontcourt scoring threat (like KD or highly unlikely Giannis) in return. Keeping KAT at center next year, while Brunson is the PG, seems like a recipe for disaster in beating any really good team. The hypothesis that WingStop could make up for Brunson and Kat’s defensive liabilities has proven clearly incorrect. That creates a more balanced team offensively and defensively and more two-way players.

went a solid 0 for 2 on yesterday’s games…

let’s see if we can keep that rolling…

gonna go with miami over chicago and dallas over sacramento…

watched that trae vid of him getting tossed yesterday, that was hilariously petty…

loved it…

I’d concede KD is still a better player than KAT, even at this stage of their careers…

I’d count on KAT’s health though before KD’s…

I’ve been really pleased with KAT this first season here…I do believe though he should be playing at the four and not the five…

KAT seems ideal to play the five situationally for about 10 to 14 minutes a game…

I want mitch back in the starting lineup right away…

in a couple of weeks we shall know more for sure…

let’s see if we can keep that rolling…

Lol

I was confident in Orlando over the Hawks – and glad about it, since even without Suggs and Wagner2 they should put some bruises on Boston – but felt Memphis would pull it out vs GS. Oh well.

I’m taking Chicago and Sacramento, Geo. Don’t have religion in either one, but Chicago’s backcourt has really come together and I’m not sure what magic Spo can work with what he’s got left. And I felt that Sac did well at the trade deadline and can compete with Dallas… Though I’m not sure who’s still injured or playing for Dallas right now. No Kyrie, though, which is enough.

rama, those are my rooting interests, although not my bets (which I don’t do). I have disdain for the Heat, and I want bad things to happen to the Dallas front office to further the ‘serves you right’ narrative.

It seems like wingstop could be a thing but even if you have good or great defenders at the 2,3, and 4 you won’t have a good defense if both your 1 and 5 are poor defenders (especially your 5, who is the last line of defense, protecting the rim).

I don’t bet either, Raven. But I would’ve on Orlando. And in the Knicks – I really don’t think that series will be close. We shall see!

got magic over hawks right was wrong on griz beating warriors guess i shouldn’t really be surprised but was not expecting plyoff jimmy back so soon

It seems like wingstop could be a thing but even if you have good or great defenders at the 2,3, and 4 you won’t have a good defense if both your 1 and 5 are poor defenders (especially your 5, who is the last line of defense, protecting the rim).

I clearly underrated how much of a problem having a poor defender at the 5 would be, especially with Brunson at the 1. I was in the camp that thought being solid at 2-3-4 would mitigate it, but it did not. I also may have overestimated Hart as a defender.

Whatever, I’ve been wrong before. The question is what do we do next if we don’t play at a high level in the playoffs.

I don’t know anything about Copenhagen now but I spent a week there 25 years ago or so during their Jazzfest in the middle of the summer and it was one of the most pleasant weeks of my life. Amazing town.

We ended up 14th on defense, which actually isn’t terrible all things considered. A lot of that was on our shitty backup Cs too.

Of course, that’s still not good enough to win a chip, so I’m pretty tempted to say who cares if it wasn’t that bad, we need it great.

On a slow Knicks day maybe I can ask if anyone has any interest in KD or Zion.

Zion next to KAT would be fun to watch on one end of the court. Zion might lead the league in scoring if they lowered the games played minimum to 20.

KAT for Zion is interesting to me because KAT is also an injury risk. Ozempic might save Zion’s career from being a perennial non-participant.

Hate him next to Mitch and Hart though. Maybe we could jedi mind trick NOP taking those 2 for him.

more compelling: heat-bulls or mavs-kings? the eastern conf side of me is interested in bulls winning, but overall the other one seems like a bigger deal i’m picking heat and kings but i got warriors wrong last nite

I’m picking Dallas tonight. They got Davis back and are better than their record, while Sacramento has coach turmoil. I’ll take Chicago over the Heat. The Heat have a mystique, but they aren’t a good team this year.

I’ll go Bulls and Mavs as tonight’s winners.

More compelling – anything with the Mavs right now is going to draw some level of attention so I’ll go that side.

aaron nola ded early tonite against giants gave up 4 runs in top of the first. dang.

Heat – Bulls might be one of the saddest matchups ever. Does either team sincerely want to win?

cleveland probably prefers chicago pretty much smoked them this season, but had a little tuffer time against miami

Heat – Bulls might be one of the saddest matchups ever. Does either team sincerely want to win?

Good point The Bulls certainly aren’t playing any defense so far.

A lot of empty seats in Chicago too.

My prediction of Chicago is looking really bad right now. Miami’s offensive plan looks great.

An early season take that might age badly is that I think while the Yankees’ 2024 offense was probably better overall because Soto was that uniquely good, the 2025 version is more fun to watch.

There are simply more guys who can do some stuff. In 2024 we had multi-inning intermissions when Verdugo, Rizzo, pre-playoffs Volpe, and [insert 3B dreck here] were batting. In 2025 we at least have an outside shot of having ~8 regulars with a wRC+/OPS+ over 100.

The lamestream media really tried to tell me this Bulls team was good

Watching Cody Bellinger instead of Soto batting in front of Judge is not fun to watch…

But it’s still fun to watch Judge hit!! Incredible that he seems to improve as a hitter every year, just when you think he can’t actually get any better he somehow does.

Bellinger has been bad, but last year we had 5 regulars with an above average wRC+/OPS+ and that included Wells and Gleyber, who just snuck in there. We gave thousands of PAs to utter non-threats.

This year that number is 8, and that’s with Bellinger sucking. IMO, it makes for a better viewing experience. This is of course subject to change if and when Ben Rice stops hitting like Soto.

Bellinger will be fine, he’ll finish at worst as a league average hitter with the added bonus of being very good defensively at all 3 outfield positions.

Would be nice if the Yankees were more aggressive on the base paths, they have so much more team speed now but early on they seem somewhat reluctant to steal bases. Although seeing Jazz easily score from first on a rocket double to LF was fun to watch tonight.

Nice to see the Bulls putting up a fight.

with the added bonus of being very good defensively at all 3 outfield positions

BBAstradamus

That was a helluva catch by Belli to end the game!

Herro playing like a superstar tonight. So long, Bulls

I was very wrong on the Bulls.

Oh God if the Heat beat Atlanta on Friday we’ll be hearing again about the Heat Culture…

This Mavs team is interesting, a ton of size and everybody they put on the court defends.

Klay looks great. Assuming Dallas doesn’t piss this away, should be a great game vs. Memphis for the right to play the Thunder in round 1. If the Mavs can steamroll Memphis and Klay finds the fountain of youth, I like their chances.

As to OKC, if they have to go through first this Dallas team (or even Memphis) and then the winner of LAC-DEN, they will have their hands full.

It’s ironic that Nico Harrison did such a good job building around Luka. The Naji Marshall, PJ Washington and Daniel Gafford acquisitions were really smart and of course they went to the Finals

And then he pisses it all away with the dumbest trade in the history of sports.

Never underestimate Erik Freaking Spolstra. Dammit.

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