Knicks Rumors

Injury Notes: Lillard, B. Brown, Poeltl, Stewart, M. Robinson

December 28th, 2024 at 1:04pm CST by Luke Adams

Damian Lillard, who has missed the Bucks‘ past four games due to a calf issue and an illness, will return to action on Saturday against Chicago, reports NBA insider Chris Haynes (via Twitter).

Speaking to reporters after today’s shootaround, Lillard explained that the calf injury, which caused him to miss games last Friday and Saturday, was a “mild” strain and that the illness which sidelined him on Monday and Thursday hit him much harder, as Eric Nehm of The Athletic relays (via Twitter).

“I’ve never been that sick before in my entire life,” Lillard said. “I wasn’t throwing up, nothing. I just didn’t eat for two days. I didn’t eat at all. I didn’t get up, nothing. I was down. It was bad. Couple days ago, I tried to work out – the night before (Thursday’s) Brooklyn game, because I wanted to play against Brooklyn – but I mean, the whole time I was working out, it just kept making me cough, coughing up s–t. I got through the workout, but I couldn’t breathe good.

“… I lost a couple pounds. I mean, if you don’t eat for two days. And I was just trying to at least stay hydrated. … (But) I didn’t have no food in me, it was just all liquid, so obviously I dropped some weight.”

Here are a few more health updates from around the NBA:

Raptors swingman Bruce Brown, who has been sidelined for the entire season while recovering from a knee procedure, is listed as questionable to make his season debut on Sunday vs. Atlanta, tweets Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca. Starting center Jakob Poeltl, out since December 16 due to a bilateral groin strain, is among several other Toronto players who are questionable to play on Sunday, Lewenberg notes.
Pistons center Isaiah Stewart is probable to suit up on Saturday vs. Denver after missing the team’s past four games due to a hyperextended left knee, tweets Hunter Patterson of The Athletic. Before getting injured in his 27th game of the season on Dec. 16, Stewart had appeared in each of Detroit’s first 26 contests, averaging 22.0 minutes per night.
Although Mitchell Robinson still hasn’t been cleared for practice or even started sprinting at full speed, Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau is encouraged by the center’s rehab progress as he makes his way back from offseason ankle surgery, writes Stefan Bondy of The New York Post. “There’s still some benchmarks that he has to get through, but he’s done a terrific job,” Thibodeau said on Friday in Orlando. “He’s light, he’s lean, he’s worked extremely hard. So we just want to make sure we’re patient and let him work his way through it.” According to Thibodeau, the next phase for Robinson is full-speed running — after that, he’ll be cleared for practice and contact. However, the exact timeline for those steps is still unclear.

Knicks Notes: Towns, Brunson, Shamet, Sims

December 25th, 2024 at 1:02pm CST by Arthur Hill

Karl-Anthony Towns has played on Christmas Day before, but this year’s game is special because it’s at Madison Square Garden, writes Zach Braziller of The New York Post. Towns, who grew up in the New York area, was always far from home in his previous Christmas contests, but an offseason trade to the Knicks has him playing in front of family members and friends.

“It’s my first one home,” he said. “I never got to do that. So this is going to be fun, to be able to do it in front of your family. It’s crazy for me growing up in this area and to be watching the Knicks always play on Christmas Day, watching [Carmelo Anthony] go crazy on Christmas Day. And now to be in a position where I get to have my name in the history of Knicks players to play on Christmas, it’s a huge honor.”

Braziller notes that Christmas Day games have been a tradition for the Knicks dating back to 1947, and today’s contest marks their 12th one in the past 15 years. Although some NBA players would prefer to be off for the holiday, Towns considers it an honor to be included.

“I like playing basketball. It’s a great Christmas present for me,” he said. “I get to go out there and lace the shoes up and play. So I’m excited.”

