The Knicks are hoping to land at least one of the marquee free agents — Kevin Durant, Kawhi Leonard or Kyrie Irving — but if they come up short, they won’t eat up their cap space with multi-year contracts, Ian Begley of SNY TV reports. They don’t want to take on a bad contract in order to accumulate more assets. It’s uncertain if they’d trade for a player with a big contract in his walk year.
Instead, they will most likely sign free agents to one-year deals, much like the Lakers did last summer after LeBron James committed to them, in order to retain cap flexibility. The New York Daily News’ Stefan Bondy reiterates that sentiment, adding that the Knicks could shift gears and go after Anthony Davis, DeMar DeRozan, Draymond Green, Ben Simmons and Pascal Siakam next summer.
We have more on the Knicks:
- The team was fined $50K by the league for violating rules regarding equal access for media, according to a league press release. The Knicks did not allow Bondy access to their post-draft press conference on Friday while allowing all other credentialed media who cover the team to attend. The organization has agreed to comply with media access rules in the future.
- Warriors forward Andre Iguodala took a jab at the organization and its pursuit of major free agents, including his teammate Durant, Ethan Sears of the New York Post relays. In an interview with CNBC, Iguodala said, “Nobody’s gonna sign with the Knicks, sorry.”
- The Knicks gave up $1MM in cash along with the No. 55 pick to the Kings on Thursday, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders tweets. New York moved up to the No. 47 spot and chose University of Michigan forward Ignas Brazdeikis. The Kings selected Virginia’s Kyle Guy.
iggy speaks the truth
Gotta love the iguodala truth bombs. He’s also considered one of the smartest people in the NBA … real question is why would someone risk thier career by signing there?
Knick fans must feel like the sad kid at his birthday when he invites everyone he knows and nobody shows up.
lmfaoo
Nah, it’s been almost two decades. We’re used to the disappointment. At this point they should just let the young kids ball. Let one or more of them development into stars
“Risk their careers”.. why do people act like the Knicks are killing babies or something? We get it, Dolan has made some bad personnel choices but let’s not act as if being a Knick is career killer. They also have new personnel that, so far, while not being competitive, seem at least capable.
I’ve come to the conclusion Durant is gone.
Iggy is doing a tour promoting his book. I saw a video today and he says both Durant and Thompson are re-signing with the Warriors, but he’s almost laughing when he says it. Can’t help himself.
Then he says if they leave they’re still his brothers and he’ll stay in contact with them as brothers would.
Thompson is staying and Durant is gone I’m afraid to say. Writing’s on the wall I finally admit now.
Well he just kind of ruled out the Knicks too. Keep that camera rolling!
Nets
Davis is not leaving the Lakers. Draymond on a big contract would be dumb. Simmons will be a RFA at best. The pickings will be slim if the Knicks strike out in free agency this year.
WHEN………not if. When the Knicks strike out in free agency this year.
Exactly
Why does everybody enjoy dumping on the Knicks? I’ve been a Knicks fan all my life and will continue to be, regardless of who they do or don’t sign this summer. I love how fans of other teams need the team to be a title contender before they will root for them. I enjoy my NBA a whole lot more than you “pseudo-fans”. I hope my Knicks have success with free agency but if they don’t, I will be rooting for the young guys and watching them develop. On the playground as a kid, you guys must have rooted for the bully to get everybody’s lunch money. Lol Go Knicks!
Which is why it’s going to be so sweet when the Knicks finally put it together and they turn into a winner. Then we can finally rub it in other fans’ faces. I’m tired of the constant jokes and all the crap we get as Knicks fans, so when that chance comes along I’m gonna be merciless. The Knicks are building the right way and eventually it will pay off.
The Knicks should try to keep Noah Vonleh and sign Marcus Morris/Jamychal Green/Wilson Chandler, Danny Green/Jeremy Lamb/Demarre Carroll/Garret Temple at 1-2 year deals and keep their cap space for a better opportunity
Nothing available next year.
