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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.

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Rose Needs Practice Time Before Being Named Starter

October 18th, 2016 at 6:35pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Knicks are hoping their lack of point guard depth won’t come back to haunt them, especially early in the season, Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News writes. Projected third-stringer Chasson Randle is expected to miss three to four weeks with an orbital fracture and presumptive starter Derrick Rose has yet to play during the preseason due to his civil trial which is being held in Los Angeles. The earliest Rose could be back with the team would be for Thursday’s contest against the Nets, but even if he return in time for the game, he may not play due to lack of practice time, Bondy notes. “I don’t know [if I’ll play him without a practice]. If we can go through some things in the morning with him the day of the game — it’s a back-to-back situation, so I don’t know if we’d get a chance to,” coach Jeff Hornacek said. “But if somehow we could get a couple guys to work with him, maybe, just to give him a little bit of time before the first game. But we won’t push that.”

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Knicks Re-Sign Cleanthony Early

October 18th, 2016 at 1:08pm CST by Dana Gauruder

OCTOBER 18: The Knicks have officially re-signed Early, the team announced today (Twitter link).

OCTOBER 13: The Knicks will re-sign forward Cleanthony Early, sources told Shams Charania of The Vertical (Twitter link). Early will likely start his season in the D-League as he continues his rehab from a hamstring injury, Charania adds.

The 6’8″ Early, 25, has played both of his NBA seasons with New York. He appeared in 17 games last season, including two starts, and averaged 1.8 points and 1.5 rebounds in 9.1 minutes. During the 2014/15 campaign, he appeared in 39 games, including seven starts, and averaged 5.4 points and 2.5 rebounds in 16.6 minutes.

The Knicks have mulled bringing back Early for quite some time and ultimately decided to give the former second-round pick another chance. They renounced their rights to him in early July in order to sign high-profile free agents, including Joakim Noah.

Early’s 2015/16 season was marred by an incident in late December which he was shot in the right knee and robbed. He did not return to action until the beginning of April.

Early’s hamstring injury occurred prior to the summer league, preventing him from participating with the Knicks’ entry in Orlando in July, and is apparently still affecting him. He’ll eventually give new coach Jeff Hornacek another option at the small forward spot.

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Randle Out 3-4 Weeks

October 17th, 2016 at 6:04pm CST by Luke Adams
  • Knicks point guard Chasson Randle, who suffered a left orbital fracture, will be able to resume full activity in about three or four weeks, the team announced today (via Twitter). That timeline comes after a visit to a specialist, who determined that Randle didn’t need to undergo surgery. Head coach Jeff Hornacek has indicated that Randle’s injury won’t affect whether or not he makes the Knicks’ regular-season roster.
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New York Notes: Randle, Knicks, Nets, Vasquez

October 17th, 2016 at 11:47am CST by Luke Adams

Chasson Randle‘s odds of landing a 15-man roster spot with the Knicks won’t be affected by the injury he suffered during a Friday practice, according to head coach Jeff Hornacek. As Zach Braziller of The New York Post details, Randle will be given the chance to make the team despite sustaining a left orbital fracture. “We kind of understand what he can give us as a player,” Hornacek said. “It would’ve been nice to see him against [Celtics guard] Isaiah [Thomas] in those two Boston games, see how he can do. But, again, we have a pretty good feel for him.”

Here’s more out of New York on a couple more new Knicks who are making a good impression, along with some Nets notes:

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Knicks Notes: Noah, Hernangomez, Rose, Anthony

October 15th, 2016 at 7:00pm CST by Arthur Hill

Knicks fans are getting their first look at Joakim Noah, who joined the team as a free agent this summer, tweets Ian Begley of ESPN.com. Noah, who has missed most of the preseason with a sore left hamstring, is expected to play about 20 minutes in tonight’s home game with the Celtics. New York gave the 31-year-old center a four-year, $72MM contract this summer after his final season in Chicago was cut short by shoulder surgery.

