- Expectations of a Knicks playoff run are tempered by health issues, Marc Berman of the New York Post writes. New York’s offseason acquisitions of Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah and Brandon Jennings improved its outlook but all have been hampered by major injuries in recent years, Berman notes. Team president Phil Jackson doesn’t dispute that injury concerns are the team’s biggest issue, Berman adds.
In an interview with Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders, point guard Jeff Teague said that he is extremely excited to join the Pacers and he bears no ill-will toward the Hawks for trading him. “Me and the Hawks talked a bit and we agreed to be open with each other and try to help each other facilitate a nice deal. So I knew it was coming [eventually], but I didn’t know when. When I got the news, Coach Bud [Mike Budenholzer] let me know that he would be trading me home. It was bittersweet, but I’m excited about a new start and a new opportunity.”
Discussing what he’ll remember best about his time in Atlanta, Teague told Kennedy, “I’ll remember all of the fun times and all of the great teammates and coaches I had. In Atlanta, I learned so much, especially from Mike Bibby and those guys early on. Those guys had a huge influence on my career, teaching me how to work and how to be a pro. When Coach Bud came in, he gave me an opportunity to play, and it meant a lot that he trusted me and believed in me. I have a lot of great memories from Atlanta – the 60-win season, having the opportunity to play in the Eastern Conference Finals, some of the playoff atmospheres when we played against teams like the Cavs. My time in Atlanta was special and I enjoyed it, but I’m looking forward to doing bigger and better things in Indiana.”
Here’s more from the Eastern Conference:
- Pistons coach/executive Stan Van Gundy acknowledged that it is easier for the franchise to be successful at attracting free agents now that the team has established itself as being on the rise, Keith Langlois of NBA.com relays. “Guys look at us probably a little differently,” Van Gundy said. “Young team, on the rise. I think both Jon Leuer and Ish Smith liked the idea that they were playing with guys in their own age group and even younger in most cases – that this roster has a chance to grow throughout the length of their contracts.”
- Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg is looking forward to working with Rajon Rondo and believes that he and the point guard will have a solid relationship, Nick Friedell of ESPN.com relays (ESPN Now link). “The big thing with Rondo is I anticipate having a very good relationship with Rajon,” Hoiberg said. “He’s going to be a guy that’s going to be another extension of me and a coach on the floor. And again, I think he’s a guy who can survey the floor and read the situation and get us into our offense in a very efficient manner. He’s a guy who can get to the hole, he’s obviously an excellent passer, has great vision. I think he’ll fit very well with what we’re trying to do.”
- The Knicks deal with Spanish center Willy Hernangomez is for four years and will see him earn $1.4MM in 2016/17 and $5.9MM in total, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders tweets. The first three years are fully guaranteed, Pincus adds.
- The Knicks viewed shooting guard Courtney Lee as the best fit for them among the available free agents at the position and believe he will be a vital part of any playoff push this coming season, writes Fred Kerber of The New York Post. “He was at the top of the list from the beginning. We like the idea of his competitive nature as player,” GM Steve Mills said of Lee. “He comes into the game wanting to defend the best perimeter player on the opposing team. We needed that type of defensive energy and ability to make shots. Just an all-around player [with a] history of starting in this league.”
- Lee was pursued by a number of teams, including the Sixers, who offered him more money than New York, but the veteran viewed the Knicks as a more enticing landing spot, Kerber relays in the same piece. “A few teams contacted. I spoke to [team president] Phil [Jackson]. I kept in contact with Joakim Noah,” Lee said. “Seeing the trade they made to get Derrick Rose, signing Joakim, discussions with Brandon Jennings, I felt the team was moving in the right direction. You already had Melo [Carmelo Anthony] and KP [Kristaps Porzingis] here. So that’s a strong core group. Thought joining this team would only increase my chances of competing in the Eastern Conference and trying to win a ring.”
The Knicks are hoping Lithuanian small forward Mindaugas Kuzminskas can help fill the void left by losing Derrick Williams to Miami, writes Marc Berman of The New York Post. Kuzminskas signed with New York Saturday, choosing the Knicks over the Lakers and Hawks. The 6’9″ small forward played in the Spanish League this season and has been compared with Danilo Gallinari. “We felt like we needed an agile, mobile 3 that had some ability to shoot distance and spread the court,’’ said team president Phil Jackson. “It may take him an adjustment to NBA play — we understand. It gives us another opportunity to play smaller, quicker with a wide extension of spacing.” The Knicks gave Kuzminskas a two-year deal, using almost all of their $2.9MM room exception for 2016/17. A source told Berman that Jackson hopes to add shooting guard Sasha Vujacic to the roster, along with a “cheap” veteran big man.
