Mobile Menu
HEADLINES

Knicks Rumors

2024/25 NBA Over/Unders: Atlantic Division

September 4th, 2024 at 9:18am CST by Luke Adams

With the 2024/25 NBA regular season set to tip off next month, we’re getting serious about predictions for the upcoming campaign and continuing an annual Hoops Rumors tradition.

With the help of the lines from a series of sports betting sites – including Bovada and BetOnline – we’re running through the predicted win totals for each of the NBA’s 30 teams, by division. In a series of team-by-team polls, you’ll get the chance to weigh in on whether you think those forecasts are too optimistic or too pessimistic.

In 2023/24, our voters went 16-14 on their over/under picks. Can you top that in ’24/25?

We’ll begin our series today with the Atlantic Division…

Boston Celtics

New York Knicks

Philadelphia 76ers

Toronto Raptors

Brooklyn Nets

Retweet 0 Share 0 Send via email0

Cuban Apologizes To Jalen Brunson

September 1st, 2024 at 6:00pm CST by Dana Gauruder
  • Mavericks former majority owner Mark Cuban apologized to Jalen Brunson for a perceived jab at the Knicks guard over Brunson’s 2022 free agency, Peter Botte of the New York Post relays. The exchange between Cuban and Brunson occurred during The Roommates podcast (video link). Cuban said in April 2023 that negotiations to retain Brunson “went south, when (father Rick Brunson) took over, or the parents took over.” Brunson signed with the Knicks shortly after they hired his father as an assistant coach. “The only thing that I … didn’t like about the whole situation was when Mark said, ‘When the parents got involved, that’s when things got messy,’” Brunson said. “So that was the one thing that I was like, I kind of was like, ‘Damn that was a little jab.’” Cuban offered the following reply: “I apologize, if it put you in a certain way, that wasn’t the intention. But it was hard to deal with. It was a unique negotiation in a lot of different ways.”
Retweet 0 Share 0 Send via email0

Community Shootaround: Who Can Take Down Boston In The East?

September 1st, 2024 at 4:29pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

The Celtics seem well-positioned to repeat as NBA champions in 2024/25.

After posting a league-best 64-18 regular season record, Boston blitzed the competition in the playoffs, going 16-3 en route to the franchise’s record 18th championship.

The reigning champs have retained all of their top rotation pieces, extending Jayson Tatum, Derrick White, and Sam Hauser this summer. In fact, 12 of Boston’s top 13 players from its 2023/24 vintage are back on this year’s roster. The only exception? Free agent forward Oshae Brissett has yet to sign anywhere, but has alluded to a possible Celtics return.

With a focus on vanquishing Boston, several other Eastern Conference contenders retooled significantly during the offseason.

The Sixers are of course the headliners of the offseason, having almost completely reconfigured their roster around incumbent All-Stars Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey. Although Paul George was the big addition on a four-year, $211.6MM deal, Philadelphia president Daryl Morey also made some savvy role player signings, including forward Caleb Martin. But both Embiid and George have had some uniquely underwhelming postseason performances in recent years, and both are on the wrong side of 30 with growing injury histories. Can they keep it together in the playoffs when it matters most?

Last year’s No. 2 seed, the Knicks, saw their playoff run hampered by escalating injuries to much of their rotation. Although New York lost starting center Isaiah Hartenstein to the Thunder in free agency, the team made its own splash with a blockbuster trade for former All-Defensive swingman Mikal Bridges, acquiring him from the Nets.

Despite frequent trade rumors, the biggest offseason change for Cavaliers happened on their bench. Cleveland president Koby Altman jettisoned now-former head coach J.B. Bickerstaff after two consecutive playoff seasons as a top-four seed, replacing him with former Warriors assistant Kenny Atkinson. The team is hoping for internal development from its four stars and more cohesion out of its other pieces.

As the No. 3 seed heading into the playoffs, the Bucks may have been upset by an Eastern Conference Finals-bound Pacers squad in the first round. But Milwaukee has a key asset Indiana does not: All-NBA power forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, still very much in his prime. After trading to acquire All-Star point guard Damian Lillard late in the 2023 offseason, Milwaukee struggled to build out its depth around a pricey top six and underwent a mid-season coaching change. This year, however, the Bucks added several ring-chasing veterans on below-market deals. Will it be enough to get them deep into the playoffs again?

