The Knicks never believed Ja Morant was a sure thing for the second pick even before news of his scheduled surgery came to light, a source tells Marc Berman and Mark Fischer of The New York Post. Morant will undergo a minor scope on his right knee tomorrow to remove a “loose body.” Even though the procedure is considered routine, Morant will be sidelined three to four weeks and appears unlikely to play in the Summer League.
The news has sparked rumors that the Grizzlies are looking harder at other options with their No. 2 pick. They reportedly have been sending “mixed messages” about the selection and tried to get Duke’s R.J. Barrett to come to Memphis for a private workout.
The Knicks had Morant ranked higher than Barrett on their draft board going into the combine, according to Berman and Fischer. Their front office has been watching Morant for a long time and considered him a first-round pick after his freshman season in 2018 based on his potential.
There’s more this morning from New York:
- Barrett has a lot of fans in the Grizzlies organization, Berman and Fischer add. His Canadian roots add to his appeal for Memphis draft consultant Glen Grunwald, who serves as CEO of Canada Basketball. Barrett has a workout scheduled for New York on June 10, but reportedly refuses to schedule a session with the Grizzlies because he prefers to go to the Knicks at No. 3 or the Lakers at No. 4.
- The Hawks haven’t been contacted by the Knicks about a rumored trade involving the No. 3 pick and Atlanta’s selections at No. 8 and No. 10, according to Michael Cunningham of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Cunningham believes Hawks GM Travis Schlenk would be open to a two-for-one deal if he believes the conventional wisdom that this year’s draft is especially top-heavy, but in general Schlenk’s philosophy is to accumulate draft picks and take as many chances as possible at landing a great player.
- Raptors guard Danny Green is too focused on the NBA Finals to discuss a possible move to New York, but it’s a discussion that could come into play this offseason, Berman speculates in a separate story. A Long Island native, Green will be a free agent this summer and the Knicks will be in the market for shooters. He talked briefly to New York during his last free agency experience. “The (Knicks) reached out (in 2015) and sent a text,” Green recalled. “My deal (four years, $40 million) was done so fast I was pretty much only talking to them. It happened so fast. I was barely a free agent. I knew we had a good crew coming back (in San Antonio) and felt I had a good chance of winning again.”
R.J. Barrett is a punk…refuses to work out for Memphis. Prima donna….he deserves to wash Jim Dolan car.
How does not wanting to work out for a team being a prima donna or punk? He has the right to work out for whoever he pleases.
I mean you can say Steph Curry is a punk by that logic. The people around these players are trying to get their guy into the best situation possible to be successful in their NBA career. If that means avoiding draft workouts with certain teams that are interested in you, so be it. There’s a reason there’s no rule about workouts being mandatory. It’s bad for the organization and the player they draft who doesn’t want to be there.
Only things Barrett is looking at are Media, Market and extra money.
The complete dysfunctional front office and ownership of Grizzlies doesn’t help much.
Most of this is noise anyway.
Can also see a #2 to Lakers for Ingram, Hart (??), and the #4 to get Culver,Hunter or White with.
Need all the help they can get.
Did you just suggest that moving up to #2 from #4 would cost the Lakers Ingram and Hart???? I must be reading that wrong…
You have no idea what his motivations are. He might not like the competitive history of the Grizzlies or the idea of living in Memphis. Me personally, I think these guys should go where they’re drafted and stay quiet about it. That’s because they haven’t proved anything yet. However, I can’t knock someone for quietly making it clear to the organization that they would’t want to play there. It’s when it’s public that it bugs me.
Knicks can’t go wrong staying at #3, and taking whichever of Morant or Barrett fall to them. They weren’t dealt the 4 aces lots hoped for on lottery night, but they were dealt a full house (by staying in the top 3). All the Stooges need to do is lay down their cards. Even they should be capable of that. They can screw things up afterward if they like.
They will take culver and allow lakers to draft barrett.
They would be fools to not leverage something from the Lakers inorder to draft Barrett. Even IF, they like Culver over Barrett they should make a team pay something to get him.
Last year Atlanta had the #3 pick and wanted Young. They knew that was too high a draft position to take him so they worked out the deal with the Mavs because they knew they wanted Doncic but didn’t pick until #5. Atlanta ended up getting an extra 2019 1st round pick because of that strategy.
I believe your first four words are his point.
This is the NBA Draft and the Knicks. No matter where they are pick they CAN go wrong.
“His Canadian roots add to his appeal for Memphis draft consultant Glen Grunwald, who serves as CEO of Canada Basketball. ”
I sure hope my home team is smarter than to draft a guy because he has roots in a country that a supposedly unbiased draft consultant represents…
I’d take either one, Ja or RJ. Memphis has a harder decision than NYK, but they don’t need to rush Ja back into action whereas the Knicks need instant production. Now does New Orleans want Ja or RJ that’s the question.
Barrett has sent his message. By now all those Grizzly execs should be forgetting about Barrett and working on trades for Conley and/or the #2.
I’d take 8 and 10 for 3
Really??? I’d rather quality over quantity, but that just me, right?