New York Knicks Rumors | Hoops Rumors

New York Notes: Knicks, Griffin, Simmons, Warren

December 7th, 2022 at 3:08pm CST by Luke Adams

One league source who spoke to Steve Bulpett of Heavy.com referred to the Knicks‘ situation as a “depressing” one, arguing that their roster “just doesn’t work” and suggesting that even a positive addition like Jalen Brunson hasn’t helped all the pieces mesh.

“They’ve got some good players, but there’s no fit,” the source said to Bulpett. “The talent they have doesn’t help each other enough.”

The source identified forward Julius Randle as a player the Knicks should be looking to trade, contending that he’s too ball-dominant.

“They have to do something to shake it up there, because the mix they have isn’t working now and it’s not going to work,” he said. “They don’t guard like you’d expect with that coach (Tom Thibodeau). He’s a defensive guy, and their (defensive) rating is in, like, the bottom third or bottom quarter.”

The Knicks’ 112.9 defensive rating currently ranks 23rd in the NBA and 13th in the East.

Here’s more on the NBA’s two New York teams:

The Knicks will get a good look on Wednesday at Hawks forward AJ Griffin, who was under consideration for New York at No. 13 in this year’s draft before the team traded that pick, writes Peter Botte of The New York Post. Griffin ultimately went 16th to Atlanta, while the Knicks’ trade helped them clear cap room to sign Brunson. “I think AJ Griffin has added a lot to their team. He’s an elite shooter. (He) has really played well for them,” Thibodeau said. “You know, he was on the (Knicks’ draft) board. I think we looked at a number of players that we felt were good. You look at all the possibilities. I thought we were very thorough in our approach, and we decided on the path we went down and felt good about it.”
When he returns from his current injury absence, Ben Simmons may receive a lighter workload, according to Mark W. Sanchez of The New York Post, who notes that the Nets swingman suffered his calf strain while playing a fifth game in seven days. “I think we’re definitely going to look at (the workload) a lot differently,” Simmons said on Tuesday. “Maybe not (playing) back-to-backs or whatever it is. I think that’s going to be a joint thing with the training staff and with myself.”
The Nets are also managing the playing time of forward T.J. Warren, who isn’t expected to be on the court for both games of the team’s back-to-back set this Friday and Saturday, so soon after returning from a two-year absence. “(The) goal is to (have him) playing for us at the end of the year in the playoffs,” Vaughn said, per Sanchez. “So we’ll probably … (be) more conservative this weekend with him.”
In case you missed it, we published stories earlier today on the Knicks’ trade talks and their efforts to move Cam Reddish.

Knicks Reportedly Working With Reddish’s Reps To Find Trade

December 7th, 2022 at 1:03pm CST by Luke Adams

The Knicks are working with Cam Reddish‘s representatives in the hopes of finding a landing spot for the fourth-year forward, a source tells Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News.

A former 10th overall pick, Reddish emerged early this season as a key part of New York’s rotation, even starting eight straight games in November before suffering a right groin injury that sidelined him for three contests. In total, he has averaged 8.4 PPG and 1.6 RPG on .449/.304/.879 shooting in 20 appearances (21.9 MPG) this season.

However, Reddish’s playing time declined steadily after he returned from that groin injury and he received his first DNP-CD of the season on Sunday vs. Cleveland.

As Bondy notes, while Derrick Rose spoke to reporters this week about accepting his demotion out of the rotation, the Knicks have declined to make Reddish available to the media for three straight days, including on Wednesday ahead of a matchup against his former team, the Hawks.

We already knew, based on previous reports, that the Knicks had discussed Reddish in recent trade talks. The reported involvement of his agents in the effort to find a trade partner is a signal that his camp may feel a change of scenery is in Reddish’s best interest, which is similar to what we heard approximately three months ago.

As a 2019 first-round pick, Reddish is in the final year of his rookie contract and will be eligible for restricted free agency at the end of the season. He’s earning approximately $5.95MM in 2022/23.

For his part, head coach Tom Thibodeau said this week that Reddish’s demotion was about shortening the rotation and giving the Knicks the best chance to win, adding that one DNP-CD didn’t mean the 23-year-old wouldn’t seen any playing time going forward.

