The return of springy young Nets big man Nicolas Claxton to action could help improve the uneven play of All-Star shooting guard James Harden, says Mark W. Sanchez of the New York Post. Claxton, much like Harden’s former Rockets running mate Clint Capela, can serve as a prime rim-rolling recipient of Harden lobs. Claxton has appeared in just six Brooklyn games for the 2021/22 season due to a non-COVID-19 illness.
“It would be great to get Nic going again, getting him fully functioning again,” Nets head coach Steve Nash said of Claxton’s return. “We saw him Friday night and obviously it looked like he hadn’t played in a while, was fouling and just a little out of rhythm. And that’s normal for a guy who has had that much of a layoff, lost a bunch of weight, is trying to get himself back in shape. By the end of the year, we would love Nic to be a great add to what we do on both ends of the floor.”
On Tuesday night, in a 102-99 defeat of the Mavericks, Claxton suited up for nearly 21 minutes off the bench. The 6’11” big man logged six points and nine boards in just his second game back from his illness.
There’s more out of the Big Apple:
- The Knicks would likely consult Kemba Walker were they to seriously consider trading the veteran point guard, per Ian Begley of SNY.tv. Walker, a former four-time All-Star with the Hornets and Celtics, has been demoted from starter to DNP-CD, and has not suited up for New York at all since November 26. The 31-year-old is averaging career lows of 11.7 PPG, 3.1 APG and 2.6 RPG.
- Knicks center Nerlens Noel returned to New York’s starting lineup, replacing Mitchell Robinson in the role, ahead of Tuesday night’s 121-109 victory over the 8-15 Spurs, per Steve Popper of Newsday. Noel took and made just one field goal, but also chipped in eight rebounds, three dimes, one steal and a block in the win. Robinson, meanwhile, enjoyed a terrific night with the second unit, notching 11 points and 14 boards. The Knicks snapped a three-game losing streak with the victory and returned to .500 on the season with a 12-12 record. Robinson conceded that, as a result of an offseason surgery and subsequent weight gain, he has struggled with his conditioning, per Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News. “I’m getting tired real quick,” Robinson said before Tuesday’s game. “I run for about six or seven minutes, and then boom — I’m gassed. So it’s something I need to work on real bad … I wish I could jump right back into it and be who I was before the injury.”
- Much like his former boss Jeff Van Gundy in the 1998/99 NBA season, current Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau may have to figure out major rotational changes to improve the up-and-down Knicks this year, per Mike Vaccaro of the New York Post. Among those adjustments, Vaccaro suggests potentially exploring more run for emerging second-year power forward Obi Toppin and rookie shooting guard Quentin Grimes, and possibly reducing the role of defensive sieve Evan Fournier, whom New York added on a four-year, $78MM contract via a sign-and-trade with the Celtics this past summer.
So this board is full of fans always giving up on young picks. Especially if they are high picks. Love to thrash young guys cause they don’t become stars overnight. No 19 yr old or rookie is going to come in and blow it up. Few rookies will do it. SOOOooooooooo
For all those haters and deniers. Fuel It
RJ at San Antonio, in a NYK 121-109 win
Stat line — 32 pts, 5 reb, 2 ast.
—— 55% FG, 87.5% 3PT, 3-4 FT (75%)
RJ is one of best young 2way players in NBA. Think lefty Jimmy Butler. Jimmy’s offense came late too. He didn’t score 20 pts a gm till he was 25 yrs old. His FOURTH yr in NBA.
After 4yrs his stat line was.
11 pts, .433% FG, .30% 3PT .
Go look up RJs yourself. Yes I believe in RJ. More important, I don’t kill young players. They can always become productive later. Only haters and blind to talent. Trash young players.
link to basketball-reference.com
Hm a replicated comment. Seems a bit extreme.
How long have you been here. RJ is not only young player that gets trashed here. They know who they are. They been hating on RJ for most of this yr.
RJ is the worst left handed player in nba history, everyone knows it
Literally no sits there and thinks “man….whos the worst left hander out there?” This is the sports equivalent of a hipster bragging about the band youve never heard of. No one cares except for the people that think it makes them cool.
