Trades and Transactions Thread Cont'd - Where the Center At?

[stuporman]

Wait...OKC signed iHart for $30milper to come off the bench?

[NiceLikeChrist]

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Not good news at all Folkssssssssss!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

How is he not completely healed yet??!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

he took the pay cut because he knows his hand is cooked and he would've never gotten that big contract at the end of the season. it's so over

[thebuzzardman]

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Not good news at all Folkssssssssss!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

How is he not completely healed yet??!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

he took the pay cut because he knows his hand is cooked and he would've never gotten that big contract at the end of the season. it's so over

Mark Jackson identifies more as an Indiana Pacer, the far more superior team, so he's comfortable exposing the tiny fraud Brunson, leader of the subpar NY Vilainovans

[Chanel Bomber]

That's it.

The Nets will draft Cooper Flagg, Cameron Boozer, the next Wembanyama and the next GOAT MJ Burks Jr with our unprotected draft picks and pick swaps.

[R-DAWG]

Randle has been a great regular season player who has struggled in the postseason. Hence the middle of the rotation innings eater. He grinds you through the regular season but you can't count on him at the biggest moments.

Look - we need regular season Randle to show up in the playoffs if we have any shot of making a deep playoff run.

He doesn't need to be at 25/26 ppg anymore but like those stats show and factoring in Bridges....20 pts a game on higher efficiency , 10 reb and about 6 APG.... that is well within his potential in this offense.

Randle wants 5/310

Jokes on you if you actually believe Randle is going to try and “fit in”

The Knicks need Randle and Randle needs the Knicks.

Randle won’t get all the money he wants and the Knicks will likely paying more than they want.

The hope is that Randle does an opt in and extend to give the team flexibility under the 2nd apron next summer.

At the end of the day, I see Randle doing an opt in and extend for 3 years and around 40-45MM per year average annual value - total extension between 150-165MM.

[R-DAWG]

That's it.

The Nets will draft Cooper Flagg, Cameron Boozer, the next Wembanyama and the next GOAT MJ Burks Jr with our unprotected draft picks and pick swaps.

No one has been more critical about the trade than I have been, but outside of a catastrophic injury I don’t see this happening.

I think the most likely outcome is that the next 5 seasons sees the Knicks finishing in the top 3 of the East twice, the top 6 twice with one disappointing and/or injury driven year as a play-in team. For context - this is Brunson’s age 28-32 seasons.

To me, the downside of the trade is not having a path to pair Burnson with another elite player and not having a roster good enough to win a title, not turning into the 2016-2018 Nets.

[thebuzzardman]

That's it.

The Nets will draft Cooper Flagg, Cameron Boozer, the next Wembanyama and the next GOAT MJ Burks Jr with our unprotected draft picks and pick swaps.

That's right. And the Knicks will be stuck in mediocrity with the terrible college buddies, all because Leon Rose feels some strange affinity for the Brunson family.

Knicks will be the Cleveland Cavs to the Jordan Bulls, only not as good, because the Vilainovans are ultimately just role players, Julius is a headcase and Mitch is always fat and injured. OG will have a career ending injury.

Brunson can't hold Mark Price's jockstrap though. Randle no Nance. Clearly Mitch isn't Brad Dougherty.


Mikal isn't even better than Craig Ehlo.

[thebuzzardman]

Wait...OKC signed iHart for $30milper to come off the bench?

And yet he's still better than every C and PF on the Knicks.

Terrible GM'ing.

[R-DAWG]

That's it.

The Nets will draft Cooper Flagg, Cameron Boozer, the next Wembanyama and the next GOAT MJ Burks Jr with our unprotected draft picks and pick swaps.

That's right. And the Knicks will be stuck in mediocrity with the terrible college buddies, all because Leon Rose feels some strange affinity for the Brunson family.

Knicks will be the Cleveland Cavs to the Jordan Bulls, only not as good, because the Vilainovans are ultimately just role players, Julius is a headcase and Mitch is always fat and injured. OG will have a career ending injury.

Brunson can't hold Mark Price's jockstrap though. Randle no Nance. Clearly Mitch isn't Brad Dougherty.


Mikal isn't even better than Craig Ehlo.

Or the 2025-20231 Knicks will be the 1996-2001 Knicks (I picked 1996 as the starting point as that’s the year they added Houston/LJ).