There’s more from New York:

Offseason trades for Towns and Mikal Bridges have made the Knicks less reliant on Jalen Brunson to carry the offense, Braziller adds in a separate story. The latest example came Monday when they comfortably beat Toronto despite an off night from Brunson, who was limited to 12 points while shooting 4-of-13 from the field and 0-of-5 from beyond the arc. Brunson is taking 4.4 fewer shots per game than he did last season, but his shooting percentages and assist rate have improved. “I think it’s going to open it up for him even more,” Bridges said. “When you have to respect everybody, you can’t help as much. You don’t help, it’s going to be tough to guard him. Just trying to keep teams honest, so they have to play straight up, and that’s when JB will be in kill mode.”
Landry Shamet only played one minute in his first game back with the Knicks, but Ian Begley of SNY states in a mailbag column that he’s likely to get a chance to earn a spot in the rotation. Begley points out that the team has one of the lowest-scoring bench units in the league and suggests that Shamet may be able to ease the burden on the starting guards and wings.
The Knicks were asking for at least two second-round picks in return for backup center Jericho Sims when teams inquired about him during the offseason, Begley adds. Sims may be expendable once Mitchell Robinson returns from offseason ankle surgery.

Community Shootaround: Christmas Day Games

December 25th, 2024 at 11:04am CST by Luke Adams

Merry Christmas from the Hoops Rumors staff!

As usual, the NBA has a five-game slate on tap for Christmas Day, with many of the league’s top teams and biggest stars in action on December 25. Here’s today’s schedule:

11:00 am CT: San Antonio Spurs (15-14) at New York Knicks (19-10)
1:30 pm CT: Minnesota Timberwolves (14-14) at Dallas Mavericks (19-10)
4:00 pm CT: Philadelphia 76ers (10-17) at Boston Celtics (22-7)
7:00 pm CT: Los Angeles Lakers (16-13) at Golden State Warriors (15-13)
9:30 pm CT: Denver Nuggets (16-11) at Phoenix Suns (14-14)

While the goal on Christmas Day is generally to showcase some of the day’s biggest stars and best teams, this year’s schedule is a little lacking in the latter.

Despite featuring seven teams from the Western Conference, today’s slate of games doesn’t include any of the West’s top three seeds, the Thunder, Rockets, and Grizzlies. While Houston and Memphis weren’t necessarily expected to be this good, Oklahoma City’s absence is conspicuous, given that the Thunder were the No. 1 seed in the West last season.

Over in the East, we’ve got the No. 2 and 3 seeds in action today, but the NBA’s best team, the 26-4 Cavaliers, won’t be part of the Christmas Day slate. Instead, the third Eastern club is the 12th-seeded Sixers, who have been plagued by injuries but at least will have their big three available on Wednesday — Tyrese Maxey and Paul George aren’t on the injury report, and Joel Embiid is listed as available.

Despite the absence of so many top teams, each matchup still has something going for it, with plenty of star power on display.

The afternoon will feature rising phenom Victor Wembanyama visiting Madison Square Garden and the streaking Knicks, who have won four games in a row; a rematch of last year’s Western Conference Finals between the Timberwolves and Mavericks, who should have star guards Kyrie Irving (available) and Luka Doncic (probable) active today; and those aforementioned three Sixers stars going up against the defending champions in Boston.

The first evening contest between the Lakers and Warriors pits the No. 7 seed in the West against No. 8, but it also could be one of the last few times that NBA legends LeBron James and Stephen Curry face one another. James is considered questionable due to left foot injury management, but I’d be shocked if he didn’t play. A couple more would-be Western contenders who have had up-and-down starts will wrap up the day when the Nuggets visit Phoenix in a game that will feature a pair of former MVPs in Nikola Jokic and Kevin Durant.

We want to know what you think. Are there any teams you wish were or weren’t part of today’s schedule? Which of these five games are you most looking forward to? Which five teams are you picking to win this year’s Christmas Day matchups?

Head to the comment section below to weigh in, and feel free to use it as an open thread to discuss today’s games.

Knicks Re-Sign Matt Ryan To Two-Way Contract

December 24th, 2024 at 7:19pm CST by Luke Adams

7:19pm: The Knicks have officially signed Ryan and waived Buie, according to the team’s PR department (Twitter links).