There’s more from the Atlantic Division:
- Reuniting with former mentor and current Nets coach Kenny Atkinson and getting a chance to be the leader of a rebuilding franchise led Jeremy Lin to Brooklyn, Brian Lewis of the New York Post details.
- Sergio Rodriguez will miss Tuesday’s game with his Spanish team to finalize a deal with the Sixers, according to Orazio Cauchi of Sportando. He agreed to a one-year, $8MM contract with Philadelphia last week.
- Considering the Celtics added Al Horford, it’s best for Jared Sullinger that the power forward is now an unrestricted free agent because of an expected lack of playing time in Boston, A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com writes. It wouldn’t be surprising to see Sullinger land a one or two-year deal worth $6MM per season, Blakely adds.
Lance Thomas decided to re-sign with the Knicks because he didn’t want to be known as a “loser” in New York, relays Ian Begley of ESPN.com. Thomas, a restricted free agent, agreed to a four-year deal worth about $27.3MM. The fifth-year combo forward was born in Brooklyn and was concerned about his legacy after the Knicks finished far out of the playoff race during his two seasons with the team. “I grew up a Knicks fan; this is the team I grew up watching,” Thomas said. “Me being from the area and planning on being in the area for the majority of my life, I didn’t want my legacy as a Knick to be a loser.”
There’s more news out of New York:
- The Knicks were hoping to meet with Kevin Durant to establish a relationship in case he tried free agency again next summer, according to Marc Berman of The New York Post. Durant can still opt out of his new contract with the Warriors in 2017, but he indicated this week that he expects to stay in Golden State for a long time. New York wasn’t one of the five teams that Durant met with last weekend, but GM Steve Mills said he was encouraged by the process. “We knew KD wanted to pick a team that had a chance to win a championship this upcoming season,” Mills said. “We didn’t fit that bill. We know if he made a decision to do a 1-and-1, we would’ve had a meeting with him. The idea he did a 1-and-1 with Golden State, my assumption is he’ll stay there.”
- “Super teams” like the one created with Durant’s move to the Warriors, are an inevitable consequence of the sudden rise in the salary cap, Knicks president Phil Jackson says in the same story. “That’s the way it’s going to be for a while — players allowed this to go forward instead of smoothing it, so there’s tons of money,” Jackson said. “There’s an opportunity to do major moves in the NBA.”
- Jackson expects newly signed guard Brandon Jennings to be Sixth Man of the Year next season, Begley writes in a separate piece. Jennings, who spent this season with the Pistons and Magic, inked a one-year deal with the Knicks this week for $5MM. He doesn’t mind taking on a reserve role and said he will try to live up to Jackson’s expectations. “I’m definitely gonna embrace that role,” Jennings said. “I don’t see why I can’t be in that conversation, and I’m fine with it. I’m definitely fine with it.”
JULY 9, 7:50pm: The signing is official, the team announced today.
JULY 5, 2:28pm: The Knicks have agreed to sign Lithuanian forward Mindaugas Kuzminskas and bring him over to the NBA, according to Orazio Cauchi of Sportando. The two sides have reached agreement on a two-year deal, as first reported by Donatas Urbonas (Twitter link), and as confirmed by Ian Begley of ESPN.com.
Kuzminskas, 26, has spent the last few seasons with Unicaja Malaga in Spain. In Euroleague play this past season, the forward averaged 12.0 PPG and 3.4 RPG, shooting 54.9% from the floor and 37.7% from downtown in 23 games (20.7 MPG). Kuzminskas had been set to play in Turkey next season with Darussafaka Dogus, David Blatt‘s team, but has reportedly informed the club that he wants to make the move to the NBA.
Per Sportando (Twitter link), the Knicks will have to pay a “high” buyout in order to bring Kuzminskas stateside, though it’s not clear exactly how significant that payment will be. According to international basketball journalist David Pick (Twitter link), New York offered Kuzminskas a two-year, $6MM deal, so it sounds like the club will likely use its room exception – worth about $2.9MM in 2016/17 – on him. That would allow the Knicks to use up all their cap room finalizing other moves before making this deal official.
We had heard on Monday that Kuzminskas recently worked out for the Lakers and Hawks — at that point, he was said to be close to making a decision on whether to continue his basketball career in the NBA or overseas.
The Knicks officially renounced their rights to free agents Derrick Williams, Kevin Seraphin, Lou Amundson and Cleanthony Early, and as a result, the quartet no longer count against the team’s salary cap figure, Ian Begley of ESPN.com relays (ESPN Now link). The team can still re-sign any of the players using cap space, save Williams, who agreed to a one-year pact with the Heat earlier this evening.
