Knicks Rumors

Knicks Notes: Randle, DiVincenzo, Finch, Towns

The Knicks and the Timberwolves are set to play each other on Thursday night for the first time since making a blockbuster deal that sent long-time Wolves star Karl-Anthony Towns to New York. Former Knick Julius Randle was a part of that deal after spending five seasons with New York — it was the best stretch of his career, as he averaged 22.6 points per game and made three All-Star teams.

Despite Randle’s impressive stint in New York, he told reporters that he sees Thursday’s matchup as just “another game,” according to Peter Botte of the New York Post, and didn’t offer many further remarks when asked about facing his old team.

Whenever you get traded, no matter what it is, it’s always tough, it’s always emotional,” former teammate Josh Hart said. “You always have that sense of not being wanted. That’s on both sides. I think [Donte DiVincenzo] and [Randle] probably felt that way. And KAT probably felt that way, and every time a trade happens, you feel, even if you’re the big piece of the trade and another team wants you, you still feel a little chip on your shoulder and you still feel unwanted.

The Knicks know the challenge they’re facing off against with Randle, who is averaging 20.1 points this season.

Jules is a great player. He can do it all,OG Anunoby said, per Botte. “Pass, shoot, drive. Great player.

We have more from the Knicks:

  • DiVincenzo still keeps in touch with his former Knicks teammates and knows what they’re going through, Botte writes in another story. DiVincenzo is averaging 8.3 PPG while shooting 31.9% from deep and was open about the difficulties of adjusting to a new team. “It’s not normal to make a trade the day before media day. Both sides, it takes time to adjust,” DiVincenzo said. “Great things take time. On our side, I believe that, but also on their side. I think KAT’s playing really well, but it’s going to take time to mesh, for other guys to adjust to what he does.
  • Adding another layer to an already interesting relationship between the two teams, Stefan Bondy of the New York Post reports (subscriber link) that Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch almost took a job under Tom Thibodeau in 2020 before winding up with Nick Nurse in Toronto. “Thibs had his staff already full. And so he just wanted me to come in as a consultant/backroom guy,” Finch said. “But I wanted more to coach. I wanted to be out there.
  • The Knicks have gotten everything they hoped for from Towns when they traded for him, Fred Katz of The Athletic writes. Towns is averaging a career and league-high 13.9 rebounds per game while also contributing 24.8 points per contest, his most since the 2020/21 season. His shooting line is a scorching .526/.439/.845.

And-Ones: Hall Of Fame, Brown, Maledon, Lessort, G League

The Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame officially announced its list of eligible candidates for the Class of 2025, including several-first-time nominees (Twitter link). Ten-time All-Star Carmelo Anthony and eight-time All-NBA team member Dwight Howard are among the notable names.

WNBA greats Sue Bird, Sylvia Fowles, Chamique Holdsclaw and Maya Moore are first-time nominees, as are legendary coaches Lisa Bluder, Billy Donovan, Mark Few and Doc Rivers. NBA stars Marc Gasol and Amar’e Stoudemire round out the list of new candidates, while Heat owner Micky Arison is nominated as a contributor. According to a report from The Associated Press, the 2008 U.S. Olympic men’s basketball team was among the repeat nominees.

Along with announcing the list, the Hall has adjusted its waiting period for candidates from three seasons out of the game to two.

To better recognize the distinguished careers of potential first-ballot nominees in a more timely manner, the board has appropriately shortened the waiting period,” Hall of Fame chairman Jerry Colangelo said. “We are excited about this change and believe that honoring individuals while their contributions are still fresh in people’s minds is both meaningful and impactful.

This is the first step in the process of enshrinement. Finalists are selected on Feb. 14 in San Francisco during NBA All-Star weekend and the full class will be revealed on April 5 in San Antonio at the NCAA Tournament. There are a total of 189 candidates in various categories, according to the Hall.

