Around the League: 2023-24 Season

[the_process]

Knicks improved, regardless of your feelings on KAT.

Randle needs the ball to be maximized just like Ant needs the ball, and he's a paint clogger, which also hurts Ant.

DDV helps them, but he's not a game changer or anything. And they only got one pick that is more likely than not to be 2nds? And they only saved about 9M??

Hate this for Minnesota.

I can't believe the Knicks conned Minnesota into this, and I'm not even really. a KAT fan.

[Jailblazers7]

Wow, Minnesota has their first WCF in 20 years and trade KAT. I thought he was critical to their defense against Jokic so I’ll be very curious to see how the roster evolves from here.

I’m torn on the Knicks portion of the trade. Obviously, Towns makes their offense much better and I think Towns is an underrated defender. Their identity as a tough, physical team is over tho. Historically, Embiid has dominated Towns but I’m not thrilled at the idea of Embiid guarding a stretch 5 for a whole series.

[76ciology]

The more I think about it, the Knicks likely made this move for versatility. They can go small with OG and KAT in the frontcourt or play big with KAT and Robinson. Having KAT also makes it easier to add another big, as they wouldn’t need a floor spacer due to KAT’s shooting ability. On the other hand, Randle might require a big who can space the floor, which is harder to find.

[Kobblehead]

Edwards and Towns didn't like eachother and it doesn't make sense for a team to try to work 3 Cs into their rotations so I understand why Minnesota made the move.

[youngcrev]

Edwards and Towns didn't like eachother and it doesn't make sense for a team to try to work 3 Cs into their rotations so I understand why Minnesota made the move.

To an extent, but money feels like the most obvious motivator here in terms of getting their long-term finances under control. It's been a major narrative during the ownership power struggle that they'd be looking to cut costs.

[youngcrev]

On the flip side, there's potential room for drama with the Thibs/Towns history, and who knows how the Nova guys feel about losing one of their own.

This also feels like about the time in the Thibs timeline where he starts to grind on his team and run his guys into the ground. Injuries start to stack up and everyone turns on him.

[youngcrev]

Is this where Julius Randle completes his story arc as the modern Zach Randolph? Grit and grind TWolves. Conley is even there.

[Murray_17]

Edwards and Towns didn't like eachother and it doesn't make sense for a team to try to work 3 Cs into their rotations so I understand why Minnesota made the move.

Edwards is great an all, but the real reason they were amazing last year was their 3 big man rotation.

[the_process]

The more I think about it, the Knicks likely made this move for versatility. They can go small with OG and KAT in the frontcourt or play big with KAT and Robinson. Having KAT also makes it easier to add another big, as they wouldn’t need a floor spacer due to KAT’s shooting ability. On the other hand, Randle might require a big who can space the floor, which is harder to find.

The Knicks did this to move off Randle, who is a clunky fit anywhere where he doesn’t get to dominate the ball.

Maybe it’s too harsh; but when you boil it down, Randle is basically a glorified Tobias.

Getting Towns in return is practically a coup. If Minny had sent Gobert instead, it would have made more sense for them IMO. And the Knicks would obviously still do that deal.

There is still another shoe to drop as far as what extra salary is going to Charlotte to make this deal work.

[Arsenal]

Don't nicks have to ship out Mitchell Robinson to make the money work? Losing him and having to rely only on Towns at Center will be a problem for them.

[FireMorey]

Sixers have the better roster than the Knicks and the Sixers still have at least one big move to make using KJ Martin+ and the Knicks are pretty much tapped out in terms of their roster. This is what they're riding with going forward. I'll take being in this position.

As usual, all comes down to Embiid's health.

[zaz102]

Don't nicks have to ship out Mitchell Robinson to make the money work? Losing him and having to rely only on Towns at Center will be a problem for them.

I don't they need to trade Robinson, but they still need to trade $4M+, so I think it's possible it could be Deuce McBride instead of Robinson.

Or they get really get creative and do a S&T with Charlie Brown like the other scrub they traded but that very seems unlikely.

[76ciology]

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[Ben]

Knicks improved, regardless of your feelings on KAT.

Randle needs the ball to be maximized just like Ant needs the ball, and he's a paint clogger, which also hurts Ant.

DDV helps them, but he's not a game changer or anything. And they only got one pick that is more likely than not to be 2nds? And they only saved about 9M??

Hate this for Minnesota.

I can't believe the Knicks conned Minnesota into this, and I'm not even really. a KAT fan.

Oh the Knicks almost certainly improved. People wonder about Thibs and KAT, but from what I can recall KAT had pretty much his best seasons (by stats and advanced stats) under Thibs. And now he might be old enough to understand what it takes to win.

For Minny, I never really got the KAT/ Gobert pairing, but it's puzzling to see them take on Randle. I agree with your other assessment about Randle being like a glorified Tobias. I wouldn't make that specific comparison-- I'd say more like maybe Blake Griffin's empty stats-- but I'm with you on the overall assessment of not-elite and/or worse than their stats might suggest.

If Thibs can get KAT to play some defense and mesh with the rest of the team, it'll be a very potent Knicks lineup. And how hard can it be to get a legit backup C, if they do wind up losing Mitchell Robinson? Besides, they should be crafty enough to find a way of keeping Robinson if they want to.

So now the pressure's back on Morey to do something with that KMart-centered potential package.

[GoSixersBro]

Shrewd move by the Knicks. No doubt in my mind we beat them had Randle played.

[ProcessDoctor]

Terrence Mann is now stealing money from the clippers.

[mjkvol]

On the surface this deal looks like highway robbery by the Knicks, who absolutely had to move off of Randle and get a guy who offensively fits like a glove and should be a potent P&R partner for Brunson. I'm just not sure this is a championship level group, and it had better be because the Knicks appear locked in here for the near future.

The Knicks identity was the street brawling, physical, defense oriented group who thrived in the playoffs last year, a classic Thibs type team. They lost a lot of that physical presence and attitude with Hartenstein and now DiVincenzo gone, and I'm not sure Bridges and KAT are the type of needle movers to take them to the next level. We'll see.

From the MIN point of view, they needed to move KAT, and Randle is cheaper and they are only obligated to him for two years, which will make him much easier to move if he doesn't click. He is a better version of Tobias, and does give them a creator aside from Edwards, and DiVincenzo will fit here like a glove. It's Ant's team now anyway, and getting rid of KAT's contract will allow them some flexibility moving forward they wouldn't have had.

[Mik317]

idk what drugs I was on but I thought Randle was like 38% 3pt shooter lol

man barely hits 30%

wtf lol

[Sixerscan]

idk what drugs I was on but I thought Randle was like 38% 3pt shooter lol

man barely hits 30%

wtf lol

He shot really well that one year

He's kind of like Oubre where he's a better shooter than that but he takes so many stupid ones.

[phillynative]

Stretch 5 gets Embiid out the paint on defense ,just will make it tougher to contain Brunson. None of our 4s have rim protection ability. What helps is we are a bigger, more physical team than last season .