Good Morning,
David Fizdale wants his young players to experience the atmosphere of the NBA Finals, so several are attending games with Knicks assistant coaches.
Mitchell Robinson is expected to be at Game 5 in Toronto with assistant coach Pat Sullivan, per Ian Begley.
Kevin Knox and Allonzo Trier attended Game 4 in Oakland with assistant coach Keith Smart.
Knox: “It’s definitely crazy — different from the regular season. I wanted to get up there and enjoy the game, see the atmosphere and the type of energy of a playoff game — just seeing the defensive intensity.” [Marc Berman]
Kevin Knox is excited about the prospect of playing with R.J. Barrett. The two played against each other a few times in high school. “If we get the opportunity [to be teammates], I think we’d jell really well,” Knox told Marc Berman. “He’s a great player. He can pass well, score the ball well. I think we’d complement each other.”
Free Agent Rumblings
Is the dream of pairing Durant with Kyrie dead? Adrian Wojnarowski speculated on Get Up on Friday morning, “If Durant wants to play with Kyrie Irving in free agency, then Brooklyn is absolutely more than a viable option. The Clippers are in there more for KD, individually...[Kyrie’s] focus right now, if he leaves Boston, is the Brooklyn Nets.”
What about Kemba? Even if Kemba Walker turns down the supermax (or whatever Charlotte offers him), some opposing executives don’t see the Knicks as a likely landing spot, per Ian Begley.
“Some opposing execs monitoring Charlotte's free agent situation believe, currently, that if Walker chose to sign somewhere outside of Charlotte, going to New York isn't a likely outcome for the point guard, per SNY sources.”
Kevin Durant put a cryptic message in an Instagram story on Friday. Who knows if he is referring to his injury status, free agent rumors surrounding the Knicks, free agent rumors surrounding the Nets, or something non-basketball related. This is what we get as we wait until June 30 at 6:00 PM EST.
Time to build through the draft? Chris Broussard said on a recent episode of The Herd, “I was talking to someone within the Knicks organization yesterday...and the person said, If we don’t get someone this summer, then we might as well just go Atlanta Hawks mode...just forget about free agency in the future and just rebuild through the draft.”
MUST LISTEN: Jon and JB recap the end of week news and the recent perception that expectations may be changing for the Knicks as they head into the summer. They talk about whether that's legit, how the Nets recent trade plays into things, and what the Finals outcome will mean as we head into July. [iTunes | SoundCloud]
Meanwhile, Fat Joe put in a good word for the Knicks with Kyrie Irving.
Pre-Draft Workouts
Tacko Fall worked out for the Knicks with Marques Bolden, Fletcher Magee, and Terance Mann on Friday. Fall said about the workout, “It went pretty well, it was great. I had a lot of fun. We had a great group of guys. Everybody came in and competed, so it was great.” [Adam Zagoria]
Was that a Knicks Durant jersey at the Warriors game?
When superstars leave
by Jonathan Macri
The end is near.
Or it would appear that way, at least. Like many have said already, these Finals are starting to take the feel of the championship series we saw in 2004 and 2014. When the run of a prominent team ends, it usually ends abruptly and in a way few saw coming.
There have been other instances of great teams crashing and burning before our eyes, but only the '04 Lakers and '14 Heat did it on the grandest stage. They also hold something else in common: they each lost a pantheon level player in the offseasons that followed. Shaq and LeBron both departed - one via trade, one via free agency - and each led their new teams to a ring in their second seasons with a new franchise (or in James' case, a new old one).
Which brings us to 2019, and Kevin Durant. What happened 15 and 5 years ago in LA and Miami has nothing to do with what might happen with KD this summer, but the circumstances of each departure were telling.
With Shaq, bad blood that had been festering for years finally spilled over and it was clear that either he or Kobe had to go. With LeBron, it seemed to be all about narrative.
It was also about something else: he saw the writing on the wall. The Heat machine - seemingly indestructible at points during their run - got old before our very eyes during those Finals. Dwyane Wade was 32 when LeBron left South Beach, and Chris Bosh was 30. James joined a 22-year-old Kyrie Irving and, via a trade that was probably predetermined before he ever agreed to come back to Cleveland, a 26-year-old Kevin Love. The man knew a good story when he saw one, but he was also very, very smart.
On the surface, these Warriors are a far cry from that Heat team. But look a little deeper. Klay Thompson and Draymond Green (who needed to play himself into shape leading up to these Finals) are both 29. Steph is 31. Iggy is 35. Shaun Livingston is 33 and looks to be closer to retirement than his old self. Kevon Looney is a free agent, and Boogie, due to the nature of his contract, will not be back. Aside from Klay and Steph (who looked gassed in Game 4), no one on the Warriors can hit a shot.
When it ends, it ends abruptly.
So yeah...at the very least, there's the potential for KD to look around and see something similar to what James saw in 2014. That's not all these Finals have revealed to us though.
There has perhaps never been more internal ugliness on a successful team than that which existed between Shaq and Kobe on those Laker squads, and whatever happened between Durant and Draymond earlier this season surely rises nowhere close to that level.
But it was a thing. Couple that with KD's current injury situation and the potential for teammates and/or those around the team (should Golden State lose to Toronto) to wonder either aloud or internally whether Durant could have played earlier in this series, and there are the makings of discontent. Such an idea has been, if not floated, at least implied over the weekend. One has to wonder whether the heart of every Warrior will be fully in it as they try to convince KD to stay. If these thoughts are swirling in the back of their heads, that may be easier said than done.
All of this, mind you, might do the Knicks not a single bit of good. The Kyrie/Brooklyn smoke is billowing, and the Clippers young players have proven far more than the kids on the Knicks roster. If - if - Durant leaves, he has other options that could look incredibly viable.
But he could also, as has been reported all season long, still have New York in his sights if he decides to seek newer, younger teammates and less drama. As we are now less than three weeks away from the start of free agency, the Knicks could use any help they can get.
Remember when…
June 10, 2014: Derek Fisher named 26th head coach in franchise history at a press conference at MSG Training Center. [Vivek Dadhania with more]
June 10, 1994: Knicks win first NBA Finals game since Game 5 of the 1973 NBA Finals, defeating the Rockets in Houston 91-83 to tie the series at 1-1, behind the three-point shooting of John Starks (3-4 3P, 19 points) and Derek Harper (4-6 3P, 18 points).
June 10, 1981: Knicks trade forward Mike Woodson to New Jersey in exchange for guard Mike Newlin.
June 10, 1977: Knicks select guard Ray Williams from the University of Minnesota with the 10th overall pick in the NBA Draft.
Thanks for reading, talk to you tomorrow!