Here’s more from the Big Apple:
- Joining the Knicks was a dream of Joakim Noah‘s for a long time, who relishes the challenge of playing in New York, Marc Berman of The New York Post writes. “I’m not taking this opportunity for granted,’’ said Noah. “This has been a dream of mine since I was 5 years old. We’re proud to be from New York. My parents are divorced, but my father is a proud New Yorker. We all are. Fortunately, his son is playing for the New York Knicks now. This means everything to me. I’m going to do everything to make this special.”
- With Langston Galloway on his way to the Pelicans, the Knicks may turn to a familiar face to bolster their backcourt — Sasha Vujacic, Berman relays in a separate piece. New York can offer little more than the veteran’s minimum to the 32-year-old, who may be able to find more lucrative offers overseas, the scribe adds. Vujacic made 61 appearances for the Knicks in 2015/16 and averaged 4.9 points, 2.4 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 14.9 minutes per contest.
- You can view the Knicks’ current roster and depth chart here.
JULY 8, 12:34pm: The Knicks have officially signed Noah, the team announced today (via Twitter).
JULY 1, 9:41pm: As expected, the Knicks and Noah have agree to a four-year, $72MM deal after their meeting today, tweets Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com. It will be a fully guaranteed contract with no options, per Michael Scotto of The Associated Press (Twitter link).
2:42pm: Noah has posted a photo on Instagram that shows him wearing a Knicks cap, which is a pretty strong signal that he’ll sign with the team when the moratorium ends next week.
JUNE 30, 11:58pm: Noah and the Knicks are nearing an agreement on a four-year deal worth around $72MM, sources tells Chris Broussard of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
11:11pm: With free agency now open, the Knicks are discussing the framework of a deal that would be in the four-year, $70MM range, according to Shams Charania of The Vertical (Twitter links). The two sides will continue negotiations during their Friday afternoon meeting, per Charania.
7:05am: The Knicks are the strong favorites to land longtime Bulls big man Joakim Noah when the free agent period opens in July, according to multiple reports. Tim Bontemps of The Washington Post, ESPN’s Marc Stein and Ian Begley, Shams Charania of The Vertical, and Sam Amick of USA Today all independently reported late on Wednesday night that the Knicks are in the driver’s seat in the Noah sweepstakes.
According to Charania and Amick, Noah has a meeting set up with Phil Jackson and the Knicks after free agency formally gets underway at 12:00am on July 1st. Marc Berman of The New York Post clarifies that the meeting between the two sides is expected to happen during the day on Friday, rather than late at night, but he also suggests that the Knicks are the prohibitive favorites for Noah. There’s belief on both sides that an agreement could come quickly, says Charnia.
Amick indicates within his report that Noah is still expected to consider multiple teams besides the Knicks, but those clubs have yet to line up a formal meeting with the 31-year-old. Sources tell Stein and Begley that a few teams with interest in Noah have “all but conceded” that the Knicks are No. 1 on his wish list by a sizable margin — the two-time All-Star has expressed strong interest in signing in New York in recent days, since teammate Derrick Rose was traded to the club, per the ESPN duo.
Assuming Noah and the Knicks do indeed work something out, his starting salary may end up in the range of $18MM, according to Bontemps. That would be a significant investment from the Knicks, who are expected to have over $30MM in cap room, and would likely take the team out of the running for some mid-tier free agents, in addition to max-salary players.
Noah underwent surgery on his separated left shoulder back in January, and while he should be ready to go for the 2016/17 campaign, he hasn’t played a game since that procedure. In 2015/16, he appeared in just 29 games, averaging 4.3 points, 8.8 rebounds and 3.8 assists in 21.9 minutes per contest.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
- According to Marc Berman of The New York Post, Brandon Jennings was seeking a one-year contract from the Knicks in the hopes of proving himself and boosting his stock for 2017’s free agent period. New York, which wanted to maintain cap room for ’17, was happy to oblige.
- Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders spoke to Courtney Lee about the veteran shooting guard’s decision to sign with the Knicks, and being recruited by Joakim Noah.
JULY 7: Plumlee’s agency, Priority Sports, has officially announced the big man’s deal with the Knicks (via Twitter). According to Michael Scotto of The Associated Press (via Twitter), the contract is for three years, and is fully guaranteed in year one.
JUNE 24: The Knicks and Marshall Plumlee have agreed to a free agent deal, Shams Charania of the Vertical reports (Twitter link). The details of his contract are not available yet, though Charania reports that Plumlee’s salary will be guaranteed.
Plumlee was the 81st-best prospect in this year’s class, according to Jonathan Givony of Draft Express. He averaged 8.3 points and 8.6 rebounds per game during his senior season at Duke.
The Knicks had only five players under contract entering today, as the team’s depth chart at Roster Resource indicates. The team came to terms with Ron Baker earlier today, which, along with Plumlee’s agreement, brings the roster count to seven.