Trades and Transactions thread cont - post Mikal trade

[Context]

So Bates was a necessary piece being in a position to stay under the apron and access the 188 million apron if we choose:

The final version of the Bridges trade includes as much confusing CBA minutiae as it began with.

Technically, the Knicks are still sending out more money than they are taking back. Milton’s new contract will be $9 million over three years, league sources tell The Athletic’s Shams Charania. The final two seasons are non-guaranteed. Diakite makes $2.3 million in 2024-25. The Knicks will guarantee at least part of it to make the numbers work, a league source said.

But do that math and New York is technically bringing back seven figures more than it’s sending out … until you account for one provision in the CBA that saves it.

Because Bates-Diop makes a minimum salary, the Knicks could accept him into the minimum exception, which would count him as outgoing salary for the Nets but not incoming salary for the Knicks. It means Milton’s salary plus Diakite’s salary is enough to save them, hard capping them at $188.9 million instead of $178.1 million.

If the Knicks want to make more moves, they now have the room to do so.

[Guano]

Precious Achiuwa getting a bit underrated as a backup center.
Having a center who can switch a bit at the 5 spot is a good change-up from Mitch.

Problem with mitch is that he misses a lot of time so the back up needs to be a quality starter which precious is not - neither is sims or 58th.

that is the ultimate issue.

precious in a 18-20 minute roll off the bench in theory is fine. The problem is our starter is extremely injury prone. He likely will miss 30+ games (just based on history). That means whoever our backup is essentially has to be a starter as well, and Precious isn't a starter and Sims/hukporti right now aren't trust worthy for major rotational minutes.

Getting a legit backup/secondary starting center accomplishes two things. Its a great safety net for Mitch and it also keeps Mitch's minutes down during the season to lessen the wear a tear because you have a really good bench center who is basically a starter as well.

In an idea world Precious is brought back as our 5th big (basically in case anyone gets injured or foul trouble he is the next man up.

I'm all for bringing back precious as a back up big.

I'm cool with waiting into the season when the price of a quality big is less than what ainge is going to ask for Kessler.

I'm also cool with moving on for Mitch for a starter that isn't as injury prone but not as impactful. I like mitch. But his availability is a real issue. And his on offense he is a liability. He makes it hard for others to operate. His offensive rebounding is nice. But outside of that there is nothing.

[stuporman]

i'm just a tad bit skeptical of his ability to contribute to the knicks success this year or the years to follow

He's been a pro for 5 years but still young at 22 years old, he has a man's body(7 foot, 245lbs), elite athleticism and agility, he's got skill on both ends of the court and he played an important role for his team that went to the NBL finals.

Better than Sims right now so to think he can give decent mins off the bench in the limited role Thibs asks of big man is not unreasonable. His skill set and physical profile is as close to iHart as could be found in this draft but just needs to prove he can do it in the NBA.

It's fine to be skeptical especially if we look at the 58th pick in a weak draft without any other context, add in the context of who this player is and that should change the perception just a bit.

This is the best film session I have found on him, it gives everything from good to bad about him.

Watch on YouTube

WTF
You just linked a 2.5 hour video on our 58th pick. I'm most definitely not going to watch all that. But you aced me with that move. So I'll take your word that he is decent.

It's not like I made the video, that would be insane. My business is slow during the summer and it's 110degrees outside during the day in the Sonoran desert so drinking iced beverages in a dark room watching youtube stuff to pass the time I guess there can be worse things in life.

I don't have kids or a wife to bother me and I play pickleball whenever I like with one of my pickleball girlfriends so I can spend a couple hours watching basketball...and pickleball videos online. I'll confirm he has some potential to surprise us this season for being the 58th pick.

Let's see if he can fulfill that potential.

[Fat]

Hukporti will be in the G league

[HopelessKnick]

Hukporti will be in the G league

I tend to agree, I don't really see what others here are seeing with him. His athleticism and movement seems to me subpar for a NBA Center. I don't think he can do those post moves against any capabe NBA Center really.

[HopelessKnick]

Kessler's defensive potential coupled with Thibs could develop into something really good.

Ya I'm all in with getting Kessler but it takes two to tango so his price might be too high.

I think ultimately the Jazz are going to consider a good offer as they are more likely to take the tank direction than staying competitive.

