Breaking: KAT to the Knicks

[jvsimonetti0514]

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that's a pretty bad bench. i don't know about this. this might be one of those classic knicks big trade mistakes.

That’s why I’m surprised the board isn’t as apprehensive about this move as I am. We went from having a 9 man playoff rotation down to a 7. Maybe 8, if you think precious or Payne will be able to play. Kat and OG have missed a ton of games and our bench cavalry is washed Mook and a never good Shamet. We almost need to start Precious next to Kat to have our rotations make more sense.

Bench line up is probably Payne, deuce, hart, Mikal, sims? I like Deuce, a lot but going from 8th man to 6th man is a lot of added expectations and responsibility for him. Especially since he’s now expect to replace what Donte would have gave them off the bench. I’ve doubted him before and he's just kept developing. So maybe he’ll just rise to the occasion.

All we did was lose Donte and we replaced Randle with KAT so our rotation shouldn't have gone down from 9 to 7. It depends on how you look at it. Mitch was still injured regardless so we were also going to start Randle with Precious or Jericho before the trade and I still envision Thibs doing that actually. Just because KAT is a better small ball 5 than Randle is doesn't necessarily mean we'll start him there

If everyone was healthy by the end of the season, Donte, Hart, deuce, and a back up big would have been our playoff bench rotation. Those 3 guys have all performed in the playoffs. With Donte gone and hart moving into the starting line up, you’re left with deuce and Mitch. That’s only if we don’t end up starting Mitch next to Kat. Either way that’s only 7 guys I’d trust in the playoffs. Now we might be forced to elevate guys on camp deals into the rotation.There’s a reason why Payne got a 1 year deal and Shamet/Mook were available in September.

Precious had a moment against Philly and Payne hit some shots against us but I wouldn’t call either of them proven playoff players. Now we probably need those guys.

Donte succeeded as our 2nd option for a 2nd seed last season! His toughness and attitude was a huge part of last year’s identity. Does Mikal play with that same edge? Kat certainly doesn’t. Don’t think you can just hand wave away not replacing him away. I hope I’m wrong and I’m wrong frequently but we traded a lot of depth and toughness to play 5 out.

[god shammgod]

Three playoff appearances in four years and the last two years winning a playoff series with a contention window still open another 4-5 years after two decades of ineptitude aside from one old man ring chaser season that had no sustainability but 'this FO ruined the Knicks'?

maybe that's overkill but this last move is a bit questionable

this isn't some slam dunk no brainer at all. even if the og contract is too high, it is, or we gave up a bit too much for mikal, we did, we knew that they were quality players and they would fit in with what we do seamlessly. this is a total change to who the knicks are and at a price that may make it impossible to get out of. i just don't know about this.

[3toheadmelo]

I’m not sure if I should bully sham for the Knicks shopping Mitch or be on his side because I know we really need a rim protector next to KAT in order for this to work. Maybe I should black mail him to send me 10 packs of Oreos on a weekly basis to defend Mitch.. hmmmm

[mpharris36]

if you made a list of guys not built for new york he'd be close to or at the top. just pray i guess.

Not only will he be at the top, but he's already the 6th highest paid player in the league before the trade kicker so he's impossible to trade. Not to mention in the last 5 years he's played less games than Embiid and KP, and he's arguably the worst defensive C in the league, and his hatred of Thibs is well documented.

CAA has ruined this franchise to give Leon Rose and his son's players mega contracts. 2/3rds of the salary cap going to OG and KAT, two of the 5 worst contracts in basketball easily.

i can't disagree with any of this. i was trying to be more positive yesterday but i'm having a hard time today.

Vegas has us as the 3rd best odds to win the entire thing! 3rd best!

Why all the doom and gloom???

[god shammgod]

I’m not sure if I should bully sham for the Knicks shopping Mitch or be on his side because I know we really need a rim protector next to KAT in order for this to work. Maybe should black mail him to send me 10 packs of Oreos on a weekly basis to defend Mitch.. hmmmm

listen, i'm cool if they trade mitch if they bring a defensive minded center back. he does have a tendency to be injured. i get it. but in general i woke up today feeling like they should have just waited until the deadline and seen what this team was about as is. i doubt anyone else in the league was rushing to trade for towns. you could have done it then if you felt like you weren't gonna be able to re-sign randle at the number you wanted.

