Breaking: KAT to the Knicks

[Guano]

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Shipping m3lo and s4am off in the same offseason.

[3toheadmelo]

KAT doesn't make you a true 5 out team because he can't defend. Might as well play small ball with Randle. And you'll still have 5 out spacing with no interior defense and good rebounding.

Many metrics and the eyeball test of how he played vs Jokic and KD in the playoffs would seem to strongly refute that.

KAT looked good vs Jokic because he was smoking wide open jumpers that KAT as part of their defensive scheme gave to Jokic. He scored 59 points on 55 shots guarded by KAT despite shooting 4-21 from deep. Leaving Jokic to take wide open 3s and praying he misses isn't great defense.

And he guarded KD only in game one. KD had 31 on 11/17 shooting and they took KAT off as the primary defender.

On top of all of that he's not a PF for us he's a C. KAT at C was the worst defensive player in the league for almost a decade. It's easier to hide him with Gobert and Reid behind him but now he's the backbone of our defense.

There's a reason Minny felt safe moving him, and it's because quite frankly if he wasn't on the roster they go to the Finals.

A massive portion of this board is ignoring this fact.

[E-Balla]

Many metrics and the eyeball test of how he played vs Jokic and KD in the playoffs would seem to strongly refute that.

KAT looked good vs Jokic because he was smoking wide open jumpers that KAT as part of their defensive scheme gave to Jokic. He scored 59 points on 55 shots guarded by KAT despite shooting 4-21 from deep. Leaving Jokic to take wide open 3s and praying he misses isn't great defense.

And he guarded KD only in game one. KD had 31 on 11/17 shooting and they took KAT off as the primary defender.

On top of all of that he's not a PF for us he's a C. KAT at C was the worst defensive player in the league for almost a decade. It's easier to hide him with Gobert and Reid behind him but now he's the backbone of our defense.

There's a reason Minny felt safe moving him, and it's because quite frankly if he wasn't on the roster they go to the Finals.

Nah man. The only reason the Wolves didn't run it back after one of their most successful season in their history is the CBA and it's affect on the Wolves keeping Naz Reid and Jaden McDaniels, nothing else. The Wolves had the #1 defense in the league and crushed their division. While I'm not 100% with it andwaiting to see what the team looks like, let's not act like KAT didn't contribute to the Wolves success.

You realize we play under that same CBA right?

No one is saying he's not a good player. I'm saying he's on one of the worst contracts in the league, so he's not worth keeping rostered. You just confirmed that, the Wolves dropped him because under the CBA his contract is **** awful and nobody other than his agent would ever trade for it.

[NoDopeOnSundays]

KAT doesn't make you a true 5 out team because he can't defend. Might as well play small ball with Randle. And you'll still have 5 out spacing with no interior defense and good rebounding.

If you're going to sacrifice defense, you go with overwhelming offense and KAT gives us true 5 out, low amount of touches per game relative to output (53 per game vs 72 per game for Randle), and the three point shooting is at 40% on 6 attempts per game the last 5 seasons.

Our halfcourt offense should be an absolute buzzsaw, all they need to do is manage a top 10 defense which they probably will. The Nuggets won the title with the 15th rated defense, and 5th best offense.

KAT averages 19 ppg on 47/35 splits in the playoffs. Be **** serious.

You were fine with playing 5 out with a guy averaging 17ppg on 34/28 in the playoffs and you're telling me to be serious? We're capped out, and Randle was due an extension.


Also, it's not just about KATs averages, it's about the impact he'll have on our spacing.

[SelbyCobra]

Not that google Ai is right ever but it said Kat didn’t play at dyckman. Can you cite him saying he did? I probably can’t find it.

Just from personal experience growing up in Jersey, we didn’t spend a whole lot of time going to New York and most of my class ended up in Hoboken or stayed in the burbs and not the city. I know this isn’t universal but where Kat grew up is like 30 mins south of me now and There’s a lot Philly people. I wouldn’t be too shocked if he was just a Knicks fan that didn’t go to the city a ton cuz Jersey is filled with them. The city isn’t for everyone and we see this with athletes all the time.

https://nypost.com/2015/05/18/karl-anthony-towns-on-possibly-going-from-knicks-fan-to-savior/?utm_campaign=iphone_nyp&utm_source=pasteboard_app

Serby: I’m asking all these Knicks questions because Knicks fans are praying that you wind up with the Knicks.

Towns: It would be an honor, not only as a player, but as a Knicks fan, to be able to play for that organization. It’s gonna be, I guess a childhood dream — rooting for the Knicks all this time, and the next thing you know, you hear an organization call your name to go out there and give it your best shot. I think it would be very cool, and really very honored and blessed to be able to play for them.