“Rarely is anything ever permanent. When another opportunity comes, be ready,” Thibodeau said, per Peter Botte of The New York Post. “That’s all … right now (Reddish and Rose) are not in the rotation but be ready, you could be thrown into the rotation at any time. In the meantime, be a great teammate, help us in practice. That’s what you do control. I think that’s an important part of being a team.”

Knicks Rumors: Rose, Reddish, Quickley, Fournier

December 7th, 2022 at 9:10am CST by Luke Adams

The Knicks have been “active on trade calls” more than two months ahead of this season’s February 9 trade deadline, according to Fred Katz of The Athletic, who notes that the team has shown a tendency in recent years to complete its major moves well before the deadline arrives.

New York’s 2021 acquisition of Derrick Rose came approximately a month-and-a-half before the trade deadline, while last season’s Cam Reddish deal was finalized about four weeks ahead of the deadline.

Incidentally, Rose and Reddish are two of the players the Knicks are discussing most frequently with potential trade partners, along with Immanuel Quickley and Evan Fournier, league sources tell Katz.

Here’s where things stand with those four players, per Katz:

There’s not a ton of demand for Rose, whose production and playing time have both dropped off this season. According to Katz, teams are wary of giving up much for the 34-year-old, especially given his injury history.
The market for Reddish also isn’t particularly hot, with the Knicks considered very unlikely to recoup the sort of return they gave up for him last season (Kevin Knox‘s expiring contract and a protected first-round pick). Like Rose, Reddish has recently fallen out of Tom Thibodeau‘s rotation, which doesn’t help his trade value.
The Knicks have discussed various types of deals involving Quickley. In scenarios where he’s the only outgoing player, the club has sought a first-round pick, Katz writes. The thinking is that New York has an overcrowded depth chart and wants to free up playing time, so the team is exploring player-for-pick or two-for-one scenarios, Katz adds.
The Knicks’ front office has shown no interest in attaching draft assets to Fournier just to move him, since getting his contract off the books wouldn’t create much extra cap flexibility in 2023 (the club would still have $113MM+ in guaranteed money committed to eight other players). However, league sources tell Katz that New York has conveyed a willingness to attach Quickley or Reddish to Fournier when discussing potential trades.

Rose Was Told McBride Would Get Minutes

December 6th, 2022 at 8:10pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Derrick Rose has seen his playing time drop and he didn’t play at all on Sunday, Rose said Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau decided to give second-year guard Miles McBride a closer look, Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News tweets. McBride played 16 scoreless minutes against Cleveland.

“(Thibodeau) said he wanted to give a Deuce a look. That’s all he told me. So I understood,” the veteran Knicks guard said.

Considering Rose’s $15,596,339 salary for next season includes a club option, the Knicks could look to move Rose to a team in need of a backup point guard.

And-Ones: Rookie Rankings, MVP Ratings, Tremaglio, Officiating

December 5th, 2022 at 10:54pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Top pick Paolo Banchero has missed some games due to an ankle sprain but the top pick of the draft still leads ESPN Jonathan Givony’s rookie power rankings (Insider link). The Magic forward was averaging 21.8 points, 6.5 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game entering the week. The sixth overall pick, the Pacers’ Bennedict Mathurin, sits in second place while averaging 18.5 points off the bench. Pistons guard Jaden Ivey (15.9 points, 4.3 assists) holds the No. 3 spot.

We have more NBA-related info:

Celtics forward Jayson Tatum tops USA Today/Gannett staffers’ early-season Most Valuable Player ratings, propelled by Boston’s strong start. Tatum entered Monday’s action ranked fifth in the league in scoring (30.7). Former MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo holds the runner-up spot with the Suns’ Devin Booker in third place.
Negotiating the Collective Bargaining Agreement for the first time, National Basketball Players Association executive director Tamika Tremaglio is leaning on players agents to determine the best course of action, Liz Mullen of the Sports Business Journal reports. Tremaglio has reached out to all NBPA-certified agents for advice and is having frequent discussions with the most influential agents. One likely point of contention is the NBA’s desire for a stronger upper limit on player salaries, which some agents view as a hard cap.
Traveling calls are piling up, culminating in 13 such turnovers during the Cavaliers–Knicks game on Sunday. Carrying and palming calls are also on the rise. “My job as the head coach — for lack of a better description — of our team, is to make sure that the rule book is being enforced,” the NBA’s senior vice president of referee development and training, Monty McCutchen, said to ESPN’s Tim Bontemps. “And when we emphasize traveling and sequencing and it picks up another part of footwork, then it needs to be adjudicated properly.”

