2024-25 Season Discussion and Speculation Part IV

[Ghost of Kleine]

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Obviously, as tough as the Knicks are, it's clear that they have no chance of beating those top teams as currently constructed. So, they're going to need to make a big move to have a legit chance in the Eastern conference to be a title contender.


Should we be adding them to a potential KD trade premise as well if the Suns wake up and move him? What could should we get back if we traded him to New York this summer though?

[Ghost of Kleine]

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[Ghost of Kleine]

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As I and some others have been saying, The flakers trade of AD for Luka was clearly tampering and collusion. The trade should be investigated and rescinded and the flakers should be penalized for the next couple of years. BUT or course the league itself helped orchestrate this and will make sure the flakers are always sustainable and propped up!

[Ghost of Kleine]

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Any point in possibly considering Richardson?

[Blonde]

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Any point in possibly considering Richardson?

I don’t think another SG/undersized wing is changing our fortunes.

[bwgood77]

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Pretty crazy how good Norman Powell has been. I had him in fantasy before because I thought he was a good add when George left and Kawhi was out, but I dropped him like the idiot that I am.

[bwgood77]

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Obviously, as tough as the Knicks are, it's clear that they have no chance of beating those top teams as currently constructed. So, they're going to need to make a big move to have a legit chance in the Eastern conference to be a title contender.


Should we be adding them to a potential KD trade premise as well if the Suns wake up and move him? What could should we get back if we traded him to New York this summer though?

I mean as ridiculous as it sounds, I'd probably trade him straight up for Bridges, however, we should obviously get a little better offers than that (though I don't see KD getting 4 1sts). But OG would be good too.

BUT, I think that team is still young. They may not seem super young, but overall they are a lot younger than Boston. Their starters are all between 27 and 29. Boston has Tatum at 26, but Brown is 28, KP 29 but injury prone, White 30, and Jrue 34 (Horford 38).

Basically I think the Knicks are built to be good the next 5 years. If I'm them I don't give up a key piece of that lineup for KD who has 1 or 2 years left. That Knicks team was just put together. Let them play together for awhile they are probably better than Boston anyway.

Cavs are a little younger though. Mobley is 23 and the rest of their squad is between 25 and 28. They will be the Knicks main competition in 2-3 years I think.

I think Minnesota makes sense like you mentioned. They really need someone. They don't quite have enough offense and Gobert is getting old. They can still re-set with Ant if they try to make a run with KD next year. KD may not want Minny but he has 1 year. Would they do it like Toronto did with Kawhi?

[sunsbg]

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Obviously, as tough as the Knicks are, it's clear that they have no chance of beating those top teams as currently constructed. So, they're going to need to make a big move to have a legit chance in the Eastern conference to be a title contender.


Should we be adding them to a potential KD trade premise as well if the Suns wake up and move him? What could should we get back if we traded him to New York this summer though?

I never got the Knicks hype so didn't include them in my championship bets. No true number one with Towns being targeted on D as seen in last game vs Celtics. Think about it - Shamet and Cam Payne are most of their bench lol.

If we can get Mikal and two unprotected picks(2030-32) back for KD, it's a win.

[Djedefre]

Regarding Booker:

He really was a special thing for us and brought us more than a few good things over the years. Especially when you consider he came at the very end of the lottery and took his first pro steps in one of the most dysfunctional and poorly run franchises in the history of the sport. He improved a lot adding many things to his arsenal that no one knew or expected he could, playing for Kentucky. In just a few years, he became one of the best scorers in this league.

Also, as good as he is, he couldn't turn into a locomotive that Jokic, Luka or Bron are, because of his playmaking limitations. And that is fine, those guys are very very special. And rare. One should not hate or blame him for not being in the top15 on the goat list straight up. Our FO had the chance to surround him with complementary players and failed in the vast majority of cases. In the few ones they didn't he wasn't good enough to bring us the title. This past few years showed not only the bball talent limitation, but also the character-based one - he simply didn't care too much about those losses and failures, you could see that it's not bothering him all that much.

It's nice that he wants to stay here for his entire career. Feels like a display of loyalty and it very well could be, but then again he can never get the same money elsewhere, given that we drafted him. Aside from that, you can argue that if he is content to play here no matter the competitiveness of the team, it's yet another argument in favor of viewing him as not exactly a fierce competitor, fired-up and hungry for proving himself and winning chips.

Some would say that it's not necessary to trade him now, that he can stay here as one of the pillars of our next project. But there are two problems with that - the first one is the sad fact that with all those ridiculous moves our new owner made we no longer have any good options to revive this franchise and only cashing Booker as prolly our most valuable asset can help us pull through: the second one is that (as mentioned above) he does not have the fire nor raw talent to lead us to future finals trips so the management has the obligation to find one who can. Will it be through draft or trade for a legit superstar in his prime, only future should tell.

But i really think this summer is the last chance to stop the decay and prevent a guaranteed 10 years of pure mediocrity and irrelevance. Opting for a rebuild is also going to take some time to assemble a PO product, but that way we may also have a chance to really become contenders at the end. As things are right now, with this hectic approach it's certain we won't ever become a legit contender.

[sunsbg]

Put simply Suns have Lillard Blazers future if Booker stays.

[Saberestar]

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[TeamTragic]

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Why is this trade still pending?

[Ghost of Kleine]

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Any point in possibly considering Richardson?

I don’t think another SG/undersized wing is changing our fortunes.

Yeah, I was thinking more about the possibility of him maybe replacing D Lee or something like that, giving us another ball handling wing with good size and 3 & D versatility that may not be an upgrade to our wing position.


But again could give us another low risk bench ballhandling guard wing option that could still defend and hit some threes perhaps?

