Summer Break
Briefing: July 12
Good Morning,
With Summer League winding down, we are going to take a summer break from our weekday frequency, and instead, we will start publishing every Thursday, as of next week.
Thank you for letting us be a part of your morning routine each day. As Knicks news picks back up again, we will be back to our daily ritual.
Marcus Morris signed a one-year, $15 million contract with the Knicks after backing out of a deal he agreed to with the Spurs.
How much cap space do the Knicks have left? Basically none. Using educated estimates on all of their signings, the Morris deal should take them right up to the cap limit. Julius Randle’s deal includes an unlikely bonus, which allows the Knicks to gain a few extra million dollars in space to sign Morris to the full $15 million amount.
What about exceptions? The Knicks lost their bi-annual exception when they used it on Allonzo Trier last season. They lose their mid-level exception by dropping far enough below the cap to sign all of their free agents. They have the room mid-level exception of $4.8 million available, which they will likely use all of, or a portion of, on Reggie Bullock, whose original two-year, $21 million deal with New York is being reworked due to injury concerns.
How many roster spots remain? Marcus Morris becomes the 14th player under contract for the Knicks, including Damyean Dotson, who the Knicks will most certainly keep past his guarantee date. That leaves one open roster spot for an NBA contract, which will likely go to Reggie Bullock. The Knicks can carry up to 20 contracts during the offseason, but they can only bring 15 players (plus 2 two-way players) into the season.
Russell Westbrook is headed to Houston. In a blockbuster trade last night, the triple double machine will re-unite with James Harden.
While the Knicks weren’t in a position to make an offer (they can’t trade their recent signings until December 15 and would need to use their salaries to make a trade work), Ian Begley reports Russell Westbrook viewed the Knicks as a potential suitor before being traded to Houston.
Knicks will play a consolation game on Saturday at 6:00 PM EST vs Washington.
What did Marcus Morris do?
by Jonathan Macri
The dead rising from the grave! Human sacrifice! Dogs and cats living together... mass hysteria!
Ok, fine...it's not quite to that level, but a prominent NBA player backed out of his agreement with the gold standard Spurs to sign with a franchise that's been anything but for two decades (although is slowly crawling their way up from the ashes).
Yes, money had a lot to do with it. Marcus Morris said as much when he talked about making the best decision for his family following the change, and 15 > 10. Still, the ultimate play here is to re-enter free agency a year from now with more earning power, not less. Ultimately, Morris is placing his faith in the Knicks organization to help make that happen.
Tommy Beer already did a nice job addressing the jokes about New York's glut of PF's, noting that they don't have a true backup five and that several of the nominal forwards on the roster will fill that void (Portis would be my best guess, followed by Taj). Morris also spent almost all of his time at the three just two years ago, and might have done it more in Boston had it not been for their glut of wings.
So it's not like there isn't flexibility, but flexibility is also a polite word for "how the (expletive deleted) is Fizdale going to handle this?" I addressed the robust roster a little over a week ago, but it bears repeating: someone who fans expect to get time is going to be left out in the cold, and likely multiple someones.
The initial issues I see are as follows:
The likeliest candidates on the roster to be accepting of the Lance Thomas role (vet mentor who rarely plays) are Wayne Ellington and Taj Gibson, but Wayne (shooting) and Taj (defense) provide the two things most lacking on this team.
Morris is going to get time...as he should. I caught a lot of shit for saying last night that the younger Morris twin (by seven minutes) instantly becomes New York's best player, but I stand by it. I might be a tad high on his defense (Celtic fans apparently think it’s vastly overrated, and the advanced stats from the last two years would seem to back this up), but on the ball, he can stay with almost anyone, and on this team, that makes him a huge plus. Offensively, he adds needed range and a bit of shot creation. I’d bet on Mitch establishing himself as the Knicks’ clear top dog before the calendar flips to 2020, hopefully with Knox giving him company in that discussion by the end of the season. If Randle defends up to his capabilities, this whole conversation is moot. Still, we’ve seen it from Morris already.
If Morris becomes the primary backup 4, that still won’t be enough time for him, so here’s betting he sees time as the backup 3 as well. I’m still assuming Knox starts there, but I’m less married to this than I was a week ago. He had a good summer league, and at times looked really good, but didn't consistently blow away the competition like you might expect from a second year guy who is about to make "the leap." In any case, If you figure that most of the 3/4/5 minutes will be taken up by Mitch, Knox, Randle, Morris, Portis and Taj in some configuration (with Iggy lurking), that leaves a whoooooole lotta' dudes to compete for playing time at the guard spots. Long term, I actually think RJ will work better as a 3 and maybe even a 4 (his rebounding is more than passable for this purpose, and as a power forward his ball-handling could become much more of a weapon), but for right now, my guess is that he's almost exclusively a 2 this year with maybe some spot minutes at the 1.
Add it all up, and that leaves Barrett, Dennis Smith Jr., Elfrid Payton, Allonzo Trier, Wayne Ellington, Frank Ntilikina, and Damyean Dotson battling it out for 96 minutes per game. Maybe Dot or Frank slide in to play some 3 here or there, but the far more likely scenario is that not all of these guys are here to begin the season. Just a guess.
With that, we sit and wait.
Remember, this is the NBA, where there truly is no offseason.
Remember when…
July 12, 2012: Knicks sign 10-time NBA All-Star free agent guard Jason Kidd and re-sign Steve Novak.
July 12, 2010: Knicks sign free agent guard Raymond Felton, who previously played for Charlotte. [Read more by Vivek Dadhania]
Thanks for reading, talk to you next Thursday!