Knicks Insider: "All Things Knicks"

[tiger0330]

What's Up People

Hope KO Family are alive and well...take COVID seriously don't get too comfortable during the break

I loved the draft and the Ed Davis trade was cool as hell but boy was our offseason SUPER MEH


Wooten = Will the low cost investment crack rotation, always the million dollar question...I wouldn't BANK on it
Nerlens Noel = Bobby Portis glitch LOL
Austin Rivers = He's not needed and such a BUM
Alec Burks = Affalo Lite 2.0...NO THANK YOU
Elfrid Payton = Why, seriously why, why, can someone tell me why YUCK


Randle is still here, which is likely not a good thing going forward. I do know Robinson is in the gym still knocking 3s down and DSJ is working with Mahmoud Abdul Rauf to improve his jumpshot...A.K.A. the original Steph Curry. There's video on the web of both working out

Nice seeing you back B completely agree with your assessment about the off-season moves. Wooten surprised me, they had a video of him making like 11-14 corner 3s and I was thinking with that athleticism and an improved jump shot along with being cheap they would have kept him.

[mafra]

The New York Knicks made a significant push to sign Gordon Hayward in free agency before the small forward agreed to join the Charlotte Hornets, according to Marc Stein of the New York Times.

Charlotte inked the former Boston Celtics star to a four-year, $120 million deal, but Hayward apparently had a contract of similar length available to him with the Knicks:

"The Knicks, for the record, were in the Hayward chase throughout. After the Knicks weighed their own trade for Westbrook, they pursued Hayward much harder, with Coach Tom Thibodeau serving as lead admirer. The Knicks eventually decided to increase their offer to four years from two to compete with sign-and-trade interest from Indiana and Charlotte, but the Hornets went to a financial level for Hayward that no rival was willing to match."

[mafra]

Forget getting LJ and Kawhi level players... Knicks can’t even snag Greg Monroe and GH....

Good news is this season only 72 games... Bad news is NYK will go 22-50 and still
Pick 4th.

New York is tied with Cleveland for the fewest projected victories at 22 ½. That’s based on a 72-game schedule, so a 22-50 Knicks record wins the under bet.

The Knicks’ odds to break their 48-year championship drought are 500-1 – tied for the longest shot on the board with Cleveland, Detroit and Oklahoma City, which has undergone a fire sale after making the 2020 playoffs.

[tiger0330]

The New York Knicks made a significant push to sign Gordon Hayward in free agency before the small forward agreed to join the Charlotte Hornets, according to Marc Stein of the New York Times.

Charlotte inked the former Boston Celtics star to a four-year, $120 million deal, but Hayward apparently had a contract of similar length available to him with the Knicks:

"The Knicks, for the record, were in the Hayward chase throughout. After the Knicks weighed their own trade for Westbrook, they pursued Hayward much harder, with Coach Tom Thibodeau serving as lead admirer. The Knicks eventually decided to increase their offer to four years from two to compete with sign-and-trade interest from Indiana and Charlotte, but the Hornets went to a financial level for Hayward that no rival was willing to match."

Hayward deserved a pay cut for his 3 years in BOS. He should be the star of that Hornets team, I doubt he lives up to expectations and I question Roses judgement in pushing hard for him,

[htr10]

Charlotte has handed out some of the worst contracts you will ever see. As grim as things may look for us at times, just be glad we’re not them.

[mafra]

Let’s be honest, nobody is going to CHA or coming to NY unless they are grossly overpaid (and have little alternatives). Surprising GH would turn down 35 mil and chance to play for a title then hit free agency next year, but perhaps with next year’s class he felt it was better hitting the market this year?

Knicks could’ve signed GH and trades for Westbrook. That would’ve made next 3 seasons interesting.

But, I am fine sucking for 1 more year. I know we rebuild and reset every 3 years, but Rose and the new crew will get 2 off seasons from me to see what their vision is. And, this upcoming draft is worth sucking for another 5 months.

Then, with all the youth and coaching we have, we may see tangible results in 13 months.

Still, drafting Obi then targeting Grant shows a lack of roster building acumen. How many PFs can a team have?

[htr10]

I have to believe Randle and maybe Knox are constantly coming up as guys the Knicks front office would like to move to open up playing time at forward.

[Broadway]

Boston’s former G League coach joining Thibs’ staff. Don’t know much about him. He was an assistant with New Orleans previously.

