Breaking: KAT to the Knicks

[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.

It's a risk. It could work. But definitely a risk. I do like this final version better than any of the versions that included Mitch. I imagine the Wolves did too, having Gobert.

One thing I'm wondering is where we stand as an OREB team. Our top 10 offense was almost entirely predicated on crashing the offensive boards. We still have some of those pieces but how does that work with Towns, or does it?

i'm guessing they think they'll have a better offense now and not need to rely on that as much. we'll see. kat averaged 1.5 a game last year. the wolves were 6th worse at offensive rebounds and that's with gobert starting next to him. so that's not gonna be a big thing for them if he's starting at the 5.

[3toheadmelo]

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.

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.

Read on Twitter

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We’re cooked now. Clarence Gaines was the reason why we drafted frank. Getting his approval for this trade isn’t a good look

[god shammgod]

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.

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.

Read on Twitter

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From the guy who told Phil Jackson to draft porzingis!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Towns always wanted to be a knick!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

this guy also thought frank was special

[3toheadmelo]

Mitch is gonna need to do 10 wine baths a day and 5 rounds of cryotherapy daily to get prepared to cover KAT’s lack of defense

[The Vo Show]

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.

Agree, I wish would of let this team see what it could be and make the Kat deal at the deadline if we needed.

One interesting dynamic is few reports stated Randle was not happy about playing center which Thibs mentioned recently. I wander if that expedited this trade

I don't think it would have been a good idea to start the season with Randle playing minutes at the 5 anyway since he's coming off a shoulder injury. It'd require even more fighting down low which would require him to use his shoulder more than he even would normally. Imagine coming off an injury and instead of easing into it, you're required to put an even bigger load than normal on the recovering part of your body... seems like a recipe for disaster.

Speaking of which, I know Kat is a better 5 for spacing purposes but putting OG as a full time 4 seems like a quick way to get OG back on the IR list. Thibs needs to actually play his normal big lineups for a little while I feel, even if it results in a few more losses early.

[TheGreenArrow]

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.

We weren’t better than Philly before the Towns trade!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We are definitely better now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[stuporman]

Playing next to Randle for all those years is great practice for Mitch to cover for someone else's terrible defense...

[TheGreenArrow]

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..

Just based on talent Towns is the best Big in basketball!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes better than Embiid!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes better Than Jokic!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Towns is finally home and will play his true position the 5!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I see an mvp season from him coming up!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[jvsimonetti0514]

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.

Never under estimate the fat Italian American dad demographics that call into WFAN regularly. They just traded the prodigal son in the big ragu It could get ugly real quick. Especially if he can’t find a way to bring any intensity at all. Last years team was loved for its toughness and he doesn’t get a lot of deflection either.

Kat was born in Edison and went to high school in Metuchen. That’s right at the Philly/NYC line of demarcation in NJ. He's probably as suburbs as it gets. The suburbs ppl around NYC either love it or hate it. He could be one of those guys that hate it. Which is why he fit nicely in a 3 horse city of Minneapolis. He could just be a small time boy living in a lonely world. Not trying to take the midnight train to the big apple.

[KnixinSix]

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

I hope there's a decent center one out there to provide some depth...oh wait Taj on line 1

Charlotte/Knicks trade:


In:
KNick Richards $5M
Cody Martin 8.1M
Taj Gibson 3.3M
Devonte Graham 2.8M
Total: 19.2M

Out:
Mitchell 14.3M
McBride 4.7M
Protected FRP (or 2nd RP)
Total:19M


Money works almost perfectly

[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..

Just based on talent Towns is the best Big in basketball!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes better than Embiid!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes better Than Jokic!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Towns is finally home and will play his true position the 5!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I see an mvp season from him coming up!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The kiss of death

[knicks94]

Frank is a Knicks Real GM hall of famer, so I respect Gaines' opinion very much.

[TheGreenArrow]

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.