It's really hard to tell how the Detroit and Washington protected picks are viewed around the league. I mean in the worst case scenario---neither conveys---it would mean that both teams are still terrible but in that case they would transform into 3 very high second round picks which seem to be valued highly nowadays. And if a couple players here or there make a jump those picks could be golden---aka late lottery picks. If Detroit or Washington manages to win 35 games in the upcoming 2-3 years those picks will be pretty damn nice, especially considering the fact that the 2025 and 2026 draft are supposed to be super deep.

I do believe that if you offered both of them to Utah, they may actually consider it. I may be wrong though.

[HopelessKnick]

Problem with mitch is that he misses a lot of time so the back up needs to be a quality starter which precious is not - neither is sims or 58th.

that is the ultimate issue.

precious in a 18-20 minute roll off the bench in theory is fine. The problem is our starter is extremely injury prone. He likely will miss 30+ games (just based on history). That means whoever our backup is essentially has to be a starter as well, and Precious isn't a starter and Sims/hukporti right now aren't trust worthy for major rotational minutes.

Getting a legit backup/secondary starting center accomplishes two things. Its a great safety net for Mitch and it also keeps Mitch's minutes down during the season to lessen the wear a tear because you have a really good bench center who is basically a starter as well.

In an idea world Precious is brought back as our 5th big (basically in case anyone gets injured or foul trouble he is the next man up.

I'm all for bringing back precious as a back up big.

I'm cool with waiting into the season when the price of a quality big is less than what ainge is going to ask for Kessler.

I'm also cool with moving on for Mitch for a starter that isn't as injury prone but not as impactful. I like mitch. But his availability is a real issue. And his on offense he is a liability. He makes it hard for others to operate. His offensive rebounding is nice. But outside of that there is nothing.

I share your sentiments. I do find Precious pretty intriguing to be honest. I know we haven't seen him shoot the ball well but he has made 111 career 3pointers in the NBA for an average of 31%, so he does have the ability to hit the 3 as well.

Last season he started 18 games and averaged a solid 13points/10rebounds/2blocks/1steal in 36minutes shooting 53% from the field and 66% from the FT line we went 8-10 in those games but keep in mind most those games were without Mitch, Isaiah, Randle and OG so he was playing pretty much by himself in the frontcourt..so in that regard 8-10 is pretty solid if you ask me...so I would cautiously dispute the notion that he can't start, at least for like 20 games (that Mitch is likely going to miss). I wouldn't feel too uncomfortable going with a smaller rotation with Randle playing at Center at times---in fact it is something I wanted to see the last couple years. Now with OG and Mikal as well as Deuce, Hart and DD defending the wings and having another 6'8 strong defender in Precious out there, we can definitely cover for Randle all while being super mobile out there. Keep in mind Precious is 24years old as well so it is not unreasonable to say that he can still improve on certain aspects of his game.

I'd still prefer another true C going down the stretch, but leading up to the deadline I would be fine with that.

[thebuzzardman]

Best thing about the Knicks centers right now is they have 18, and possibly 24, if Precious signs, hard fouls to give every game.

[stuporman]

Half way through PacDadi film and must say he's still a got some time to mature ahead of him. Can shoot it, runs the floor, pretty decent handle and seems like he can pull up alright but still does alot of young player things, out of control drives, wild finishes.

He's pretty big with good athleticism and I had to keep reminding myself I was watching an 18 year old playing against grown men. Haven't gotten to the defense portion of the session so it will be interesting to see if he has any chops on that side, he's got nice instincts though on offense.

Will probably spend quite a bit of time in GLeague along with Huk depending on if the Knicks add another center or not, they may need the big man if anyone gets hurt. Huk also needs to cut down on trying to do too much with the ball if he wants to get time playing for Thibs.

These sessions are so long I'm watching them in 10-15 mins spurts but it's informative to see all their mistakes and bad plays, too. Gives a full sense of what they need to work on and develop. Not sure I'd watch them before a draft though, only after a guy gets picked.

[nykballa2k4]

Again, I hate that people think Nerlens Noel, prime Mitch type center is the only center that can thrive with Thibs. We seen what a center who brings more to the table can do for the team. We lost a playmaking center and People like, Sims can start and Mitch can back him up lol.

Well the trouble is Thibs defense (his calling card) required a center with a good motor (can be coached) and who can rim protect. The additional *nice to have* list is that play making ability. For us to get a mobile center who can rim protect, challenge on PnR, and rebound is alone a hard get. Then on top of that having additional skill set such as shooting, passing etc and you are basically creating an all-star.

That's why I have been big on Ayton. He at least can do everything and I think Thibs can get him to buy in on effort.
Realistically, we have to find a guy who is overlooked and develop him. It's hard to actually develop someone though when earning Thibs trust is so difficult.

