Blake Griffin is close to making his Nets debut, coach Steve Nash told the media on Friday (hat tip to NetsDaily.com). Griffin is traveling with the team on its current road trip. “He looks good, is improving, and is working hard off the floor as well,” Nash said. “I think he is addressing all of the things he needed to address to land safely back in the game and transition into our team, which is not always easy. … He has to adapt to the way that we play, new teammates, new system, and new style.”
We have more from the Atlantic Division:
- Raptors coach Nick Nurse hinted that his team’s troubles go beyond COVID-19 related absences, Josh Lewenberg of TSN Sports tweets. With OG Anunoby returning on Friday, the Raptors have all of the players who were under the league’s healthy and safety protocols back in action. Toronto lost to Utah on Friday, its seventh straight defeat, and Nurse seemed to indicate the team needs more help. “We’re getting our (butts) kicked at the rim on both ends, not rebounding,” he said. “I mean the ship has got holes all over the place that we’re trying to patch up.”
- Sixers guard Seth Curry will miss at least two games due to a sprained left ankle, Derek Bodner of The Athletic tweets. He’ll be re-evaluated after Sunday’s game against New York. Philadelphia plays Sacramento on Saturday.
- Knicks lottery pick Obi Toppin has seen his playing time drop in recent games, Barbara Barker of Newsday notes. Toppin has played single-digit minutes in his last four outings and has gone scoreless the last three games. Julius Randle has averaged 40 MPG over that stretch, which has led to Toppin’s lack of activity.
Griffin joining the lineup gives the Nets a Big 4 with him, KD, Harden, and Kyrie.
Yeah ……… ok
Knicks 70-74 teams had 7 future HOF players. So they were The Magnificent 7 …… The Big 7……..
The Seven Deep …..,
They let anyone into the NBA hof
Kelly Loeffler is trolling basketball forums now ….
Griffin does not warrant that honour.
He ain’t that good anymore!
Not many players can replace Jarret Allen and Griffin isn’t even close. Deandre still more valuable on that team to me. He does what he is suppose to do..defend, rebound,and catch lobs. Griffin has no inside game anymore, he thinks he can shoot 3’s now. Good luck Brooklyn but I got them winning the the championship next year and the year after.
Griffin is no longer a big anything
Playing Randle an unsustainably high amount of minutes at the expense of a rookie first rounder seems like vintage Tom Thibodeau. Would like to see Toppin get more minutes, but it’s difficult when their best player plays the same position.
Their schedule is brutal coming up, so maybe they’ll get blown out of a few games and Toppin can get some minutes.
Randle leads NBA in mins played. Yeah you could say that’s on Thibs. It’s also injuries to bigs. I agree I’d like to see Toppin get more mins. But no one including Thibs was expecting Randle to do this, this yr. Otherwise they would have taken Halliburton. A coach should always want to win. You can win and rebuild at same time. But I do sometimes feel like rebuilding is not part of equation. Thibs in Minny and Chicago took young teams and built them into playoff teams. He never had the draft picks we have. I see management watching over Thibs. So he doesn’t get out and try and do this all in one yr. Only Randle n RJ play over 30 mins. And Thibs has 14 players avg 14 mins. It’s not a 7 man rotation of old days. He hasn’t worn team down with team D. he’s playing a lot of guys. Yes he still is playing vets, if you can call them that. But the old Knicks would have gone after a star already or an Oladipo. He’s not the same. But I do wish he would play Toppin more. Right now they are locked in for playoffs. Team wants it, Thibs wants it, City wants it. So like I’ve been saying all yr. It’s always going to be about dealing with expectations and time lines in NY. Looks to me like they are on course and staying put for big picture. This draft, FA, and trades will set us on course to longevity and respectability. Toppin can be used as a trade chip. I worry about short time success messing up long term success. So yes Thibs might look like the Thibs of old. But if you look at all the stats. He has changed. I Trust in Thibs. Whole organization and city at this point. Does not want to miss out on playoffs. That’s their focus right now. TD can help us solidify that.
Obi needs to stay the course. I believe he is a diamond in the rough and will eventually be a starter. Unfortunately he is playing behind our all star in Randle and I wouldn’t play Randle less minutes unless we are leading by twenty and 8!minutes to go in the fourth quarter. We aren’t that stacked because of injuries so we need to play who we have.
I give Obi three years including this season to learn from our veterans and Randle will be at his prime at 29.
