Things I learned from Summer League Interviews

[will34]

Wow really really really insightful stuff. Thanks for posting it. Pretty funny to hear them say they know how bad their SL team is. Thanks again.

[frothbrain]

One of the few threads in this forum worth reading.

[Jay10]

3. They see him as 100% the star of the franchise, beyond even Carmelo Anthony. As soon as this year, they hope to start to transition the team to being Porzingis' team.

Especially after this [tweet]https://twitter.com/carmeloanthony/status/750400552165597185[/tweet] and Wade having a player option next summer.

Carmelo may ask for a trade to the Cavs, being that his friends are all going to be free agents next summer.

[JBreezeNY]

PEEP THE SIG.

OUR SON HAS COOKIES!!!!!!!!!!!!

KP this your team boy, boy.

A lot of interesting to tidbits, the Grant thing was interesting. So it's something me & others peeped (Capn, GONYK) that he was trash early and he had no future with the team even with him playing decent later in the season.

We already took a shot on one injured guy and Melo isn't always healthy either. Why would we add a walking injury to the mix?"

Lmaooooooooooooooooo that bluntness. Love you Melo, EG you cool but that's facts.

[will34]

3. They see him as 100% the star of the franchise, beyond even Carmelo Anthony. As soon as this year, they hope to start to transition the team to being Porzingis' team.

Especially after this [tweet]https://twitter.com/carmeloanthony/status/750400552165597185[/tweet] and Wade having a player option next summer.

Carmelo may ask for a trade to the Cavs, being that his friends are all going to be free agents next summer.

Ya I was thinking about that yesterday. That would probably get NYK Kyrie though..

[JBreezeNY]

3. They see him as 100% the star of the franchise, beyond even Carmelo Anthony. As soon as this year, they hope to start to transition the team to being Porzingis' team.

Especially after this [tweet]https://twitter.com/carmeloanthony/status/750400552165597185[/tweet] and Wade having a player option next summer.

Carmelo may ask for a trade to the Cavs, being that his friends are all going to be free agents next summer.

That would be cool.

We're in a win/win.

Porz gets to develop and learn what winning is while going after a ring but in the off chance Melo wants out Porz will still be surrounded by really good players & he'll be the star.

I'd like to see Melo here for one year maybe two, if we haven't won a ring after that second year then he should seriously think about going to the Cavs, Knicks fans won't be mad at all.

[moocow007]

A Celtic fan that Knicks fans can love? Impossible!

Spoiler:

[NoLayupRule]

Hey all!

Not sure how much you follow along the other boards, but I've been at Orlando Summer League all week. I had the chance to talk to a lot of people with the Knicks over the week and today got about 5 minutes with Phil Jackson and Steve Mills. Previously I talked to Jeff Hornacek and Kristaps Porzingis as well. Here are some of the notes I got from various people associated with the team. Not all of them are from the previously referenced guys.

this is amazing stuff man
thanks so much for sharing it

[KnicksGadfly]

NYPost and DailyNews, please pay attention. I got more information and in a succinct manner, from a Basketball forum mod from a team other than the Knicks, as a result of a 5 minute interview during summer league. WSJ, keep doing what you do.

You know someone is gonna quote this as "sauces" soon

[AllanH20]

Thanks, good insight and appreciate you sharing it. Specifically the Jerian Grant info was interesting to me.

That was obvious all along but a lot of people on this board didn't pick up on it because they badly want another young player to go along with Porzingis. I mean..Phil went out of his way to basically call him sh*t at the end of the season

Also, he's nearly 24, can't shoot, and isn't the smartest guy on the court.

[Strick]

Thank you very much for posting. That KP part especially has me more than ready for the NBA season

[AmazingJason]

Thank you very much for posting. That KP part especially has me more than ready for the NBA season

Me too.

Sounds like KP about to beast.

18/8

.

[CJackson]

Thank you very much for posting. That KP part especially has me more than ready for the NBA season

Me too.