We have more from around the basketball world:

  • ESPN announced that 91-year-old Hubie Brown will call the final game of his broadcasting career on Feb. 9. That game, between the Bucks and the Sixers, will be jointly called by Brown and Mike Breen. Brown, a two-time NBA Coach of the Year, worked for the Knicks, Grizzlies and Hawks.
  • Former NBA guard Theo Maledon is reportedly being targeted by Real Madrid, according to a report from Sportando. Maledon is currently playing with French club ASVEL and is fourth in the EuroLeague in points per game (18.8). According to the report, Real Madrid offered a buyout to current guard Xavier Rathan-Mayes with an eye toward giving Maledon a multi-year deal. Maldeon most recently played with the Suns in 2023/24 and also had stints with the Thunder and Hornets after being selected with the 34th overall pick in 2020.
  • Mathias Lessort, whose draft rights are held by the Knicks, suffered a fibula fracture and will be out for the next four months, according to a report from Eurohoops.net. Lessort has been an impressive defensive force for Greek club Panathinaikos. There’s been some speculation that Lessort, the 50th overall pick in 2017, could make the move stateside at some point — he’s in the final year of his current contract.
  • The G League Union elected a new executive committee as the league is in the negotiation process of creating its first-ever CBA for players, ESPN’s Tim Bontemps tweets. Robert Baker of the Osceola Magic will serve as president, Yauhen Massalski of the San Diego Clippers will be secretary-treasurer, and College Park’s David Singleton and Salt Lake City’s Josh Pierre-Louis were elected as vice presidents, according to Bontemps (Twitter link).

Fischer: Valanicunas Among Several Centers On Trade Block

Jonas Valanciunas of the Wizards may be the most “attainable” and desirable trade candidate among centers this season, but he’s certainly not the only big man who could be on the move prior to the February 6 deadline, league sources tell Jake Fischer (Substack link via The Stein Line).

According to Fischer, several teams are looking for help in the middle, including the Lakers, Clippers, Bucks and Pelicans. The Clips and Bucks are interested in reserve centers to complement their starters (Ivica Zubac and Brook Lopez, respectively), with Lopez also drawing trade interest since last summer.

The Warriors are another team contemplating a trade involving big men, with Kevon Looney garnering “plenty of interest” from rival clubs, Fischer writes. Like Lopez, who earns $23MM in 2024/25, Looney is on an expiring contract ($8MM).

Confirming a recent report from Stefan Bondy, Fischer says Knicks center Jericho Sims is viewed as a potential trade candidate due to his inconsistent playing time as a backup this season. Fischer also notes that New York gauged injured center Mitchell Robinson‘s trade value around this time last year.

Despite his lengthy injury history, Trail Blazers center Robert Williams may be the “most coveted” big man on the market outside of Valanciunas, but it’s no lock that Portland will end up moving him, according to Fischer’s sources. If the Blazers do trade a member of their frontcourt, expect it to come closer to the deadline, Fischer adds.

Here’s more from Fischer:

  • Like Clint Capela, whom we highlighted in another story, Nikola Vucevic is a starting center who could be on the move, but it’s unclear if the Bulls will be successful in their attempts to trade the two-time All-Star, in part due to his contract ($20MM in ’24/25, $21.5MM in ’25/26).
  • Valanicunas, Williams and Walker Kessler are among the big men on the Lakers‘ trade wish list, sources tell Fischer. However, the Jazz have declined multiple offers for Kessler, so it’s difficult to decipher if Utah is actually willing to trade him or is simply gauging what he might bring in return.
  • Chris Boucher (Raptors), Day’Ron Sharpe (Nets), Trey Lyles (Kings), Daniel Theis (Pelicans) and Nick Richards (Hornets) are also “known to be on the market,” according to Fischer.

Warriors Remain Atop 2024 NBA Franchise Valuations

The Warriors remain the NBA’s most valuable team, according to Kurt Badenhausen of Sportico, who unveiled the website’s updated NBA franchise valuations for 2024 on Wednesday.

Badenhausen projects the Warriors’ value at $9.14 billion, making them one of three teams to surpass the $8 billion mark this year. The Knicks have a projected worth of $8.3 billion, while the Lakers come in at $8.07 billion, per Sportico. Only the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys – at $10.3 billion – have a higher valuation than Golden State among North American sports teams, says Badenhausen.

While Sportico’s figures suggest the Warriors, Knicks, and Lakers are worth significantly more than the fourth-place team (the Nets at $5.7 billion), the average value of an NBA franchise is up to $4.6 billion, with no team worth less than $3 billion.