[god shammgod]

Not only will he be at the top, but he's already the 6th highest paid player in the league before the trade kicker so he's impossible to trade. Not to mention in the last 5 years he's played less games than Embiid and KP, and he's arguably the worst defensive C in the league, and his hatred of Thibs is well documented.

CAA has ruined this franchise to give Leon Rose and his son's players mega contracts. 2/3rds of the salary cap going to OG and KAT, two of the 5 worst contracts in basketball easily.

i can't disagree with any of this. i was trying to be more positive yesterday but i'm having a hard time today.

Vegas has us as the 3rd best odds to win the entire thing! 3rd best!

Why all the doom and gloom???

we were probably 4th best before the trade. we were 2nd in the east for sure. and we still are.

[thebuzzardman]

Just trade the Gumbo Goof-off already and bring this guy in!

Would replace everything Donte did and then some, being taller and a better defender.

Watch on YouTube

Although, in all honesty, I've already killed any trade by watching his highlights, as Knicks never get any player who I watch highlights of.

Except Brunson.

I don't see why the Pelicans would trade Jones or Murphy for Mitch

Because they have depth at wing and need a C?
Future salary relief?

I doubt it too, but I don't let such things get in the way of my baseless speculation and Mitch bashing.

[E-Balla]

Just kind of breezing through the 60+ pages already and all I will say is that every criticism of KAT people have been voicing you can say the same thing about Randle but turned up to 11...except bad fouls, since a player has to play defense to commit bad fouls, Randle doesn't play defense, like ever. Unless you want to consider the bad offensive fouls, then yea, Randle is equal to KAT if not worse.

Randle makes less than half of what KAT makes what a **** comparison. They're equal, but one guy is making less than half of the other one, hey let's add White Donte and a first! And piss Mitch off!

[Zenzibar]

That’s why I’m surprised the board isn’t as apprehensive about this move as I am. We went from having a 9 man playoff rotation down to a 7. Maybe 8, if you think precious or Payne will be able to play. Kat and OG have missed a ton of games and our bench cavalry is washed Mook and a never good Shamet. We almost need to start Precious next to Kat to have our rotations make more sense.

Bench line up is probably Payne, deuce, hart, Mikal, sims? I like Deuce, a lot but going from 8th man to 6th man is a lot of added expectations and responsibility for him. Especially since he’s now expect to replace what Donte would have gave them off the bench. I’ve doubted him before and he's just kept developing. So maybe he’ll just rise to the occasion.

All we did was lose Donte and we replaced Randle with KAT so our rotation shouldn't have gone down from 9 to 7. It depends on how you look at it. Mitch was still injured regardless so we were also going to start Randle with Precious or Jericho before the trade and I still envision Thibs doing that actually. Just because KAT is a better small ball 5 than Randle is doesn't necessarily mean we'll start him there

If everyone was healthy by the end of the season, Donte, Hart, deuce, and a back up big would have been our playoff bench rotation. Those 3 guys have all performed in the playoffs. With Donte gone and hart moving into the starting line up, you’re left with deuce and Mitch. That’s only if we don’t end up starting Mitch next to Kat. Either way that’s only 7 guys I’d trust in the playoffs. Now we might be forced to elevate guys on camp deals into the rotation.There’s a reason why Shamet and Mook were available in September.

Precious had a moment against Philly and Payne hit some shots against us but I wouldn’t call either of them proven playoff players. Now we probably need those guys.

Donte succeeded as our 2nd option for a 2nd seed last season! His toughness and attitude was a huge part of last year’s identity. Does Mikal play with that same edge? Kat certainly doesn’t. Don’t think you can just hand wave away not replacing him away. I hope I’m wrong and I’m wrong frequently but we traded a lot of depth and toughness to play 5 out.