Indiana, to its credit, played the hand it was dealt, riding some injury luck to its first East Finals appearance in a decade. After an underwhelming Olympics run, wherein he did not play in Team USA’s gold medal game, could All-NBA point guard Tyrese Haliburton be due for a leap? Could newly re-signed forward Pascal Siakam develop more chemistry with the team’s longer-tenured stars after his first full offseason in Indiana?

We want to know what you think. Can anyone among the aforementioned crop best Boston and emerge out of the East? Will a spoiler with present talent and the assets to make a trade — perhaps the Magic or Heat — make a surprise run? Weigh in with your thoughts in the comments section below.

Retweet 0 Share 0 Send via email0

26 NBA Teams Have Made At Least One Offseason Trade

August 29th, 2024 at 9:31am CST by Luke Adams

Since the NBA’s 2024 offseason began, 29 trades have been completed, as our tracker shows. A total of 26 teams have been involved in those 29 deals, with 20 clubs (two-thirds of the league) making multiple trades.

The defending champion Celtics are one of the four teams not to have made a trade this offseason, having been content to essentially run it back with the same group that went 16-3 in the postseason this past spring. The Bucks, Cavaliers, and Lakers also haven’t completed any deals since the season ended.

On the other end of the spectrum, the Knicks have been the most active team on the trade market, completing an eye-popping seven deals, two more than any other team.

Most of those trades were minor moves made during the draft — New York entered day one holding the 24th, 25th, and 38th overall picks, but ended up trading down in (or out of) the draft multiple times using the Nos. 24 and 38 selections, then acquired the No. 34 pick in a separate deal. Of course, the Knicks’ one non-draft trade was a big one, as they acquired Mikal Bridges from their cross-town rivals in Brooklyn.

Besides the Knicks, the Thunder were the most active team on the trade market this summer. They kicked off trade season by completing the first of this offseason’s 29 deals (acquiring Alex Caruso from Chicago) and then made four more, for a total of five. The Spurs and Trail Blazers made four trades apiece.

Here are some more details on this offseason’s deals:

  • The Nets, Hawks, Wizards, Mavericks, Pelicans, Timberwolves, Suns, and Warriors have each made three offseason trades, while the Raptors, Bulls, Pistons, Hornets, Grizzlies, Rockets, Nuggets, and Kings completed two apiece. That leaves the Sixers, Pacers, Heat, Magic, Jazz, and Clippers as the teams that have made just one trade.
  • A total of six 2024 first-round picks were traded this offseason, with one of those picks (No. 26) changing hands twice. The highest 2024 picks traded this summer were No. 8 (Rob Dillingham; Spurs to Timberwolves) and No. 14 (Carlton Carrington; Trail Blazers to Wizards).
  • Predictably, this year’s second-rounders were involved in far more trades than the first-rounders. Sixteen of the 28 second-round picks in the draft changed hands at least once since the offseason began, with four of those selections having been included in multiple deals — the No. 40 (Oso Ighodaro) and No. 52 (Quinten Post) picks were dealt three times, while Nos. 51 (Melvin Ajinca) and 56 (Kevin McCullar) were each moved twice.
  • A total of 12 future first-round picks and 30 future second-round picks changed hands in trades this offseason, along with six future first-round pick swaps and four future second-round swaps.
  • While some of those future traded picks included most/least favorable language, nearly all of them should convey as planned — only two traded first-rounders (and one swap) included any form of protection, and that protection was light (no more than top-four protected). Additionally, just three of the 30 traded second-rounders were protected.
  • Of the 29 trades made this offseason, 25 were straightforward two-team agreements. A pair of deals were three-teamers, one involved four teams, and one was the first six-team trade in NBA history.
  • A total of 29 veteran players on existing NBA contracts were traded this offseason, with two of those 29 players – Mamadi Diakite and E.J. Liddell – on the move twice and one of them – RaiQuan Gray – on a two-way deal. Another eight players were signed-and-traded, while an additional four players who were selected in a draft prior to 2024 draft had their NBA rights sent to new teams.
Retweet 0 Share 0 Send via email0

Atlantic Notes: Knicks Storylines, Drummond, Tatum, Holiday

August 28th, 2024 at 5:59pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Following a 50-32 season in 2023/24, the Knicks underwent a couple significant changes this summer, acquiring All-Defensive Team swingman Mikal Bridges and losing center Isaiah Hartenstein in free agency. Ahead of training camp, Fred Katz of The Athletic reflects on some of the top storylines in New York, including All-Star forward Julius Randle‘s fit on the new-look squad, how All-NBA point guard Jalen Brunson will quarterback the club’s offense, and more.