That average has increased by 15% since Sportico released its 2023 valuations last December and has nearly doubled since the site published its first NBA franchise valuations four years ago, when the average was $2.37 billion.

The NBA’s new $77 billion media rights deal and a 15% increase in team sponsorship are among the factors contributing to the rising valuations of the league’s franchises, according to Badenhausen, who notes that a post-COVID boom in concerts and other major events has been good news for team owners who also control their arenas.

NBA team owners operated 10 of the world’s 20 highest-grossing concert venues in 2024, with the Nets’ Barclays Center coming in at No. 1, says Badenhausen. The Nets’ valuation is up 43% this year, per Sportico, easily the largest year-over-year increase among the 30 NBA franchises.

When Forbes put out its NBA franchise valuations in October, it pegged the average value of a team at $4.4 billion. In the past, we’ve used Forbes as our primary source for NBA franchise valuations, but with Badenhausen making the move from Forbes to Sportico in recent years and the outlet establishing itself as a go-to resource for sports business news, we begun highlighting Sportico’s projections as of 2023.

Of course, it’s worth noting that figures from Sportico, Forbes, or any other media outlet are just estimates and often don’t quite match up with the sale prices for franchises that change hands. But these projections are usually in the right ballpark and remain useful for getting a sense of the league’s most and least valuable teams.

Here’s Sportico’s full list of NBA franchise valuations for 2024:

  1. Golden State Warriors: $9.14 billion
  2. New York Knicks: $8.3 billion
  3. Los Angeles Lakers: $8.07 billion
  4. Brooklyn Nets: $5.7 billion
  5. Los Angeles Clippers: $5.68 billion
  6. Boston Celtics: $5.66 billion
  7. Chicago Bulls: $5.56 billion
  8. Miami Heat: $5 billion
  9. Houston Rockets: $4.77 billion
  10. Toronto Raptors: $4.66 billion
  11. Philadelphia 76ers: $4.57 billion
  12. Dallas Mavericks: $4.46 billion
  13. Phoenix Suns: $4.32 billion
  14. Sacramento Kings: $4.11 billion
  15. Atlanta Hawks: $4.07 billion
  16. Denver Nuggets: $4.06 billion
  17. Washington Wizards: $3.98 billion
  18. Cleveland Cavaliers: $3.95 billion
  19. Milwaukee Bucks: $3.91 billion
  20. San Antonio Spurs: $3.79 billion
  21. Indiana Pacers: $3.74 billion
  22. Utah Jazz: $3.67 billion
  23. Portland Trail Blazers: $3.6 billion
  24. Oklahoma City Thunder: $3.55 billion
  25. Orlando Magic: $3.46 billion
  26. Detroit Pistons: $3.45 billion
  27. Charlotte Hornets: $3.39 billion
  28. Minnesota Timberwolves: $3.29 billion
  29. New Orleans Pelicans: $3.09 billion
  30. Memphis Grizzlies: $3.06 billion

As Badenhausen notes, Sportico’s projections are based on a control sale price, rather than limited stake purchases. No NBA franchise saw its majority control change hands in 2024, but that could change in 2025, with control of the Celtics up for sale.

According to Badenhausen, team executives and investors have predicted a sale price ranging from $4.5 billion to $6.5 billion for the Celtics. The final valuation will be determined by a number of factors, including how many bidders are on the mix, what percentage of the team they can buy, and whether current governor Wyc Grousbeck insists on remaining in that role until 2028, which he has indicated is his goal.

The Bucks Players Who Benefited Most From NBA Cup Prize Money

The Bucks‘ team salary this season is approximately $193MM, which is over the second tax apron and far exceeds the $160.4MM on the Thunder‘s books.

However, only two players on Oklahoma City’s roster are on minimum-salary contracts and just three of 15 Thunder players on standard deals are earning less than $3MM this season. By comparison, Milwaukee has eight players with salaries below $3MM, plus a ninth earning just a hair above $3MM. Seven of those nine players are earning their respective minimums.

While the $514,970 bonus for winning the NBA Cup may be a drop in the bucket for maximum-salary Bucks stars Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard, it represents a significant pay raise for the players on the lower two-thirds of Milwaukee’s cap sheet, as well as the players on two-way contracts who will receive bonuses worth $257,485 apiece.