Sounds like KP about to beast.

18/8

.

20/10 with 3 blocks

[Jtoocheap]

Smitty this is awesome stuff. Thanks so much for taking the time to post it. I really liked the Grant/Rolo stuff.

[NY2TheBay]

Thanks, good insight and appreciate you sharing it. Specifically the Jerian Grant info was interesting to me.

That was obvious all along but a lot of people on this board didn't pick up on it because they badly want another young player to go along with Porzingis. I mean..Phil went out of his way to basically call him sh*t at the end of the season

Also, he's nearly 24, can't shoot, and isn't the smartest guy on the court.

Here is what I found interesting;

I won't name the person who said it but they said, "That was Phil's pick. Dude loves big PGs and reached. And we realized by the end of Summer League last year."

In bold for you.

He sat behind calderon one of the worst starting PG's in recent memory, I wasnt touting this guy as the future by the end of the season. People on the staff knew at the end of the summer league, which wasn't "obvious all along". That's what was interesting. You and whoever else that want to act like they knew by the end of summer league last year can send me the next lotto numbers.

[AllanH20]

Thanks, good insight and appreciate you sharing it. Specifically the Jerian Grant info was interesting to me.

That was obvious all along but a lot of people on this board didn't pick up on it because they badly want another young player to go along with Porzingis. I mean..Phil went out of his way to basically call him sh*t at the end of the season

Also, he's nearly 24, can't shoot, and isn't the smartest guy on the court.

Here is what I found interesting;

I won't name the person who said it but they said, "That was Phil's pick. Dude loves big PGs and reached. And we realized by the end of Summer League last year."

In bold for you.

He sat behind calderon one of the worst starting PG's in recent memory, I wasnt touting this guy as the future by the end of the season. People on the staff knew at the end of the summer league last year, which wasn't "obvious all along". That's what was interesting. You and whoever else want to act like they knew by the end of summer league last year can send me the next lotto numbers.

Na, I meant by the end of the season when Phil said that Grant wouldn't have helped the team if he played a lot at the beginning of the year because he was sh*t.

I thought he looked ok in summer league, they probably realized that he can't hit an NBA three to save his life and that he''s too dumb to pick up the triangle.

[cldbld]

The best write up I've seen in forever. Thanks

[Da_Mane_Man]

Hey all!

Not sure how much you follow along the other boards, but I've been at Orlando Summer League all week. I had the chance to talk to a lot of people with the Knicks over the week and today got about 5 minutes with Phil Jackson and Steve Mills. Previously I talked to Jeff Hornacek and Kristaps Porzingis as well. Here are some of the notes I got from various people associated with the team. Not all of them are from the previously referenced guys.

Not all of this may be super newsworthy or anything, but all felt good enough to share.

If you have specific questions, please quote me so I'll be sure to see it.

1. Porzingis is ridiculously big in person up close. And he's all arms and legs. People are not meant to be built like he is.

2. He really wanted to play for Latvia in the Olympic qualifier and the team shut it down pretty quickly. So, he asked to play Summer League and they shut that down even quicker. But the team loves his desire to play and work. They have to make him leave the gym.

3. They see him as 100% the star of the franchise, beyond even Carmelo Anthony. As soon as this year, they hope to start to transition the team to being Porzingis' team.

4. Expect to see Rose and Jennings play together some. Hornacek had really good success with that in Phoenix with Dragic and Bledsoe and likes the options it provides. He's really excited to draw up sets that feature multiple dribble drives and Porzinigis diving to the rim. Hornacek had great success with Miles Plumlee as a diver/roler and see Porzingis as about 100x better.

5. The usage of the triangle is still something Phil wants. As often said, the triangle to him is bigger than just a basketball thing. But the understanding was that Hornacek would not be forced to use the triangle. Elements of it, but not solely it. He has stuff he likes and you can already see the roster being constructed that way.

6. They feel like they will be very hard to score on inside with Noah and Porzingis. And they intend to play Thomas a lot to further extend the defense.