Pelicans Notes: Alvarado, Hunt, Record, Green

December 5th, 2022 at 9:50pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Jose Alvarado‘s contract hasn’t been fully guaranteed but the Pelicans might as well do it sooner than later after his 38-point explosion on Sunday. Alvarado set a franchise record for a reserve in his outburst against Denver and admits he didn’t envision having this kind of impact, according to Christian Clark of the New Orleans Times Picayune.

“I would be lying if I said when I was a kid I thought this was how it’s going to be,” Alvarado said. “It’s something I can’t really explain.”

Alvarado’s $1.56MM salary for 2022/23 isn’t fully guaranteed until Jan. 10 and his $1,836,096 salary for next season is also non-guaranteed. He has become one of the league’s biggest bargains.

“I tell him all the time, ‘Jose, be yourself. When you are yourself, you are our X-factor,'” forward Zion Williamson said. “You bring energy. When we need runs, you’re there for us.”

We have more on the Pelicans:

New Orleans’ G League affiliate, the Birmingham Squadron, has acquired Feron Hunt from the Westchester Knicks in exchange for Justin Wright-Foreman, Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News tweets. Hunt was on a two-way deal with the Knicks until he was waived last week.
The Pelicans entered this week’s action with a 15-8 mark and their record is even better than it seems at face value, William Guillory of The Athletic writes. They rank sixth in points scored per 100 possessions and third in points allowed per 100 possessions — only Boston and Phoenix have better net ratings.
Quality depth has made injuries an unacceptable excuse in coach Willie Green‘s mind, Guillory writes in the same piece. “When guys go down, I’ve said it before, we don’t look at it as an obstacle. For us, it’s an opportunity to go out and continue to grow as a team. Continue to build,” Green said. “Our expectations are high. We’re not there yet, but we’re continuing to build towards where we want to be.”

Knicks Notes: Mitchell, Grimes, Reddish, Rose

December 5th, 2022 at 8:01am CST by Arthur Hill

A potentially embarrassing night turned into a positive for the Knicks as Donovan Mitchell made his first appearance of the season at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, writes Steve Popper of Newsday.

Mitchell, a New York native who was nearly traded to the Knicks this summer, has raised his game since Cleveland swooped in with a better offer. Although he scored 23 points in Sunday’s contest, he was limited to 8-of-22 from the field and 2-of-11 from three-point range. Afterward, he wasn’t interested in speculating about what might have happened if New York’s front office had completed the trade.

“What’s done is done, and I’m happy as hell to be where I’m at,” Mitchell said. “At the end of the day, this decision was made and I don’t think I’ve been happier since I’ve been in the league. But I think for me it’s always going to be motivation to come back and play well in my hometown, but you could say that about anybody. But with what happened this summer, it’s over with, it happened and I’m happy to be with the Cavaliers.”

There’s more from New York:

Quentin Grimes, whom the Knicks were reluctant to include in a potential deal with Utah, was excited to get the assignment to guard Mitchell, Popper adds. Grimes set the tone in the first quarter as Mitchell hit just 1-of-6 shots, with his lone make coming on a switch. “I knew that was going to be a big matchup with everything that happened this summer,” Grimes said. “Come in focused. That’s one of the best players in the NBA. Had to stay locked in, and I feel like I did a good job on him today and we came out with a win.”
Cam Reddish didn’t play against Cleveland as coach Tom Thibodeau trimmed his rotation for the game, per Zach Braziller of The New York Post. Braziller notes that Reddish has been ineffective since returning from a groin injury and adjusting to a reserve role after spending time as a starter earlier in the fall.
Derrick Rose also wasn’t used Sunday, marking his first healthy scratch of the season, adds Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News. Thibodeau indicated that it may have been a one-game situation with Rose, resting the veteran guard because the team was on the second night of a back-to-back. “I wanted to get it to nine-man rotation,” Thibodeau told reporters. “It worked a lot better.”

Atlantic Notes: Brunson, Mitchell, Melton, VanVleet

December 3rd, 2022 at 7:32pm CST by Arthur Hill

After an unsuccessful outing against his former team Saturday afternoon, Knicks guard Jalen Brunson sought to take some heat off coach Tom Thibodeau, writes Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News. Brunson had a season-low 13 points and was minus-26 overall in his first game against Dallas since leaving in free agency.