That team had a few years as a top 4 playoff team, with a few years as a 7-8 seed due to injury. Over a 6 year period, they made the playoffs every year - losing in the first round only once while making the finals one year and the conference finals one other time.

96 - top 4 seed, lost in 2nd rd
97 - top 4 seed, lost in 2nd rd
98 - 7th seed (Ewing injury) - lost in 2nd rd
99 - 8th seed (lockout season) - lost in finals
2000 - top 4 seed - lost in conference finals
01 - top 4 seed - lost in 1st rd

Nothing wrong with this kind of run - it was a lot of fun and created a lot of memories.

I just think the Knicks could have achieved a similar run without giving up all their flexibility for Bridges.

[thebuzzardman]

That's it.

The Nets will draft Cooper Flagg, Cameron Boozer, the next Wembanyama and the next GOAT MJ Burks Jr with our unprotected draft picks and pick swaps.

That's right. And the Knicks will be stuck in mediocrity with the terrible college buddies, all because Leon Rose feels some strange affinity for the Brunson family.

Knicks will be the Cleveland Cavs to the Jordan Bulls, only not as good, because the Vilainovans are ultimately just role players, Julius is a headcase and Mitch is always fat and injured. OG will have a career ending injury.

Brunson can't hold Mark Price's jockstrap though. Randle no Nance. Clearly Mitch isn't Brad Dougherty.


Mikal isn't even better than Craig Ehlo.

Or the 2025-20231 Knicks will be the 1996-2001 Knicks (I picked 1996 as the starting point as that’s the year they added Houston/LJ).

That team had a few years as a top 4 playoff team, with a few years as a 7-8 seed due to injury. Over a 6 year period, they made the playoffs every year - losing in the first round only once while making the finals one year and the conference finals one other time.

96 - top 4 seed, lost in 2nd rd
97 - top 4 seed, lost in 2nd rd
98 - 7th seed (Ewing injury) - lost in 2nd rd
99 - 8th seed (lockout season) - lost in finals
2000 - top 4 seed - lost in conference finals
01 - top 4 seed - lost in 1st rd

Nothing wrong with this kind of run - it was a lot of fun and created a lot of memories.

I just think the Knicks could have achieved a similar run without giving up all their flexibility for Bridges.

Knicks are a distant 2nd to the mighty Pacers so all of this is moot.

[Lord Commander]

What the hell did I stumble into? Has this turned into the pessimist thread? LOLLL

[3toheadmelo]

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[3toheadmelo]

Dedicated to agg0

Too many people have perpetuated a misinformed idea this offseason: That the Knicks were better after Randle got hurt in 2023-24.

That wasn’t true.

They won 63 percent of the games Randle played. They won 58 percent of the ones he didn’t. The story supposedly goes that the offense flowed better without the three-time All-Star, that ball movement thrived and that cutting prevailed. But while the Knicks did change their style, it didn’t necessarily lead to more dominant results. The offense was still 5.8 points per 100 possessions better when Randle was on the court last season, according to Cleaning the Glass.

[3toheadmelo]

Fred Katz saying Mikal is below Randle in the hierarchy of ball handling, as he should be.

What does Mikal Bridges’ offensive role look like?

There is a world where Brunson’s scoring dips this season — and not because he got any worse over the summer.

The Knicks don’t just have more mouths to feed than they did during their season of attrition. They also have more skill across the perimeter. They can show off looks they couldn’t in 2023-24. And that begins with their biggest addition of the offseason: Bridges.

Somewhere inside Madison Square Garden is a happy medium for a wing who has been either under or overextended throughout his seven-year career.

Bridges began with the Phoenix Suns, where he was often the fourth option on offense, hidden behind Chris Paul, Devin Booker and Deandre Ayton. The situation turned him into a spot-up threat and cutter, hitting catch-and-shoot 3s and slicing behind defenders who concentrated too much on the ball instead of him.

His role traversed in the other direction once he traveled cross country, heading to the Brooklyn Nets in the trade that sent away Kevin Durant. All of a sudden, Bridges was a No. 1 option. And he put together stretches when he shined in that spotlight, including a two-month heater after first arriving on the other side of the river. But a year and a half with the Nets proved that Bridges can’t prop an offense all by himself.

