Offseason Knicks Rumors: Analysis of Available Trade Options and lineup rotation

Kiyaman

Legend
Over the past few weeks, there have been countless rumors surrounding Greg Monroe, Rudy Gay, and Jahlil Okafor. While these additions may look appealing enough on paper to excite fans and cause a ruckus, the New York Knicks, for the most part, have nothing special to offer the teams, respectively.
The only players worth giving up that have some value to potential teams are Justin Holiday and Kyle O’Quinn, though they haven’t played in this new team dynamic so its hard to judge their value to the Knicks team.
The other, and more enticing trade value New York have, are the two second-round draft picks for next year’s draft. They are also in possession of a first-rounder, but to NBA guidelines, a team cannot trade away a first rounder two years in a row (2016’s pick being traded for the unfortunate likes of Andrea Bargnani back in 2013).
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NBA Rumors: Knicks to trade Kyle O'Quinn and future draft picks for Ben McLemore?
Aug 10, 2016

Rumors and speculations are now swirling around the New York Knicks and the Sacramento Kings who are reportedly having trade talks involving Ben McLemore, Kyle O’Quinn and future draft picks.
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NBA Rumors: Kristaps Porzingis to be demoted as sixth man?
Carmelo Anthony playing stretch four suggested


The New York Knicks are entering the season full of hope but there are questions about what their offense will look like. According to the latest NBA rumors, the Knicks might make Carmelo Anthony a stretch four. Will it affect the role of Kristaps Porzingis going forward? Yeah bud ...the last time Anthony played as a power forward was in 2013 and the Knicks won 54 games. He mentioned that head coach Jeff Hornacek will likely use the nine-time All-Star as a stretch four.
“At this stage in his career, Anthony probably can’t be the primary option on a championship contender. But he’s still plenty gifted on and off the ball, and playing him at the four can begin to solve so many of the problems New York’s offense ran into last season.
An offense featuring Melo as a stretch four will likely have Derrick Rose as the point guard with Courtney Lee and Lance Thomas in the wings. Porzingis can easily slide into the center position but it leaves the Knicks’ defense vulnerable.
New York also overpaid for the defensive-minded Joakim Noah leadership which means there will be times that coach Hornacek will put up different lineups. Nevertheless, it would be unwise for the Knicks to limit Porzingis’ minutes which might hinder his development.
Where does it leave the most important piece of the Knicks’ future, Kristaps Porzingis?
It should be noted that the above was just part of NBA rumors and the Knicks will likely feature Anthony as a small forward heading into the season. This is a make or break season for both Melo and Phil Jackson, and they will need to give Kristaps Porzingis the reigns to be successful and lead the Knicks to the playoffs.
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My thoughts on the Rumors ...
PF-Kyle O'Quinn has the Big-Body and high IQ performance in the post to make Noah & Rose performance very valuable as Gasol role did as their Bulls teammates.
PJ need to think twice about trading Quinn, unless its a trade for the outstanding young Jahlil Okafor.


Last season the Knicks were a 32 win season team because of a FLAWED starter lineup that had Tier-3 players in the starting-lineup receiving to many playing time minutes ... putting a raw young-minded 20 yr old Kristaps Porzingis in the starter lineup his first time as a professional .. plus putting a career backup guard Aaron Afflalo in the starting lineup along side a career losing guard Jose Calderon did not give veteran starters Robin Lopez and Melo any help or any options on winning.
 

Kiyaman

Legend
A long round of applause is deserved for all the sunshine Carmelo Anthony singlehandedly generated over the past few weeks. From vocal demands for social justice and equality to various unforgettable Snapchat contributions. We’re now midway through The Summer of Melo, and it’s a glorious time to be alive.

On the court, with the Olympics now in full swing, USA Basketball’s veteran leader is where he’s most comfortable, able to unleash his complete offensive repertoire as, more or less, a full-time stretch four. Anthony is magical in that role, a volcano behind the three-point line whose first step is still plenty quick enough to blow by just about any defender in the world taller than he is.

The only obstruction so far as this strength translating to the New York Knicks on a more permanent basis can mostly be blamed on imbalanced roster construction and an antique playing style. According to Nylon Calculus, Anthony logged fewer than 200 minutes at the four last season (only 7.8 percent of the time), but his effective field goal percentage was 6.3 percent higher playing up a position.

The nine-time All-Star just turned 32 and last made an All-NBA team in 2013, which, coincidence or not, was the same season Anthony predominantly functioned as a stretch four. The Knicks won 54 games that year, launched a ridiculous number of threes and featured one of the most efficient offenses in basketball.