Some of those guys are pretty good– but it’s another tank year so why? Another year of the media mostly debating whether they think Ntikina should be traded.
Good news, Barrett will kick Knox in the rear and they will have a good young front line at least.
Pretty much the idea would be to develop the young core guys and give them a chance to evolve. You also want young guys building good habits, and having 1-2 veterans that fit and know how to play can be important in development, as is learning how to win. I would assume they would still likely be in pretty nice draft position to add to that, and then it makes sense to add to that in FA or through trade. The Knicks always try to skip steps. Using their cap space before they should, and on the wrong guys, seems like such a Knicks move. Figure out what you have first
If the Stooges strike out, they will (rightly) lose all credibility with the fan base or the media. It’s the Stooges, not the Nets or Clips FOs, that have been pounding their chests over the cap space “created” by the KP trade, and how well they were going to do with the elite UFAs in the class.
Sure, roll over as much cap space as they can, without jettisoning the young players they’re supposedly building around. But this is rare year in terms of the number of elite UFAs (three) seemingly available; there’s no obvious elite UFA likely to move anywhere next year. The Stooges need to come up with another plan, one that requires more acumen than they’ve shown to date. In any event, they can’t repeat last season’s wasted year (little player development and zero team development), followed by another roster stripping ahead of next summer waiting for the Great Pumpkin.
Trades still exist and there are guys available the year after next year. The mentality that everything has to be fixed immediately is what got the Knicks where they always are. I think it’s a little early in their young guys development. I also think it’s not that likely that there is as much movement as originally thought, due to trades and injuries, and there are several comparable situations out there to accommodate a FA. I would personally continue to push the culture Fizdale has started to put in place, and see where they are with some more development time. In my opinion, retaining flexibility is arguably their best course regardless, but obviously assuming they dont get anyone of significance, it’s that much more important, and as I said, you take another shot when a suitable option is out there, and you have something of substance to put around them
There are two elite players in free agency, or at least there were until Durant got hurt. Now you have one (Kawhi) who most likely was never coming here and a giant questions mark with Durant. Sure, they could sign him but they have no idea if he’ll ever be the same player again. The rest are B-level stars that would be more of a compliment to elite players. If the Knicks don’t sign Durant then it’s no big loss if they also don’t get Kyrie Irving or any of the other B-level guys. They can use that cap space to take on bad contracts along with valuable draft picks and try again next offseason. In the meantime they can develop the young guys.
You’re trying to insult them, but why when they’re actually doing the smart thing for once? They’re not going to get desperate and throw money at the wrong players. If they don’t get an elite player they’ll move on and shift gears. As a Knicks fan, I would feel much better if they did that rather than giving a blank check to Kyrie Irving or Jimmy Butler or Tobias Harris. There’s a lot they can do with that cap space that doesn’t strictly involve signing superstars.
I agree that if they don’t get any of the elite UFAs (I believe there are 3), then they should not sign second tier stars. I don’t believe I said anything inconsistent with that. They need a new plan.
My points are:
1) There’s a credibility loss that affects how their new plan will be viewed (around the league) – not because elite guys went elsewhere as such – but because of how they pointed to this summer’s FA period to justify 2 years of other actions and non-actions and the bravado (it was noted around the NBA as unusual, unless they have some kind of agreement) they had about kicking butt with the elite UFAs this summer.
2) The new plan needs to be almost entirely about a traditional rebuild (talent evaluation, personnel management and development), and can’t depend on using the UFA route to add superstars going forward.
3) Nothing this regime has done to date suggests they’re capable of embarking on a traditional rebuild that leads to a championship level team. They may evaluate talent well (still open), but their personnel management has been such a disaster from the start it might not matter, and (to date) there’s obviously been no team development. I’ll also note that none of the 3 guys have much history in the current positions, and what they do have in them is negative.
Sorry, but none of that is insulting, it’s just the facts, to date. The story is not complete, but if they strike out on the elite UFAs, it’s fair to so say so far, not so good.
