Nets guard Kyrie Irving isn’t participating in the NBA’s restart this summer, but he made headlines on Monday, announcing that he’s committing $1.5MM to supplement the income of WNBA players who choose not to take part in the 2020 season, as Brian Mahoney of The Associated Press details.
“Whether a person decided to fight for social justice, play basketball, focus on physical or mental health, or simply connect with their families, this initiative can hopefully support their priorities and decisions,” Irving said in a statement.
WNBA veterans such as Natasha Cloud and Renee Montgomery opted not to participate in the 2020 season for social reform reasons, while others – like LaToya Sanders – aren’t playing due to health concerns. Irving’s program will allow those players and others to apply for compensation by August 11, by recipients being notified by August 24, per Mahoney.
Here’s more on the NBA’s two New York teams:
- Newly-signed Nets guard Tyler Johnson turned heads on Saturday during his first scrimmage with Brooklyn, per Zach Braziller of The New York Post. Johnson, who scored 17 points, said he felt better on Saturday than he had for a good portion of the season. “I’ve been very fortunate to come into an offense where everybody is looking to get everybody involved,” he said. “… I feel very confident that I can get in rhythm on this team.”
- Now that the Knicks have made a decision on their new head coach, reaching a deal with Tom Thibodeau, it’s time for the team to start addressing its roster, writes Steve Popper of Newsday. As Popper observes, with eight veterans on track for potential free agency and no “can’t-miss” future star on the roster, the club has less talent to work with than either of Thibodeau’s previous squads.
- Despite the underwhelming roster Thibodeau is inheriting, it looks as if the Knicks are more likely to try to compete for a playoff spot in 2020/21 than to tank, Marc Berman of The New York Post writes in a mailbag. Berman points out that if the franchise wanted an extended rebuild, it wouldn’t have hired Thibodeau over someone like Kenny Atkinson.
Berman is right
Knicks want playoffs not rebuild
That is the reason they hire Thib instead of Atkinson
I will be exciting to see two things
Succeed in free agent and trade market
If failing in free agent market，
Knicks can acquire good players by giving away future picks like candy
Does this mean Jason Kidd is no longer the front runner for the Knicks hc job?
“As Popper observes, with eight veterans on track for potential free agency and no “can’t-miss” future star on the roster,” the club has a rotation of EIGHT players who may actually see time on the court while the other players on the roster will enjoy their court side seats while being paid to watch the Knicks play.
Mark Jackson passed over again. Wrong.
Why is it that every article on NY here has as many comments as the ones for all the other teams combined? Are the Knicks and Nets that interesting?
No.
But it’s what things settle into.
I wish the Cavs did not value keeping things private as much, but then, some fans judge them on secrecy!
Knicks shouldn’t unload a single first-round pick. Clean house and use second-round picks as throw-ins, if at all necessary (with all due respect to our center, Mitchell Robinson). I’d still like to see some faith in Knox, and hands off of Barrett, Robinson, and Brazdeikis.
Only Harkless and Dotson are FA. Portis and Pinson are on team options. Pinson probably staying. Portis is gone. Bullock, Ellington, Gibson, Payton are all partially guaranteed. Meaning they could get bought out and Bye. There aren’t 8 FA. Get it right. Thibs loves Taj. Probably stays, has 1 more yr. Bullock probably stays has 1 yr. Payton I’m not sure cause Frank n DSJ have to play. To see who gets traded or both go. Mitch n RJ are the foundation. Now they may not be future stars. But they probably will be starters in NBA for long time. Knox has to show 20 yrs old. Brazdeikis is solid bench young guy. We have 3 picks in top 37 picks in draft. Plus plenty cap space. Knicks have been rumored for months to want Woods. So once again Berman an Newsday don’t know squat. This is a rebuild. That why Thibs is here. But it shouldn’t take more than a yr to see direction. Trades and big signings will come later. There are no worthy FA next yr. Except Woods who is going to be a Knick. Randle is a 20 n 10, 26 yr old who nobody wants. Hornets would give Rozier for him. That can get done next yr. Or they could use Randle for players with Contracts teams want to get rid off. Like Love, Horford, Wiggins, Griffin ok. We got plenty of options. Halliburton is best PG in draft. We get him, we are the 8th seed. So please stop drinking the hater koolaid. Knicks haven’t rebuilt since Ewing was a rookie. We are not blowing it now with 1 or 2 yrs to go. Wake Up. 6 #1 picks in next 3 drafts. OK wake up it’s a REBUILD
Let me just say RJ is a future star. He will be 20 next yr. We have enough young talent and picks to get a major player. If we go that way. But there is no rush. 3 picks coming in draft. That’s all we need to think about.
A team can be in a rebuild mode without tanking. I’ve always felt that the Fizdale approach of running a bunch of young players out there for experience without clear roles, expectations or accountability is inconsistent with team building and can even retard individual player development.
I also reject the notion that Thibs’ coaching style can only be applied with the type of roster and/or organizational priorities he was given in Chi and Minn. If Thibs isn’t an effective coach for this group, it will be because he isn’t RWA to apply his skills to a rebuild situation, not because those skills can’t be applied to one. It’s up to Rose to make that assessment, and he obviously thinks Thibs is RWA to do it. Whether he’s right or wrong, time will tell. But I see no reason not to trust his judgement.