Then Phil Jackson came along. Heading into last season, Anthony thought he’d see more time at power forward, but New York’s personnel made that impossible. Robin Lopez, Kyle O’Quinn and Kristaps Porzingis expected to see meaningful minutes while Derrick Williams and Lance Thomas were both more productive at power forward than any other position. New York’s frontcourt was a crowd—technically, Kevin Seraphin and Lou Amundson were also on the team—and there was very little opportunity for Anthony to be where he should.
Unwilling (or unable) to rebuild around Porzingis by trading Anthony this offseason, the Knicks doubled down by completing a backpage-friendly trade with the Chicago Bulls and then giving Joakim Noah way too much guaranteed money over the next four years. At best it makes them interesting. At worst it was irresponsible. The path to building a mega-successful Knicks team three or four years down the road was obvious and realistic (meaning tank!). Instead, they surveyed the landscape of the Eastern Conference, convinced themselves that a 47-win season is possible, and decided to build on top of a shaky foundation.
For the second summer in a row, the Knicks were content fictionalizing a facade of ambition. But what’s done is done. Moving forward, at least their roster is more talented, athletic and versatile than before. They also have Jeff Hornacek as their new head coach, and should be able to use Anthony as a stretch four once again.
Despite adding Noah, Derrick Rose, Courtney Lee, Brandon Jennings and Marshall Plumlee, New York is not a “super team.” But who knows what can happen if everybody stays healthy, a majority of Hornacek’s lineup combinations perform like a whole that’s greater than the sum of its parts, and they somehow are unshackled from chains that were locked by Jackson’s obsession with the Triangle. If winning a playoff series is the goal then next season just may be a success.
But just making the playoffs will be a struggle if Anthony doesn’t log a majority of his time at power forward. Not only will it boost his efficiency and make defense less burdensome, but Anthony at the four also allows others to thrive.
The prime benefactor is Rose, a score-first point guard who can handle the ball, create his own shot and consistently make plays for others. A fading Allen Iverson was the closest Anthony’s ever come to existing beside this particular skill-set, and squeezing as much talent as possible out of the former MVP should be a priority.
After last year’s All-Star break, Rose averaged 17.4 points per game while shooting 46.8 percent from the floor and 37.5 percent behind the three-point line. Gone was his ability to make jackhammering through three layers of defense look easier than peeling a banana.
He had tunnel vision and failed to rekindle the spell-binding athleticism that earned him that very contract Chicago was so desperate to shed. But Rose proved that he can still be effective when surrounded by the right players—i.e. he needs shooters to create mismatches and space.
Example: Doug McDermott was Chicago’s best three-point shooter last season. In the 672 minutes he shared the floor with Rose, the Bulls point guard was 10.3 percent more accurate in the restricted area than when McDermott wasn’t on the court. Several factors lead us to that number—such as the fact that Rose likely squared off against bench-heavy units whenever McDermott played—but beyond widening driving lanes just a tiny bit, having legitimate outside shooters on the floor allows Rose to use pick-and-roll action to create and exploit specific mismatches.
There’s absolutely nothing wrong with Portland’s defense on this play. They switch Gerald Henderson onto Rose and eventually force a difficult step-back jumper. But imagine Anthony as the screener, Courtney Lee and Lance Thomas in each corner and Porzingis set to pounce from the dunker’s spot.
It’d be devastating to defend, and provide Rose with everything he now needs to find success inside a half-court offense.
(Defenders can always duck under the screen to give Rose a wide open jump shot, but he was lethal after the All-Star break when left alone on long twos. The sample size is fewer than 100 shots, but is also extracted from a period of sustained health and reinstalled confidence. The weaknesses in Rose’s game are pronounced, but there’s a reality where open pull-up jumpers aren’t one of them.)
The other end of the floor may be an unfortunate adventure, but Noah, Lee and Thomas are all solid man-to-man defenders who don’t make many mistakes. Porzingis will be better on that end, Rose isn’t terrible, and Justin Holiday has enough length to guard multiple positions.
At this stage in his career, Anthony probably can’t be the primary option on a championship contender. But he’s still plenty gifted on and off the ball, and playing him at the four can begin to solve so many of the problems New York’s offense ran into last season.

TAGS: CARMELO ANTHONY, NEW YORK KNICKS
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tiger0330

Legend
Stupid article, what do you do with Porzingis make him the PG. :wtf:

In the past, I've said Melo should play the 4 but KP changes that. No sane coach is going to play his 7'3" guy at the 3.
 

Kiyaman

Legend
Stupid article, what do you do with Porzingis make him the PG. :wtf:

In the past, I've said Melo should play the 4 but KP changes that. No sane coach is going to play his 7'3" guy at the 3.