Interesting that we sign him and not Mike Miller. Miller might not have been interested. Hope he finds a job.

Mike Miller found a new home, this is what we like to see. Good guys being taken care of

[Broadway]

Let’s be honest, nobody is going to CHA or coming to NY unless they are grossly overpaid (and have little alternatives). Surprising GH would turn down 35 mil and chance to play for a title then hit free agency next year, but perhaps with next year’s class he felt it was better hitting the market this year?

Knicks could’ve signed GH and trades for Westbrook. That would’ve made next 3 seasons interesting.

But, I am fine sucking for 1 more year. I know we rebuild and reset every 3 years, but Rose and the new crew will get 2 off seasons from me to see what their vision is. And, this upcoming draft is worth sucking for another 5 months.

Then, with all the youth and coaching we have, we may see tangible results in 13 months.

Still, drafting Obi then targeting Grant shows a lack of roster building acumen. How many PFs can a team have?

Rose can ask for a 1st with lottery protection for maybe 2yrs max then unprotected after. Supposedly OKC is the other team posed as a threat to absorb Batum's deal in a 3 teamer

[tiger0330]

I have to believe Randle and maybe Knox are constantly coming up as guys the Knicks front office would like to move to open up playing time at forward.

Mike Miller found a new home, this is what we like to see. Good guys being taken care of

He's a Texan so OKC should be right up his alley.

[mafra]

Rose can ask for a 1st with lottery protection for maybe 2yrs max then unprotected after. Supposedly OKC is the other team posed as a threat to absorb Batum's deal in a 3 teamer

Smart way to use that space they need to fill... Batum is French, so there’s that connection.

Would you prefer this or hold off until trade deadline to evaluate landscape then?

[Broadway]

Smart way to use that space they need to fill... Batum is French, so there’s that connection.

Would you prefer this or hold off until trade deadline to evaluate landscape then?

I think we'd have to send a contract or two out. I'm okay with acquiring Batum if we get a good asset out of the deal but his salary is so large I wouldn't be desperate to be the third team. There will be other deals down the road as you point out towards the trade deadline

[Kiyaman]

The New York Knicks made a significant push to sign Gordon Hayward in free agency before the small forward agreed to join the Charlotte Hornets, according to Marc Stein of the New York Times.

Charlotte inked the former Boston Celtics star to a four-year, $120 million deal, but Hayward apparently had a contract of similar length available to him with the Knicks:

"The Knicks, for the record, were in the Hayward chase throughout. After the Knicks weighed their own trade for Westbrook, they pursued Hayward much harder, with Coach Tom Thibodeau serving as lead admirer. The Knicks eventually decided to increase their offer to four years from two to compete with sign-and-trade interest from Indiana and Charlotte, but the Hornets went to a financial level for Hayward that no rival was willing to match."

The Utah Jazz 20 pt scorer Gordon Hayward never showed up in Boston.
The East-Coast teams put locks on Gordon Hayward performance after his season-injury as a Celtrics. Plus Hayward's previous 5 game postseason performance was not impressive.
And our new Knicks president Rose actually had plans on signing Gordon Hayward to a lucrative All-Star $$$ salary for long term. I'm so happy the mismanagement Jordan Charlotte Hornets offered Hayward a couple bucks more than Rose. Thank u Jordan!
Imagine a Knicks starting trio frontcourt of Hayward (20M), Randle (18M), and MitchRob (1.5M) in a lineup on offense (not Bad), and on defense (pity-fool), ending the season having 20 something win season after 72 games. SMH

Waiving Harkless all-around hustle .. and keeping Bullock's none existing performance says Rose are looking to rebuild the Knicks in the next 3 to 4 or 5 seasons from now.

[mafra]

The only drawback in drafting 6-foot-9 Obi Toppin last week is that the Knicks’ best player, Julius Randle, plays the same position — power forward.

Toppin’s explosive game, decent 3-point shooting touch and Brooklyn heritage has given Knicks fans something to get excited about for the future.

In the present, how Toppin and Randle, who is 6-foot-8, coexist may decide whether the Knicks can beat the odds and break their seven-year playoff drought.

Most scouts believe Toppin, the Dayton dunk machine, isn’t versatile enough to slide to the 3 because of his defensive shortcomings.

Hence, Toppin and Randle may be unplayable as a tandem. The only possibility is using the duo in a small-ball lineup of Toppin at the 4 and Randle the 5.