There’s more out of the Atlantic Division:

  • The Sixers reacquired reserve center Andre Drummond in free agency this summer. Gina Mizell of The Philadelphia Inquirer spoke with Bulls beat reporter Julia Poe of The Chicago Tribune about what to expect from the 6’11” big man, after he spent two years in the Windy City. Poe notes that Drummond, though a great rebounder, struggled to carve out a significant role behind starter Nikola Vucevic, in part due to his erratic rim protection and finishing efficiency.
  • Appearing at a Raising Cane’s event on Wednesday, Celtics combo guard Jrue Holiday discussed teammate Jayson Tatum‘s limited role for Team USA during the 2024 Olympics, per Souichi Terada of MassLive. “I think everybody knows JT — he’s the ultimate professional,” Holiday said. “He already knows what it is and what the ultimate goal is. I don’t think he needed any encouragement. I think it’s more so like staying ready whenever it’s his time to be called.” The All-Defensive Second Team guard had a bigger, more consistent role in the Paris games than Tatum did. Tatum was benched entirely during the Americans’ semifinal game against Serbia.
  • In case you missed it, former Knicks All-Star Carmelo Anthony recently revealed that New York offered him a bench role when he last hit free agency, in 2022.
Retweet 0 Share 0 Send via email0

Atlantic Notes: Knicks, Anthony, Sixers, Thomas

August 27th, 2024 at 8:18pm CST by Tristan Tucker

The Knicks are facing much higher expectations in 2024/25 than in most recent seasons, Stefan Bondy of the New York Post writes. New York is projected to finish second in the East by most sportsbooks after the team acquired Mikal Bridges via trade this offseason. Their over/under for regular season wins is set at 53.5 by BetMGM and FanDuel despite New York only surpassing 53 wins in a season once since 1997.

On top of adding Bridges, the Knicks are set to be healthier to open next season with Julius Randle back in the fold.

“It’s nice to hear that we’re contenders, but I think we have to go into training camp without having that word be spoken,” star guard Jalen Brunson said. “Obviously, I said I want to get past the second round after getting there two straight years. But we can’t just go into the season and jump right back into the second round. We’ve got to go back and start all over again.”

While the Knicks are in prime position to make it to at least the conference finals, they still have some obstacles to overcome, Bondy writes. For one, they’ll need to be healthier after missing several members of their rotation in the ’23/24 postseason. They’re also not the only Eastern Conference team that improved in the offseason, meaning the playoff competition could be stiffer next spring.

We have more from the Atlantic Division:

  • Knicks and NBA legend Carmelo Anthony revealed on the 7PM in Brooklyn podcast that he was offered an end-of-bench role by New York in 2022 (YouTube link). “We sat down and had a real conversation. ‘Listen, here’s a spot. You can be on the team tomorrow, but this is the spot,” Anthony said. The 10-time All-Star explained that he always had a goal of returning to New York, but after a handful of successful sixth-man seasons with the Lakers and Trail Blazers, Anthony didn’t want to be relegated to the end of the roster. “The not knowing of when you’re going to play and not play—I’d rather not go through that,” Anthony said. “I’mma bow out gracefully. … Basketball ain’t the issue. I can’t do that. That’s a hell of a decline. When I look at it overall, the overall big picture, that’s a hell of a decline. So I just had to stand on that. No disrespect, but I can’t accept that.“
  • A city-sponsored impacts study intended to guide decision-makers regarding the Sixers‘ plan for a new downtown arena was released on Monday, per Jeff Gammage and Sean Collins Walsh of The Philadelphia Inquirer. According to the report, the proposed 18,500-seat arena would generate about $1.8 billion in additional economic activity during its construction and planned 30 years of operation. The study showed the arena could cause indirect housing displacement through gentrification. Additionally, concerns were raised about impact on transit, a lack of outdoor spaces at the arena and a disparity between the actual amount of new concerns the venue would be able to hold.
  • Isaiah Thomas established himself as a key figure in Celtics history after a pair of All-Star seasons and a year in which he averaged 28.9 points per game. However, his exit from Boston was a rocky one after he was traded following a postseason in which he battled through a hip injury and the death of his sister to play for the team. Thomas further explained the situation on the Knuckleheads Podcast (YouTube link). “When I got traded to Cleveland, I was upset because at that point, I put my career on the line for something you could have just broken down to me and told me, ‘If you do play, or if we do this, it could possibly be what it happened to be,’” Thomas said (hat tip to HoopsHype). “It took me three years to really get back to who I am and figure out what was going on. But it was a tough situation. It was a learning experience for myself. I got real love for Boston and everybody in that organization, but it was definitely the wrong way to go about things.” Thomas said that nobody was there to explain that if he played, his could have jeopardized his career by worsening the injury.
Retweet 0 Share 0 Send via email0