3:17pm: The Knicks intend to re-sign Matt Ryan to a two-way contract after he clears waivers, sources tell Fred Katz and James L. Edwards III of The Athletic (Twitter link). Ryan was cut from the standard roster on Sunday, so he’ll officially become a free agent at 5:00 pm ET today.

New York will waive two-way player Boo Buie in order to create a spot for Ryan, according to Katz and Edwards.

Ryan, 27, signed a non-guaranteed minimum-salary contract with the Knicks in November when they needed to add two players to their roster to get to the required minimum of 14. Ariel Hukporti, who had been on a two-way deal, was promoted to the standard roster at the same time Ryan was signed to get New York back to 14 players.

Known as a sharpshooter, Ryan has played for the Celtics, Lakers, Timberwolves, and Pelicans since making his NBA debut in April 2022, but has struggled to earn regular playing time. That was the case again this fall with the Knicks, as he appeared in just nine games, scoring 15 total points in 45 minutes. While the sample size was small, he was unable to get his three-point shot going in those outings, making just 3-of-14 (21.4%).

Still, Ryan – who is in his fourth NBA season – is the type of plug-and-play veteran capable of contributing in a pinch, so after cutting him to make room on the standard roster for Landry Shamet, the Knicks will bring him back at the expense of a developmental rookie in Buie.

An undrafted first-year pro out of Northwestern, Buie has yet to make his regular season NBA debut, having only played for the Westchester Knicks in the G League so far this season.

Assuming Ryan returns to the Knicks ahead of Wednesday’s Christmas Day game, he’ll be eligible to appear in up to a maximum of 32 more NBA games this season (a prorated portion of the usual 50-game limit).

Eastern Notes: Shamet, Nets, Lillard, Middleton, White

December 24th, 2024 at 5:46pm CST by Luke Adams

Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau is happy to have Landry Shamet back on his roster after the veteran wing recovered from the dislocated shoulder he suffered during preseason with the team. Praising Shamet for his leadership and ability to play multiple positions, Thibodeau said the 27-year-old had a “great” training camp and was deserving of a roster spot once he was healthy.

“He’s been around, he’s played in big games,” Thibodeau said (Twitter video link). “He knows how to play off people extremely well. The three-point shooting, he can handle the ball (or) play off the ball.”

After officially re-signing with the Knicks on Monday, Shamet was active for the club’s game vs. Toronto and made a brief appearance in the fourth quarter with 84 seconds left and New York holding a 16-point lead. He made a 13-footer on his first possession for the Knicks’ final points of the night.

“I was so amped up today, man, I’ve been chomping at the bit for a while,” Shamet said after the win, according to Peter Botte of The New York Post. “It just felt good to be back in the building, suit it up, be with the guys, lock in on a game plan, and be a teammate. I’m just grateful that I felt good to get in the game there at the end and kind of just see the first one go in.”

Here’s more from around the Eastern Conference:

Injured Nets guards Cam Thomas and Ziaire Williams are nearing their respective returns, per Brian Lewis of The New York Post, who says both players participated in 5-on-5 action on Monday. “It seems like they’re getting close,” head coach Jordi Fernandez said. Thomas (left hamstring strain) has been out since November 25, while Williams (left knee sprain) hasn’t played since Dec. 1.
Bucks guard Damian Lillard missed Monday’s game due to an illness, but the calf issue that sidelined him on Saturday has improved, tweets Eric Nehm of The Athletic. “He’s doing much better,” head coach Doc Rivers said. “I expect him to possibly be ready (for Thursday’s game vs. Brooklyn), but then he gets sick.” Rivers, who jokingly referred to the illness affecting Lillard, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and other Bucks as the “Vegas flu,” clarified on Monday that the bug began circulating before the NBA Cup semifinals. “About a week before Vegas, (this illness) has gone down the chain of guys getting sick, but it happens,” Rivers said.
With Lillard and Antetokounmpo unavailable vs. Chicago on Monday, Bucks forward Khris Middleton looked like his old All-Star self for a second straight game, scoring a team-high 21 points on 9-of-15 shooting in just 23 minutes to lead the club to a comfortable 21-point victory. Jim Owczarski of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has the story.
Coby White‘s .414 FG% and .358 3PT% are his lowest marks since his rookie year, and he has been especially struggling as of late, shooting 27.8% on three-pointers since Nov. 27. But the Bulls guard isn’t using ankle and groin injuries as an excuse, tweets K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Sports Network, and his teammates aren’t worried about him, according to Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times. “There’s ups and downs throughout an NBA season,” Zach LaVine said on Monday. “We’ll all be OK.”