The more time passes, the less I like this trade. Upon checking and seeing that KAT averaged .7 blocks a game (just ahead of Kyle Lowery), I was like, does KAT even jump?

We've had to release Mook and DIOP, trade DIvo and let go of one of our very few draft picks. Seems like alot of affects of this move.

To be fair, I'm not certain if Randle wanted to get paid now and it wasn't in Rose's Knicks best interest. But then KAT has a turrible contract IMO and based on his reaction, isn't too thrill to be coming to NY.

All I can say is this. KAT is from the NY area and absolutely knows he's coming to the most critical fanbase in the NBA. Can he hold up? Seems like he has personal doubts already.

[2010]

What ultimately happens with Mitch could easily determine whether or not the Knicks win their first championship in over a half a century.

Do they wait on Mitch to get healthy and stand pat?

Or do they trade Mitch now due to fears of him being brittle and an odd-ball personality with social media crash-out tendencies?

I think the Mitch outcome is the fork in the road that’ll determine this team’s destiny.

[E-Balla]

Not only will he be at the top, but he's already the 6th highest paid player in the league before the trade kicker so he's impossible to trade. Not to mention in the last 5 years he's played less games than Embiid and KP, and he's arguably the worst defensive C in the league, and his hatred of Thibs is well documented.

CAA has ruined this franchise to give Leon Rose and his son's players mega contracts. 2/3rds of the salary cap going to OG and KAT, two of the 5 worst contracts in basketball easily.

i can't disagree with any of this. i was trying to be more positive yesterday but i'm having a hard time today.

Vegas has us as the 3rd best odds to win the entire thing! 3rd best!

Why all the doom and gloom???

Vegas loved KD and Kyrie to Brooklyn too. Vegas doesn't know ball, I do, so yes I'll be gloomy because I know basketball enough to know we **** up. Like bad. This is one of the worst trades we've ever made.

[thebuzzardman]

Three playoff appearances in four years and the last two years winning a playoff series with a contention window still open another 4-5 years after two decades of ineptitude aside from one old man ring chaser season that had no sustainability but 'this FO ruined the Knicks'?

maybe that's overkill but this last move is a bit questionable

this isn't some slam dunk no brainer at all. even if the og contract is too high, it is, or we gave up a bit too much for mikal, we did, we knew that they were quality players and they would fit in with what we do seamlessly. this is a total change to who the knicks are and at a price that may make it impossible to get out of. i just don't know about this.

Randle, Donte, Burks (lolz), Bogs (moar lolz), 6 1st round picks (one unlikely to convey) for Towns and Bridges.

Seems like solid work to me.

[thebuzzardman]

Just kind of breezing through the 60+ pages already and all I will say is that every criticism of KAT people have been voicing you can say the same thing about Randle but turned up to 11...except bad fouls, since a player has to play defense to commit bad fouls, Randle doesn't play defense, like ever. Unless you want to consider the bad offensive fouls, then yea, Randle is equal to KAT if not worse.

Randle makes less than half of what KAT makes what a **** comparison. They're equal, but one guy is making less than half of the other one, hey let's add White Donte and a first! And piss Mitch off!

New CBA kind of changes the calculations around who makes what at the upper end.

And Randle is due for a raise.

KAT's softness a legit concern.

[jvsimonetti0514]

I’m not sure if I should bully sham for the Knicks shopping Mitch or be on his side because I know we really need a rim protector next to KAT in order for this to work. Maybe should black mail him to send me 10 packs of Oreos on a weekly basis to defend Mitch.. hmmmm

listen, i'm cool if they trade mitch if they bring a defensive minded center back. he does have a tendency to be injured. i get it. but in general i woke up today feeling like they should have just waited to the deadline and seen what this team was about as is. i doubt anyone else in the league was rushing to trade for towns. you could have done it then if you felt like you weren't gonna be able to re-sign randle at the number you wanted.

Mitch must have had a set back. Don’t think this was a panic move cuz they’ve wanted towns forever but it can’t be a coincidence that this happened in the same week that Mitch is announced he won’t be ready until next year. Not wanting to trade Donte wouldn’t have held up the trade all summer until the week before training camp. Otherwise they could have done what they did every other year and made a December trade.