The 21-point loss drew boos from the Madison Square Garden crowd as the Knicks suffered their seventh defeat in their last eight home games. Thibodeau has become a target for the fans, but Brunson insists the downturn isn’t his fault.

“Coach Thibs has done a great job,” Brunson said. “He’s been able to put us in positions where we need to succeed. I think he knows where to put those puzzle pieces. It’s just on us to actually execute and do things. So it’s just — I know he’s going to get a lot of the blame, guys are going to get some of the blame. It’s on us. We’re the players out there not battling. It’s his job to put us in positions, which he’s done.”

There’s more from the Atlantic Division:

The Knicks will get a reminder of their most significant decision of the summer when Donovan Mitchell and the Cavaliers come to town Sunday night, Bondy adds. Team president Leon Rose’s refusal to part with a large amount of draft capital after extensive trade talks with Utah is looking like a “backfire,” according to Bondy.
De’Anthony Melton is making an impact on defense for the Sixers after being acquired in a draft night trade, notes Spencer Davies of Basketball News. Melton is second in the league with 2.0 steals per game and ranks first overall with a 3.6% steal percentage. “I think De’Anthony’s a very easy guy to play with,” coach Doc Rivers said. “… He defends. And I think guys who defend always have a little more longitude to do whatever. Guys respect that. You want to get respect in a locker room? Go stop somebody and you’ll get it, and I think De’Anthony has that.”
Raptors guard Fred VanVleet isn’t overreacting to two bad road games, per Doug Smith of the Toronto Star. VanVleet said the losses at New Orleans and Brooklyn can be part of a growing experience. “I think we’ve got to learn how to be a team,” he said. “We have to learn to play together a little bit more, be professional, be a little bit more ready to go. You can find excuses in this league every night — there are a million of them — or you can show up and play the game the way it is supposed to be played.”

Community Shootaround: Sub-.500 Playoff Hopefuls

December 2nd, 2022 at 1:23pm CST by Luke Adams

So far this season, 19 of the NBA’s 30 teams have played at least .500 basketball, and many of the clubs that have fallen short of that mark are ones we expected to do so. The Magic, Pistons, Hornets, Rockets, Spurs, and Thunder, for instance, were widely considered during the preseason to be lottery-bound.

If we set aside those six teams, along with the 19 who are .500 or better, five clubs remain. These are the teams that entered the season expecting to be in the playoffs and have fallen short of their expectations so far.

Let’s start with the most obvious one of the five: the Lakers got off to a miserable start to the season, losing their first five games and 10 of their first 12. They’ve bounced back to some extent as of late, winning six of their last eight contests, but three of those victories came against San Antonio, and L.A. is still just 8-12 overall, good for 13th in a competitive Western Conference.

With Russell Westbrook adapting well to a sixth man role, Lonnie Walker enjoying a breakout year, Anthony Davis looking like a superstar again, and LeBron James back in the lineup following a groin strain, there’s some reason for optimism in Los Angeles. But it’s still not clear if the supporting cast is strong enough for the Lakers to make a real run, and it remains to be seen whether the front office has the appetite to move one or two first-round picks to acquire real upgrades.

While they’re ahead of the Lakers in the standings, the 10-11 Mavericks are currently out of the play-in picture too, holding the No. 11 seed in the West. Like L.A., Dallas has a top-heavy roster, with Luka Doncic submitting an MVP-caliber performance this fall. But Doncic can’t do it all himself, and the Mavs’ supporting cast beyond Christian Wood and Spencer Dinwiddie hasn’t produced like the team had hoped.

Over in the East, the Heat (10-12), Knicks (10-12), and Bulls (9-12) find themselves out of the top nine and vying for the No. 10 spot in the standings.

Of these three teams, Miami probably has the most reason for optimism. The Heat have been hit hard by the injury bug in the first quarter of the season, but appear to be getting healthier, with All-Star forward Jimmy Butler on the verge of returning. This iteration of the Heat may not get back to the NBA Finals like the 2020 squad did, or even to the Eastern Finals like last year’s team, but it would be pretty shocking if they missed the postseason, given how much talent is on the roster.

Chicago and New York, meanwhile, were both considered borderline playoff teams entering the season — oddsmakers had them as the East’s ninth- and 10th-best teams ahead of training camps. So it’s perhaps not a surprise that they’re both hovering around .500 and looking more like play-in contenders than serious candidates for a top-six seed.

