New York Knicks Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Kevin Durant Addresses 2019 Free Agency

October 17th, 2018 at 9:42am CST by Luke Adams

Kevin Durant will be the biggest free agent on the market during the 2019 offseason and a return to the Warriors doesn’t appear to be a foregone conclusion, which means speculation about his decision will continue through the 2018/19 season. While Durant recognizes why that will happen, he told Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports that he’s hoping not to be constantly asked about it in the coming months.

“I know it’s easy to look at that type of [expletive] because it’s the entertainment side. But wait until the season is over with to analyze [free agency],” Durant said to Haynes. “I know it’s your job and it’s hard to say that, but try to shift some of your focus to the court, too. I know you have to still do your job and check on stuff like that, but every day? Every city I go to? Come on, man. I said what I had to say at media day. I understand your job, but let’s come to a little agreement. Don’t ask me every time you see me. If it’s the first time I’m seeing y’all, I don’t mind answering. But every time? Come on, bro.”

After winning back-to-back championships with the Warriors and earning consecutive Finals MVPs, Durant said that he doesn’t expect “anything extra” from the franchise this season as it tries to recruit him for a longer-term stay, adding, “I already know what this organization is about.”

While the Warriors will have Durant’s Bird rights at the end of the season, giving them the ability to offer a five-year worth up to a projected $221MM+, rival executives believe it may be possible to lure the 30-year-old away from the Bay Area. As Haynes details, the Knicks, Lakers, and Clippers are among the many teams with cap room who may have eyes for Durant. Sources tell Haynes that personnel from the Clippers, specifically, are expected to attend a “high number” of Warriors games this season.

Unless he’s willing to publicly commit to re-signing with the Warriors – like Kyrie Irving did with the Celtics – Durant won’t be able to stop the speculation, a fact he acknowledges. However, he suggests to Haynes that he may not be overly receptive to questions about his upcoming free agency if they continue all year long.

“It depends on how I feel that day,” Durant said. “If I’m in a [expletive]-up mood, you’re going to see. Ask me that question and you’re going to really see what mood I’m in.”

Knicks Have One Of NBA's Youngest Rosters

October 16th, 2018 at 3:15pm CST by Luke Adams

Bobby Marks of ESPN.com passes along some interesting data on the NBA’s opening-night rosters, tweeting that the Nuggets, Knicks, and Trail Blazers have the youngest rosters, while the Rockets, Heat, and Mavericks are on the other end of the spectrum. Meanwhile, the NBA announces that the opening-night rosters feature a total of 108 international players from 42 different countries and territories.

Burke, Ntilikina In Knicks' Starting Lineup

October 16th, 2018 at 1:12pm CST by Luke Adams

Trey Burke will be the Knicks‘ starting point guard to open the season, but Frank Ntilikina also earned a job in the starting five, tweets Ian Begley of ESPN.com. Head coach David Fizdale, who indicated in camp that starting jobs would be based on merit, rewarded Ntilikina for his strong fall, and hopes the decision to bring Kevin Knox off the bench will motivate the rookie (Twitter link via Begley).

Knicks Still Exploring Trade Market For Lee

October 16th, 2018 at 9:55am CST by Luke Adams

The Knicks are still trying to trade Courtney Lee, sources tell Lowe. While it’s not clear if they’ve made progress in any trade talks, Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer notes that Lee has generated interest, adding that the Hornets discussed a trade for the veteran swingman at last season’s deadline.

[SOURCE LINK]

Knicks Pick Up Third-Year Option On Frank Ntilikina

October 15th, 2018 at 11:12am CST by Luke Adams

The Knicks have exercised Frank Ntilikina‘s third-year rookie scale option, the team announced today in a press release. The move guarantees Ntilikina’s salary for the 2019/20 season, locking in a cap hit of $4,855,800 for New York.

For former first-round picks who sign rookie scale contracts, team option decisions are due a year early. While Ntilikina was already under contract for the 2018/19 season, the Knicks had the end of this month to decide one way or the other on his ’19/20 salary. They announced that decision with a couple weeks to spare.

Ntilkina, the eight overall pick in the 2017 draft, was just okay in his rookie season last year, averaging 5.9 PPG and 2.3 APG in 78 games (21.9 MPG) and struggling with his shot (.364/.318/.721 shooting). However, he’s still just 20 years old and will enter his second season in a battle with two other former lottery picks – Trey Burke and Emmanuel Mudiay – for playing time at the point.

The Knicks’ next decision on Ntilikina will be due a year from now, when the team decides whether or not to exercise his fourth-year option. Assuming that option is picked up as well, the young guard will become extension-eligible during the summer of 2020.

New York Notes: Lee, Porzingis, RHJ, Kurucs

October 15th, 2018 at 9:38am CST by Luke Adams

While Courtney Lee would prefer to have the Knicks enter the season with serious playoff – or championship – aspirations, he’s willing to play the role of the veteran mentor on a young, rebuilding club, as Howie Kussoy of The New York Post details.

“When I first came in, I had guys like Mickael Pietrus, Keith Bogans, J.J. Redick, they did what I’m doing right now, they helped me a lot, they passed the torch to me, and it’s only right for me to do the same thing,” Lee said. “If that’s what’s asked of me, I gotta do that. Would I want to win right now? Of course. Everybody wants to win, but you gotta go through something to get to something, and that’s where we’re at right now.”

Lee also acknowledged that, at 33 years old, he’s not really a part of the Knicks’ young core and won’t have a guaranteed role if the team focuses on developing its young players. However, he believes he can still make an impact by being a “vocal leader” and a “player’s coach on the court.”