[3toheadmelo]

I’m not sure if I should bully sham for the Knicks shopping Mitch or be on his side because I know we really need a rim protector next to KAT in order for this to work. Maybe should black mail him to send me 10 packs of Oreos on a weekly basis to defend Mitch.. hmmmm

listen, i'm cool if they trade mitch if they bring a defensive minded center back. he does have a tendency to be injured. i get it. but in general i woke up today feeling like they should have just waited until the deadline and seen what this team was about as is. i doubt anyone else in the league was rushing to trade for towns. you could have done it then if you felt like you weren't gonna be able to re-sign randle at the number you wanted.

That’s what I wanted us to do too. I was shocked they did a panic trade for KAT right before training camp and I still don’t understand why we did it in such an urgency.

[SelbyCobra]

Anyone a bit concerned on how Towns took the trade news? His IG post and then showing up to an event 12 hours later decked out in Wolves gear?! I know its a shock when you get traded but with this dudes history of being soft I'm hoping his emotional state is ready to embrace NY. Last thing we need is a disgruntled star creating drama and locker room tension. This unit has been really gelling last couple of seasons and they don't need that noise right now.

Nah. This is a concern for people who are outside Minnesota, don't pay attention to KAT closely, and want to smack the "soft" label on him and call it a day.

You're talking about a 19 year old kid from Jersey who became a multimillionaire number 1 overal draftpick overnight when he moved to Minnesota, a city that is clowned in professional sports conversations at every turn (Twins, Vikings, Wolves), especially by New Yorkers. He has spent nearly a decade growing up there, being their star there, taking the team from ridicule to the brink of the NBA Finals. He has always worked heavily in the Minnesota community, and when he lost 8 family members to COVID in 2021, including his mother, that was the community that supported him. When you become a professional in a high profile position as a teenager, and your star turn happens in a smaller, often maligned city over the course of a decade, you develop a bond there (if you have any heart at all). Apropos of nothing, I 'd guess that KAT has stronger ties to his team's community and identity than almost any other player in the league.

Look at Minnesota fans reaction to this - they're largely devastated because of WHO he is, not just how he plays basketball. Now imagine the other side of it in Towns, where he was literally a kid when he started there and has spent his entire adult life working in and connecting with that community. It's a pretty unique/special situation.

Very soon we'll here from him and he'll tell the truth - it's devastating to leave the place that raised him and supported him through some of the greatest highs and the unquestionable worst lows of his life. But if there's any place he'd rather be it's at home with his childhood favorite Knicks, playing for a man he considers family in Leon Rose. And away we'll go.

[Zenzibar]

Anyone a bit concerned on how Towns took the trade news? His IG post and then showing up to an event 12 hours later decked out in Wolves gear?! I know its a shock when you get traded but with this dudes history of being soft I'm hoping his emotional state is ready to embrace NY. Last thing we need is a disgruntled star creating drama and locker room tension. This unit has been really gelling last couple of seasons and they don't need that noise right now.

Yea Bro.

KAT has been in Minny a long time and they treat him as a son. But NY fans eat children when displeased. Men have been broken here in the past who have seemed to be afraid of the lights.

I'm feeling conflicted that I don't know if Randle was playing hard ball with Rose and force this move, but it could have come at the worst time of the trajectory of this team.

[3toheadmelo]

What ultimately happens with Mitch could easily determine whether or not the Knicks win their first championship in over a half a century.

Do they wait on Mitch to get healthy and stand pat?

Or do they trade Mitch now due to fears of him being brittle and an odd-ball personality with social media crash-out tendencies?

I think the Mitch outcome is the fork in the road that’ll determine this team’s destiny.

It sucks that KAT is so flawed of a player that we are relying on Mitch’s health to save our defense..

[SARGO127]

Depth looks like a problem now, but it won’t be come February.

Ring chasers should flock to us after the buyout market. We also have a few picks to add talent.

[god shammgod]

are ring chasers even really a thing anymore ? it's usually just older guys that are mostly washed and won't help you much