Last year’s Kristaps Porzingis trade was ultimately the “undoing” for Steve Mills in New York, according to Marc Berman of The New York Post, who notes that Dennis Smith Jr.‘s inconsistent play for the Knicks didn’t help keep Mills off the hot seat leading up to his February ouster.
As Berman writes, former head coach David Fizdale and assistant Keith Smart were among Smith’s “key allies” within the franchise, and their departures – along with Mills’ – significantly reduce the odds that DSJ has a long-term future with the Knicks. Berman suggests Smith will be a trade candidate during the 2020 offseason, with the Magic among the teams that could have interest. Some teams still believe the former lottery pick can evolve into a solid pro, per Berman.
“He thinks too much about his shot and trying to score the ball,” one NBA scout said of Smith. “He needs to be more of lead pass-first guard and score second. Dennis also need a coach who shows him love and gives him confidence. The quickness and ability to dribble-drive is always there, but he wants to always be the highlight play with traffic dunks.”
Here’s more on the Knicks:
- While Fizdale was fond of Allonzo Trier, interim head coach Mike Miller preferred to play stronger defenders with more experience, Berman writes in a separate New York Post story. Given Trier’s lack of a regular role in 2019/20, he seems unlikely to stick with the Knicks as a restricted free agent this offseason, according to Berman.
- Mike Vorkunov and John Hollinger of The Athletic take an in-depth look at the Knicks’ future, breaking down the upcoming head coaching search, identifying possible free agent targets, and discussing which of the club’s current players are long-term keepers. Fred VanVleet is one free-agent-to-be singled out by Holliner as a potentially nice fit for the Knicks.
- 2020’s free agent class isn’t a particularly strong one, but there will be some intriguing players available if the Knicks want to try to make a splash, writes Steve Popper of Newsday.
- Rafael Canton of SNY.tv explores whether the Knicks’ financial flexibility could give them a chance to be in better position that the Nets three years from now.
I’m really interested to see how much VanVleet makes this off-season
Are you his agent? Looking for your slice of the pie?
Want nothing do to with Van. Not worth star money. Trier is just another example of Fizdale and GM ineptitude. A great find who they couldn’t develop. He reminded me of Starks a lot. He’s fearless and got attitude. Something every team needs. Unfortunately with Knicks it’s always a negative campaign. Even local media are not your friends. It’s what finally got Phil fired. Dolan wants gd press no matter how they play. This is why it’s so hard to rebuild in NY. And why it hasn’t been done since Ewing. Tired of looking back, it’s boring. This rebuild needs to go forward and stay on course. Forget KP he never wanted to stay here. Mello we all see was finished. Phil biggest mistake was resigning him. But that was more Dolan than Phil. You see with all this diss function. You can’t rebuild or develop talent. It’s worse when you bring in new coaches instead of experienced. Booty kissers in management instead of real leadership. Like I said tired of spilled milk. The rebuild is the most important thing. This draft is high priority. If anyone had cojones. They would package Mitch (I like Mitch) and secure #1 pick. Wiseman will be a better pro than Mitch. With our pick take Halliburton. Knicks have 3 picks in top 36. Two #1 picks in 2021 draft and 2022 draft. They have youngest team in NBA. Now if DSJ, Knox, Frank, Trier were done right. We would have major assets now. Unfortunately the diss function of management wouldn’t allow that. Still we are in position to have major improvement next yr. As long as you get this draft right. Halliburton has to be our pick. He is best fit for this team.
Surely it seems that VanVleet is nowhere near been a star, so it shouldn’t be paid as one, I totally agree with you, I think he will profiteer from the fact that there are no good FA’s this summer to get a massive contract that he will never live up to, if he was FA next year you wouldn’t even hear from him, just a low key player.