New York Knicks Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Porzingis' Development Should Be Top Priority

October 27th, 2016 at 9:28pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Nets center Brook Lopez doesn’t seem to fit into new coach Kenny Atkinson’s motion offense, according to Brian Lewis of the New York Post. Lopez played just 21 minutes, fewer than eight of his teammates, in Brooklyn’s opener on Wednesday against the Celtics. He scored only one basket, an odd sight for a player who averaged 20.6 PPG last season. Lopez is making $21.16MM this season and $22.6MM in the final year of his contract in 2017/18. “It’s a learning process. It’s both of us: It’s him learning a totally new system and us integrating him into a new system,’’ Atkinson told Lewis. “But I have complete confidence that as the season goes on, you’re going to see a better Brook. He’s going to understand it more.”

In other news around the Atlantic Division:

Developing Kristaps Porzingis should be Knicks coach Jeff Hornacek’s top priority this season but it will difficult with two ball-dominant players like Derrick Rose and Carmelo Anthony in the lineup, Chris Mannix of The Vertical opines. Hornacek is intent on improving Porzingis’ post moves in order to punish teams using smaller defenders on him, Mannix notes. But rival coaches are skeptical that Hornacek’s hybrid triangle offense will allow him to take advantage of mismatches, Mannix continues. Those coaches also believe Porzingis is better suited at center but the signing of Joakim Noah limits that possibility, Mannix adds.
Hornacek isn’t surprised that Rose struggled to run the offense in the season-opening loss to the Cavaliers, Barbara Barker of Newsday reports. Rose had just one assist in the Knicks’ opening-night loss to the Cavaliers and later expressed frustration over the offensive scheme. Hornacek said it was a product of Rose missing a good portion of the preseason because of his sexual assault civil trial in Los Angeles, Barker continues. “If we expected anything different, we’d be crazy,” Hornacek told Barker and other beat reporters. “He hasn’t seen a lot of this stuff.”
Joel Embiid and Jahlil Okafor didn’t play together in the Sixers’ opening-night loss to the Thunder because both were on minutes limits, Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer relays. Coach Brett Brown wants to play them together in certain situations but Embiid is being brought along slowly after missing two seasons with foot issues, while Okafor just returned from knee soreness, Pompey adds. “It’s not intelligent to play them together now when you only have X amount of minutes with both of them,” Brown said to Pompey.
Rookie Pascal Siakam started ahead of Patrick Patterson at power forward for the Raptors in their opener to keep Patterson in his normal role, according to Doug Smith of the Toronto Star. Siakam grabbed nine rebounds in 22 minutes.

Rockets, Knicks, Nets Had Interest In Austin Rivers

October 26th, 2016 at 4:48pm CST by Luke Adams

The three-year free agent contract agreed upon by the Clippers and Austin Rivers this July looked like one of the least surprising moves of the summer, as Rivers opted to continue playing for his father, Doc Rivers, in Los Angeles. As Dan Woike of The Orange County Register details, however, Rivers drew interest from several teams, including the Rockets, Knicks, and Nets, and the 24-year-old suggests he was offered more money by at least one other suitor.

“I took less to come back here,” Rivers said of the Clippers. “I’m not taking this for granted. I was on a team where it was very bad. There are only four or five teams in the league with a realistic chance to win this year, and I think we’re one of them. I’m not taking this for granted. I know if I go somewhere else, I might not ever be on a team like this again. A lot of people go their whole career and never play on a team like this.”

After averaging a career-high 8.9 PPG in 67 regular-season games with the Clippers last season, Rivers increased his value further in the playoffs, assuming a greater role after Chris Paul went down with a hand injury. In L.A.’s last game of the season, as the team attempted to stave off elimination, Rivers put up 21 points and eight assists.

Rivers’ new deal with the Clippers is worth nearly $34.5MM over three years, so it’s unlikely that the Duke alum took a significant hometown discount. But he may have passed up the opportunity for more minutes and a bigger role with another team, as his head coach points out.

