Great read as always. Agree on seeing Mitch starting to figure it out. Particularly seeing the level of effort and spring in his step during games that don’t count leaves me hopeful he can have a big impact. I was (maybe still am but am taking myself into being less so) concerned about Mitch getting paid and then not being motivated. So far he’s showing otherwise. Let’s go Knicks!
Not crying on The Dubs signings. They are NICE not GREAT players.
The Knicks need to tend their own Garden [See, Marcus Aurelius, Stoicism]. There's a positive vibration surrounding this team. If the guys we have on the Knicks do their best, it'll be a wonderful year.
Wonder if you have ever considered looking at some of the champions that weren't part of a dynastic run like the 1975 Rick Barry/Butch Beard/Jamaal Wilkes Warriors, the 1978 Wes Unseld/Elvin Hayes Bullets, the 1979 Gus Williams/Dennis Johnson/Jack Sikma Sonics, and 2004 Rip Hamilton/Rasheed Wallace/Chauncey Billups/Ben Wallace Pistons? Particularly, the Pistons, since Scot Perry was part of that Front Office. There are many ways to win, though cap concerns impede continuity and building an identity.
I take those 70's teams with a few grains of salt because of where the league was...drugs altered everything. As for '04, I've written about them a few times...in retrospect, I think we may be vastly underrating just how good those guys were individually. Billups will be in the HOF, made All-NBA several times. Sheed had HOF talent. Ben Wallace is in the HOF. And Hamilton was an All-Star. Far more stacked than they get credit for,
Kind of disappointing to know that the Knicks will be maxed out in 2023 plus will most likely have a pick from 12-18. Unless this management can pull a rabbit out of a hat (something that have not proven capable of doing even something close), it’s hard to see how this team is going to improve. Ans there are no all stars on this team with the possible long shot of RJ and/or Brunson. Makes losing both Murray and Mitchell.
It's all about internal improvement. That makes the trade packages better, and makes it such that they only need to trade for one star - the right star.
According to Spotrac the Knicks will have $8.8M in cap space next year. They’ll have to either trade or extend both Obi and Quickley, no way will they allow either to go into restricted free agency. If they extend either, that means they trade the guy playing in front of them. They also hold a team option on Derrick Rose for $15.6M. While they probably won’t be a player in free agency, they very much have the flexibility to make trades. It isn’t like they have anyone who is untradable because of their contract. The closest thing they have to being untradable is Fournier, but if your talking about next summer, at that point he only has 1 more guaranteed year at $18.5M, with the following year being a team option at $19M. So to some teams, who decide to tear down, and there is at least one team tearing down every summer, sometimes more than 1, that’s actually an attractive expiring contract. The front office has done a very good job positioning themselves to be able to make a big trade, either at the deadline, or next offseason. They have the cap flexibility, and they are flush with picks. Danny Ainge thought they’d give away the store, and they wisely didn’t blink. It takes patience and persistence to strike a major deal, in sports or any other business. We just all have to sit tight and hope Leon Rose doesn’t just give up all the leverage he has accumulated. If he can parlay it all successfully, we will have our first actual window of opportunity for a championship since Pat Riley.
Don't go by Spotrac...they're wonderful, but realistically NY is not going to have space. And if they could have space, if it's under ~$11 million, it makes no sense because they'd be better off just using the full midlevel.
That's correct. Wherever the numbers come in, they aren't positioned to be major players in free agency. The best they can do there is filling in the back end of the rotation with the MLE. However, they are well positioned to be active in the trade market and take advantage of any opprotunites which present themselves to improve at any of the 5 positions. Very few teams with the exception of bottom feeders can say that.
The signings by the Warriors shouldn't be a surprise at all. With the new building in downtown SF, the Warriors are in a totally differnt financial stratosphere, than there were in Oakland. Financially, they are on par with only the Knicks and the Lakers, a license to print money. For these franchises, they could go over the cap and into the tax to the maximum extent possible and still make money. The tax penalty, even escalated tax panalties are of no detterent to them. At some point it catches up with you from a competitive standpoint, and you end up where the Knicks once were and the Lakers seem to be know, weighted down by players past their prime making a ton of money, but the penaties of the entire tax structure is just a cost of doing business to the Warriors, Knicks and Lakers.
As for the dress rehersal, if Thibs intends to play Grimes over Fornier to close games, and it seems that is what he intends, well then it is only a matter of when Grimes just takes over the starting role completely.
Got you. The Piston's model, the astute signing of Billups, and the unheralded trades for the Wallaces and Hamilton, is worth trying to replicate---if you can't sign or acquire a marquee talent. Recently,Masai Ujiri commented that the Raptors are committed to building a contender organically. Toronto has a vision and they are pursuing it. I just really want the Knick world to stop the masochistic longing, through trades or free agency, for some other team's star to carry New York to contention. Let the Knicks have a vision and build it. Value who is here. No magic. No fleecing other teams. No seducing other city's stars. Just honest, hard work. Greatness can't be stolen; it's earned.