That could be a defensive nightmare, scouts say.

“I think best case, they don’t play together that often and you share the 48 power-forward minutes,’’ former NBA scout Bryan Oringher told The Post. “You can get away with each of them as a small-ball 5 for a few minutes a game, but I really don’t think either can play the 3. As centers, they are obviously undersized, and your rim protection will be pretty porous.’’

Knicks president Leon Rose was unavailable for comment Wednesday. He has not spoken to the media since July, when he hired Tom Thibodeau.

“It’s not a great fit — both are really 4’s,’’ one Western Conference scout said. “If they are playing with [Mitchell] Robinson at 5, who guards the 3? Toppin may be better suited to do that, but that’s only relative to Randle. Neither are equipped to guard mobile small forwards.”

Oringher — who scouted for the Wizards, Raptors and Hawks — compiled an 11-minute video montage for his YouTube channel and Twitter account.


Toppin has been compared most to Amar’e Stoudemire. Oringher projects Toppin perhaps not as a superstar but a good scorer who has a high basketball IQ, makes the extra pass, has a decent 3-point shot and who can get his points off pick-and-rolls at the rim or pick-and-pops in mid-range. His biggest concern is Toppin isn’t a good ball-handler.

But he makes up for it in being intelligent at reading defenses, Oringher notes. At least at a mid-major college.

“He keeps the ball moving side to side well,’’ Oringher said. “That’s something Randle struggles with. Despite being a pretty good passer, Julius just doesn’t have great feel and the ball sticks a lot or stays on the same side. Obi keeps the ball moving side to side. So he’ll get mostly pick and pop opportunities, and it’ll be on how well he shoots the ball.

“When teams switch smalls onto him to take away his pop looks, then that’s when you see some of the Amar’e come out — dominating smalls in the post, catching lobs.’’

Toppin is the only player aside from Zion Williamson to score at least 20 points with seven rebounds and shoot better than 60 percent across the past five seasons. He averaged 20 points on 63.3 percent shooting — 39-percent from 3.

Oringher cautions however, Toppin could be “hesitant’’ to shoot the 3 and showed video clips of the 22-year-old passing up open looks. Toppin took just 2.6 treys per game.

Defensively Toppin is “a mixed bag’’ because he lacks lower-body strength. Oringher’s concern is he’ll be easily overpowered inside against bigger 4’s and 5’s, and has below average foot speed as a perimeter on-ball defender.

One scout says if Thibodeau wants to sacrifice defense for offense, he can go with a Toppin-Randle-Robinson frontcourt. Toppin has little time to establish chemistry with Randle because of a shortened training camp that won’t feature group practices until Dec. 6. (Individual workouts commence Dec. 1 while COVID-19 testing is completed.)

In an appearance on “The Michael Kay Show” on Wednesday, Toppin said he was not worried about the lack of summer league and voluntary scrimmages that normally occur before camp.

“It’s not a challenge at all,’’ Toppin said. “It’s a blessing. When the time comes, I’ll be able to show my ‘A’ game.’’

https://www.google.com/amp/s/nypost....s-concern/amp/


This article doesn’t even mention the fact that Knox is purely a PF as well. Or that Leon Rose chased another PF in Grant.

What’s going on?

[mafra]

The Knicks announced another coaching hire — former Leon Rose client Aaron Brooks — along with two more scouts.

Brooks’ title is “two-way liaison” — the first usage of the position in the NBA. That means his focus will be primarily on the Knicks’ pair of two-way players who are only allowed to play in up to 50 regular-season NBA games.

The Knicks’ current two-way players are point guard Jared Harper and swingman Theo Pinson, one of Rose’s favorite former clients at Creative Artists Agency. Of course, the two-way players can change since those contracts aren’t guaranteed.

The issue of player development during this pandemic season is the G-League won’t have a standard campaign, but likely a bubble camp with 100 players. It’s one of the reasons the Knicks decided against using the 33rd pick last week and traded it away for a 2023 pick.

The Knicks also added two more scouts in Reggie Johnson and TJ Zanin, the brother of Knicks assistant GM Frank Zanin. Also announced and previously reported by The Post was the addition of Larry Greer as advance scout/assistant coach.

The press release stated three video coordinators were also hired — Ike Azotam, Chris Santo and Gabriel Snider.