For Obi to get more minutes he will have to play some sf snd we can display a small lineup with Randle at the 5.
Toppin was a terrible pick
I respect what Randle has done. And I believe this is who he is now. I still want a more traditional 2way PG to run team. And Knicks still need a third scorer, preferably a scorer-shooter (20 pts a gm). This will take us to next level. And we can do this for next yr. Toppin I still think highly of him. But the way Randle is playing. We might have to use him to get that scorer. Imo Toppin can start at the 4 for someone. He is best with a pass first PG. Knicks will not bury him like they have done to their other picks. He will be showcased if they are going to move him. This ain’t the old regime. “In Thibs We Trust”
Don’t trade Obi! That will be a huge mistake that will bite us in the long run. He was noted as being NBA ready as a rookie when first drafted and wouldn’t be surprised that if we trade him he becomes a legit pf and starter.
DO NOT TRADE OBI.
We can get our point guard in either the upcoming draft or in free agency.
Plus with Rose coming back and Quickley we should be ok at the point for the rest of the season.
If any trade needs to be made it’s Elfrid Payton for a second round draft pick.
He’s not starting in NY while we have 27 yr old all star ahead of him. He is Not a SF. Yes eventually he can be part of rotation when you go small. But even then he will get at best 20 mins. Toppin easily could have gone top 5. It’s why we took him at 8. But Randle us here to stay at this point. So Toppin becomes a big piece to get a young star at the 2 or 3. It could eventually happen lol. We have 3 of top 32 picks in next draft. Plenty of talent there. Knicks are building a nice team right now.
Nurse agrees, Ujiri needs to get bigger, has too many guards, hint
Guys…Rajon Rondo got a ring with the Celtics last championship and then a ring with the Lakers last championship. Not since Rick Fox has their been such a divided player in the Lakers/Celtics rivalry lol.
Bron buying into a Boston baseball team doesn’t count. Kareem is the best Laker anyway, kinda, he dominated in all levels of ball and also Bruce lee trained him how to fight and then airplane but also hes an activist too.
I’m a celtics fan for the record, I actively cheered the Lakers to tie the all time title record in Kobes name, and obfor some reason back kareem as the GOAT. But I think there should be like 6 or 7 names in the conversation not just mj/bron/Kobe. Big guys dont get the consideration they should. I mean shaq should at least be argued. Dude was dominant and couldnt shoot beyond the no charge zone if his life depended on it. Watch the video on youtube showing every 3 he ever made, it’s incredible lol.
Kareem is best ever to me. Basketball is a team sport. The GOAT to me is the top 5 positions. Because ball is a team game. Your five might beat my five. If Larry didn’t hurt his back. He would be in best ever conversation too.
COVID-19 should not be having a major impact on the Raptors since the head coach is a NURSE !!
Knicks must have felt that Obi’s playing time had been
TOPPIN out !!!
Trade Toppin and a non-lottery 1st for John Collins. Reup Collins. Sign Oladipo. Reup Rose and Taj. Sign Otto Porter.
Rose, Dipo, RJ, Randle, Collins
Mitchell, Taj, Porter, whichever PG they draft, and round out the rest of the bench with 3&D.
Not a terrible roster, probably could compete for playoff spots each year.
Why ???? Collins plays same position as Randle. Toppin could be better than Collins. Mitch is a future DPY candidate.
Collins was the 5 often in ATL. Check the lineups for MP. You can play them together bc both can stretch the floor. And Mitchell is a 20MPG guy.
Toppin probably won’t be better than Collins, who is like a Chris Bosh-lite. Toppin could be a quality player, but probably just a role player.
Rose needs to deal with the Randle-Toppin situation prior to, or during, the draft. If he doesn’t do a thing, he’s still dealt with it (just poorly). It’s not that hard from a basketball standpoint. It just stands the risk of second guessing. But that’s the job.
In the interim, it’s about winning. Not getting Toppin his minutes (which I’d love to see, btw, but the Knicks elected to go all out for the playoffs).
Thibs should not be criticized for Randle’s minutes. The way the Knicks play pretty much dictates that Randle gets the minutes he gets, just as it dictates that Noel has gotten the biggest share of Mitch’s minutes, and Gibson (not Toppin) has gotten the rest. Toppin’s game is more typical of a PF (few PFs play like Randle does, he’s basically a high post C on offense). He can’t just be seamlessly inserted into the lineup to reduce Randle’s minutes. When Randle’s out of the game, the entire offense is different.