The Knicks have hired Mike Miller as an assistant on David Fizdale’s staff after he served as their G League coach since the 2015/16 season, according to a team press release. Miller, not to be confused with the longtime NBA player, compiled a 108-92 record with the Westchester Knicks. Derrick Alston, who served as an assistant to Miller, has been promoted to head coach of the G league team, Steve Popper of Newsday tweets.
We have more from the Atlantic Division:
- Mikhail Prokhorov, who recently sold his interest in the Nets, inquired about other NBA franchises — including the Knicks — before he was approved as the majority owner of the Brooklyn franchise. His top basketball adviser, Sergei Kushchenko, revealed that to TASS in a story relayed by NetsDaily.com. ”We were looking over various options at that time,” Kushchenko said. “Among them were the New York Knicks, who asked for a bizarre sum, the Phoenix Suns and the New Jersey Nets. We decided to focus on the New Jersey Nets since it was a completely different market then in addition to the prospect of the new arena’s construction along with a full-fledged business framework.” Prokhorov was also scared away by the Knicks’ debt load, according to NetsDaily.
- Celtics coach Brad Stevens will have a dilemma if he wants to get all of his best players on the court during crunch time, Matt John of Basketball Insiders notes. The team’s top five include Kemba Walker, Jayson Tatum, Gordon Hayward, Jaylen Brown and Marcus Smart, which would leave them without a true power forward or center in those situations.
- Sixers forward Mike Scott said some advice from Clippers coach Doc Rivers helped him after he was dealt to Philadelphia last season, Kevin Murphy of The Athletic writes. Scott emerged as a key reserve after he was included in the Tobias Harris blockbuster and earned a two-year, $9.8MM contract in free agency. “I feel I didn’t play well in L.A., and I think for the most part it was on me,” Scott said. “I was still trying to figure it out. When I got here, I said, ‘[The heck with it], I am going to ball-out and try to do what Doc says.’ Do the little things and see what happens.”
Scared away by the debt load?
Isn’t the debt load essentially factored into the purchase price? You don’t buy a house and get whatever remains on the previous mortgage added to your new one.
You can pretend the price of a business doesn’t include assets, debts and receivables but what’s the point?
My guess would be Dolan wanted precisely that – “Pay me $5 billion AND assume all my debts.”
Also, corporate deals regularly include an assumption of another company’s debt in addition to a payment. You can technically do this with houses and cars too, but almost no one does.
You actually get a fair number of assumptions in commercial real estate deals and I’d guess 90% of corporate deals include the assumption of some debt but the point is that the price includes debts, assets and receivables. Mentioning an individual component a second time indicates an attempt to make a point.
Debt loads that are big enough should be looked at separately because the buyer is also going to be working with the debt-holders possibly in “creative” ways (including “too big to fail” benefits)… debtholders may take a stance on a new owner, good or bad…
Soccer business can be funny. Everton FC of the English Premier league wanted to sell for a long time but their debt and rent obligations almost equaled the value of the franchise… and historically one of the top franchises! (They’re just outside the “big 6” now.) Trying to keep their place with the Arsenals, etc. without a truly rich owner who could deficit-spend got them in trouble. They would sell off what they could, then pay rent on it, like their own training grounds.
I’m not sure what you mean here but guessing I’d argue that you look at everything separately and together when you analyze a deal.
That doesn’t change the fact that when you refer to the price of a business or any collection of assets you generally refer to the package price inclusive of all debits and credits.
Was the price too high before even considering the debts being assumed?
Was Dolan really asking for full value plus assumption of all debt?
I’m not inclined to believe the ask was full value plus debt.
I do think it’s obvious he was looking for a fixer and he went to a bad neighborhood and got a fixer. He then rebuilt it and sold something. Pretending a New Jersey basketball team is the same thing as a Brooklyn basketball team is a little silly and if you’re shopping for fixers in new Jersey you probably feel like prices over in the city are a little bizarre. Especially if you come from Russia.
Thinking on it, I bet the G League is going to be as rich a source for developing coaches as it is for players. Win win!
I get that everything in business is for sale at the right number, and I recognize most of us like to bash Dolan and Sarver just because.
But how telling is it that two of the three teams Prokorhov could potentially buy are owned by the worst owners in the NBA? It’s even more proof that Dolan and Sarver aren’t the kind of owners the NBA needs. Instead of looking for a deal on an asset, they should be looking for a way to build a great franchise. Great franchises are always great assets – doesn’t seem like Dolan or Sarver understand that.
The Knicks are the most valuable franchise in the NBA in spite of Dolan. Proving that you don’t have to win to be the best asset.
Unfortunately that is exactly the problem.
What has Hayward shown after the injury that he is better than Kanter?
The Knicks are owned by a publicly traded company, which has very little debt, even after its $1 B renovation of MSG which it self-financed. Maybe MP was referring to the team’s payroll at the time he inquired, or maybe he was just having fun with some simpleton in the media (e.g., Berman).