Two rival teams say the Knicks are emerging as a legitimate suitor for Trail Blazers guard CJ McCollum, Marc Stein reports in his latest article for Substack. Up until this point, the Pelicans had been the team most frequently linked to McCollum, but Stein suggests New York is a real possibility for the Blazers veteran.
It’s an intriguing idea, and one that appears more viable after seeing the deal Portland made with the Clippers on Friday. The Blazers were seemingly motivated to move off Norman Powell‘s long-term money in that trade, so it’s not out of the question that the team could take a similar approach with McCollum, who is owed $33.3MM next season and $35.8MM in 2023/24.
Many of the Knicks’ top trade candidates, including Alec Burks, Kemba Walker, and Nerlens Noel, are only owed guaranteed money through ’22/23, and New York has a ton of extra draft picks – including Dallas’ top-10 protected 2023 first-rounder – that could grease the wheels of a potential deal.
Here’s more on the Knicks:
- According to Ian Begley of SNY.tv, the Pistons are among the teams that have shown interest in Knicks center Mitchell Robinson. However, Begley says it’s unclear whether Detroit will try to trade for Robinson this week or if the team would only consider him in free agency. Robinson, who is extension-eligible, will be an unrestricted free agent this summer.
- As Cam Reddish continues to spend most of his time on the bench for the Knicks, one NBA source who has been in contact with the team’s brass tells Marc Berman of The New York Post that head coach Tom Thibodeau wasn’t exactly pushing the front office to trade for Reddish last month. “From my understanding, Thibs didn’t want him and they did it anyway,” that source told Berman. Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report previously reported that Thibodeau “wasn’t necessarily gung-ho” about the acquisition of Reddish.
- In a separate story for The New York Post, Berman cites a rival GM who says Julius Randle doesn’t have a whole lot of trade value at this point. “I think you could look at last season as more an anomaly,” one Western Conference personnel director told Berman. “This season is more akin to his first six seasons.”
Tom is a overrated coach. how wouldnt you play a promising young player. they arent even contenders
It’s the sMe story unfortunately. This can’t help himself.
Hawks were 18-25 with Cam on the roster and are 7-3 since trading him including wins over Mil, Mia, Cha, & Bos, teams that are all in the hunt for the playoffs. I known that Tom wears on players, but to say he’s an overrated coach is just crazy. His first HC job, he took a meddling Bulls team from a playoff hopeful team to the number 1 seed in the East and won coach of the year. His second stint as a HC? He only took the worst team in the NBA, the Timberwolves, to the playoffs for the first time in over a decade. Third stint as a HC? Again, took one of the worst franchises in the league, the New York Knicks, and immediately ended their 8 year playoff drought. Yea, his message gets old and players start tuning him out, but his track recording turning bad to decent teams and decent to good teams as a HC is 3 out of 3, or 100%.
So…my take away from you is that Reddish solely held back the Hawks this year (even though he played with them last year when they made it to to Eastern Conference finals and performed quite well) and Thibs is a solid coach and 3 for 3 (though he hasn’t won anything being 100% in his entire career as a coach).
Not sure I’d agree with either point you made, but I will say there’s a bit of a disconnect between Thibs and the FO. Not sure Thibs makes it passed this year.
*past. Damn auto fill.
Wolves and Knicks crashed the year after the playoffs and Knicks playoff appearance in a covid season isn’t that spectacular anyway. The Bulls were good for an extended period of time, but that affected most players health and eventually hurt the bulls
Thibs is a fine coach. Nothing great, nothing terrible. He plays his best players ridiculous minutes, though, so he’s usually able to turn bad teams into decent teams simply by overusing his best players.
He’s deserving of being a coach in the league but you’re not winning a title with Thibs in charge. He also doesn’t develop players at all so you need to find players that are already established for his rotation.
And then add in the 20 minutes a night he gives taj Gibson no matter how bad he is and you have an average coach.
It’s taken me a while, because my friends have been making that same point for a few weeks now. But I agree. Especially with Toppin.
Cam Reddish isn’t really that good
Trade Lillard already! I know he has been amazing and the fans love him and he has been adamant that he wants to stay, but it’s no longer a fit for him, sadly. Both the market and the team around him are terrible, and the Powell-Covington trade proves that the Blazers don’t feel like they’re in contention. I know it’ll never happen before the deadline, but if they don’t trade him this offseason I’m gonna be MAD.
They won’t trade him a report came out saying Damian Lillard will likely sign a two year extension in the offseason.
Somehow I doubt that . . .
McCollum plays PG? He’d have to or the Knicks have even more of a logjam.
Agreed. This report makes no sense. While McCollum is still a nice piece, he is 31/32 years old and clearly on the wrong side of his career. Seems like Fournier with a bit more consistency.
So that means it’ll probably happen then. I dunno… balance the Cam pickup with a late-prime pickup..