I have seen exactly zero comments on here hating on RJ Barrett andnive been a regular on here for like 9 years. I think youre confusing the deserved comments on the terribleness the Knicks ad a whole have been for the last decade and a half with an excuse to ne butthurt about RJ. Youre akward bud figure it out 6 ply.
I’ve been here roughly 6 yrs. There’s been plenty of hate for Knicks and RJ. First off I’m an educator. I’m simple stating facts. And things My talent radar can pick up. I’m never going to change the ignorance here. Just showing true vision.
And by the way. I’ve never seen you.
Knicks have a favorable schedule coming up. For rest of this Month. Noel started today. And Mitch played better coming off bench. Knicks play better away from Garden. Home pressure is getting to them IMO. They played more together and loose. Let’s hope it’s the start of something. RJ with an All Star game ….
Knicks had six players in double figures.
Let’s do this NYK ….. next up Pacers
Where would Nets be without Aldridge this yr. They need Griffin back. So they don’t burn him out. Nets are missing Harris.
No way I take Harden out of PG. Kyrie s days are numbered here. The value they get for him. Plus a healthy squad. Makes Nets the favorite to win it all IMO. Thing is Who will take Kyrie ??
Seriously …. How hard is it to run miles. You know you got no wind. You didn’t just find that out. Run 5 miles three times a wk. why is this an issue NOW. unreal
I’m sorry Al Bundy but Griffin is done stick a fork in him and RJ had a good game tonight but let’s see him do this on a consistent basis. And let’s be honest Noel is a back up Center at best. This is a star driving league and we cant wait for six or seven years for a player to develop when we have stunk for over a decade. Let’s swing a trade for Sobinas and Malcom Brandon to get some legit talent not these one way players like Mitch Noel and RJ on nights when he can’t hit the backside of a barn .
Really six or seven yrs. Don’t get swallowed by the futility of past regimes. This franchise has not done a true rebuild. Since getting Patrick. Then they messed that up. By trying to rush it. And giving up on MJ and Strickland. Thibs has been here 1yr and 23 gms. What Knicks are doing now is a true rebuild. Geez lol it’s been ONE yr.
Knicks struck out in free agency.
Fournier? 78mm?
Kemba? 9mm?
No wonder they’re at where they are.
Horrible signings.
Good Morning Knickerbockers,
Mr. Sanja You Talk Too Much Trash. You Should Be Quiet, Watch The Games, And Grow Up Already. Start Making Clear And Concise Conclusions And Stop Cursing Because By Cursing You Only Show How Ignorant And Uneducated You Are. You Wanna Look Cool? Start Making Sense By Talking, Writing, And Backing Up Your Points, Not By Cursing And Showing How Uneducated You Are. If You Want To Be A Winner You Have To Start Acting Like One. Capich?
By ChampionShipSports888@gmail.com
“In Thibs We Trust”
“In The NY Knicks We Trust”
“In Winning We Trust”
knicks always coming thru at the end to make jordan look awesome. unfortunately the end this time was kemba’s career.
PG Harden makes the Nets so boring to watch, is only playing for FT
Was at the game last night and Mitch looked tired. Definitely has gained weight, but also worked to his advantage on some rebounds. Fournier needs to get pulled out of the starting lineup – he was horrible defensively and on offense he had difficulty controlling the ball and turning it over. Murray made a move on Fournier and he went down hard on a fake out.
As for RJ, he was outstanding last night. Kid took over the court and called in his teammates to a quick huddle when they failed on a defensive play, barking directions.
I hate to say it but the Knicks screwed up signing Walker and Fournier. Bench players at best, and neither seem to fit Thibs style of play. Hopefully they can find new homes for both.
As Can Be Seen In The Right Rotation With The Right Tools RJ Could Emerge As A Great Contributor To The New York Knicks And Might Even Become This Year’s Most Improve Player.