There is an in-between to be found. The Knicks will search for it.

He might receive the chance to run bench units in New York, which could hand him more facilitating opportunities. He has improved as a passer since the Phoenix days. But Brunson is above him on the ballhandling hierarchy, as is Randle.

Do the Knicks use the Donte DiVincenzo package for him, getting him moving off the ball and helping him open up passing lanes to the corners for unguarded 3-pointers? Do they lean into Brunson-Bridges pick-and-rolls? Does he run ones with Randle? Either could be the ballhandler in those scenarios. Do they stagger Bridges so he runs the bench unit?

[TheGreenArrow]

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Typical selfish melo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Capn'O]

Fred Katz saying Mikal is below Randle in the hierarchy of ball handling, as he should be.

What does Mikal Bridges’ offensive role look like?

There is a world where Brunson’s scoring dips this season — and not because he got any worse over the summer.

The Knicks don’t just have more mouths to feed than they did during their season of attrition. They also have more skill across the perimeter. They can show off looks they couldn’t in 2023-24. And that begins with their biggest addition of the offseason: Bridges.

Somewhere inside Madison Square Garden is a happy medium for a wing who has been either under or overextended throughout his seven-year career.

Bridges began with the Phoenix Suns, where he was often the fourth option on offense, hidden behind Chris Paul, Devin Booker and Deandre Ayton. The situation turned him into a spot-up threat and cutter, hitting catch-and-shoot 3s and slicing behind defenders who concentrated too much on the ball instead of him.

His role traversed in the other direction once he traveled cross country, heading to the Brooklyn Nets in the trade that sent away Kevin Durant. All of a sudden, Bridges was a No. 1 option. And he put together stretches when he shined in that spotlight, including a two-month heater after first arriving on the other side of the river. But a year and a half with the Nets proved that Bridges can’t prop an offense all by himself.

There is an in-between to be found. The Knicks will search for it.

He might receive the chance to run bench units in New York, which could hand him more facilitating opportunities. He has improved as a passer since the Phoenix days. But Brunson is above him on the ballhandling hierarchy, as is Randle.

Do the Knicks use the Donte DiVincenzo package for him, getting him moving off the ball and helping him open up passing lanes to the corners for unguarded 3-pointers? Do they lean into Brunson-Bridges pick-and-rolls? Does he run ones with Randle? Either could be the ballhandler in those scenarios. Do they stagger Bridges so he runs the bench unit?

He likely is behind Randle but he might not be.

Something I was thinking about yesterday is we really do have a ton of scoring. OG is now the 4th option and he's not a bad scorer himself. Then you have guys like Deuce, DDV, Hart, and Payne. In that line of thinking, a guy like Olynyk who can really move the ball, defend, rebound, and space could be an exceptional addition. We don't need our 5 to score. We need consummate role players there. Zach Collins, Looney, and Jaylin Williams are other guys we should be inquiring about, just in terms of ticking several of the above boxes.

[Knicksfan1992]

Funny thing is if the Knicks have Melo for that Heat series, things may go differently. Game 6 basically no one could make a shot besides Brunson and J Hart. Have to think Melo would have, at the very least, been able to be a good floor spacer for us even if we all knew what his defensive deficiencies are. Just the year before he averaged 13 ppg on a 58% TS. He could have given that Knicks team 10-15 minutes of good scoring.

[3toheadmelo]

Fred Katz saying Mikal is below Randle in the hierarchy of ball handling, as he should be.

What does Mikal Bridges’ offensive role look like?

There is a world where Brunson’s scoring dips this season — and not because he got any worse over the summer.

The Knicks don’t just have more mouths to feed than they did during their season of attrition. They also have more skill across the perimeter. They can show off looks they couldn’t in 2023-24. And that begins with their biggest addition of the offseason: Bridges.

Somewhere inside Madison Square Garden is a happy medium for a wing who has been either under or overextended throughout his seven-year career.

Bridges began with the Phoenix Suns, where he was often the fourth option on offense, hidden behind Chris Paul, Devin Booker and Deandre Ayton. The situation turned him into a spot-up threat and cutter, hitting catch-and-shoot 3s and slicing behind defenders who concentrated too much on the ball instead of him.