“He could’ve had that opportunity,” Doc Rivers said of his son. “For him to come back, it shows that winning is far more important and he enjoys the group.”

Ultimately, the Rockets and Knicks addressed their shooting guard needs in free agency by signing Eric Gordon and Courtney Lee, respectively. The Nets added Jeremy Lin, and signed Tyler Johnson and Allen Crabbe to offer sheets, which were matched.

Knicks' New Additions Still Adjusting

October 25th, 2016 at 1:24pm CST by Luke Adams

The Knicks‘ roster underwent some significant changes this offseason, and many of the club’s new additions recognize that there’s still work to be done before everyone is on the same page, per Howie Kussoy of The New York Post. Notably, Joakim Noah has been nagged by multiple injuries throughout the preseason, while Derrick Rose has barely practiced with the team, having spent a chunk of October in Los Angeles for his civil trial.

This May Be Jackson's Last Chance To Turn Team Around

October 24th, 2016 at 10:28pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Entering his third season in New York, this may be team president Phil Jackson‘s last chance to turn around the team, which is no lock, given the multiple roster and health questions surrounding the Knicks, Marc Berman of The New York Post writes.

Knicks Notes: Ndour, Randle, Rose, Amundson

October 23rd, 2016 at 12:58pm CST by Arthur Hill

Defense was behind the Knicks’ decision to keep Maurice Ndour over Chasson Randle, according to Marc Berman of The New York Post. The 6’9″ Ndour provides a defensive presence with the bench unit, something coach Jeff Hornacek felt was important after watching the team in preseason. “He’s an activity guy when we need to mix it up,’’ Hornacek said of Ndour. “You saw in some of the preseason games when he face-guarded a point guard and ran around to deny him the ball. He creates havoc out there. He’s done a nice job with the second group. His activity of cutting to the basket, moving around, we liked that energy.’’ Ndour, a Senegal native, first impressed the Knicks while playing for their 2015 summer league team. He appeared in six games this preseason, averaging 4.3 points and 2.4 rebounds.

There’s more news out of New York:

Randle is examining his options, but Hornacek would like to see him join the Knicks’ D-League affiliate in Westchester, Berman relays in the same piece. Randle is recovering from an orbital fracture and is expected to be sidelined for another month. He has a $100K guarantee, and it’s possible that he could be brought back to the roster when he’s healthy in place of Ron Baker. “He’s done a great job for us,’’ Hornacek said of Randle. “We hope all these guys get other jobs and another team picks them up, but our hope is if he doesn’t go to another team, he stays with our organization. We really like what he did for us.”
Derrick Rose rejoined the Knicks Saturday after missing nine practices and five preseason games because of a sexual assault civil trial in Los Angeles, Berman writes in another story. Rose, who played in just one preseason game, is excited to be able to concentrate solely on basketball. “I’ve been preparing for this for a long time,” he said. “Ever since I didn’t make the playoffs last year, I’m still chasing something right now. I just want to hoop and let my game speak for itself.”
New York’s frontcourt depth worked against veteran Lou Amundson, who was among five players waived Friday, according to Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv. The 33-year-old power forward has been in the league for 10 years and spent most of the past two seasons with the Knicks. New York decided to part ways with Amundson even though he is guaranteed more than $1.5MM for this season. “Lou, it came down to a matter of how many bigs we have,” Hornacek said. “We have a lot of bigs on the team. So that was a tough one.”

Knicks Worked Out Hasheem Thabeet

October 21st, 2016 at 6:31pm CST by Luke Adams

Former second overall pick Hasheem Thabeet hasn’t played in an NBA game in more than two years, but he’s still working hard to salvage his career, as Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders details. Kennedy takes a closer look at Thabeet’s training regimen, adding that the Knicks, Lakers, and Wizards have all recently worked out the 29-year-old.