It’s basically been one season lol. Perry came in mid-July ’17; with the remnants of Phil’s “go for it now” roster + Mills brain-fart in signing THJ to the deal he did.
Perry, with a year of scouting + organizational control moved a questionable player that “everyone” wanted to put a superstar-to-be label on and cleared out ill-fated contracts, while getting the organization the first legit wing player taken in 2 consecutive drafts–plus 7 first rd picks in 5 years… Now 6 in 4 years.
On top of that, cap space to either sign people or compile assets while the young guys develop.
Yes the story is incomplete, but if you don’t see the plan + contingencies smacking you in the face it’s not because they don’t exist.
Don’t over think it. I don’t mean that as a derogatory thing, or to imply that it needs to be under-thought…but 7 first round picks in 5 years can never be regarded as “so far, not so good” — it’s about how all the assets are managed, and unless someone has a crystal ball in this piece…it’s so far, looks promising. Don’t screw it up.
Another Isiah-ite, still lamenting his hero is gone. It’s been 2 years. Perry (did come on after THJ and Baker, but his 2 year anniversary is coming up). He’s a decent talent evaluator. But a career assistant GM for losing teams. Why is that? He’s not that young. Anyway, Mills makes the final calls. That’s essentially why Griffin (a real GM with a track record) pulled out of contention for the job.
FYI, stripping a roster isn’t much of a plan, and anyone can do it by trading away a 23 year old All Star for a bag of nuts. Yeah, he didn’t want to be here. The rest of the league is still laughing at the Knicks over that one. DSJ-? More laughter. What “ill fated” contract are you talking about other than the one they foolishly created (THJ) or decided to keep-? Lee could have been traded for a 2nd round pick in 2017-18, but the Knicks insisted on a 1st. Mario, for out MLE. Noah’s stretch decision being made prematurely (10 months before they had to), such that it will cost us 2 additional years of cap space. Vonleh and Trier contracts being mis-managed. Those are FO decisions. Winning the 3rd pick and taking the obvious guy, isn’t a FO decision anyone gets credit for (that’s the ping pong balls). We’ll see about Knox (relative to other choices, SGA, Bridges, etc.); right now it’s open, nothing they should be credited for. Robinson and Trier = good, except Trier will be gone or overpaid by next season due to them sitting on their hands.
1) They can’t force anyone to sign with them; the best they could have done, if they do strike out, is to have cleared the cap space for two max offers and put them out to the right players. They could not have possibly foreseen Durant’s injury and had that not happened this whole free agency would look very different. The Knicks would be able to land a healthy Durant and his partner of choice. Of course they pounded their chests; they made all the right moves to put them in the mix for two top players. One blew an Achilles and the other probably doesn’t and didn’t want to go to New York in any capacity. Given the garbage hand they were dealt by Phil Jackson, this was the only option they had to turn it around.
2) That’s exactly what the whole plan has been about. They have hoarded their picks and signed smart one-year deals with vets, tried to drive up their value and potentially trade them for more picks. They didn’t jump at an AD trade. They didn’t jump at a potential Chris Paul trade. They’ve done everything to rip the team apart and build it from the ground.
3) What are you talking about? This regime has been in place for not even two years; what personnel management are you talking about? Perry and Mills have cleared the decks of all their major salary obligations and have kept their picks and made some solid developmental choices. They now have massive cap space and a roster loaded with lottery picks and multiple first round picks going forward. They’ve done exactly what they should be doing to eventually turn this team into a championship contender.
I thought for sure they had a deal with Irving when they traded Zinger. The move was too fast & confident for a regular NBA action. But Irving lost confidence as the kind of trailblazer who could pull a fresh start off and Durant could not get anyone to follow him to NY. I would like to hear someday, what sort of assurances the NY FO had. Maybe none, just an agent talking. Well they have to draft well now and wait years, and they have drafted pretty well IMO.
The 50k should go to the reporter that was denied access, not the league that doesn’t need it.