The Nets have been close to unbeatable when Kevin Durant, James Harden and Kyrie Irving are on the court together, but that lineup hasn’t been seen much since the three stars teamed up last January. Irving tells Nick Friedell of ESPN that he thinks “daily” about how good the team could be if all three were playing on a regular basis.
“It’s not something that is shortsighted for us,” Irving said. “We think about the long term and how well we jell together as a trio. And when we say as a trio we’re not excluding anybody else on the team, but we just know that the energy runs through us, and when we’re flowing out there and we’re playing — I think James said it last year — there’s not a lot of teams that could be out on the floor with us that can match up very well with us.”
Of course, Irving is a major reason why the trio has barely been together this season. He has played in just nine games so far because of his refusal to comply with New York City’s vaccination requirement and the Nets’ reluctance to have him as a part-time player until their roster was decimated by the virus.
There’s more from New York:
- Nets coach Steve Nash is trying to keep his team focused through a slew of injuries and its longest losing streak in two years, per Brian Lewis of The New York Post. Brooklyn was on top of the East 11 days ago, but it’s in danger of moving down into play-in territory after dropping five straight games. “They haven’t dropped their heads because we’ve lost games. We’ve had a tough schedule with a lot of guys out of the lineup, and we can’t lose that connectivity and that energy and that spirit,” Nash said. “To me, there’s no moral victories, but we’re moving in the right direction.”
- Mavericks owner Mark Cuban‘s desire to keep Jalen Brunson through the trade deadline is bad news for the Knicks, contends Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News. Brunson will be a free agent this summer, but he’ll reportedly be seeking about $80MM over four years, which exceeds New York’s available cap space unless team president Leon Rose can clear out a few contracts. The Knicks need immediate help at point guard, but there are few good options on the market considering what they have to offer. Sources tell Bondy that New York is looking to unload Evan Fournier, Nerlens Noel, Alec Burks and Kemba Walker and hopes to create playing time for newly acquired Cam Reddish.
- With Immanuel Quickley, Obi Toppin and Quentin Grimes bypassed for the Rising Stars competition, it looks like the Knicks won’t have any representatives in any of the games at All-Star Weekend, notes Marc Berman of The New York Post.
I really hope Knicks can find a way to sign Brunson this summer
If Mavs want Simmons, Knicks can help Mavs
Both 76ers and Mavs have no tax room for Brunson salary
If I’m the Mavs I move him yesterday. They know they can’t resign him in the offseason so holding him suggests they think they can contend for a title with their roster as it is which is laughable at best
They can retain him thru the season and still SnT him to recoup some assets.
You’ve missed what I was saying and that’s largely on me as I thought the Brunson extension issue was common knowledge. “The issue here is that there is another rule for second-rounders: The team can only start his salary at 120 percent of the average salary, which is $14 million for the first season in 2022-23. Thus, a three-year deal for Brunson, after 8 percent raises, would only come to $45.3 million”. SnT not possible when Brunson stands to make more elsewhere.
@Washington
I thought home teams could always offer max, regardless of the salary cap as long as they sign other FA first, if they have Bird rights?
In all transparency I have little knowledge of how exactly this works. The more I look into it I think this only applies to an extension so once he’s no longer under contract I would assume they can offer him more than 14 mil but I’m not exactly sure how much more they can offer to him apposed to other teams.
DAL keeping Brunson is NOT bad news for the Knicks. It’s good news, because the only rational way the Knicks will be in play for Brunson is via a S&T this summer. NYK will NOT have the needed cap space in the summer of 2022. They have expiring contracts for a S&T in the summer of 2022, and cap space in the summer of 2023. That means it’s best for the NYK if DAL keeps him. If he goes somewhere other than DAL before the TD, the S&T possibility goes down considerably. It also gives the Knicks more time to evaluate him in a situation that he’s already familiar with.
Sign and trade is off the table being as the Mavs can’t offer as much as Brunson would earn via free agency
Not true in the summer (DAL can sign him for anything up to the max at that point).
