Summer Game Winner

Tyler Kolek is already making a name for himself. Plus, Ray Marcano chimes in on a rare win for James Dolan.

Good morning! The Summer Knicks finally won a game. I’ll cover that below, but it’s not the reason why I decided to send this complementary edition of the newsletter to all subscribers on this Thursday morning. Ray Marcano penned an opinion column on James Dolan that was so good, I just had to get it out to as many people as possible. For anyone who doesn’t know, Ray’s work regularly appears in a variety of national publications, including USA Today, and this piece would fit right in with any of them. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

News & Notes

🏀 It took a few games, but the Summer Knicks finally took a page from their big brother.

On a game-ending play that would have made last season’s Knicks proud, Tyler Kolek got the hoop and the harm on one of his patented lefty drives, sinking the and-one to give New York a 106-105 victory over Sacramento.

It served as the exclamation point on the best game of Kolek’s young career.

After two games in which he was mostly looking for his teammates and running a clean offense without calling his own number (13 points, 14 assists, 0 turnovers combined), Kolek poured in 21 points yesterday, doing most of his damage from behind the arc (3-of-5) and at the line (6-of-7).

Even with the scoring outburst, his passing remained one of the highlights of summer league, where he now ranks third in assists per game among all participants.

He wasn’t the only Knick point guard to put on a show though.

Following two pedestrian outings, Rokas Joukubaitis scored more points yesterday (16) than the first two games combined, and did so on a perfect 7-for-7 from the field.

It was the first reminder this July of why so many fans have been excited about Rokas’ long term potential ever since New York drafted him 34th overall in 2021.

After the game, Stefan Bondy wrote a nice piece featuring several quotes from Joukubaitis, including that he’d “like to come here,” as well as a few other interesting details.

According to Bondy, Rokas is “under contract with Barcelona for another season, but rumors and reports suggest the team will pivot elsewhere for a point guard.” This has led to discussions with Zalgiris in Lithuania, but Joukubaitis said he’s “not very near to signing” with them and sounded open to the idea of playing for the Knicks.

But Bondy notes that “there’s been no word from the Knicks, good or bad, about their appetite for signing Jokubaitis to an NBA contract.” After the signing of Cam Payne, it would come as a mild surprise if Rokas was on the roster to start the year.

Other Knicks of note…

• Everyone seems to agree on two things regarding New York’s first round pick Pacome Dadiet. First, he’s got the makings of being a really nice NBA player one day. Second, that day won’t be coming anytime soon. He’s looked very rough on the offensive end, shooting just 28 percent from the field and 17 percent from deep. On the bright side, there’s been encouraging flashes of defense and playmaking. If nothing else, it seems like the Knicks made a worthwhile investment.

• Ariel Hukporti cracked double digit rebounds for the first time, pulling down 10 in 23 minutes, but he’s been outplayed through three games by backup big man Dmytro Skapintsev, who is making a real case for himself as something more than Westchester fodder. He’s already 26 years old, but he’s an interesting mix of size and skill for a team that has yet to acquire a backup big man.

• Jacob Toppin missed the Kings game after leaving the loss to Brooklyn with a minor hip injury.

• Duane Washington Jr is taking gunning to new levels. After a hard-to-watch 6-for-18 showing against Sacramento that included zero makes in seven attempts from deep, DWJ is tied for ninth in Vegas in field goal attempts per game. The rest of the leaderboard is mostly filled with proven NBA players and/or lotto picks. At least Duane doesn’t lack for confidence.

The win took New York to 1-2 in Vegas following their fall-from-ahead 92-85 loss to Brooklyn on Tuesday. They won’t make it to the Summer League playoffs, but they do have two games remaining: Friday at 7pm EST vs Detroit and Saturday at 6pm EST vs Atlanta.

🏀 Bet Online just dropped Vegas over unders for the upcoming NBA season, and New York clocks in at 52.5. Take all my money.

🏀 Ian Begley dropped a revealing mailbag yesterday, including some extended thoughts on Julius Randle’s future with the Knicks.

Regarding Randle, who is apparently excited to play with this group and recovering well from shoulder surgery, Begley had this to say:

“Some in the organization believe that Randle can fit well with this group and think that Randle’s play in January – after the OG Anunoby trade – supports that point. Others are concerned about Randle going into this pivotal season with free agency looming and the challenges that may present. In addition, some decision-makers aren’t as bullish about the general fit of the current group.

