finestrg wrote:So not really a trade/transaction idea, more of a help from within idea --
Haven't looked good the last 3 games. A lot of different problems we're seeing (the going ice cold offensively for long stretches, poor D, Hart not himself) -- another problem is Yabusele and Clarkson not playing well. Yabu a bit better last night (all net on that 1st elbow 3, had that nice block) but still not himself for some reason. I don't think it's conditioning (Steph Bondy was just on Knicks Fan TV and said Yabu looks shredded with his shirt off in the locker room - i think he just has a weird body type for a guy. plus I've seen videos on YouTube where I know he took working out seriously in the off-season), I just think he's having a hard time fitting in and adjusting. Clarkson, meanwhile, has looked terrible to me. Over-dribbles himself into trouble, coughing the ball up, then the poor shot-selection plus he's not efficient anyway, more of a volume guy and now he's not getting the same amount of mins he's accustomed to. just looks like a mess...
Maybe we give Yabu a little longer leash to get himself right (esp hearing he sprained his knee recently), but with Clarkson, I'm ready to turn the page already to be honest.
Was thinking this --
If Yabu continues to struggle, I'd wouldn't mind seeing Brown give his mins to Diawara. I know he's a deep 2nd round pick rookie you wouldn't think would get mins on a win-now team like the Knicks, but I just feel like the kid's got good size/length, he's got some offensive skill, and i think we might, at the least, see an uptick in motor/effort/energy level over Yabusele. Willing to give Yabu a little more time to find it, but if not, I think this adjustment could help us.
2nd adjustment (looking like more of a no-brainer to me) -- bench Clarkson (we have Deuce/Shamet/Hart to cover his spot anyway) and give his mins to Kevin McCullar Jr. Two-way guy which entitles him to play in about half the regular season games, the rest in the GL, and no playoffs. I actually wouldn't mind turning the page on Clarkson now and releasing him and then signing McCullar to a standard contract. Feel like he's got good all-around skills and at 24 years old, he's ready for NBA game action.
Question -- do we even have any maneuverability to cut Clarkson and sign McCullar to a standard deal, or would that take us into the tax apron? And if it did, do we say **** it, so what, we're a win-now team, let's do it anyway? Or, at the very least, do we give give McCullar time as a two-way and cross that bridge a little later down the road?
This isn't trading for Giannis obviously, I get that, but two moves I feel could ignite us.
Let me know some thoughts - thanks!
I wouldn't mind giving the young guys playing time for many of the reasons you mentioned although I do think the lows of them getting adjusted could be even worse than some of the play we would get from guys like Yabu and Clarkson. Clarkson being removed from the rotation would not be such a big deal imo as he is on a 1 year vet min and they have other experienced guards who can absorb his minutes along with possibly Kolek.
Removing Yabu would be a bigger deal as they have limited depth at the 4. The Knicks also had limited resources to improve the team this off-season and they used the taxpayer MLE to give Yabu 2 years/$11.725M with the 2nd year being a player option. Benching him basically makes him a negative value contract that will need assets attached to him in a trade if they want a better player or he will just be sitting on the bench occupying some of the limited space under the 2nd apron.
His signing with the taxpayer MLE also triggered a cap at the 2nd apron. They can't go over it this year so cutting someone like Clarkson and his guaranteed contract wouldn't open any more space under the 2nd apron to give a contract to McCullar if you wanted. The team is only $150K under the 2nd apron. Currently they can't add another player until the end of the season on a prorated contract.
They may have to continue to play Yabu and hope he fits in better or plays well enough to become easier to trade. I never understood the hype of the Yabu and Clarkson signings. While they both seemed to be able to do a lot of different things neither of them do anything at a high enough level to address any of the teams needs imo. Hopefully they will prove me wrong.