Amidst all of the “this FO is great” & “finally we’re not in CAP hell anymore”…
..I see a team with no organizational direction and/or identity.
Feels like a move must be made by Thurs. 3pm..but I have no earthly idea if they’ll go young and “lets build for the future” or mid-to-late career vets and “lets save this grease fire of a season”
And that in and of itself, is the #1 issue.
While I’m don’t think McCollum is a good trade target for the Knicks because of age and his injury history as he’s better suited going to a team that’s close to contending and just needs a a scoring punch. He has shown he can run an offense in Portland as he often does when Lillard is on the bench or injured.
No HC, looking to win, would have been gung ho about acquiring CR. Right now, playing him creates losses. ATL might be near the top of the EC if they had dealt him sooner. Eventually, that might change, and I hope it does (the FO has bet on it); but it won’t change simply because he’s putting on a different uniform.
NYK should pass on CJM. A few years ago, I might have taken the risk on him, basically that he could transition to being a full time PG. But the time lines seem off now. Now, he’d be trying to make that transition as a descending player, and the Knicks, best case, are a couple of years away from contention. The expiring contracts (and the extra picks, which are mostly 2nd’s) were there to keep us in the FA hunt (via S&T) this summer, before having cap space the following summer. Trading for him with those contracts eliminates both.
Bet Reddish is having regrets about asking for a trade
This entire Knicks front office is clueless. They need a future PG, but they want to kick the tires of a 30 year two guard and potentially force him to play the point. I’m looking at the cap for next year and Leon Rose is way in over his head.
Randle – $26M
Fournier – $18M
Burks – $10M
Rose – $14M
Noel – $8.8M
There’s too much money allocated to guys who are just considered “good”. This is why teams like Pacers and Wizards and Portland have never gone anywhere, because they keep trying to retool rather than rebuild. Thibs isn’t the coach to ascend Obi and RJ with Reddish as potential future long term pieces. He cannot motivate this team like he did last year. He hasn’t put his young guys in position to succeed and build confidence. It’s a bad convo overall. Eastern Semifinals at best type roster with a coach who refuses to play his younger guys.
And no, nobody is coming to MSG to save this team. They should rebuild around RJ/Cam/Randle/Quickley and everyone else should be available this summer. Fire Thibs and hire a proven communicator who can coach the young guys up.
That’s only in the mid-70m range. Not too bad. And several of them expire after next year. They’re in quite decent shape capwise. The problem is this is a frickin’ NYC team that can’t seem to attract or draft top level talent despite plenty of money, and are going to have to start over. Again.
Also, Thibs is a horrible coach. Bad vibes all over that guy’s personality, and he ruins teams by overplaying favorites.
All good points. I’m just wondering if they give Thibs the key to the Free Agent city when these guys come off the books? I doubt it. Everyone around the league (fans included) know the reputation he has cemented in the last 10 years. I don’t see any free agents signing there without Thibs being let go. You nailed it. He ruins teams vibes and morale, with the longer he coaches the team. I believe only Al is the only fan who keeps hoping he will change. As a bulls fan, I will never give my approval for him. Look at what he did with the Timberwolves. That should’ve been a warning to Dolan but this is why they’re the B team in NY.
Tibadumb being Tibadumb. 3rd time in his career he has went to a team won instantly and then the wheels fall off. “Coach on the year” more like Joke of the Year. Love the fact New Yorkers thought they had a Championship Team going into this year. They are now tearing down the statues they built for the team last year.
Who thought this was a championship team with the combo of getting handled in the first round last year + Fournier being the “prize” FA upgrade over Bullock?
Folks always come with these false narratives and then pound their chest like they said something profound.
Things looked better before the cap was used up on good rather than great. (Not that great was available.). Good has not clicked, like I thought, but that’s just a kind of sophomore slump. If that theory is the case, then the model says a bounceback year is next.
Not playing Reddish does not make Thibs a bad coach. It was just an impulsive value buy by the FO.
I have already objected to a poster here saying that last year not this year is the Randle outlier. Now it’s a “WC exec”. These people are using simple stats and not accounting for game impact.
That being said, IDK the Randl-y problem. These days covid is available to blame!
Fournier, Noel, knicks 2022 1st, charlotte 2022 2nd, Knicks 2023 2nd, and okc/washington/dallas/heat 2023 2nd
For CJ
Portland could also ask for McBride to give them a young guard that can defend, but I think the picks kind of offset that, and they get shooting on the wing they need to replace, plus a backup rim protecting big that can defend pick and roll, which they’ve needed. They also kind of split the money they would owe, although there are the extra years, but they also get the picks
If CJ is the best they can do don’t even bother. I’d take my chances and develop McBride more.
I agree, not worth the effort. I’d rather see McBride, Grimes, Reddish get the playing time and see what we’ve got. Being mediocre is a never ending cycle.