Read on Twitter

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We’re cooked now. Clarence Gaines was the reason why we drafted frank. Getting his approval for this trade isn’t a good look

Nobody’s perfect just look at your track record !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

He nailed the Porzingis pick when fans were out here clamoring for mudiay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Towns is home 3tothehead!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rejoice and Embrace it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[stuporman]

I have some things planned for the day otherwise I'd love to post in a dimly lit AC controlled room and I wonder who scheduled all the Knicks stuff plus the insanely late heat wave in my neck of the woods for today but I gotta run...I'll blame buzz.

[3toheadmelo]

Read on Twitter

?s=46&t=W09F6FrMDfp5_y1gKYgF1g

We’re cooked now. Clarence Gaines was the reason why we drafted frank. Getting his approval for this trade isn’t a good look

Nobody’s perfect just look at your track record !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

He nailed the Porzingis pick when fans were out here clamoring for mudiay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Towns is home 3tothehead!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rejoice and Embrace it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

KAT > Jeremy Lin

[G_K_F]

The general rule is that if you feel uneasy or just plain bad about a trade then it likely isn’t a good trade.

This trade has had mixed reactions across the board here, in the general public, in basketball media, etc.

We locked into an absolutely horrible contract for a minimum of the next 3 years - the 4th year will be expiring and possibly more tradeable. The guy is always hurt, plays soft and is paid almost as much as our captain and Bridges combined. He spaces the floor - that’s great - but his mentality on and off the court doesn’t fit with the culture we built. This is square peg in a round hole. This has massive failure potential on it - and if it fails, we destroyed any window of winning a title with Brunson.

[thebuzzardman]

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.

It wasn’t a panic trade and I’m confident they were trying to do this trade for years and Minnesota finally caved wanting to save money and we got him. The alarm bells have been ringing on this for a long time

I'm hearing that the Wolves with the new CBA, may have had to lose Naz Reid and/or McDaniel, which they absolutely don't want to do.
The Wolves can move Randle again at some point and totally get from under KAT's contract choke. The new CBA fk'd us with iHart and is having it's impact around the league.

Ding ding ding.

Also, Knicks have been interested in Towns for years. And, for good or bad, Leon Rose promised "Stars", and his sidekick is WWW, with the deep Kentucky connections and bias.
Towns has been a target for a long time, the CBA implications made it likely to happen this year.

Paraphrasing Bill Simmons pod on it, but he and Austin Rivers speculated that the Knicks and Wolves have talked for a while, that the Knicks were offering Randle/Mitch and wouldn't budge on Donte, but maybe that the real or implied threat of New Orleans made them pull the trigger now instead of at the deadline.

Or Thibs pushed for not dealing with another mid season major shakeup. Or both.

[KnixinSix]

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

By the sniff test it seems Pels are absolutely desperate for an elite rim protector to complement their stars. Mitch has been in DPoY discussions when healthy. They probably feel they would have a huge jump in overall performance with that kind of player.

3 team deal perhaps? Maybe get back one of Isaiah Stwart or Nick Richards?

[thebuzzardman]

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.

Randle wasn't a first overall pick and doesn't have nearly as much hype as KAT. He's not making anywhere near KAT money, and tbh I'd rather let Randle walk than give KAT that contract to play 40 games, get hurt, and average 19/9 on 44% shooting in the playoffs while being one of the worst defenders in basketball.

Randle isn't a good defender either, he'll still wind up getting paid north of 35 million per, Randle has sucked in the playoffs also, KAT's injury concerns are legit.

[SelbyCobra]

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.

Never under estimate the fat Italian American dad demographics that call into WFAN regularly. They just traded the prodigal son in the big ragu It could get ugly real quick. Especially if he can’t find a way to bring any intensity at all. Last years team was loved for its toughness and he doesn’t get a lot of deflection either.

Kat was born in Edison and went to high school in Metuchen. That’s right at the Philly/NYC line of demarcation in NJ. He's probably as suburbs as it gets. The suburbs ppl around NYC either love it or hate it. He could be one of those guys that hate it. Which is why he fit nicely in a 3 horse city of Minneapolis. He could just be a small time boy living in a lonely world. Not trying to take the midnight train to the big apple.

Lmao, Cmon guys, answers to all these hypothetical are already out there. He grew up rooting for the Knicks his whole life, he loved going into the city the same way most suburban Jersey kids do, and he even played at the Rucker as a kid.