The Knicks did not ultimately factor in DeAndre Jordan‘s decision this summer, but Jordan said it had nothing to do with the team’s presentation, Ken Berger of CBSSports.com reports. Jordan met with the Knicks but re-signed with the Clippers.
“The Knicks had a great presentation,” Jordan said. “Phil Jackson speaks for himself with his resume. [Coach Derek Fisher] did a great job. The whole team, I felt like they had a plan — for the organization, and they had a plan for me, which was cool. But nothing was wrong with their presentation. It was great.”
Here’s more from around the basketball world:
- Rudy Gay believes his friend and new teammate Rajon Rondo is motivated to prove doubters wrong, Berger writes in the same piece. Rondo signed a one-year, $10MM pact with the Kings in July. Rondo will be coming off a down year in terms of production.
- The Kings have hired longtime NBA sabermetrician Roland Beech to head up their analytics department, Marc Stein of ESPN.com reports. Beech replaces Dean Oliver, who was let go in July.
Rondo will be better, but I don’t think we’ll ever see the All-Star version of Rondo again. The injury looks like it took something away from him.
Rudy Gay talks about motivation, and that’s the key with Rondo. He wasn’t motivated in Dallas — didn’t want to be there and didn’t like Rick Carlisle — and it showed in the playoffs. We’ll see how long he stays motivated in Sacramento.
I would’ve liked to see Josh Smith sign there as well. His talent slides right into their open power forward spot. And I would’ve loved to see Rondo, Smith and Cousins play together and see whether they prove the haters wrong, or devolve into a shit show.
I wish Josh Smith would’ve signed there too. His talent fits right into their hole at power forward. It would’ve been nice to see whether Rondo, Smith and Cousins could prove the haters wrong, or devolve into a mess.