Appearing on ESPN’s The Jump on Monday, former Knicks head coach David Fizdale said the toughest part about being fired a year and a half after joining the franchise was fulfilling the goal of turning things around and giving fans a winner. However, Fizdale still believes that the club is well-positioned to improve going forward.
“I think that they have really good young talent and those young guys are going to keep getting better, Fizdale said of the Knicks, per Steve Popper of Newsday. “They have to continue to draft well because they have a lot of draft picks over the next few years. Then with the veterans that they did sign, they have to figure out which guys they want to retain and which guys they want to move on from. But they do have a lot of cap space there and they will have an opportunity to get back in the free-agency market this summer.
“So I really think they’re in a good position,” the ex-Knicks coach added. “I know a lot of people don’t and a lot of people are down on them. But I actually think that they’re in a good position to make some good things happen for the organization.”
Here’s more out of New York:
- While a segment of Knicks fans may prefer to see the team’s young players get some of the minutes currently going to veterans, the team “clearly has a showcase mentality” with those vets, writes Marc Berman of The New York Post. Berman suggests there will be plenty of time for New York to increase the youngsters’ roles after the trade deadline.
- Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic identifies a few players and potential trades that could be of interest to the Knicks at the deadline. Jerome Robinson, Kris Dunn, and Bogdan Bogdanovic are among the players Vorkunov thinks might be logical targets.
- After Kyrie Irving was a late scratch on Monday due to a tight hamstring, Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson explained that the team is just being “cautious” with the star guard, per Brian Lewis of The New York Post. However, Atkinson did acknowledge that the issue had been nagging Irving for a few days.
- Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News says it’s ridiculous to claim the Nets are better without Irving and argues that some of the criticism Kyrie is facing for recent comments is unfair.
Fizdale stunted their growth. Their young talent rode the bench.
Fizdale stunk not sure why the media makes it out to be that the Knicks screwed him. Took the new coach 10 games to win the same amount fizdale won in 30
Both things can be true. Fizdale’s rotations were bizarre, and he was undermined by a front office that built a bad roster.
And don’t forget Payton got healthy just as fix was fired. A journeyman PG was big for them – they were so desperate for a ball handler they had Barrett running point there for a while.
Aside from RJ Barrett and Mitchell Robinson everything should be for sale for the Knicks. They should be posting everybkdy just go signs outside the arena.
Morris should fetch a late round 1st but Payton and Randle could fetch a higher 1st plus a 2nd.
Payton Gibson Bullock Portis should all fetch 2nds.
Roll with Ntikitina Barrett Trier Knox Robinson as your starting 5. While DSJ and Ntikitina may not be long term assets everybody else needs playing time to grow together. Look to grab a pg in FA and draft.
Exactomundo
Not getting any first round picks for any of these guys. Those trades are rare.
The only problem is they don’t have good young talent. Barrett could be a borderline all star. Robinson could be an ok starting center. That’s it.
Fizdale was a terrible Coach. Watch how much better the team has played under the new coach. Of course they don’t have nearly enough players but the team was moving backwards under Fizdale.
The Knicks now need to smartly trade assets for draft capital. They should not look to make trades to take back marginal players. The one thing they have done right is they still have loads of cap space and plenty of short term contracts. They should talk to anyone looking to fill a need with draft capital in mind.
I actually like Randle, Morris and Payton. They are three solid players. I wish we can keep them and trade dsj and anyone else that is t RJ and Mitchell. I also would start playing Wooten after the trade deadline for 15 minutes per game
The Knicks have two problems heading into the deadline. First, the FO is incompetent. Second, and as relevant, they are (or should be) lame ducks. From an organizational standpoint, they should seek to acquire as many future assets as possible, focusing on getting picks and retaining future cap space, versus getting existing players, even young ones. But they have to know that it would all be to give the next FO as clean a slate, and as many future assets, as possible. Since this FO hasn’t been able to navigate trade and contract negotiations successfully when they weren’t lame ducks, it’s hard to be optimistic.