International Notes: Yurtseven, Lessort, Sochan, Beverley, Cousins

August 27th, 2024 at 12:54pm CST by Luke Adams

Sani Becirovic, the technical director Panathinaikos, confirmed this week that the Greek club has interest in free agent big man Omer Yurtseven, who has spent the past three seasons in the NBA. Panathinaikos’ interest in Yurtseven was reported earlier this month.

“The truth has been written,” Becirovic said, per Alessandro Maggi of Sportando. “We have nothing to hide: he is one of the players we are interested in. There have been contacts, we have studied the case to see if he is a realistic option or not. But there is still some work to be done to reach an agreement.”

If Panathinaikos is able to finalize a deal with Yurtseven, the veteran center would join a frontcourt that also includes Mathias Lessort, whose play at the Olympics helped generate some NBA buzz. However, Becirovic said that he wasn’t worried about Lessort – whose NBA rights are controlled by the Knicks – making the move stateside this offseason.

“Obviously, we want him to stay as long as possible and we will do everything we can to keep him,” Becirovic said. “No, I wasn’t nervous about him leaving because he didn’t have a contract with the NBA. So I was pretty calm about it. There were also rumors that there was a lot of interest in him. The interest was there, but we never got into serious negotiations to make something happen, like with (Guerschon) Yabusele (leaving Real Madrid for the Sixers) for example.”

Here are a few more items of interest from around the international basketball world:

  • Spurs forward Jeremy Sochan, who played for the Polish national team during the 2024 Olympic qualifiers, has committed to representing the country next summer at EuroBasket, as Johnny Askounis of Eurohoops relays. As one of the four countries co-hosting EuroBasket 2025, Poland has automatically qualified for the tournament.
  • Patrick Beverley, who is playing for Hapoel Tel Aviv in Israel in 2024/25, has lofty goals for his new club, as he stated in a video recently posted to his Twitter account. “I don’t want to win, I want complete domination,” Beverley said. “… I don’t even want games to be close. I just want us to stomp the s–t out of everybody.” The veteran guard is aiming to help lead Hapoel Tel Aviv to a EuroCup title next season in order to earn the team a promotion to the EuroLeague.
  • Four-time NBA All-Star DeMarcus Cousins has joined Wuxi WenLv, a Chinese team on the FIBA 3×3 World Tour, according to an announcement from FIBA (Twitter link). Cousins, who has been out of the NBA since 2022, has played for professional teams in Puerto Rico, Taiwan, and the Philippines since then.
Retweet 0 Share 0 Send via email0

Knicks Notes: Randle, Rotation, Kolek, Yurtseven, Bridges

August 21st, 2024 at 8:18pm CST by Tristan Tucker

Any hypothetical trade involving Julius Randle, who has a player option for 2025/26, is difficult because no team seems to value him more than the Knicks do, Fred Katz of The Athletic writes in part two of his mailbag. He has a fair contract worth $28.9MM this season, but any team who trades for him would have to extend him and wouldn’t want to give up a package that would seem suitable for New York.

As Katz relays, there’s no indication New York even wants to trade Randle, who averaged 24.0 points, 9.2 rebounds and 5.0 assists last season.