Knicks Cut Chasson Randle, Lou Amundson, Others

October 21st, 2016 at 1:27pm CST by Luke Adams

The Knicks have waived point guard Chasson Randle, according to multiple reports, including one from Shams Charania of The Vertical (via Twitter). In addition to parting ways with Randle, the team has also cut big man Lou Amundson and shooting guard J.P. Tokoto, reports Ian Begley of ESPN.com (via Twitter). The team confirmed those three cuts and announced two more, tweeting that small forwards Cleanthony Early and Damien Inglis have also been released.

New York had been carrying 15 guaranteed salaries on its roster, along with five non-guaranteed or partially guaranteed deals, so its roster decisions had looked fairly simple on the surface. However, Randle and Ron Baker – two players without guaranteed deals – had impressed the team in training camp, complicating those decisions. The Knicks also had to weigh the fact that Randle is set to miss the next few weeks due to a left orbital fracture.

Marc Berman of The New York Post had speculated earlier today that Randle and Baker would both make the cut for the 15-man roster, with the Knicks cutting a pair of guaranteed salaries – Amundson and Maurice Ndour – along with Tokoto. While the team did eat Amundson’s guaranteed contract, it appears Ndour is safe, given Randle’s release. The Knicks are down to 15 players, so their regular-season roster seems set.

Among today’s cuts, Tokoto and Randle each had partial guarantees of $100K on their contracts, so the Knicks will carry that money on their cap. Both players are candidates to join the D-League’s Westchester Knicks, as are Early and Inglis. Randle may also receive consideration to re-sign with the Knicks when he gets healthy — Baker’s salary won’t become fully guaranteed until January 10, so the club will have some flexibility with that final roster spot.

Rose Needs To Catch Up On Offense

October 20th, 2016 at 10:16pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Knicks coach Jeff Hornacek said point guard Derrick Rose will need to “learn by fire” after spending most of the past two weeks at his civil trial in Los Angeles, Ian Begley of ESPN.com reports. Rose missed five preseason games and seven practices during the trial, in which a jury on found Rose and his two friends not liable in a lawsuit that accused them of gang-raping Rose’s ex-girlfriend. Rose is expected to meet with the coaching staff on Friday to review aspects of the Knicks’ offense that were implemented while he was away, Begley adds.

Rose To Return To Team

October 19th, 2016 at 10:58pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Derrick Rose‘s civil trial concluded today and the eight-member jury found Rose and his two friends not liable for damages stemming from an alleged sexual assault. The Knicks excused Rose from team activities during the trial and he will likely rejoin them later this week, A. Sherrod Blakely of Comcast Sportsnet writes. However, there is no definite timetable for Rose to return to the lineup, as the team doesn’t want to rush him back and risk injury.

Knicks Pick Up Kristaps Porzingis’ 2017/18 Option

October 19th, 2016 at 9:17am CST by Luke Adams

The Knicks have taken care of some 2017/18 business, officially exercising their team option on the third year of Kristaps Porzingis‘ rookie contract, as Ian Begley of ESPN.com tweets. The move guarantees Porzingis a salary of $4,503,600 for the ’17/18 season.

Most third-year options around the NBA are picked up even for players who didn’t excel in their rookie seasons, since teams don’t want to give up on first-round draft picks too soon. In Porzingis’ case though, the decision was even easier than usual.

While Karl-Anthony Towns took home the NBA’s Rookie of the Year award in 2015/16, Porzingis finished second in voting, and generated plenty of buzz and excitement in New York after being selected with the fourth overall pick. The Latvian big man averaged 14.3 PPG, 7.3 RPG, and 1.9 BPG in 72 contests (all starts) during his rookie season.

Porzingis joins Justise Winslow (Heat), Myles Turner (Pacers), and Justin Anderson (Mavericks) as 2015 first-rounders who have had their third-year options for 2017/18 exercised so far this week. Teams must make their final decisions on third- and fourth-year options by October 31. You can check out our tracker for those decisions right here.