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27 replies on “Knicks Morning News (2025.08.02)”
The Times of India link referenced above suggests that Khris Middleton may get bought out by the Wizards and that the Knicks would be interested in him if that happens. Other teams might be interested too.
I doubt that happens, Knick Fan, but as a thought exercise, it’s interesting — if Middleton isn’t washed, that is. I paid no attention to him after the trade. But an approximation of old school Middleton would make some sense replacing Hart as the fifth starter, as opposed to the double-big lineup with Mitch.
I’d honestly rather have Simmons on a vet minimum deal, but either one would be ok. I wouldn’t expect either to get starter playing time though. They’d just make our deep bench better
One guy has never been able to shoot. One has been a great shooter. (Even if, again, I have no idea if he is even a good one now.)
I have a bunch of beach trips to distract me between now and October when camp starts, otherwise this NBA dead zone would be interminable!
cyber, check your email!
Very true, but Simmons is much younger so I have faith he’ll at least do what does. His back injuries seem to be fixed while Middleton’s leg problems may have permanently hampered him. That’s why I chose Simmons. If I knew Middleton wasn’t washed I’d have a different opinion
As to Simmons vs. Middleton, I think the latter is more washed and probably more likely to be a waste of a spot. But if the FO does its due diligence and feels that his health issues have been resolved, the shooting/size/experience combo is definitely intriguing.
Just watched some film of Middleton from last year and the dude looks like a savvy old man out there, hard to imagine him keeping up with the pace of today’s game on defense. Probably would prefer Shamet over him at this point unless there’s hard evidence that he can keep up.
luka 3 yrs 165M
Mo Diawara putting in the work. Jumper looks pretty wet to me. Leon, sign him already!
Slim down Luka
New contract for Luka with the L@kers
Is a good day for Adam Silver
Diawara size and movement makes him very interesting as a defensive prospect . The shooting needs plenty of reps.
https://www.hoopsrumors.com/2025/08/knicks-prospect-james-nnaji-parts-ways-with-barcelona.html Nnaji is leaving Barcelona
Nnaji should not be offered anything beyond a 2-way. Maybe someday he improves, but he’s utterly ghastly right now and will likely be terrible for the next couple of years, if not forever.
I second Z-Man’s description of Nnaji. He’s basically an unformed, clueless version of Huk. I’m not sure Huk’s very good, but he’s at least partially formed and not entirely clueless.
Stick him in the g-league, maybe he gets a clue after a while. But not a roster spot.
Some of Nnaji’s older tape makes him look a lot quicker and more springy, very high end athlete. Maybe the clip I saw was sped up, but it seems like the injuries have really hampered him.
He still has great size for a C and is still fine as an athlete, but without the elite athleticism he’ll need a lot of work and he already needed a lot of work.
He’s probably fine as a 2-way. I wasn’t thrilled with him in Vegas.
Hollinger and Duncan have a new free podcast where they discuss Bridges new contract. It’s an interesting discussion. Hollinger doesn’t like the contract at all even though he admits it’s hard on Bridges to have to defend point guards. He also thinks the discount from the max won’t save them from apron problems since they still have to sign Mitch and McBride’s great contract won’t last forever. Duncan is sort of meh. He thinks it’s probably a quid pro quo’ from the trade with Brooklyn and also thinks it’s closer to market than Hollinger does.
Duncan also said that NY wouldn’t be able to get someone as good as Bridges if they didn’t sign him, which is a good point.
“He still has great size for a C and is still fine as an athlete, but without the elite athleticism he’ll need a lot of work and he already needed a lot of work.”
My issue with Nnaji is not athleticism in the general sense. He certainly runs fast enough, jumps high enough, and is strong as an ox. But he moves very mechanically and doesn’t seem to have any fast-twitch reactivity or coordination/agility. He takes a long time to load up and is always late to the ball or to the spot. I don’t think that’s something that can be improved very much. Sort of the same story with Jericho Sims, who is one of the most “athletic” players I’ve ever seen. There was really not much upside with him because of his lack of coordination.
OTOH, Diawara has that “it” in the coordination/agility/fast-twitch dept. You can see it in the way he passes and dribbles, and to a degree in the way he defends on the perimeter. He has the ability to see the play develop and to “get there” in time. Because of that, he has a much better chance of developing significantly and rapidly than the Nnaji and Sims types. That’s not to say that he will actually develop, only that the raw materials are definitely there.
You guys sound right but Nnaji must have some sort of promised deal other than a basic Gleague salary to have resigned from Europe.
Z-Man, you bring up an interesting question. Is it fast-twitch coordination/agility, or is it having a clue (or as you put it, being late to the spot)? I think those are two different things. Sims has extraordinary hops, including second hops, which to me is fast twitch. He was also surprisingly good (at times) guarding on-the-ball guys out toward the perimeter, in terms of moving his feet and staying in front of his man. That to me is coordination/agility.
What he sucked at is being in the right place at the right time. He would often ball watch, or just stand around while stuff happened. That to me is about basketball IQ.
Plus, of course, he could do nothing other than dunk put-backs in terms of offense. I guess you could chalk that up to lack of coordination/agility, but to me it’s just a great big lack of offensive skills.
If you are comparing Nnaji with Sims I think that means Nnaji might do alright. Sims is far from a star, but his latest contract will give him about $11M career earnings by summer of 2027. That’s worth leaving euro league for.
Yeah Raven, I’m probably grasping for whatever it is. Amar’e was the most egregioius case of an uber-athletic physical specimen who just couldn’t be in the right place at the right time on defense, but was definitely “fast-twitch”. I hate to call it “b-ball IQ” because that implies dumbness or laziness. I think it’s more of a speed-of-processing issue that is just hard-wired into a player’s brain, similar to how come computer chips just process faster than others, even though they can do the same calculations eventually.
But in the case of Nnaji and Sims, it seems like they are in slow-motion sometimes, just like Moses Brown and Dmytro Skapintsev. Probably less so with Sims, but still…
Nailed it. I often have trouble articulating this.
Mo is light years ahead of both Nnaji and Simms on basketball skills. Kid can shoot, dribble and pass. I think passing skill is very underated by modern metrics & I look at him as an oversized super athletic wing player with good insticts & “processing speed” but raw to semi polished footwork, shooting and dribbling skills.
In other words, Mo is in the top 5% of things you can’t teach but in bottom 5% of the things you can teach and can be learned in a gym and with experience.
I like him. Seems like a young passionate kid with a solid work ethic and agood teammate. It’s the type of high ceiling pick I would probably make at 51.
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