Knicks Notes: Cap Situation, Starting Five, Hart, Anunoby

December 23rd, 2024 at 4:40pm CST by Luke Adams

After waiving Matt Ryan and signing Landry Shamet, the Knicks are operating approximately $535K below their hard cap for the 2024/25 season.

Ryan will count toward the cap for $621,439 in dead money, while Shamet’s new cap hit is $1,343,690, though he’ll technically earn $1,682,008 if he remains under contract beyond January 7 on his minimum-salary deal (or if it’s already fully guaranteed, which has not been confirmed).

Due to that small gap between their team salary and the second tax apron, New York will be unable to fill their 15th roster spot until later in the season, once the prorated veteran’s minimum dips low enough to fit below the hard cap.

Their cap situation could change if they continue to swap players in and out of that 14th spot, if they sign anyone to a 10-day contract, or if they make an in-season trade. But based on their current team salary, the Knicks would be able to add a veteran as a 15th man as of March 1, when the cap hit for a prorated minimum deal would be $527,878.

Here’s more on the Knicks:

Good injury luck – along with an aversion to load management – has allowed the Knicks to establish cohesion with their new-look starting lineup, writes Stefan Bondy of The New York Post. The team’s five starters have missed a total of just three games (two for Karl-Anthony Towns and one for Josh Hart) and the group has played a league-leading 459 minutes together, posting a +7.0 net rating. Only two other five-man lineups around the NBA have logged more than 250 minutes so far this season.
While the Knicks were in New Orleans over the weekend for a game against the Pelicans, Hart credited his former head coach Willie Green for “changing the trajectory” of his career. Hart was a Pelican when Green took over as the team’s coach in 2021. “He was my third coach in three years,” Hart said, according to Bondy. “Coming off Stan (Van Gundy), where I probably had one of the worst years of my career. And Willie just kind of believed in me. I didn’t want to come back (to New Orleans), but I talked to him and we got on the same page at the beginning of that year. … He trusted in me as a player, but more so as a person. And that really gained my confidence. … He changed things for me.”
The Knicks raised eyebrows over the offseason when they re-signed OG Anunoby to a five-year deal worth $212.5MM, the most total guaranteed money any team committed to a free agent in 2024. But Anunoby is rewarding the team’s belief in him so far — he hasn’t missed a game this season, has increased his scoring averaged to 16.6 points per game, and – as Steve Popper of Newsday writes – has continued to play his usual form of lock-down defense. “I know OG puts a lot of guys in jail,” Hart said on Saturday. “He’s someone we’re good with putting him on the island with whoever, big or small, and he’s going to change shots. I don’t understand how he does half of it. … He’s a monster to a defense all by himself and he should be a first-team or second-team All-Defense for sure. We’re comfortable with that matchup against him and anybody.”

T.J. Warren, Jahlil Okafor Headline NBAGL All-Showcase Team

December 23rd, 2024 at 1:24pm CST by Luke Adams

The NBA G League has announced (via Twitter) a five-man All-Showcase Team following its 2024 Winter Showcase in Orlando, which wrapped up in Sunday. The standout players recognized by the NBAGL are as follows:

Josh Christopher (Sioux Falls Skyforce)
Leonard Miller (Iowa Wolves)
Jahlil Okafor (Indiana Mad Ants)
T.J. Warren (Westchester Knicks)
Jahmir Young (Grand Rapids Gold)

The event, which was the culmination of the G League’s fall Tip-Off Tournament, included an eight-team, single-elimination bracket made up of the top finishers in the Tip-Off Tournament. Those eight clubs were vying for the Showcase Cup, with the league’s other 22 teams each playing a pair of non-tournaments from Thursday to Sunday.

