As if merely playing in New York didn’t get them enough attention, the Nets and Knicks are under increased scrutiny in the early going this season, as both teams are off to 3-8 starts. Considering the Atlantic division leaders are the 5-7 Raptors and 5-8 Sixers, neither New York club is in significant danger yet, but the pressure on each team has certainly intensified. Here’s the latest out of NYC:
- Following up on a piece he wrote yesterday about the long shadow cast by the repeater tax, Mark Deeks of ShamSports suggests (via Twitter) that it makes sense for the Nets to trade away one of their little-used bench players like Tyshawn Taylor or Tornike Shengelia in a straight salary dump.
- Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports and Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News both have new pieces up on rookie head coach Jason Kidd. Wojnarowski writes that Kidd looks overwhelmed so far, but isn’t a lost cause, while Bondy questions whether Kidd’s latest comments are encouraging or delusional.
- A source tells Frank Isola of the New York Daily News that there’s a little friction between Kidd and top Nets assistant Lawrence Frank. “Something has changed between them,” according to Isola’s source.
- Isola also hears that Mike Woodson may have “some trust issues” with his staff in New York. As the Daily News scribe writes: “Every time you turn around, the Knicks hire somebody else to rebound for a player during shooting drills and give that person the title of ‘workout coach.'”
- Earlier today, we passed along a few notable quotes from a rare James Dolan Q&A.