Do the Knicks know that they can create playing time for Reddish by just playing him instead of the other players?
Lol I’ve been thinking the same thing :D Thibs smh
I guess they’re oblivious to this idea, and it isn’t like they’re doing so good a shakeup would destroy the team’s chemistry or anything.
Reddish is an upgrade over several of their rotation players..Pick one or two, and give Cam their minutes…It isn’t all that difficult..
Then again, this is the same Thibs that won’t give Toppin much playing time either..
Either play them or trade them, if I were Toppin I would have demanded a trade months ago..
I loved Thibs in Chicago, as a Bulls fan, but I still see he is stubborn as a mule, for better or worse.
I’m not sure how much of a upgrade Cam would be at this point. Even as a fan of his potential, his on-off splits were horrible this year and he has expressed his desire to be a star. That’s not exactly conducive to being productive as someone who lacks BBIQ and a consistent motor atm.
That being said, I’d still give him those minutes because you already know what you’d be getting with the veteran retreads, and it ain’t good. This team had no hope once Randle couldn’t replicate his outlier season. They need to look for some upside and Cam has plenty of that. They have no other choice short of making some big, likely ill-advised trades.
Especially with the 2nd unit right now
If the Knicks really want to create playing time Reddish (and others) they should be looking to unload Thibs
The Nets are stupid not to trade Irving.
The Nets should trade either Irving or Harden. Harden is leaving after the season regardless, via free agency,and Kyrie, well who knows what Kyrie has going on. He may take the summer to try to sail off the flat Earth, lol.
Where is Harden gong?
Which contender has giant cap room? Lakers or Clippers?
Kyrie is probably threatening he will not show up if traded(unless the other team gives him max extension). It’s always complicated with Kyrie. :(
when has he EVER demonstrated actions like that? the covid situation doesn’t relate since it sprung up after his contract was signed AND he wasn’t holding out for any extra benefits?
Not really. They’re just stuck with him. No one is going to give up a major haul for someone as crazy and oft-injured as he is while it probably wouldn’t make sense for them to deal him at a significant discount just to rid themselves of Irving.
This was the risk in signing him to begin with. Now the must reap the consequences.
Which team is giving up assets for Irving?
Forget about a comparable All Star—who’s even giving up 2-3 roles players and a future protected 1st? Is there a team that does that deal for Kyrie (who can be leave for nothing in less than 6 months)?
Thibs seems to think it’s last season. I think the question of whether he is the right coach for the roster that lies ahead is a viable one.
Thibs is the coaching equivalent of near-prime Westbrook: a significant floor-raiser that you wouldn’t want leading you as an actual contender.
Agreed. The conclusion from the 1st half of this season is that Randle had a fluke year, and RJ still has some serious promise.
So it seems like the logical path forward for the Knicks is pull back, allow RJ and other prospects (Toppin, Grimes, IQ, Reddish, McBride) to sink or swim, and then pray a top 15 player decides he wants to come to a promising young team in Manhattan.
That path isn’t feasible with Thibs insisting that Taj Gibson still needs to play 20 mpg.
“it looks like the Knicks won’t have any representatives at All-Star Weekend” – didn’t they report a couple of days ago that Toppin was taking part again in the dunk contest?
Yeah, I guess Berman was referring specifically to the games at All-Star weekend. I’ve updated our wording.
I doubt NY can move our recent signees with the exception of Walker (shorter contract) and Burks (actually a valuable player) at the deadline. But w/ team options on Fournier and Noel, those contracts should be able to be “unloaded” by next TDE. Randle….IDK, call me when he starts hitting over 30% on 3s again, I guess?
In the meantime, please for the love of God let the young players get some run. Last night was a start, although Reddish should be seeing some time as well.
At this point I’d rather have another stab at a high lottery pick than a 10 seed play-in appearance.
Got some “standings massaging” to do if you want a high pick. Knicks sitting @ 10 right now, with wins against a lot of teams ahead of them.
Might even be a futile effort & another #8-10 pick.
Had they picked Halliburton and not Toppin when they already had Randle…