7. A big part of signing Noah was his passing and ball handling ability. They see his ability execute DHOs and screens as a huge key to getting Rose free and getting Anthony shots.

8. It was very hard for them to give up Robin Lopez. They loved everything he did for them and his fit with Porzingis. But, as the quote was, "you have to give something to get something and we feel like Rose was someone we had to get."

9. They weren't so sad to see Jerian Grant go. I won't name the person who said it but they said, "That was Phil's pick. Dude loves big PGs and reached. And we realized by the end of Summer League last year."

10. The team is really excited for Hernangomez and Kuzminskas. They feel like both are athletic and tough and will pair well up front with Porzingis.

11. Courtney Lee was the SG they wanted all along. They said the Eric Gordon rumors were "bullsh*t. We already took a shot on one injured guy and Melo isn't always healthy either. Why would we add a walking injury to the mix?"

12. The team was bummed to lose Galloway. They loved the kid, but had to make some tough choices with the cap.

13. And finally, don't be surprised to see Ron Baker get a camp invite and to make the team as an undrafted rookie. He's been pretty good in Orlando and repeatedly I was told "he just plays the right way all the time. All the time. It doesn't translate here (Summer League) because this is bullsh*t basketball. But this guy can play. He'll be in the league."

Bonus: They openly admit they may have the worst Summer League team ever and that most of their guys have no shot at the NBA.

So, again, not really anything earth shattering maybe, but some stuff I heard that I wanted to share.

wow, really fantastic info man. much appreciated.

Curious about some things:

1. did they mention anything about Noah mentoring KP and his attitude hopefully rubbing off a little?
2. does Phil realize that he reached for Grant, or was that someone else saying that?
3. what did they like so much about Galloway? cause he tailed off pretty hard at the end last year.
4. did they say if they see Baker as a PG or SG?

again, thanks so much for posting this. awesome insights.

[NY2TheBay]

That was obvious all along but a lot of people on this board didn't pick up on it because they badly want another young player to go along with Porzingis. I mean..Phil went out of his way to basically call him sh*t at the end of the season

Also, he's nearly 24, can't shoot, and isn't the smartest guy on the court.

Here is what I found interesting;

I won't name the person who said it but they said, "That was Phil's pick. Dude loves big PGs and reached. And we realized by the end of Summer League last year."

In bold for you.

He sat behind calderon one of the worst starting PG's in recent memory, I wasnt touting this guy as the future by the end of the season. People on the staff knew at the end of the summer league last year, which wasn't "obvious all along". That's what was interesting. You and whoever else want to act like they knew by the end of summer league last year can send me the next lotto numbers.

Na, I meant by the end of the season when Phil said that Grant wouldn't have helped the team if he played a lot at the beginning of the year because he was sh*t.

I thought he looked ok in summer league, they probably realized that he couldn't hit an NBA three to save his life.

I know what you meant.

The truth is what I found interesting nobody knew other than staff at the time. You didnt find this interesting?

[GONYK]

Thanks, good insight and appreciate you sharing it. Specifically the Jerian Grant info was interesting to me.

That was obvious all along but a lot of people on this board didn't pick up on it because they badly want another young player to go along with Porzingis. I mean..Phil went out of his way to basically call him sh*t at the end of the season

Also, he's nearly 24, can't shoot, and isn't the smartest guy on the court.

Here is what I found interesting;

I won't name the person who said it but they said, "That was Phil's pick. Dude loves big PGs and reached. And we realized by the end of Summer League last year."

In bold for you.

He sat behind calderon one of the worst starting PG's in recent memory, I wasnt touting this guy as the future by the end of the season. People on the staff knew at the end of the summer league, which wasn't "obvious all along". That's what was interesting. You and whoever else that want to act like they knew by the end of summer league last year can send me the next lotto numbers.

I think what is even more interesting is that this person said that Phil loves point guards.

This board swore up and down that he didn't care for them, and had no interest in improving the position.