I got a overlooked guy - Duop Reath who's with the Blazers.

I was thinking about him, but what is his current status? I know they have Timelord, Ayton, and now Cling-wrap, but I thought he had a very affordable multi-year deal.

[thebuzzardman]

Precious kind of a luxury. He's not that skilled as a 4, doesn't protect the rim as a 5, and doesn't really stretch the floor

[MrDollarBills]

Live look at Leon fighting off the hard cap apron

[R-DAWG]

Kessler's defensive potential coupled with Thibs could develop into something really good.

Ya I'm all in with getting Kessler but it takes two to tango so his price might be too high.

I think ultimately the Jazz are going to consider a good offer as they are more likely to take the tank direction than staying competitive.

It's really hard to tell how the Detroit and Washington protected picks are viewed around the league. I mean in the worst case scenario---neither conveys---it would mean that both teams are still terrible but in that case they would transform into 3 very high second round picks which seem to be valued highly nowadays. And if a couple players here or there make a jump those picks could be golden---aka late lottery picks. If Detroit or Washington manages to win 35 games in the upcoming 2-3 years those picks will be pretty damn nice, especially considering the fact that the 2025 and 2026 draft are supposed to be super deep.

I do believe that if you offered both of them to Utah, they may actually consider it. I may be wrong though.

These two picks are the wild card that can change the long term outlook of the team. Frankly, I think the league will value them as 2nd rd picks. And I think there is a higher probability that neither convey as 1st rd picks that both convey.

The Detroit pick has a much higher chance of conveying since they are a few years ahead in their rebuilding process and there is an extra year to convey.

The Washington pick likely will won’t convey unless they strike gold in the 2025 draft. Hard to see them getting to a point where they don’t tank at the end of the 2026 season to hold onto the pick (ie in play-in contention).

But if NY ends up with 1 late lottery pick while being a fringe contender it opens up so many doors.

Personally - I would prefer to trade Duce for Kessler and keep the DET/WAS pick. Part of that reason is I feel that there are Duce replacements on the market - potentially guys who fit our roster better as playmakers.

[R-DAWG]

What are people’s thoughts on Markelle Fultz with the taxpayer MLE? He gives NY another playmaker/ball handler which I feel like we need. He also has enough size to share the court with Brunson at times.

The jump shot is obviously a concern, and running at Fultz in lineups with Josh Hart and a rim protector isn’t ideal for floor spacing. But if you use fultz in bench lineups with DDV, Bridges and Anunoby it could work.

We all love Duce, but I like the deminsion that Fultz adds to the team.

[DaGawd]

What are people’s thoughts on Markelle Fultz with the taxpayer MLE? He gives NY another playmaker/ball handler which I feel like we need. He also has enough size to share the court with Brunson at times.

The jump shot is obviously a concern, and running at Fultz in lineups with Josh Hart and a rim protector isn’t ideal for floor spacing. But if you use fultz in bench lineups with DDV, Bridges and Anunoby it could work.

We all love Duce, but I like the deminsion that Fultz adds to the team.

her sucks

[epics2002]

I don't know how anyone can say we don't leak lol

Nothing leaks from that front office call it a smoke screen the backup center isnt going to be richards or kessler

[WargamesX]

Read on Twitter

?s=61&t=BwJNb-B4StQKYkyLVohOwQ

Precious might be the best PF free agent left on the board, and lowkey the Knicks should see if they can S&T him to another team for a TPE and some second rounders.

[WargamesX]

I don't know how anyone can say we don't leak lol

Nothing leaks from that front office call it a smoke screen the backup center isnt going to be richards or kessler

If they don’t get either player it won’t be from a lack of effort. Both those guys are on rookie deals that include their Full Bird Rights. Plus they’ve shown they can play 20+ minutes a night as a rim protector.

[Jeffrey]

Precious kind of a luxury. He's not that skilled as a 4, doesn't protect the rim as a 5, and doesn't really stretch the floor

Exactly but I don't know if you're being sarcastic

PFs that I think they can get minutes on a vet minimum
Danillo Gallinari
Marcus Morris
Markief Morris

[epics2002]

I don't know how anyone can say we don't leak lol

Nothing leaks from that front office call it a smoke screen the backup center isnt going to be richards or kessler

If they don’t get either player it won’t be from a lack of effort. Both those guys are on rookie deals that include their Full Bird Rights. Plus they’ve shown they can play 20+ minutes a night as a rim protector.

Id be happy with either of them but doubt its going to work