Wsup Tiger ...i hate to bust your bubble but rookie KP distance from the paint throughout his rookie season performance were the position of a SF, not PF or center.
Hopefully in the 2016-17 season we will see more of KP in the paint with a few post-up moves to increase his shooting percentage to 50% and above.

As for Carmelo Anthony at the PF position .. Melo receive the ball to-to much on the perimeter to perform as a PF. Plus we have center Noah now, and we can not forget how effective a weapon the Noah n Gasol tandem passing made the Chicago Bulls successful. I was happy when Noah did not resign with the Bulls, after we traded Robin Lopez to Bulls, because a Twin-Tower Defense of Noah n Lopez in the middle at crunch-time would get a lot of STOPS by forcing opponent to score from the perimeter only.
 

tiger0330

Legend
Wsup Tiger ...i hate to bust your bubble but rookie KP distance from the paint throughout his rookie season performance were the position of a SF, not PF or center.
Hopefully in the 2016-17 season we will see more of KP in the paint with a few post-up moves to increase his shooting percentage to 50% and above.

As for Carmelo Anthony at the PF position .. Melo receive the ball to-to much on the perimeter to perform as a PF. Plus we have center Noah now, and we can not forget how effective a weapon the Noah n Gasol tandem passing made the Chicago Bulls successful. I was happy when Noah did not resign with the Bulls, after we traded Robin Lopez to Bulls, because a Twin-Tower Defense of Noah n Lopez in the middle at crunch-time would get a lot of STOPS by forcing opponent to score from the perimeter only.
Kiya, if you remember that was a complaint of mine that the Knicks weren't using KP in the post enough and his rookie season averages showed that with his .421 shooting pct, terrible for a big man. He's got to bring that avg. up and the way to do that is a heavier dose of PnR and post points for Porzingis. Supposedly he's been working on his post game this off-season so hopefully we see him used like a 7'3" big man should be used eg Rolo shot 54% from the floor.
 

Kiyaman

Legend
Kiya, if you remember that was a complaint of mine that the Knicks weren't using KP in the post enough and his rookie season averages showed that with his .421 shooting pct, terrible for a big man. He's got to bring that avg. up and the way to do that is a heavier dose of PnR and post points for Porzingis. Supposedly he's been working on his post game this off-season so hopefully we see him used like a 7'3" big man should be used eg Rolo shot 54% from the floor.


Tiger .. I recall u n a couple other members along with myself mentioning KP staying clear from the paint area during the midseason games.
All of the KP fans should've been mentioning KP little presence in the paint during the month of Feb n March when KP shooting percentage couldn't get higher than 42% and his defensive shot blocking disappeared.
I'm hoping the 7.3 long arm KP will start using the Robin Lopez hook-shot this coming season to the point KP develop a post-up move in the paint where his hook-shot become unstoppable.
 

tiger0330

Legend
Tiger .. I recall u n a couple other members along with myself mentioning KP staying clear from the paint area during the midseason games.
All of the KP fans should've been mentioning KP little presence in the paint during the month of Feb n March when KP shooting percentage couldn't get higher than 42% and his defensive shot blocking disappeared.
I'm hoping the 7.3 long arm KP will start using the Robin Lopez hook-shot this coming season to the point KP develop a post-up move in the paint where his hook-shot become unstoppable.
Said the same thing about Rolo teaching KP that hook shot as a first step in developing a post game. I think KP said it as well since he saw how much of a weapon it was for Rolo.

Seem like a simple shot to learn but practice is the key to learn to shoot it with both hands and from various distances.
 

Kiyaman

Legend
Said the same thing about Rolo teaching KP that hook shot as a first step in developing a post game. I think KP said it as well since he saw how much of a weapon it was for Rolo.

Seem like a simple shot to learn but practice is the key to learn to shoot it with both hands and from various distances.

Truth be said .. Im hoping KP ...2nd season performance is that of a team winning player.
KO members may not like my analysis of KP rookie performance ...
KP did not reach any of my expectation of a young 7.3 player in his rookie season.
KP rookie performance only showed flashes of being able to be a NBA player, his individual performance did not play team-ball nor did it help to win games.

We could blame KP never passing the ball, never moving consistently without the ball, never slashing to the hoop for a alley-oop, never blocking-out for team rebound, never posting up down-low, or never setting a good pick or screen for teammates or a pick n roll or give n go, we could blame all of the above on the Knicks head coach n coaching-staff .. or blame it on KP previous talent/skills as a B.ball player before the NBA.
 
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