Katz compares the situation to what is currently happening with Brandon Ingram and the Pelicans. Because New Orleans values Ingram too much to give him for nothing, it makes it difficult to trade him to other teams who don’t want to sacrifice many assets if they have to pay him big money. Still, as Katz writes, making such an attempt to move Randle doesn’t make sense at this juncture for one of New York’s most important pieces.

We have more from the Knicks:

  • Randle might man the center position more often this season, Katz writes in the same piece. He’s in prime position to take the role Isaiah Hartenstein filled last year in terms of taking dump-offs from Jalen Brunson and using his ball-handling skills in the middle.
  • New York has always been strict about handing out minutes to rookies, making sure that said minutes are earned and not given. While Tyler Kolek could impress early, Katz doesn’t see the Knicks’ 34th overall pick playing much right away, especially since the team signed Cameron Payne to fill the third point guard spot on the roster.
  • As we’ve written in recent days, Omer Yurtseven has an agreement in principle to join Greek club Panathinaikos. He originally worked out for the Knicks in early, who extended him a contract offer, according to SNY’s Ian Begley (Twitter link). However, Begley writes that the offer from New York wasn’t something he would seriously consider, which seems to indicate that the deal may have been a non-guaranteed offer to join the team in training camp.
  • Mikal Bridges‘ impact on the Knicks is being overlooked before the season starts, argues The Sporting News’s Scott Davis. In Bridges, the Knicks are getting one of the best defensive wings in the league who doesn’t have to be the No. 1 option for the franchise. He’ll be able to lead reserve units, for sure, but he’ll also be able to catch and shoot while being a strong backside cut option.
Retweet 0 Share 0 Send via email0

Eastern Notes: Council, Celtics, Lillard, ’24/25 Standings

August 21st, 2024 at 1:23pm CST by Luke Adams

As he prepares for his second NBA season, Sixers swingman Ricky Council has been participating this summer in the private runs held in Los Angeles by Sixers assistant Rico Hines, writes Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. Council is working on fine-tuning his game in the hope of earning rotation minutes in Philadelphia in 2024/25.

“This summer has been a whole lot of work, maybe even more than last year,” Council said. “Keeping my shooting touch up, working on different finishing moves, just learning the game, playing against good competition every day. All that’s going to help me in the long run.”

Having spent most of his rookie season in 2023/24 on a two-way contract, Council didn’t see a ton of action at the NBA level, but he impressed in his limited minutes, averaging 5.4 points in 32 outings (9.0 MPG), with a shooting line of .482/.375/.746. He knows that in order to get more playing time in ’24/25, he’ll have to show he can excel in a complementary role.

“We have Paul George. We have Tyrese Maxey and we have Joel Embiid,” Council said. “I don’t expect they’ll need much off the dribble in that nature. So I just need to be able to hit open shots and guard people.”

Here’s more from around the Eastern Conference:

  • There’s “zero truth” to rumors that billionaire Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is interested in bidding on the Celtics, a source close to Bezos tells Nick Wingfield of The Information. As Kurt Helin of NBC Sports notes, there has been speculation in league circles that Bezos may have interest in being involved in an expansion franchise in Seattle, but it doesn’t sound like he’s looking to gain control of the defending champions, whose majority ownership group put its stake up for sale earlier this summer.
  • Appearing on the Club 520 Podcast (YouTube link), Bucks guard Damian Lillard admitted that his first year in Milwaukee last season was a “harder transition” than he expected. In addition to going through a tumultuous period in his personal life at the time, he also found it challenging to adjust to playing alongside Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton after being traded from Portland to Milwaukee just days before training camp. “I’m having to get used to playing with two (great) players and I don’t want to stop them from doing what they do,” Lillard said (hat tip to HoopsHype). “But I got to find how to be the best version of me within this too, so it was just a lot of moving parts. It was more difficult than I thought it would would be.”
  • The Celtics sit atop ESPN’s predictions for the 2024/25 Eastern Conference standings, followed by the Knicks, Sixers, Cavaliers, and Bucks, in that order. The Magic round out ESPN’s projected group of top-six playoff teams, followed by the Pacers, Heat, Hawks, and Bulls in the play-in group. For what it’s worth, ESPN’s panel sees a big disparity between the the top two and bottom two play-in teams, projecting 46 wins for Indiana and 45 for Miami, compared to 31 for Atlanta and 30 for Chicago.
Retweet 0 Share 0 Send via email0
Load More Posts