Serby: What are your favorite New York City things?

Towns: I like the scenery. Times Square is awesome. Being able to walk around, I love going to New York, have some pizza. When I was younger, I played in Rucker Park once, it was awesome. There’s so much history behind New York, and so much history that it takes people lifetimes to realize it all.

Had a feeling Google ai was lying to me. Although Kat liking Times Square is a red flag

That was my initial reaction when I read that - 1000% red flag .

[Wildcat]

Dont think hes trilled about the trade. Minnesota was his home last 9yrs, its a low key city. Now there is a microscope on Kat and the pressure just went up many notches

Think he is excited as heck actually

i’ll cut him some slack, trade just happened less than 48 hours ago. i think he’s still processing it honestly. on one hand i’m sure he’s shocked and a bit hurt by the trade, but i definitely think he might be finally settling in to looking forward to the opportunity to come back home and play for his favorite team growing up

Heh, this ain't a homecoming, man.

I'm just saying, Randle's wife (and by extension, Randle), was on it. Say something.

[KnixinSix]

A part of this that makes me feel amazing about this deal is that Leon/Brock constructed a huge portion of it's value completely on their own. In a situation (KAT being on the trade market) that only exists because of Minnesota's owner and the CBA structure, the tipping point in the deal was Donte DiVincenzo, a guy whose increased value around the league has as much to do with his ability on the court as it does with the contract he signed off it.

Donte is a great role player, but isn't a difference maker as a basketball player in a blockbuster deal like this. Donte as a role player on one of the best value contracts in the NBA, ends up being a difference maker to a Minnesota organization looking at financial concerns first and foremost right now. Leon and Brock created that separating value completely themselves.

Excellent post.

DDV is a loss no doubt. But it is mitigated by what you assert along with the Bridges acquisition.

As previously stated Knicks obviously valued Bridges more as they traded 5 picks for him. He plays the 2 or 3 but can also guard 1-4. He may not be quite the 3 ball shooter DDV was but he is good enough and brings so much more of the elite defensive versatility that a Thibs system needs to function at an elite level.

Donte minutes were going to go down regardless. And he was no where near as effective off bench vs sarter minutes. His heart is to be a starter and he has earned it. He will get that in Minny.

Also dont forget we brought in Payne and Shamet who just add further depth in that area. Lastly KAT makes up for the loss of some 3 ball in that deal but at the even more rare 5 spot. The spacing will allow others guys to have an uptick in their 3 ball too.

[Capn'O]

The funniest part about this is it forces both the Mitch and iHart haters to acknowledge how important each was to our success last year.

I'm hoping the other funny part won't be our interior defense somehow.

[iLLmatic860]

The general rule is that if you feel uneasy or just plain bad about a trade then it likely isn’t a good trade.

This trade has had mixed reactions across the board here, in the general public, in basketball media, etc.

We locked into an absolutely horrible contract for a minimum of the next 3 years - the 4th year will be expiring and possibly more tradeable. The guy is always hurt, plays soft and is paid almost as much as our captain and Bridges combined. He spaces the floor - that’s great - but his mentality on and off the court doesn’t fit with the culture we built. This is square peg in a round hole. This has massive failure potential on it - and if it fails, we destroyed any window of winning a title with Brunson.

Not many people seem to dislike the trade and except yourself and the usual suspects.

Didn't you hate the Brunson trade too?

Melo, you have receipts on this?

So, we should have stayed the course with Randle and Donte? That was a true contender with Brunson? Not sure of that either. And then Randle was due an extension or new contract.

Karl Anthony Towns is not the player you think of when trying to elevate into a title contender.

I wasn’t a Randle fan, but this is a more expensive Randle in some ways, just with a different mentality.

The usual suspects lol. The respected basketball media - not Kendrick Perkins - is lukewarm on the trade. Mixed reactions on this forum and in the media as I said. Didn’t say everyone disliked it. I said mixed reactions. You’re better off sticking to making troll posts if you’re write bull.

And yeah, please Melo bring up the receipts of me wanting Brunson way before anyone even considered wanting him. Let’s see those receipts. They’re there. Now let’s see yours. Probably a lot more bull than mine. A lot more. But yours is under the guise of being ‘positive’, right? Gtfo.

Kat is a much better fit for the team than Randle is. Randle needs the ball to be effective and he's a ball stopper. Plus its a contract year so I expect him to be selfish and get his numbers. Kat on the other hand would buy in and can catch and shoot very well.