By ChamoionShipSports888@gmail.com
The Kemba trial is not over yet. There’s the mentality I’m talking about. Then these same people will tell you they are fans. Kemba at worst has to play so he can be moved. So he has to be put in situation to help his value. He’s not done yet here. And Fournier is exactly what we needed. His D is a work in progress. But our team D has been bad. So that hasn’t helped him either. Fournier will be fine. Even as a sixth man shooter. Plenty of time to work it out. Main reason for our bad D this yr. Is Mitch not playing and Noel being hurt. When both are healthy and in shape. We should go back to top of D teams. Only one game but they shared the ball last night. And knew how to close out. Haven’t seen that enough. Knicks are a team and win by team effort and depth. That has not been consistent this year.
In The Thibs we Trust …..
Fournier sucks, and got all the cap room y’all had left. Great job.
Fournier is horrible. His defense isn’t a work in progress either, he’s played long enough in the NBA to prove so. He’s physically limited – Knicks would’ve been better off signing David McDermitt to do the same and save money in the process.
Good Morning Knickerbockers,
Wow! That Is A Great New Classification For Evan Fournier. Honestly I Had Never Heard This Before But I Am Pretty Sure That You Can Give Your Reasons To Back Up Your Claim. Honestly, Evan Fournier Is A Great Player As Is Kemba Walker. I Am Pretty Sure They Will Help The Knicks Turn The Season Around And Make The Playoffs Even As The Eight Seed As In The 1999 Shorten NBA Season. Tom Thibodeau As Master T Will Deliver For New York And It ‘s Long Overdue.
By ChampionShipSports888@gmail.com
“In Thibs We Trust”
“In The NY Knicks We Trust”
“In Winning We Trust”
Good Morning Knickerbockers,
That Is Precisely The Main Idea. “In Thibs We Trust” Becomes Then The Greatest Logo Or Motto That We Can Have. We Need To Believe In A System That Works. Master T Won Coach Of The Year Last Year And That Gave Us Hope. For The Very First Time In A While New York Was Alive For The Playoffs And That Gave NY Hope.
In Thibs We Trust!
Had We Trusted In Phil JackSon’s Way Maybe By Now We Could Have Had Another ChampionShip? Maybe!
“In Thibs We Trust” Must Become Our Real Believe And We Can Not Believe Otherwise “Sure” As Long As We See Improvements. That Improvement Was Previewed Last Year As The NY Knicks Made A Nine Game Winning Streak. This Year We Have To At Least Get A 23 Game Winning Streak Most Likely In The Second Half.
By ChampionShipSports888@gmail.com
“In Thibs We Trust”
“In The NY Knicks We Trust”
“In Winning We Trust”
Thibs’ rotational changes have been in progress for awhile. Kemba’s minutes were already down prior to his being removed from the rotation. Fournier’s minutes have been trending toward backup levels for quite awhile. Mitch has been only a nominal starter except when injuries required him to be more.
The only open decision left is whether Fournier continues to start. I’d like to see Quickley given a chance to start in lieu of him, with RJ assuming a more regular facilitation role. I think RJ is more than up to it. Not surprised that removing Fournier from the starting lineup is likely to be the last move in the chain, if it happens at all. The FO gave him a 3 years of guaranteed $$. Still, I’d like to see it happen so he can be the go to guy with the second unit, vs stay with the first unit playing uneven minutes.
I would have zero inclination to trade Walker, at this point. Unless, he requests it. Long season. He can still impact games offensively, and his contract does no harm.
If I’m the Knicks as much as I want Dame do the Knicks really trade all the assets they have for a 31 year old Dame. Who else would make a difference that’s younger than Dame. I just know Knicks gave up alot for Melo and Knicks still did nothing.
A Lillard trade is the last thing in the world the Knicks should be thinking about right now. No trading for an established, fully-valued, star can’t help the fortunes of the Knicks right now (that’s a roll of the dice, usually a losing one, for teams that are already contenders). As bad as the Melo trade was (and it was bad), at least he was young enough to (maybe, at some point) be part of a contending NYK team. There would be no such illusion with Lillard. Also, BTW, he’s a rich man’s Kemba.
Myles Turner, Jerami Grant. Both won’t take a whole lot. Both 2way players. Both are significant upgrades. And both want to be on winning team.