[RELATED: Details On NBA Cup Prize Money For 2024]

The NBA Cup prize money results in at least a 17% raise for each of the following Bucks players, whose 2024/25 salaries are noted in parentheses:

Players receiving a $514,970 bonus:

Players receiving a $257,485 bonus:

The bonuses for Smith and the Bucks’ two-way players represent a raise of roughly 44.5% on their respective base salaries.

None of this prize money will count against the salary cap, so the Bucks’ team salary for cap, tax, and apron purposes remains unchanged, as do the team salaries for Oklahoma City and the other six clubs who made the knockout round of the IST. Their prize money is as follows:

  • Oklahoma City Thunder: $205,988 per player ($102,994 for two-way players)
  • Atlanta Hawks and Houston Rockets: $102,994 per player ($51,497 for two-ways)
  • Dallas Mavericks, Golden State Warriors, New York Knicks, and Orlando Magic: $51,497 per player ($25,749 for two-ways)

Atlantic Notes: Knicks/Raptors Dispute, Shamet, Simmons, Beekman, Celtics

The NBA has scheduled an arbitration hearing regarding the Knicks/Raptors dispute for late July, reports Stefan Bondy of The New York Post (Twitter link). As Bondy points out, that means the hearing will occur nearly two years after the Knicks initially filed a lawsuit against the Raptors and over a year after a U.S. District Court judge referred the matter back to the league.

The Knicks filed a suit in August 2023 alleging that former video coordinator Ikechukwu Azotam illegally took thousands of proprietary files with him to a position with the Raptors and shared them with his new club. New York was seeking $10MM in damages from Toronto.

The Raptors, referring to the suit as “baseless,” argued that the issue ought to be resolved through the NBA’s arbitration process rather than in court. The Knicks countered by contending that commissioner Adam Silver can’t provide an impartial ruling due to his close relationship with Raptors chairman Larry Tanenbaum, who is also the chairman of the league’s Board of Governors.

The Knicks, who have put out statements every step of the way criticizing the league for its handling of the situation, did so again on Tuesday.

Last June, the Courts ordered the NBA to arbitrate this theft of proprietary and confidential files – and now, after the NBA sat on this for seven months, we are being told that we will finally get a hearing in another seven months,” an MSG spokesperson said (Twitter link via Bondy). “We remain skeptical because the NBA has consistently demonstrated no desire to address this matter, most likely due to the fact that the Chairman of the NBA is the defendant.”

We have more from around the Atlantic:

  • Landry Shamet, who dislocated his shoulder during the preseason, returned to action on Monday for the Westchester Knicks, scoring 10 points on 4-of-10 shooting in 20 minutes. There has been a belief that the Knicks will re-sign Shamet once he’s healthy and ready to contribute at the NBA level, but that won’t happen quite yet, according to head coach Tom Thibodeau, who attended Monday’s game (Twitter video link). “It’s good to see him out there healthy again,” Thibodeau said. “(But) there’s a number of things that have to happen before he can play with us.”
  • Ben Simmons played a season-high 31 minutes on Monday in his first game as the Nets‘ primary point guard following the trade of Dennis Schröder, but struggled running the offense and turned the ball over six times in a blowout loss to Cleveland, notes Brian Lewis of The New York Post. “I think it’s just reading the game. When you speed up, you’re gonna have more errors,” said Simmons, who was making an effort to push the pace. “But that’s on me to just know where my guys are gonna be and taking care of the ball as a point guard.”
  • New Nets two-way player Reece Beekman wasn’t active on Monday, but he’s embracing his new opportunity after being sent to Brooklyn in the Schröder trade, Lewis writes in a separate New York Post story. “For this to be my rookie year and not even halfway through the season for me to get traded is a little crazy,” Beekman said. “But that’s life in the league. So I just got to be able to adjust fast. Just blessed for this opportunity. New situation, but got to get settled in and be ready to hoop. Just do whatever the team needs. I’m coming in with a work-hard mentality and try to do what’s best for the team to put ourselves in a better position.”
  • Brian Robb of MassLive takes a look at what the Celtics can and can’t do on the trade market this season, given their second-apron restrictions, and considers whether the team has any areas of need to address.