Still, both teams had higher aspirations than simply contending for a play-in spot, so it will be interesting to see how they approach the trade deadline if their inconsistent performances continue.

Will the Knicks put some of their future first-round picks back on the table in search of an impact player after missing out on Donovan Mitchell? Will the Bulls – who have already traded away two of their own future first-rounders – continue to push their chips into the middle of the table or will they pull back and hope for the possible return of point guard Lonzo Ball can help fuel a second-half surge?

We want to know where you stand on these five teams. Do you expect the Lakers, Mavericks, Heat, Bulls, or Knicks to finish the season as a top-six seed, securing an automatic playoff berth? Are you counting on some of them to have to clinch postseason spots via the play-in tournament? Will some finish outside the play-in altogether as bottom-five teams in their respective conferences?

Head to the comment section below to share your thoughts!

Mavs’ Harrison Talks Brunson’s Departure, Roster Moves, Kemba

December 2nd, 2022 at 9:25am CST by Luke Adams

With the Mavericks set to play the Knicks on Saturday for the first time this season, Jalen Brunson will get an opportunity to face his old team, while the Mavs will get the chance to see what they’ve been missing since losing the standout point guard in free agency over the summer.

Asked by Callie Caplan of The Dallas Morning News about whether the team regrets how Brunson’s free agency played out, Mavericks president of basketball operations Nico Harrison was quick to point out that Brunson’s departure “wasn’t our choice” and that Dallas made a competitive offer.

Still, as Tim Cato of The Athletic writes, there’s “no question (the Mavs) mishandled” the Brunson situation, given that they could’ve locked him up well before his free agency if they had been willing to offer a four-year extension worth approximately $56MM — the same deal Dorian Finney-Smith signed last season. By the time the Mavs put that extension (the most they could offer during the season) on the table for Brunson, he had outperformed it and was headed for a bigger payday on the open market.

In the wake of Brunson’s departure, the Mavs could have pursued a veteran free agent replacement – perhaps Goran Dragic – in July, but opted not to do so. Instead, they’ve used their 15th roster spot so far this season to audition veteran play-makers on non-guaranteed salaries. They began the season with Facundo Campazzo in that role and have since waived him to sign Kemba Walker.

Asked by Caplan whether the Mavs should have done more to address that third point guard spot in the summer, Harrison said it’s easy to second-guess the team’s thinking, but that he still has confidence in the current roster.

“You can look back at it and say that, but I also have faith in the guys that we have here,” Harrison said. “… Guys haven’t made shots, but we’ve seen them do it, and I have faith in them. I think if guys make shots just at the rate or slightly below what they normally do, we’re not even having this conversation. I think that erases a lot of the doubt or the feeling that we’re not quite achieving what the expectations would’ve been. The law of averages, they eventually equal out, and guys will make shots.”

Here are a few more of the most noteworthy quotes from Harrison’s Q&A with Caplan, which is worth checking out in full if you’re a Mavs fan:

On his thoughts about the Mavericks’ up-and-down performance so far this season:

“It’s no secret — we’ve lost some bad games, and we haven’t played good on the road, and our guys who shoot the ball well haven’t shot well. If you add those three up, I’m not surprised where we’re at, but I wouldn’t have expected all three of those things to happen.”

On whether the Mavs felt the need to use the 15th roster spot to address a lack of ball-handling rather than leaving it open:

“I just think it’s one of those things that you’re just constantly evaluating the team. When you see that there’s a hole, then you’ve got to try to fill it. I mean, you say lack of ball-handling, but at the end of the day, whoever that person is that we bring in, whether it was Facu or whether it was whoever, it’s not like they’re in the regular rotation. If we have one of the best, one of the best point guards in the league who’s one of the highest usage rates, it’s kind of a gift and a curse.”

On the Mavs’ expectations for Kemba Walker:

“I don’t think there’s any expectations, really. One, I hope his body holds up. I think that’s the first and foremost thing. I hope his body holds up. If it does, he’s a veteran guy. One, he’s an amazing person — I think that’s the point. He’s an amazing person. He’s been through everything in the league. He obviously can handle the ball and everybody knows he’s an ex-All-Star. I won’t even say ex-All-Star. He’s an All-Star. He’s a scorer. Adding that veteran presence for if and when we need it ready will be helpful.”