Appearing on CNBC on Monday (video link), financial analyst Jonathan Boyar said that there’s a belief Knicks owner James Dolan will explore selling his sports franchises after Madison Square Garden Entertainment finishes building the MSG Sphere in Las Vegas. The new Vegas venue is scheduled to open in 2023.
However, an MSG executive responded to that report with a quick and succinct denial, according to Knicks reporter Tommy Beer (Twitter link).
“We have no plans to sell either of the teams,” the executive said of the Knicks and the NHL’s New York Rangers.
Here’s more from around the Atlantic division:
- OG Anunoby and Malachi Flynn are among the Raptors facing the most pressure in 2022/23, writes Eric Koreen of The Athletic. As Koreen outlines, if Anunoby can stay healthy and continues to develop on offense, he could become an All-Star caliber player, but he still has to stay on the court and show he deserves that bigger role. Flynn, meanwhile, is entering the third year of his rookie contract and may not be part of Toronto’s future plans if he doesn’t establish himself as a reliable backup this season.
- Gina Mizell of The Philadelphia Inquirer examines some lingering offseason questions facing the Sixers, including whether the team will get seriously involved in the Kevin Durant sweepstakes and how the NBA’s investigation into the team’s free agency moves might play out.
- Jared Weiss of The Athletic takes a look at whether or not there will be regular minutes available in the Celtics‘ rotation for Payton Pritchard and/or Sam Hauser following the team’s offseason acquisition of Malcolm Brogdon. While Weiss believes both players are capable of contributing in Boston, he suggests they’ll have to earn their playing time.
Covid canceling the 2020 ncaa tournament definitely hurt Malachi Flynn’s career. He was arguably the best pg in the nation that season & was primed to breakout on the national stage during the big dance as his Aztecs prob would got a top3 seed. So far as a pro he’s lacked the confidence that he played with in San Diego. He has shown improvement over his 1st 2 seasons tho, esp after he came back from injury last season.
I love how when the C’s drafted Pritchard I said it was a horrible pick and everyone jumped on me saying I know nothing and after that season they were 100% right now he may not get mins I’m so confused what the hell am I missing here because he was damn good his rookie year
It’s a numbers game, along with the fact he’s the weakest defender on a team who’s calling card is defense. PP plays hard (giggity), but he’s undersized, and we all know that size matters.
I think they’re gonna have to be careful on matchups with PP. He brings good energy and hustle to the 2nd unit, I still hope he’ll get sufficient minutes to show he still fits on this team.
You’re missing that he is behind three other point guards on the depth chart. I am surprised they don’t deal him for a big where they are lacking depth.
What a tease. Dolan will probably never sell the team.
As a Knicks fan, this would be the greatest news ever. However, there’s just no way it’ll happen. He’s too rich, and doesn’t care that everyone hates him, because he’s completely detached from reality.
MSG’s (Dolan’s) plans for MSG’s assets (including the teams) haven’t changed much since the spin-offs. Pretty basic, simple and well known in the corporate world. It’s just that sportswriters are either unable to understand it, or would just prefer not to explain it. Perhaps that tracks the abilities and preferences of their audience.
Dolan’s well-known plans seems to be for MSG Dome venues, and spinning the teams off into publicly traded companies. The latter is almost surely a precursor for reducing ownership share. You sell shares to raise money to support other projects.
It’s well along. The sports teams have already been spun off into a separate PT company. Dolan’s greatest interest has always been with the assets held by the entertainment company, and that’s where he spends most of his time. While he still retains operational control of both companies, the end game likely sees at least a reduction of his equity in the sports teams. Once the CV restructuring and eventual sale got underway, Dolan’s relationship with the team was fundamentally altered. The media still hasn’t caught on to this.