All star Centers that shoot 3s do not grow on trees

Plus having a player like Josh Hart is great for us but it doesn't work as well with Randle and Mitch on the court. Now we won't have that problem

[E-Balla]

If you're going to sacrifice defense, you go with overwhelming offense and KAT gives us true 5 out, low amount of touches per game relative to output (53 per game vs 72 per game for Randle), and the three point shooting is at 40% on 6 attempts per game the last 5 seasons.

Our halfcourt offense should be an absolute buzzsaw, all they need to do is manage a top 10 defense which they probably will. The Nuggets won the title with the 15th rated defense, and 5th best offense.

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KAT from deep the last 9 games of his playoff run. So overwhelming offensively I mean what are they going to do when Big Purr is shooting 20% from deep. So fearful.

But, you said to just run 5 out with Randle who is shooting .283 from three in his playoffs career.

No tf I didn't. You said we can run 5 out with KAT. I pointed out we can run 5 out with Randle ineffectively just like we can run 5 out ineffectively with KAT. 5 out isn't what this team is built for, this is a Thibs squad. Rebounding and interior defense were our two strongest strengths the previous 4 years under Thibs.

I don't get it, the only person we could have gotten that's better than KAT requires a time machine, go back and trade for Kristaps, outside of that we weren't going anywhere with Randle.

You don't get it. NOBODY is better than cap. Having $60 million in flexibility is better than having $60 million in a player worth $30.

If we have a top 4 offense and a top 10 defense we're going to go further into the playoffs than we would with Randle, just like the Wolves got further with KAT as their second best player. If you're going to flame out, at least do it in the conference finals.

We had a 3rd ranked defense in 2023 and the 7th ranked in 2024 with all the injuries including Randle. You're basically saying after all this **** and sending all those picks and killing our flexibility you don't even think we've improved.

[KnixinSix]

If you're going to sacrifice defense, you go with overwhelming offense and KAT gives us true 5 out, low amount of touches per game relative to output (53 per game vs 72 per game for Randle), and the three point shooting is at 40% on 6 attempts per game the last 5 seasons.

Our halfcourt offense should be an absolute buzzsaw, all they need to do is manage a top 10 defense which they probably will. The Nuggets won the title with the 15th rated defense, and 5th best offense.

KAT averages 19 ppg on 47/35 splits in the playoffs. Be **** serious.

You were fine with playing 5 out with a guy averaging 17ppg on 34/28 in the playoffs and you're telling me to be serious? We're capped out, and Randle was due an extension.


Also, it's not just about KATs averages, it's about the impact he'll have on our spacing.

KPs impact on Boston was momental and its not just due to his PPG. KAT will be in theory a step up from that with Brunson and crew.

[E-Balla]

Many metrics and the eyeball test of how he played vs Jokic and KD in the playoffs would seem to strongly refute that.

KAT looked good vs Jokic because he was smoking wide open jumpers that KAT as part of their defensive scheme gave to Jokic. He scored 59 points on 55 shots guarded by KAT despite shooting 4-21 from deep. Leaving Jokic to take wide open 3s and praying he misses isn't great defense.

And he guarded KD only in game one. KD had 31 on 11/17 shooting and they took KAT off as the primary defender.

On top of all of that he's not a PF for us he's a C. KAT at C was the worst defensive player in the league for almost a decade. It's easier to hide him with Gobert and Reid behind him but now he's the backbone of our defense.

There's a reason Minny felt safe moving him, and it's because quite frankly if he wasn't on the roster they go to the Finals.

Did you watch the video just posted above?

He NO QUESTION played excellent D vs Jokic.

Watch on YouTube

I don't give a singular **** about cherry picked clips.

[Riot Randolph]

Anyone disappointed KAT still hasn't said anything other than his emo "...".

Dont think hes trilled about the trade. Minnesota was his home last 9yrs, it’s a low key city. Now there is a microscope on Kat and the pressure just went up many notches

Not thrilled to join the team of childhood fandom …cmon

[aggo]

being able to switch became an important part of defense in last years playoffs


enough that we started doing it despite not doing it much at all during the regular season
Boston switched more and more as the playoffs went on and primarily went to switching only vs mavs

[Isiahthomass]

Despite losing Big Ragu I can’t be upset about this trade. KAT is an upgrade over Randle and will fit better with our newer pieces plain and simple.

[KnixinSix]

Many metrics and the eyeball test of how he played vs Jokic and KD in the playoffs would seem to strongly refute that.