Why wouldnt those guys still get minutes? The deal is fournier and his 4 year deal, and Noel for the 2-3 years of CJ. That’s worth, in my opinion. Knicks don’t necessarily need more young guys this coming draft, with the young guys they already have, and you can easily sign an undrafted guy, so the picks dont hirt them too much, unless you would use them in some other type of deal for someone else
Mcbride, Grimes & Reddish IS the mediocre option vs CJM. No proof says otherwise but blind faith in rookie choices. You give rookies chances, not auto-rewards.
If they move Noel, Fournier and Burks off the books in this deal, along with draft picks to make it worth it for Portland, then I say do it.
McC can play point (he’s not great, but not terrible either) and while not worth the $30m+ he’s getting, is better aggregately than the group that could potentially get traded.
The Knicks problems go back to the drafts of Ntilikina and Knox when they drafted the wrong players
What about Toppin? They needed a PG and drafted a PF which they have already. Then they traded down last year and trade the 1st round pick they got from Charlotte for Reddish who doesn’t play.
Haliburton. Why couldn’t they just take him. I thought they’d grab him – was 100% sure they would, only to be disappointed yet again.
I disagreement there, but I think it goes even further back.
Why would you create that expectation? Toppin was rated higher, and Haliburton was not even the highest-rated PG left. NY needed a 4 too with Morris traded away.
Such a typical Knicks type of move to go for CJ McCollum. I hope they overpay for him and send Portland Obi Toppin and multiple 1st round picks haha
Blazers just want/need size and expiring
Knicks need to try to trade for Anfernee Simon We need a player that’s motivated with high energy. Thib is a good coach but he don’t fit what the next trying to do. We have a bunch of potential young stars that they not trying to play. Thib want to win now that’s why he thinks the vets is his best chance. He don’t have time to rebuild. He’s good for a team that’s ready to win. They don’t play hard for him. We need Mark Jackson someone who knows how to relate to the young players. We really need to get rid of the vets except D Rose and start with the young players. Thib could have Micheal Jordan on the bench and won’t even know it cause he don’t believe in playing rookies. Too stubborn
It’s clear Randle has to go. At this point a trade for Lenny Randle would be fine. Numbers aside he is just sucking all the air out of the room, Thibs and co.and the media created a Randlestein.
Why do you have “Knick” on your title. You clearly don’t know anything about them. It’s amazing to me how in this Cyber age. Posters here don’t even bother to look SHrr up.
Toppin was drafted. Cause he was valued higher. And Knicks wanted to move Randle. Randle was on the block. Until Thibs came in. Then Toppin was drafted and Thibs Lit a fire under Randle. And he finally played to his talent. Talent alone is not enough in NBA. To make you a player. You have to want it every game.
Yeah so unfortunately it seems Randle is back to two yrs ago. He’s trying too hard to show people up. He should be using his teammates. Not his ego.
You want people to take you serious. At least get it right. Info is at a fingers touch.
There are plenty of rumors now about Knicks. So let’s face it. There should be, the way they are playing. I like CJ. But his age is not with this rebuild. I can only see them moving Randle for him. Then it would make sense. You can add Burkes and a pick. Just to move Randle. Fournier is best as sixth man. He will still get good mins.
I rather use Randle to land Fox. This rumor has been out there for awhile now. I’m good with Fox coming here. It’s time to get a real PG.
I said Fox back in November for this team and majority of they posters here were laughing at my possible trade scenario. Fox instantly gives them a credible PG who is still on the good side of his prime. Does he have flaws? Yeah, of course he does. But you’re not going to have the perfect player come in a trade. It’s a point guard driven league for the last 10-15 years. If you don’t have an all star caliber PG, you better have a top 5-10 player on your team. Knicks have neither on their roster. Maybe go get Brogdan cheap while he is hurt? That’s the only PG that I can think of who would be available for the Knicks and it would solve their problem in the short run.
Knicks what we do is jump on another team’s bandwagon to get their star players. We need to build our own star players by sticking to the youth. We have young guys in the D league we have nice stash player over seas. I really think our young players can do damage. We got to learn how to develope players. Instead we give up on then and then try to get them back after they become good somewhere else. This is the conversation we need to have. Knicks fo think too hard when we just need to keep it simple. Play the youth. Everytime we get a big name to come to NYC they not the same anymore. Trust the process. Get a young coach that understand the young players and understand the game changed ever since centers can play the point and shoot three pointers. This is not the old Knicks from the 90s. Thib need to adjust or resign
You’re commoditizing personnel by age, not bothering with talent. Not all young players are equal, and the coddled one will likely lose to the tough ones if talent be equal.
Nobody said these are the Nix of the nineties so there’s no credit for making a point at the end. Nor is “centers can play the point” a point. Anyone can play the point, but is it optimal?
Neither Kemba nor Fournier are as good as CJM and did not get a big money allocation as a result. The Nix have good players but did not even go for better. They can with a loose talent like CJM, whose GM is apparently giving talent away.