His role traversed in the other direction once he traveled cross country, heading to the Brooklyn Nets in the trade that sent away Kevin Durant. All of a sudden, Bridges was a No. 1 option. And he put together stretches when he shined in that spotlight, including a two-month heater after first arriving on the other side of the river. But a year and a half with the Nets proved that Bridges can’t prop an offense all by himself.

There is an in-between to be found. The Knicks will search for it.

He might receive the chance to run bench units in New York, which could hand him more facilitating opportunities. He has improved as a passer since the Phoenix days. But Brunson is above him on the ballhandling hierarchy, as is Randle.

Do the Knicks use the Donte DiVincenzo package for him, getting him moving off the ball and helping him open up passing lanes to the corners for unguarded 3-pointers? Do they lean into Brunson-Bridges pick-and-rolls? Does he run ones with Randle? Either could be the ballhandler in those scenarios. Do they stagger Bridges so he runs the bench unit?

He likely is behind Randle but he might not be.

Something I was thinking about yesterday is we really do have a ton of scoring. OG is now the 4th option and he's not a bad scorer himself. Then you have guys like Deuce, DDV, Hart, and Payne. In that line of thinking, a guy like Olynyk who can really move the ball, defend, rebound, and space could be an exceptional addition. We don't need our 5 to score. We need consummate role players there. Zach Collins and Jaylin Williams are other guys we should be inquiring about, just in terms of ticking several of the above boxes.

i just don't see the Knicks trying to force Mikal into that Nets role. He's gonna be in the middle of what he was on the Suns and on the Nets. That's like a Middleton type player which is very good. Forcing him into that Nets role isn't gonna end well.

We need a 5 who isn't clogging the paint on offense and can also protect the rim. Hartenstein was pretty much that guy. Not sure about Olynyk and Collins since they're pretty bad rim protetors. We need a Brook Lopez, Myles Turner, type of big. But I doubt we can get them. For now I would just roll out small ball lineups with Randle at the 5 or experiment with Precious at the 5.

[Capn'O]

Fred Katz saying Mikal is below Randle in the hierarchy of ball handling, as he should be.

He likely is behind Randle but he might not be.

Something I was thinking about yesterday is we really do have a ton of scoring. OG is now the 4th option and he's not a bad scorer himself. Then you have guys like Deuce, DDV, Hart, and Payne. In that line of thinking, a guy like Olynyk who can really move the ball, defend, rebound, and space could be an exceptional addition. We don't need our 5 to score. We need consummate role players there. Zach Collins and Jaylin Williams are other guys we should be inquiring about, just in terms of ticking several of the above boxes.

i just don't see the Knicks trying to force Mikal into that Nets role. He's gonna be in the middle of what he was on the Suns and on the Nets. That's like a Middleton type player which is very good. Forcing him into that Nets role isn't gonna end well.

We need a 5 who isn't clogging the paint on offense and can also protect the rim. Hartenstein was pretty much that guy. Not sure about Olynyk and Collins since they're pretty bad rim protetors. We need a Brook Lopez, Myles Turner, type of big. But I doubt we can get them. For now I would just roll out small ball lineups with Randle at the 5 or experiment with Precious at the 5.

Mikal was #1 on the Nets though. #2 is a different role. As I said, still likely behind Randle but I can see a situation where he absolutely crushes and forces the issue.

There's not really a perfect guy for C. For sure. Stupid Thunder. OG at the 5 intrigues me as well. He guarded Embiid very well.

[3toheadmelo]

Funny thing is if the Knicks have Melo for that Heat series, things may go differently. Game 6 basically no one could make a shot besides Brunson and J Hart. Have to think Melo would have, at the very least, been able to be a good floor spacer for us even if we all knew what his defensive deficiencies are. Just the year before he averaged 13 ppg on a 58% TS. He could have given that Knicks team 10-15 minutes of good scoring.

It's just unfortunate we had to force feed Obi those backup 4 mins. If Obi wasn't there, Melo would've gotten that consistent role he wanted. Also on the podcast, Melo said the Knicks sounded hesitant about the offer of making him a bench warmer. They didn't really want him in that role either. It is what it is. At least Melo went out with a last good year instead of rotting on a bench. Hopefully he comes back to the Knicks in some role after Kiyan gets his career going.

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