Warren’s Knicks defeated Christopher’s Skyforce in the Showcase Cup final, with Warren averaging 22.7 points per game on 54.8% shooting in Westchester’s three victories. The veteran forward had 24 points and four assists in Sunday’s championship game.

Four of the five players named to the All-Showcase Team were in the Showcase Cup bracket. The only exception was Okafor, who averaged 22.0 points, 9.0 rebounds, and 4.0 assists per game on 66.7% shooting in a pair of non-tournament victories for the Pacers‘ affiliate.

While Miller is on a standard NBA contract with the Timberwolves and Christopher is on a two-way deal with the Heat, Warren, Okafor, and Young aren’t currently controlled by NBA teams and could be freely signed by one at any time. Their performances over the weekend in front of scouts and executives should help strengthen their cases for NBA promotions, especially once the 10-day contract window opens in January.

Warren and Okafor are NBA veterans who each have several years of experience in the league, whereas Young is an undrafted rookie who was in camp with the Nuggets in the fall. The former Maryland standout had 22 points, nine assists, and seven rebounds in Grand Rapids’ win over the OKC Blue on Thursday, then put up 28 points, seven assists, six rebounds, and three steals in a losing effort to Westchester on Saturday.

Knicks Add Landry Shamet, Waive Matt Ryan

December 23rd, 2024 at 8:37am CST by Dana Gauruder

DECEMBER 23: The Knicks have announced the signing of Shamet (Twitter link). Both roster moves are now official.

DECEMBER 22: The Knicks have agreed to a standard contract with guard Landry Shamet, ESPN’s Shams Charania reports. It’s a one-year deal, James Edwards III of The Athletic tweets.

To make room for Shamet and remain under the second-apron hard cap, the Knicks have waived forward Matt Ryan, the team’s PR department tweets.

It’s not surprising New York brought back Shamet. who dislocated his shoulder during the preseason while participating in Knicks training camp. He remained with the Westchester Knicks in the G League while rehabbing his injury and the NBA club was simply waiting for him to get back to full strength. Coach Tom Thibodeau commented on Shamet’s status a week ago.

“It’s good to see him out there healthy again,” Thibodeau said then. “(But) there’s a number of things that have to happen before he can play with us.”

Shamet was likely to make the opening night roster prior to the injury. He had signed a non-guaranteed, minimum-salary contract during the offseason.

He was waived before opening night. Shamet appeared in 46 games with Washington last season and averaged 7.1 points in 15.8 minutes per contest. He has also played for Philadelphia, the Los Angeles Clippers, Brooklyn and Phoenix in 348 total regular season outings.

Ryan was inked to a non-guaranteed contract in early November and appeared in nine Knicks games, but logged very few minutes in those outings.

Assuming he goes unclaimed on waivers, Ryan will count for $621,439 in dead money on New York’s books. The cap hit for Shamet’s contract will depend on when he officially signs — if it’s officially finalized on Monday, the deal will carry a cap charge of $1,343,690 for the Knicks.

New York Notes: Clowney, Simmons, Bridges, Towns, Knicks

December 21st, 2024 at 10:01am CST by Earnest Marshall

Nets center Nic Claxton was ejected from Thursday’s game against Toronto, allowing second-year forward Noah Clowney to close out the game and shine, The New York Post’s Brian Lewis writes. The 21st overall pick in 2023 recorded season highs of 37 minutes played and nine rebounds to go along with 11 points.

“His growth defensively, his physicality — obviously its multiple areas — he’s been one of our best players at going vertical, taking a charge,” coach Jordi Fernandez said. “His physicality on the ball guarding a really good player like Scottie Barnes, that growth was important. That’s why I was comfortable with him playing all those minutes. … I’m very happy for him because he showed growth. That’s what it’s all about.”

Clowney is averaging 7.6 points and 3.4 rebounds per game this year and looks to be among the team’s young pillars moving forward. If forwards like Dorian Finney-Smith or Cameron Johnson are traded by February 6, Clowney may continue to see his minutes rise as the year goes on.