Great read as always. Agree on seeing Mitch starting to figure it out. Particularly seeing the level of effort and spring in his step during games that don’t count leaves me hopeful he can have a big impact. I was (maybe still am but am taking myself into being less so) concerned about Mitch getting paid and then not being motivated. So far he’s showing otherwise. Let’s go Knicks!
Thanks! I think he stays motivated. His comments this preseason leave me very encouraged.
Not crying on The Dubs signings. They are NICE not GREAT players.
The Knicks need to tend their own Garden [See, Marcus Aurelius, Stoicism]. There's a positive vibration surrounding this team. If the guys we have on the Knicks do their best, it'll be a wonderful year.
Wonder if you have ever considered looking at some of the champions that weren't part of a dynastic run like the 1975 Rick Barry/Butch Beard/Jamaal Wilkes Warriors, the 1978 Wes Unseld/Elvin Hayes Bullets, the 1979 Gus Williams/Dennis Johnson/Jack Sikma Sonics, and 2004 Rip Hamilton/Rasheed Wallace/Chauncey Billups/Ben Wallace Pistons? Particularly, the Pistons, since Scot Perry was part of that Front Office. There are many ways to win, though cap concerns impede continuity and building an identity.
Thanks.
I take those 70's teams with a few grains of salt because of where the league was...drugs altered everything. As for '04, I've written about them a few times...in retrospect, I think we may be vastly underrating just how good those guys were individually. Billups will be in the HOF, made All-NBA several times. Sheed had HOF talent. Ben Wallace is in the HOF. And Hamilton was an All-Star. Far more stacked than they get credit for,
Kind of disappointing to know that the Knicks will be maxed out in 2023 plus will most likely have a pick from 12-18. Unless this management can pull a rabbit out of a hat (something that have not proven capable of doing even something close), it’s hard to see how this team is going to improve. Ans there are no all stars on this team with the possible long shot of RJ and/or Brunson. Makes losing both Murray and Mitchell.
It's all about internal improvement. That makes the trade packages better, and makes it such that they only need to trade for one star - the right star.
According to Spotrac the Knicks will have $8.8M in cap space next year. They’ll have to either trade or extend both Obi and Quickley, no way will they allow either to go into restricted free agency. If they extend either, that means they trade the guy playing in front of them. They also hold a team option on Derrick Rose for $15.6M. While they probably won’t be a player in free agency, they very much have the flexibility to make trades. It isn’t like they have anyone who is untradable because of their contract. The closest thing they have to being untradable is Fournier, but if your talking about next summer, at that point he only has 1 more guaranteed year at $18.5M, with the following year being a team option at $19M. So to some teams, who decide to tear down, and there is at least one team tearing down every summer, sometimes more than 1, that’s actually an attractive expiring contract. The front office has done a very good job positioning themselves to be able to make a big trade, either at the deadline, or next offseason. They have the cap flexibility, and they are flush with picks. Danny Ainge thought they’d give away the store, and they wisely didn’t blink. It takes patience and persistence to strike a major deal, in sports or any other business. We just all have to sit tight and hope Leon Rose doesn’t just give up all the leverage he has accumulated. If he can parlay it all successfully, we will have our first actual window of opportunity for a championship since Pat Riley.
Don't go by Spotrac...they're wonderful, but realistically NY is not going to have space. And if they could have space, if it's under ~$11 million, it makes no sense because they'd be better off just using the full midlevel.
That's correct. Wherever the numbers come in, they aren't positioned to be major players in free agency. The best they can do there is filling in the back end of the rotation with the MLE. However, they are well positioned to be active in the trade market and take advantage of any opprotunites which present themselves to improve at any of the 5 positions. Very few teams with the exception of bottom feeders can say that.
The signings by the Warriors shouldn't be a surprise at all. With the new building in downtown SF, the Warriors are in a totally differnt financial stratosphere, than there were in Oakland. Financially, they are on par with only the Knicks and the Lakers, a license to print money. For these franchises, they could go over the cap and into the tax to the maximum extent possible and still make money. The tax penalty, even escalated tax panalties are of no detterent to them. At some point it catches up with you from a competitive standpoint, and you end up where the Knicks once were and the Lakers seem to be know, weighted down by players past their prime making a ton of money, but the penaties of the entire tax structure is just a cost of doing business to the Warriors, Knicks and Lakers.
As for the dress rehersal, if Thibs intends to play Grimes over Fornier to close games, and it seems that is what he intends, well then it is only a matter of when Grimes just takes over the starting role completely.
Got you. The Piston's model, the astute signing of Billups, and the unheralded trades for the Wallaces and Hamilton, is worth trying to replicate---if you can't sign or acquire a marquee talent. Recently,Masai Ujiri commented that the Raptors are committed to building a contender organically. Toronto has a vision and they are pursuing it. I just really want the Knick world to stop the masochistic longing, through trades or free agency, for some other team's star to carry New York to contention. Let the Knicks have a vision and build it. Value who is here. No magic. No fleecing other teams. No seducing other city's stars. Just honest, hard work. Greatness can't be stolen; it's earned.
Mitch came into camp in top shape like he had something to prove. If he can stay healthy, it looks like he’s going to have a great year.