Briefing: May 20
Let the workouts begin! Catch up on weekend news
Good Morning,
Kyrie Irving’s high school coach believes the Knicks are the right fit: “In my gut, I would think that would work best for him and I would think that (the Knicks) have a really strong chance of that happening. But I have not spoken directly to him and I don't know that to be a fact." [Ian Begley]
Monday’s Workouts: Knicks were set to workout the tallest prospect in the draft, Tacko Fall, today, but they needed to reschedule due to travel issues. They will workout Providence swingman Alpha Diallo. [Marc Berman]
Weekend Rumor: Marc Berman says the Knicks will look into offers for Frank Ntilikina to see if they can add another early second-round or late first-round pick.
Must Listen: Jon is joined by Jeremy Cohen for a deep dive on the topic that will dominate Knicks conversation for the next month: should the team make an all-in move for Anthony Davis? [Listen]
R.J. Barrett
Knicks prefer Morant? The Knicks have Morant as a slight edge over Barrett on their early board, but there’s still more to the draft process such as workouts and more interviews, according to Marc Berman.
Up to Memphis: Of course, it’s likely that Memphis makes the decision between Morant and Barrett for the Knicks.
Barrett’s Potential: Former Knicks scouting director, Brandon Suhr, says “RJ has potential to be as good a scoring guard as we’ve had come into the league in the last 10 years.” [Marc Berman]
Barrett’s Character: RJ Barrett’s high school coach says most players playing alongside Zion Williamson “would’ve been upset, bitched and jealous” that Williamson got “most of the attention.” Instead, Barrett worked on his game, never got hurt and became best friends with Zion. [Adam Zagoria]
What else is going on?
Charles Oakley wants free agents to reach out to him about how to be happy playing in New York. He says despite the friction with the Knicks organization, “I never wish them bad luck. I'm a New Yorker for life.” [Ian Begley]
Best package for Anthony Davis? Zach Lowe talked to Kevin Arnovitz about which team he thinks has the best trade package for Anthony Davis: “Let’s say I polled 20 people, most of them said the Lakers probably edge out the Knicks. And most of them still said If, If, If, if things turn right, Boston still beats them both.” [Listen]
RFA Terry Rozier discussed the possibility of playing for the Knicks on the Jalen & Jacoby show: "I definitely can [see it]...It would be great…I'm looking for a team that's gonna let me be myself and treats me like family. I'm not a hard person to work with. I'm a team-first guy.”
Kevin Knox was back in Tampa doing some workouts over the weekend.
David Lee told Anthony Donahue that things seem different with the Knicks than when he was playing in New York: “I think the GM, the front office, and Mr. Dolan...everyone seems to be on the same page right now.” Lee emphasized that he learned how important this is from his time in Golden State. [Listen]
Combine Wrap
Steve Mills said the Knicks met with 30 prospects during the combine. Per combine rules, teams submit a list of 30 players they would like to interview and they are randomly assigned 20. I am guessing that Mills mixed up the request number with the actual interview number, but that’s neither here nor there; the point is the Knicks are doing their due diligence in meeting with the max number of prospects as they prepare for the draft.
Mills: “We want to build this team the right way. ... We believe we’re a team that can draft well and this is all part of our plan and growing our team.” [Steve Popper]
These are the prospects the Knicks reportedly met with in Chicago (not all of them are known publicly):
Kevin Porter Jr., USC
Jarrett Culver, Texas Tech
Cam Reddish, Duke
Ja Morant, Murray State
RJ Barrett, Duke
Jontay Porter, Missouri
Nickiel Alexander-Walker, Virgina Tech
Knicks were hoping to meet with Darius Garland and De’Andre Hunter at the Combine, but both players ended up leaving the combine early, according to Marc Berman.
Stefan Bondy says the Knicks were the hot spot for former players and executives to visit at the combine. He adds “This iteration of the Knicks’ front office, spearheaded by GM Scott Perry, deserve credit for opening back up the tunnel of communication with the rest of the league.”
Talk at combine was all on inevitability of Kevin Durant leaving Golden State: “there were anonymous whispers asking if it was true that the Knicks and Durant had already held a secret meeting, that a handshake deal was already in place and that endorsement deals were already ironed out.’ [Steve Popper]
Discontent? “One front office executive said that Durant has been unhappy with the prodding from Steve Kerr and the feeling that he never can be — no matter how great he performs and how many individual honors he compiles — the centerpiece of a team that holds Steph Curry in the hearts of the franchise.”
Warriors better without Durant? As the Warriors sweep through the Western Conference Finals with Durant sidelined due to a calf injury, the conversation has shifted to whether or not the Dubs are better without him. [Read more]
That time of year
Slow news weekend in Knicks-land, with the leading story over the last 48 hours being how 7'6" Tacko Fall is on New York's radar for their late second round pick. If they draft him, I pray the team is good, because if they aren't, the late game chorus of "we want Tacko" at the Garden will put last season's "we want Kanter" chants to shame.
With little to comment on, I'll use today's newsletter as a public service announcement that we should all keep in the back of our minds as we approach the month of June, when rumors will be falling from the sky more often than Emmanuel Mudiay around the basket: be careful reading too much into anything.
To illustrate: Over the weekend, Marc Berman had a snippet in his column noting how the Knicks would be looking to shop Frank Ntilikina for a late first or early second round pick in June's draft. While I'm not questioning Berman's reporting (it would be silly to think the Knicks are married to Ntilikina at this point, as much as this pains me to say), many people took this news as a sign that the Frenchman's days with the team were numbered.
This could be 100% true, and for the return Berman suggests. Also keep in mind, though, that if the Knicks did trade Ntilkina for a pick on draft night, they wouldn't be able to include his salary in a possible trade for Anthony Davis. This is important, because as it stands, they're going to have a very difficult time agreeing to a deal to acquire AD while still keeping two max salary slots available. Without Frank, it would be virtually impossible.
So which is true: the Knicks are interested in forming a Big Three with Davis and two other guys, or the Knicks want to get some smaller return for Ntilikina while they (presumably) feel he still has value?
The simple answer is both. This time of year is all about having your perfect plan, and then contingency plans, and then contingency plans on top of contingency plans. Ntilikina's name is probably up on a board somewhere inside the Knicks offices associated not with one or two trades, but with 20 or 30, and the same goes for every player on New York's roster. The rumors that get out into the open are out there for a simple reason: someone wanted them to be out there.
So no, while I don't expect to be rooting for Ntilikina in a Knicks uniform come October, I also wouldn't rule it out. As Jeremy Cohen and I detailed on today's KFS podcast, there are so many scenarios at play, with so many variables, and they're all intertwined. From now until July, it's best to take it all in, but don't take any of it to heart. As the NBA has proven to us time and time again, the move or moves a team ends up making are often ones that nobody saw coming.
Remember when…
May 20, 1982: Knicks name Dave DeBusschere general manager and Hubie Brown head coach. DeBusschere replaces Eddie Donovan, who had served as general manager for 12 years. Brown becomes the 11th head coach in franchise history and would amass a record of 142-202 in four-plus seasons. [Vivek Dadhania with more]
May 20, 1999: Knicks defeat Atlanta 77-70 in Game Two of the Eastern Conference Semifinals to head back to New York with a 2-0 series lead. Latrell Sprewell scores 31 points in the win.
Thanks for reading, talk to you tomorrow!