We have more out of New York:

The Nets‘ identity changed after Dennis Schröder was moved to the Warriors, forcing Ben Simmons and Claxton to start together, which is inhibiting spacing, Lewis writes in another story. The duo struggled together in their first post-Schröder outing, but Simmons had a solid night in the win against Toronto. “Yeah, I mean, there’s more opportunity for me now, just being at that point guard position. So just finding my ways,” Simmons said. “I’m gonna go talk to coach about some different looks and things like that that I see out there.“
Mikal Bridges started his Knicks career in a shooting slump, but he’s starting to flip the script, the New York Post’s Stefan Bondy writes. In his last eight games, Bridges is shooting 43.1% from beyond the arc on 7.3 attempts per game. “Once he started making shots, nobody said nothing [about his revamped shooting form]. Nobody is talking about how it looks now,” teammate Cameron Payne said. “So he just be locked in, man. He’s pretty good with stuff like that man. I actually applaud him for it. Because you could easily get distracted with that or get messed up in the head with it.”
Karl-Anthony Towns is playing at an MVP-level pace, Mike Vaccaro of the New York Post asserts. The Knicks center was No. 6 on NBA.com’s most recent MVP ladder. Towns’ 32 points and 20 rebounds against the Timberwolves put an exclamation point on a strong start to the season, Vaccaro writes.
Five of the next seven Knicks‘ games come against teams in the bottom four of the league standings, Bondy observes. The Knicks have won seven of their last nine games and are third in the Eastern Conference at 17-10.

New York Notes: Towns, Achiuwa, Claxton, Fernandez

December 20th, 2024 at 8:04am CST by Arthur Hill

Karl-Anthony Towns was outstanding in his return to Minnesota Thursday night, and the Knicks look like the clear winners of the trade that shook up the NBA just before the start of training camp, writes Stefan Bondy of The New York Post.

Towns, one of the top players in Timberwolves history, was sent to New York in a three-team deal to get the Wolves out from under his pricey contract. He didn’t have anything negative to say about the franchise as he played in Minnesota for the first time since the trade, but his play spoke loudly as he racked up 32 points, 20 rebounds and six assists while shooting 10-of-12 from the field.

“I was here nine years. That’s a long time. I called this place home,” Towns said. “To be back here, to be able to sleep in my house one more time, it was really a nostalgic feeling.”

While Towns is making a strong case to be an All-Star starter, the trade hasn’t worked out nearly as well for the Wolves, Bondy adds. Julius Randle came out hot on Thursday with 15 points and three assists in the first quarter while directing numerous comments at the Knicks’ bench. However, he was mostly ineffective after OG Anunoby began guarding him and left without speaking to reporters. Donte DiVincenzo had 15 points in 25 minutes, but much of that came during garbage time as New York held a huge lead for most of the night.

“The game wasn’t just another game,” Towns said. “If anyone tells you otherwise that’s a lie.”

There’s more on the two New York teams:

Josh Hart missed the game for personal reasons, marking the first time all season that the Knicks have been without one of their starting wings, according to Bondy. Precious Achiuwa made his first start of the season and delivered 13 points and 10 rebounds in 28 minutes. Jericho Sims returned to the rotation and had six points in 18 minutes.
Nets center Nic Claxton admits he needs to stay in control after being ejected Thursday for the third time this season, per Brian Lewis of The New York Post. Claxton got tossed when he threw the ball into the stands after being intentionally fouled by Kelly Olynyk on a drive to the basket. He appeared to be frustrated over a non-call on the previous possession. “I just had a mental lapse, and I just launched the ball in the crowd,” Claxton told reporters after the game. “And I can’t let my emotions get to that point. I got to be there for my team.”
The Nets rallied for a win at Toronto that boosts their playoff chances but likely hurts their position in the lottery, Lewis adds. Coach Jordi Fernandez was happy that his players kept battling, as he wants their focus to be on remaining competitive rather than next year’s draft. “There was adversity, for many different reasons, but nobody dropped their shoulders, and they kept playing,” Fernandez said. “Winning a game like this, it’s important for us.”

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