There’s more news out of New York:

  • Spanish prospect Willy Hernangomez is making a strong push to be the Knicks’ backup center, according to Begley (Twitter link). Coach Jeff Hornacek says Hernangomez has looked good in the preseason and he will try to find minutes for him once the regular season starts. New York drafted Hernangomez in 2015, and he played with Real Madrid last season before agreeing to join the Knicks this summer.
  • The Knicks won’t be sending an assistant coach to Los Angeles to accompany Derrick Rose during his civil trial, writes Marc Berman of The New York Post. The original plan was to have an assistant provide Rose with basketball updates until the trial is over, but Hornacek said Rose talked him out of that idea during a phone conversation Thursday. “I talked to him — he said he’s following the games, checking that out,’’ Hornacek said. “I’m hoping he comes back as soon as he can. You hope it’s coming to a conclusion here soon. He exercises on his own. If he lost any of that conditioning from training camp, he’s going to have to get it back.” Rose has missed three games and six practices since the trial began. It appears that it may end Tuesday, with jury deliberations on Wednesday, which means Rose may be back for a preseason game or two next week.
  • Hornacek says the Knicks’ influx of talent means Carmelo Anthony won’t have to carry the offense every game, Begley relays. “He’s at a point where he knows what it’s going to be for our team to win, and that’s not going to be him shooting it every time or trying to do that,” Hornacek said. “There are going to be times when, yes [he carries the Knicks]. But he feels very comfortable, I think, with his teammates right now.”
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2016/17 NBA Over/Unders: Atlantic Division

October 14th, 2016 at 11:31am CST by Luke Adams

The 2016/17 NBA regular season will get underway in just a week and a half, which means it’s time to start getting serious about predictions for the upcoming campaign. With the help of the lines from offshore betting site Bovada.lv, we’re going to run through the predicted win totals for each of the NBA’s 30 teams, by division, and have you weigh in on whether you think those forecasts are too optimistic or too pessimistic. We’ll kick things off today with the Atlantic division…

Boston Celtics

How many games will the Celtics win?
Under 52.5 54.59% (802 votes)
Over 52.5 45.41% (667 votes)
Total Votes: 1,469

(App users, click here for Celtics poll)

Toronto Raptors

How many games will the Raptors win?
Over 50.5 54.63% (685 votes)
Under 50.5 45.37% (569 votes)
Total Votes: 1,254

(App users, click here for Raptors poll)

New York Knicks

How many games will the Knicks win?
Over 38.5 71.41% (1,009 votes)
Under 38.5 28.59% (404 votes)
Total Votes: 1,413

(App users, click here for Knicks poll)

Philadelphia 76ers

How many games will the Sixers win?
Under 23.5 54.62% (733 votes)
Over 23.5 45.38% (609 votes)
Total Votes: 1,342

(App users, click here for Sixers poll)

Brooklyn Nets

How many games will the Nets win?
Under 20.5 60.74% (755 votes)
Over 20.5 39.26% (488 votes)
Total Votes: 1,243

(App users, click here for Nets poll)

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Hornacek May Dispatch Assistant to L.A.

October 13th, 2016 at 6:12pm CST by Dana Gauruder
  •  The Knicks may send an assistant coach to Los Angeles to keep Derrick Rose up to date on offensive and defensive schemes during his ongoing civil sexual assault trial, Marc Berman of the New York Post writes. Rose missed his fifth practice since heading to California last week and coach Jeff Hornacek is worried about keeping his starting point guard up to speed, Berman continues. “We’re right now trying to think of if we should send somebody out there with him,’’ Hornacek told Berman. “We haven’t added a lot of new stuff from the time he left. We’re talking to him about the stuff we’re doing. He’s watched the games to try to see it.”
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No Dismissal Or Mistrial For Derrick Rose

October 12th, 2016 at 6:59pm CST by Luke Adams
  • According to various reporters, including Nancy Dillon of The New York Daily News (Twitter link), the judge in Derrick Rose‘s civil trial denied motions from the defense to dismiss the case or rule it a mistrial. The trial will continue this week, and Knicks head coach Jeff Hornacek said today that Rose won’t rejoin the club until it wraps up, per Marc Berman of The New York Post (Twitter link).
  • Carmelo Anthony feels like the Knicks got a “steal” in free agency by landing Brandon Jennings, who still believes he should have been drafted by the franchise seven years ago. Berman has the quotes and the details in a piece for the Post.
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