Despite some speculation that he may be a first-rounder, the Knicks were able to nab Mitchell Robinson with the 36th overall pick in last month’s draft. That was never a lock though, and a source tells Marc Berman of The New York Post that the Knicks mulled the possibility of trading up a few spots in the draft to make sure they’d be able to grab the young center.
Robinson, who signed his first NBA contract on Sunday, looked good in Summer League play later in the day, putting up 12 points and 11 rebounds with a pair of blocks against Utah. As Berman writes in a separate article for The Post, the rookie big man still wants to get in better shape, but is optimistic that he’ll be able to make an impact for the Knicks.
“I feel I really can play in the NBA,” Robinson said. “Nowadays you got the 7-footer who can jump out of the gym. I’m one of them. It will work out great for me.”
Here’s more from out of New York on the Knicks and Nets:
- Brian Lewis of The New York Post checks in on Jeremy Lin‘s recovery from a torn patellar tendon. While the Nets point guard hasn’t played five-on-five ball yet, he anticipates being ready to go for training camp.
- In another story for The Post, Lewis explores what’s next for the Nets now that Dwight Howard‘s buyout has been finalized. That agreement opened up more cap room, but GM Sean Marks doesn’t sound like he’s in a hurry to spend it. “I wouldn’t rule anything out. I’d just say we’re constantly weighing our options,” Marks said. “We’re going to be strategic and see how [free agency] comes. The longer the process is drawn out and going into July, there will probably be better deals out there.”
- Joakim Noah‘s future with the Knicks remains a question mark, but the big man sounds enthusiastic about the idea of staying in New York and playing for new head coach David Fizdale, as he told TMZ this weekend.
- Marc Berman of The New York Post takes a closer look at Juwan Howard Jr., who is playing for the Knicks in Summer League and hopes to get an invite to join the Westchester Knicks, New York’s G League affiliate. Fizdale, of course, has a good relationship with Howard’s father from their days in Miami.
They had been saying they thought Robinson was skipping the combine and tryouts because he had a promise to the Lakers. Robinson’s guardian is a former NBA player (don’t remember who). Robinson had originally committed to Texas A&M, but switched to Western Kentucky because of his guardian getting an assistant coaching job. Wonder why Robinson left Western Kentucky twice. Read because of his offensive skills, he was likely to play in the G League.
Mitchell Robinson reminds me of Hassan Whiteside, but I think he’ll be a better pick and roll defender as he develops
Noah and 2 first rounders to the Bulls. Bulls then buy him out. Win-win.
How is that a win win…?
Joakim Noah has roughly $38 million remaining on his deal, roughly $18.5 this year and roughly $19.5 next year. They have four options here:
1) Stretch Noah this year. That would bring his cap hit to roughly $7.6 million over 5 years – saving them $11 million against this year’s cap and $12 million against next year’s cap. Doing this would give them roughly $50 million in cap space heading into next off-season (assuming a $108 million cap; and not taking next year’s draft pick’s salary into account.)
If they do the same with Tim Hardaway Jr right now, they’d save an additional $10 million in cap space for 2019 – giving them roughly $60 million in space to try to add Butler and Irving.
2) Stretch Noah next year. This would bring his cap hit to $6.5 million over 3 years, saving the Knicks $13 million against the 2019 cap.
If they waited a year to do the same with Tim Hardaway Jr, they’d lose about $500k in cap space next year vs. doing the same thing year.
3) Buyout Noah. HAHAHA good luck with that one. The guy has $36 million guaranteed and legs that might allow him to play 40 games per year. There’s not even a guarantee the guy would be picked up by a contender on a veteran minimum deal at this point. There’s really just no way the guy is going to give up anywhere near enough money to make this a logical choice for the Knicks.
4) Trade him to the Bulls. This is a win for the Knicks since they’d get out completely from the Noah contract, saving $19.5 million against the cap in 2019. Doing this, and stretching Hardaway right now, would give the Knicks about $$68 million to spend on next year’s free agency class. This would make them one of the only teams in the NBA with enough money to bring in both Butler and Irving. Of the other teams that can give Butler and Irving a realistic chance of playing together, the Knicks might provide the best opportunity since they also have Porzingis on their roster.
For the bulls, stretching Noah a year from now would give cut $6.5 million from their projected $50 million in payroll. However, since they’re already out of range of realistically landing two top-tier free agents, the potential to draft a solid player w/ the Knicks 1st round pick would be enticing enough to give up the extra cash.
Giving up a 1st round pick (or two!) to get rid of Noah is insane. It’s that kind of thinking that put the Knicks on the road to ruin for 20 years. Haven’t you guys learned anything? Knicks should just bite the bullet and keep Noah until his contract is up. Better to focus now on building a solid core of young players. If that core builds into anything… the free agents will follow.
Actually. Signing aging players like Noah and average players like Hardaway to long term, big money deal is what hurt the Knicks.
The other thing that hurt the Knicks is terrible drafting.
The Bulls win twice.
I hope Noah gets a run this season. Not his fault his contract is the amount it is. It’ll most likely be his last chance to see some NBA action, as I don’t see him around after this season
When is the last time that a rebuilding team has given up a 1st round pick to get rid of a bad contract?
When is the last time that any team has given up a 1st round pick to get rid of a bad contract where the contract causes no luxury tax and its removal creates no current cap space?
Nets: Noah, 19 top-5 protected pick
Knicks: Carrol, 2021 second rounder
Totally agree with bennyg, really hope Noah can play, never his fault the contract, always a pro, has given all he has on the court, deserves better than that, got attacked by the prior HC, didn’t ask to have him fired, still wants to try to play by working hard, as I said a real pro. Also let’s not forget he was 1st All-NBA team & a DPOY, he deserves some respect.