[Ghost of Kleine]

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Why is this trade still pending?

How funny and ironic would it be if the league also somehow for some insane reason rescinded our trade and Nurkic had to come back here again?

[Ghost of Kleine]

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Obviously, as tough as the Knicks are, it's clear that they have no chance of beating those top teams as currently constructed. So, they're going to need to make a big move to have a legit chance in the Eastern conference to be a title contender.


Should we be adding them to a potential KD trade premise as well if the Suns wake up and move him? What could should we get back if we traded him to New York this summer though?

I never got the Knicks hype so didn't include them in my championship bets. No true number one with Towns being targeted on D as seen in last game vs Celtics. Think about it - Shamet and Cam Payne are most of their bench lol.

If we can get Mikal and two unprotected picks(2030-32) back for KD, it's a win.

That's kind of what I was leaning towards! Getting Mikal back I believe would help in multiple areas not only with the vibes, but it also with giving us a very good defensive duo between him and Dunn.


It would somewhat restore a younger core for us too. And maybe we nostalgically look at trying to somehow get Johnson back and at least somewhat undo the KD trade in this premise? Not ideal, buy could be a lot more encouraging for our future. Especially if we're intent on keeping Booker here!

[Saberestar]

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Why is this trade still pending?

How funny and ironic would it be if the league also somehow for some insane reason rescinded our trade and Nurkic had to come back here again?

That would be some bad news, I don't like the vibes about it.

[Slim Charless]

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We're getting a haul for him. Despite what posters here think.

JDubb is not at all a crazy ask, depending on how things turn out for the Thunder.

[BobbieL]

Put simply Suns have Lillard Blazers future if Booker stays.

Pretty much - good comparison

Needs to be traded this summer

[Saberestar]

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Any point in possibly considering Richardson?

I don’t think another SG/undersized wing is changing our fortunes.

Yeah, I was thinking more about the possibility of him maybe replacing D Lee or something like that, giving us another ball handling wing with good size and 3 & D versatility that may not be an upgrade to our wing position.


But again could give us another low risk bench ballhandling guard wing option that could still defend and hit some threes perhaps?

Josh Richardson has played in just 8 games this season. 4 points and 1.5 boards. He has had multiple injuries and he isn’t an upgrade over anyone at this point of his career. Hard pass.

[Ghost of Kleine]

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Obviously, as tough as the Knicks are, it's clear that they have no chance of beating those top teams as currently constructed. So, they're going to need to make a big move to have a legit chance in the Eastern conference to be a title contender.


Should we be adding them to a potential KD trade premise as well if the Suns wake up and move him? What could should we get back if we traded him to New York this summer though?

I mean as ridiculous as it sounds, I'd probably trade him straight up for Bridges, however, we should obviously get a little better offers than that (though I don't see KD getting 4 1sts). But OG would be good too.

BUT, I think that team is still young. They may not seem super young, but overall they are a lot younger than Boston. Their starters are all between 27 and 29. Boston has Tatum at 26, but Brown is 28, KP 29 but injury prone, White 30, and Jrue 34 (Horford 38).

Basically I think the Knicks are built to be good the next 5 years. If I'm them I don't give up a key piece of that lineup for KD who has 1 or 2 years left. That Knicks team was just put together. Let them play together for awhile they are probably better than Boston anyway.

Cavs are a little younger though. Mobley is 23 and the rest of their squad is between 25 and 28. They will be the Knicks main competition in 2-3 years I think.

I think Minnesota makes sense as you mentioned. They really need someone. They don't quite have enough offense and Gobert is getting old. They can still re-set with Ant if they try to make a run with KD next year. KD may not want Minny but he has 1 year. Would they do it like Toronto did with Kawhi?

I'd like to get back at least a package of Randle/ Reid/ Dillingham/ two 1sts. Although it'd be pretty complicated with BOTH Randle and Naz Reid having player options. Then we'd have to wait until after the draft for them to be resigned in free agency and do the trade around the deadline next season. Then it'd look something like Randle/ Reid/ Minot/ Miller (or Shannon Jr/ Miller/ light picks? Maybe their 32' 1st and some 2nds? But currently, their pick situation sucks too. San Antonio actually holds the "most favorable" swap rights for BOTH of Minne's 2030' 1st (top 1 protected) and Dallas' 2030' 1st unprotected!!!!

Even though I really love the idea of Randle and Reid as frontcourt options for us and I hate the Spurs almost as much as I hate the Flakers, I think the draft pick detail for 2030 is just too enticing, and it might sway me to strongly consider trading KD to the Spurs with emphasis on targeting that 2030' 1st along with a package of Vassell/ Sochan/ Barnes/ ATL 27 1st (No protections)/ 2030 Minne or Dallas swap rights "Most favorable". Also, in a player-based package return, what were your thoughts on my Denver-based premise of KD for Porter Jr/ Westbrook/ Saric/ Braun/ Holmes/ Tyson? Denver doesn't really have any picks to give in a trade due to Stepien conditions. BUT, I'd figure the player package would be very solid and competitive for a 37 yr old KD.

Porter Jr would somewhat replace KD's scoring role at the 3/4 spot. Westbrook could be our tenacious starting stop-gap guard, allowing Booker to focus on scoring. Saric could be our floor spacing backup small ball 4/5 option off the bench, Christian Braun would be our younger, cheaper Grayson Allen replacement (allowing us to trade him and recoup a 1st or two from some team? Day'ron Holmes would be our younger, cheaper more athletic backup 4/5 option. Kind of a bargain version of Naz Reid/ Bobby Portis off the bench. And Hunter Tyson could be another young trade chip or could be used to upgrade from D Lee as our 3rd string 6'8 athletic shooting guard/small forward.