KAT looked good vs Jokic because he was smoking wide open jumpers that KAT as part of their defensive scheme gave to Jokic. He scored 59 points on 55 shots guarded by KAT despite shooting 4-21 from deep. Leaving Jokic to take wide open 3s and praying he misses isn't great defense.

And he guarded KD only in game one. KD had 31 on 11/17 shooting and they took KAT off as the primary defender.

On top of all of that he's not a PF for us he's a C. KAT at C was the worst defensive player in the league for almost a decade. It's easier to hide him with Gobert and Reid behind him but now he's the backbone of our defense.

There's a reason Minny felt safe moving him, and it's because quite frankly if he wasn't on the roster they go to the Finals.

A massive portion of this board is ignoring this fact.

Are many of his defensive metric this year a fabrication and/or irrelevant? His no doubt about it elite defensive performance vs Jokic in the playoffs too? Randle could only dream of playing this kind of D in recent years

[3toheadmelo]

The funniest part about this is it forces both the Mitch and iHart haters to acknowledge how important each was to our success last year.

I'm hoping the other funny part won't be our interior defense somehow.

I kept saying all summer long that even though I’m not the biggest Mitch fan, you need him 200% if KAT is here. KAT’s defense at C is disastrous.

[E-Balla]

Ok I guess you know best then and better than a front office that is likely going to go down as one of the best front offices in Knick history.

Yes. Yes I do. The **** you thought I was gonna be humble? I been here over a decade and I've predicted bad moves before we made them and good moves before we made them.

I wanted Brunson long before y'all. I said we needed to take Haliburton if we got the first overall pick. I said go for Donovan Mitchell over Frank if we wanted a defensive G. Let's not act like I don't know hoops and watch way more basketball than anyone in our front office.

EBalla.....Randle was a flawed superstar too you know.

Randle is getting flawed star money. $28.9 mil.

KAT is getting MVP money. Here's the players with more guaranteed money than KAT in 2027: Finals and ECF MVP Jaylen Brown, perennial first team all NBA and MVP finalist Jayson Tatum, 2x MVP Nikola Jokic, 2x MVP Giannis Antetokoumpo, Anthony Davis.

One who had 0 high level playoff performances vs KAT who may not have played great vs Dallas but had two very strong series vs KD and Jokic the two rounds before.

KAT has had good to great games in the playoffs, Randle has literally had 0.

Oh and KATs efficiency ratings on offense are through the roof and he is not ball dominant like Randle is.

So yes KAT is not without risk but he is very likely an upgrade and a better fit next to Brunson.

Why are we comparing KAT to a guy making half his money? Do y'all not see how insane it is we're paying a guy MVP money and holding him to the standards of a guy making $29 mil like that's a win?

You shouldn't bother watching this season then. It already sounds like you think it will be a disaster

Smd imma watch and I told you so you the whole **** season doofus.

[Capn'O]

The funniest part about this is it forces both the Mitch and iHart haters to acknowledge how important each was to our success last year.

I'm hoping the other funny part won't be our interior defense somehow.

I kept saying all summer long that even though I’m not the biggest Mitch fan, you need him 200% if KAT is here. KAT’s defense at C is disastrous.

That was funny to me. Sham hasn't mentioned him by name yet but by omission he's also forced to acknowledge ihart's value.

KAT isn't Bargs but he's also not KP, who is an excellent defender. Thibs has his work cut out.

[3toheadmelo]

KAT looked good vs Jokic because he was smoking wide open jumpers that KAT as part of their defensive scheme gave to Jokic. He scored 59 points on 55 shots guarded by KAT despite shooting 4-21 from deep. Leaving Jokic to take wide open 3s and praying he misses isn't great defense.

And he guarded KD only in game one. KD had 31 on 11/17 shooting and they took KAT off as the primary defender.

On top of all of that he's not a PF for us he's a C. KAT at C was the worst defensive player in the league for almost a decade. It's easier to hide him with Gobert and Reid behind him but now he's the backbone of our defense.

There's a reason Minny felt safe moving him, and it's because quite frankly if he wasn't on the roster they go to the Finals.

A massive portion of this board is ignoring this fact.

Are many of his defensive metric this year a fabrication and/or irrelevant? His no doubt about it elite defensive performance vs Jokic in the playoffs too? Randle could only dream of playing this kind of D in recent years

Why are you ignoring this?

It's quite possible Minnesota feels comfortable with Towns at the five, surrounded by elite perimeter defenders—but lineups with Towns at the pivot haven't yielded the best results on defense. In Minnesota's most played lineup excluding Gobert, and Towns at the five, the Wolves gave up 122 points per 100 possessions—ranking in the 21st percentile.