Perhaps as a result of that difference of opinions, Begley notes that “extension talks aren’t at the forefront for either the Knicks or Randle.” Ian adds that Julius knows the front office has other work to do, like adding a backup big man, which is part of the reason why an extension isn’t at the forefront for him.

And maybe in the most encouraging line of all for any Randle fans who hope he sticks around long term, Begley ends the segment with this:

“If the Knicks have success this season, everything surrounding Randle’s next contract will work itself out.”

If all parties are as comfortable living in the unknown as Ian makes it out to be, then it seems like reports of Julius’ departure have been greatly exaggerated after all.

Blind Squirrel

by Ray Marcano

To a certain segment of Knicks fans, James Dolan comes across as a buffoon. 

He’s banned people from Madison Square Garden because they had the gall to say things he doesn’t like. He’s still embroiled in a tiff with Charles Oakley. He’s sued the Toronto Raptors, alleging a former Knicks employee took secrets with him when he took a job across the border. He sings in a blues band, and that genre makes sense, because his voice is enough to make anyone cry.

But every now and then, a blind squirrel finds an acorn. Dolan found his acorn when he sent a letter to the NBA criticizing its coming $74.6 billion TV rights deal, and in the process, sticking up for the fans of his team.

On the surface, this may seem like an arcane business matter. On the one hand, it is.  But on the other hand, it’s important because Knicks fans might find themselves with fewer in-market games to watch.

According to ESPN, Dolan took the pure business perspective. He ripped the deal as “deemphasizing and depowering the local market” in a scheme designed to harm successful franchises.

ESPN quoted a portion of Dolan’s letter:

"Soon, your only revenue concern will be the sale of tickets and what color next year's jersey will be. Don't worry, because due to revenue pooling, you are guaranteed to be neither a success nor a failure. Of course, to get there, the league must take down the successful franchises and redistribute to the less successful. This new media deal goes a long way to accomplishing that goal."

It’s easy to dismiss Dolan’s most recent displeasure as his latest bit of whining. He’s long complained about the league’s revenue sharing that redistributes money from big to small-market teams.

But in this case, he’s right because the new rights deal will make it harder for local cable networks to show the games their fans want to see. 

That’s bad news for the Knicks faithful.

The team’s good again --- really good, which likely means a slew of national TV games. 

Nice! But those national contests get blacked out in the local market.

Well, that’s no big deal because most fans have a slew of streaming options, right? 

Wrong.

With increasingly frequency,  Americans are cutting back on streaming services that have gotten too expensive, as families spend an average of $75 a month on a lot of channels they never watch.  (Tooncast, anyone?) Forbes reported that, in 2023, steaming service growth dropped by half and recorded the biggest wave of cancellations in the last five years.  

Under the new set up, Knicks fans will need an Amazon and ESPN account as well as access to ABC and NBC --- and still pay for MSG to get the remaining games.

That can get pricey. Amazon streaming video is $9/month; YouTube.TV, FUBO, or Sling (to get ESPN) and the like will cost $60-plus; and MSG, $30/month. That’s about $100 a month to get the full slate of services to watch the games. (There are the occasional deals and price hikes that means prices fluctuate, but you get the drift.)

The Sports Business Journal reported the Knicks could find themselves on national TV 18 times, which would be six more than last season’s 12. From a fan’s perspective that means one in five games will only be available on an NBA partner. 

That could also cost MSG up to $25 million, the business journal reported. Moreover, the MSG network has lost 45 percent of its customer base over the last eight years as more people drop cable, Dolan said in his letter.

If this seems too inside baseball, it isn’t. Direct Sports Group, which operates Bally Sports, has been in bankruptcy and hopes to exit soon. The bankruptcy proceedings have put in limbo local rights deals for NBA, NHL and MLB teams. I won’t get in the weeds, but the same issues that confront Direct Sports --- fewer subscribers due to chord cutting --- is the same issue Dolan alludes to in his letter. I’m not suggesting MSG faces bankruptcy, just pointing out the associated problems falling revenue can cause. 

The entire ESPN and Sports Business stories are worth a read. While Dolan makes several points from a business perspective, without realizing it, he’s sticking up for fans.

For once, we get to cheer Jim Dolan.

Long-time journalist Ray Marcano freelances for some of the country’s most prominent brands and writes the Sunday opinion column for the Dayton Daily News. He’s the former National President of the Society of Professional Journalists, a two-time Pulitzer juror, a Fulbright Fellow, and a die-hard Knicks fan. Subscribe to his newsletter, the Bourbon Resource, here.

🏀

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”