Raptors Notes: Barnes, Poeltl, Boucher, Brown, Barrett, Knicks Dispute

After Scottie Barnes went down with an ankle sprain last Monday, a report from ESPN indicated that he was expected to miss several weeks. However, the Raptors forward appears on track to beat that projected timeline, according to Michael Grange of Sportsnet, who says there’s optimism Barnes could return to action as soon as this week.

Within the same story, Grange explores which Raptors players are and aren’t likely to be in-season trade candidates ahead of the February 6 deadline. Notably, sources who have spoken to Grange believe that starting center Jakob Poeltl will probably stick with the team through the deadline rather than being dangled as a trade chip.

As Grange explains, Toronto would ideally like to just spend one season rebuilding and then begin pushing back toward contention next season in a relatively weak Eastern Conference. Poeltl is under contract for at least 2025/26 (with a player option for ’26/27), so he could be part of the Raptors’ next playoff team. And if the retooling process don’t progress as quickly as hoped, he’d still have trade value in a future transaction window.

Here’s more on the Raptors:

  • Grange identifies big man Chris Boucher and swingman Bruce Brown – both on expiring contracts – as logical trade candidates for Toronto, but notes that the club is unlikely to extract a significant return for either player due to their large cap hits ($10.8MM for Boucher, $23MM for Brown) relative to their production. “If there was big demand, he wouldn’t be on the Raptors,” one Eastern Conference executive said of Boucher.
  • As for Brown, Grange hears from team sources that the veteran has bought into what the Raptors are trying to build and wouldn’t be opposed to sticking around, meaning it’s not entirely out of the question that he stays in Toronto and re-signs in the summer.
  • In a separate story for Sportsnet.ca, Grange takes a look at the impressive strides that forward RJ Barrett has made this season as a play-maker and de facto point guard with Immanuel Quickley having missed most of the season due to injuries. The 24-year-old, who never averaged more than 3.0 assists per game with the Knicks, increased that number to 4.1 APG after being traded to the Raptors last season and has bumped it up again to 6.0 APG so far in 2024/25.
  • After the Knicks and Raptors informed the U.S. District Court last week that the NBA hadn’t provided them with any updates on its investigation into the Knicks’ allegations of stolen files, the league reached out to both teams on Monday to begin the process, reports Stefan Bondy of The New York Post (Twitter link). The Knicks, who initially filed a lawsuit against the Raptors and were referred back to the NBA’s arbitration process by the court, have maintained all along that commissioner Adam Silver isn’t an impartial judge and beat that drum again on Monday. “The NBA has admitted to sitting on this serious theft of proprietary and confidential files for several months,” the team told The New York Post in a statement. “The NBA has a clear conflict of interest and a lack of desire to see a fair outcome in this matter – which we’ve said all along.”

New York Notes: Nets, Simmons, Bridges, Sims, Towns

While dealing Dennis Schröder to Golden State is viewed as a tanking move for a team looking to accumulate assets, the Nets can now play at a faster pace, according to head coach Jordi Fernandez.

“Dennis was bottom ten slowest point guards in the NBA – pace doesn’t mean you’re better or worse – and Ben (Simmons) is 18th-fastest,” Fernandez said, per Lewis (Twitter link). “… We’re going to try to play faster. The ball is going to fly. He’s going to push. He’s going to throw it ahead.”

We have more from the New York teams:

  • Simmons, who underwent back surgery in March, hasn’t played more than 27:20 in any game this season. An unrestricted free agent after the season, the Nets‘ new top point guard said his playing time could expand soon, Lewis adds in another tweet. “I think my restriction right now is 27,” he said. “I think it’s around that. So hopefully that changes soon.”
  • In an era when playing in all 82 regular-season games is a rarity, Mikal Bridges has established himself as NBA’s iron man. The Knicks wing made his 500th consecutive appearance in Sunday’s 100-91 victory over the Magic, a streak that began with his first game with the Suns as a rookie, Stefan Bondy of the New York Post notes. “Everyone talks about offensive traits and talents and defensive traits and talents, but the most impactful and the greatest trait you can have is availability and he has it and he’s shown it,” Karl-Anthony Towns said. “Shoutout to him. That’s a huge accomplishment.”
  • Jericho Sims has garnered some trade interest, according to Bondy. Sims, playing on an expiring $2.1MM contract, has seen his playing time cut in recent games. The center position is the Knicks’ most obvious need, even though Mitchell Robinson is expected to return at some point. But the team doesn’t have many assets left after making two blockbuster trades in the offseason, though Miles McBride and/or Josh Hart could conceivably be dealt for the right player, Bondy suggests.
  • Towns will return to Minnesota on Thursday for the first time since he was traded to the Knicks. He’s not sure how he’ll be received, according to Bondy. “I don’t know (how they will embrace me). But I know that every single day that I put on that Timberwolves jersey I gave the absolute best of me even when I wasn’t 100 percent,” Towns said. “I gave them all of me mentally, physically, spiritually. I was there nine years, so I go there with a lot of pride and joy for the memories that I have.”

Atlantic Notes: Johnson, Brunson, Thibodeau, Barnes

It has been a roller coaster ride for Nets shooting guard Keon Johnson over the past year-plus, according to Brian Lewis of The New York Times (subscriber link), who notes that the former No. 21 overall pick was out of work when last season began before catching on with Brooklyn on a two-way deal in November.

The 6’5″ Tennessee alum earned a promotion to a standard partially guaranteed contract over the summer and is now a part of head coach Jordi Fernandez‘s rotation as he looks to hang onto his roster spot through the league-wide salary guarantee date of January 7, Lewis writes.

Through 23 contests so far, Johnson is averaging 6.0 points, 2.8 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 0.5 steals per contest, with a shooting line of .355/.315/.750. Although he had a couple DNP-CDs earlier in the season, he has been part of Brooklyn’s starting lineup for the past four games.

“I think good things happen to players that work really hard and they do whatever it takes for the team — Keon has been doing it,” Fernandez said. “And he’s not the only one right now. He’s in this position … because he deserves it. He still has work to do and improve, but I’m very happy with him. He’s a guy that can be very, very, very good defensively. He’s able to catch and shoot, he’s an amazing athlete, and all those things so far are important for us.”

There’s more out of the Atlantic Division:

  • Former Knicks starting center Isaiah Hartenstein, who departed for Oklahoma City in free agency this summer, claimed he wouldn’t have let All-Star Hawks point guard Trae Young celebrate his NBA Cup victory atop the team’s logo on the Madison Square Garden court. All-NBA Knicks point guard Jalen Brunson had a succinct retort when asked about his former teammate’s comments, per Zach Braziller of The New York Post. “Isaiah isn’t here,” Brunson said.
  • Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau disputes the notion that his team has struggled defensively, Braziller writes in another New York Post story. “I think we’re top 10 in points allowed, we’re [12th] in points in the paint, we’re fifth in fast-break points allowed, we’re top five in second-chance points allowed, so those are all good markers,” Thibodeau said. “Defensive field goal percentage the last 10 games has been good. I think we’re 13th [overall]. It’s all moving in the right direction. Can it be better? Yes, and that’s what we’re aiming for.” Braziller notes that the team, which brought in All-Defensive Team forward Mikal Bridges and All-Star center Karl-Anthony Towns in separate offseason trades, currently ranks 16th in defensive rating, a dip from its ninth-place finish in 2023/24.
  • Fourth-year All-Star Raptors forward Scottie Barnes was able to go through a light workout on Sunday with Toronto assistant coaches, reports Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca (Twitter link). Barnes injured his right ankle in a 113-108 loss to the Knicks on Monday, and it is anticipated that he will be sidelined for multiple weeks. Toronto’s best two-way player, Barnes is averaging 20.6 points, 8.4 boards, 7.4 dimes, 1.3 steals and 0.7 rejections in his 14 healthy games for the 7-19 squad.

Apron Concerns To Limit Knicks' Trade Options

  • The Knicks‘ trade options will be limited this season because they’re about $500K away from their second-apron hard cap, notes Steve Popper of Newsday. Popper considers Mitchell Robinson to be the team’s most valuable trade piece, as the arrival of Karl-Anthony Towns may have made Robinson expendable.