One of the main reasons that the Knicks fired Kevin Whitted as coach of their D-League affiliate, and also did not retain his replacement, Craig Hodges, is because the team’s front office was not pleased with the development of Thanasis Antetokounmpo, Marc Berman of The New York Post relays (on Twitter). Antetokounmpo, who recently inked a partially guaranteed two-year deal with New York, appeared in 47 games for Westchester last season and averaged 13.9 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 1.7 assists.
Here’s more from New York City:
- Antetokounmpo’s deal with the Knicks includes a partial guarantee of $75k for the 2015/16 campaign, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders tweets. Pincus also confirms that Sasha Vujacic‘s one-year pact is fully guaranteed.
- Kevin Seraphin brings with him to New York a solid midrange game, with the big man nailing almost 45% of those attempts, but his true offensive value is that he’s effective playing with his back to the basket, which is a big plus in the triangle offense, Chris Herring of The Wall Street Journal writes. The 25-year-old is also a solid rim-protector, but his propensity to get into foul trouble needs improvement, Herring adds.
- Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com ran down Seraphin’s numbers from last season, as well as analyzed the center’s strengths and areas in need of improvement. One immediate area of concern for the Knicks regarding their recent signee is his lackluster rebounding production from a season ago, Begley notes.