Here’s more on the two New York clubs:

Echoing what we heard in September, Ian Begley of ESPN.com tweets that the Knicks are not expected to reach a rookie scale extension agreement with Kristaps Porzingis in advance of today’s 5:00pm CT deadline. Assuming that doesn’t change at the 11th hour, Porzingis will be eligible for restricted free agency next summer.
Although the Nets didn’t gain traction in Jimmy Butler talks with Minnesota, they’ve already been “active in their pursuits of trades” this fall, as Shams Charania of Stadium details (link via NetsDaily).
Rondae Hollis-Jefferson‘s status for the Nets‘ first game of the season on Wednesday has been up in the air, but the forward is “trending in the right direction,” head coach Kenny Atkinson said on Sunday, per Greg Joyce of The New York Post. “I’ll definitely listen to the medical team and the performance team,” Atkinson said. “We can’t play him 40 minutes that first night, obviously.”
In a separate piece for The New York Post, Joyce takes a closer look at Nets second-rounder Rodions Kurucs, who is making a case for regular minutes to start his rookie season.

Knicks Notes: Ntilikina, Burke, Knox, Cap Room

October 13th, 2018 at 9:09pm CST by Arthur Hill

Frank Ntilikina‘s versatility may help him earn more minutes during his second NBA season, writes Marc Berman of The New York Post. The Knicks showed a lot of faith in Ntilikina when they drafted him ahead of Dennis Smith last season, and it may be paying off. Berman calls him a bright spot in a difficult preseason, looking more powerful on his drives to the basket and more active on defense.

Ntilikina has been locked in a three-way battle for minutes at point guard, but new coach David Fizdale seems willing to use him at shooting guard and small forward as well. Trey Burke is expected to be the starter at the point, with Emmanuel Mudiay and Ron Baker battling for leftover playing time.

“They all showed the ability to run the team and guard their position well,’’ Fizdale said of the point guard contenders. “They’ve made it tough on me — which is good.’’

There’s more tonight from New York:

Knicks fans were thrilled about the prospects for rookie forward Kevin Knox, but the preseason showed he still has a lot to learn, Berman adds in the same story. Knox got into foul trouble Friday against the Nets and only played 12 minutes. It was his third straight poor game, but Fizdale remains committed to him as the starting small forward. “This is all learning for me,’’ Knox said. “Like he says all the time, I’m going to get my butt kicked a lot and I’m going to have a lot of mistakes. It’s part of a rookie year, you’re going to have ups and downs. It just shows how much confidence he has in me keeping me in the starting lineup.”
Even with today’s decision to waive and stretch Joakim Noah, the Knicks have some work to do before they can offer a max contract to a 10-year veteran like Kevin Durant, notes Kevin Pelton of ESPN. New York will have more than $57MM in committed salary next summer, and the team can subtract a non-guaranteed $7.6MM deal for Lance Thomas. However, Kristaps Porzingis will have a $17.1MM cap hold as a restricted free agent, and a likely lottery pick will reduce the cap by about another $6MM. That brings the Knicks’ cap space down to $32.5MM, short of the estimated maximum salary of $38.15MM that Durant can receive.
The Knicks were 28th in the league in 3-point attempts in the preseason and Fizdale says it’s a matter of personnel, tweets ESPN’s Ian Begley. “The way we’re shooting it, I don’t think that’s a great shot for us,” he said.

Knicks Waive Joakim Noah, Allen, Coby

October 13th, 2018 at 12:35pm CST by clarkcrum

The Knicks have officially announced that they have waived center Joakim Noah, with both Adrian Wojnarowski and Ian Begley of ESPN reporting that the club will utilize the stretch provision on his contract after failing to reach a buyout agreement.

The team also officially announced the release of Kadeem Allen and Jeff Coby, thereby bringing its roster down to 17 players, including two two-way players, in time for the beginning of the regular season.

We wrote in extensive detail about Noah’s situation a few days back, with Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News reporting that the Knicks would likely waive Noah when they set their 15-man regular season roster if and when the team was unable to find a deal to trade the veteran big man.

As Bobby Marks of ESPN notes, the Knicks will incur an $18.5M cap hit this season for Noah, which could be reduced by $522,252 if the center signs a guaranteed minimum salary contract elsewhere. For the next 3 seasons (2019-20 to 2021-22), the Knicks will be charged $6.4M per season.

Allen, a 2017 second-round draft pick by Boston, spent his rookie season on a two-way contract with the Celtics, but was waived earlier this summer before he signed a one-year, non-guaranteed contract with the Knicks. He could end up with the Westchester Knicks, New York’s G League affiliate, if he’s not picked up on waivers by another team.

Coby, 24, and a member of the Haitian national team, played four seasons in the Ivy League at Columbia before heading overseas and then going undrafted last year before signing with the Knicks earlier this month. He’s also a good bet to end up in Westchester.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Allonzo Trier To Use Up All 45 Days On Two-Way Deal

October 13th, 2018 at 10:54am CST by marksuleymanov

The Knicks will let Allonzo Trier use up all 45 NBA days on his two-way deal in lieu of waiving someone to create room on the 15-man roster, Marc Berman of the New York Post writes. “We have 45 days of him working with us to figure out what’s the next move,’’ head coach David Fizdale said of the undrafted guard. “We are in the process of working with that and finding the best way to stretch that out. Obviously the kid has shown he’s an NBA basketball player.”
The Knicks’ preseason schedule is wrapped up but New York will enter the regular without a defined point guard, Steve Popper of Newsday writes. Frank Ntilikina, Trey Burke and even the aforementioned Trier are all possibilities. “I am definitely undecided going into the first game,” Fizdale said. “I don’t feel a deadline for game one like everybody else does.”

Knicks Notes: Ntilikina, Fizdale, Thomas, Baker

October 11th, 2018 at 9:51pm CST by JD Shaw

The Knicks are set to give second-year player Frank Ntilikina a major defensive test in their next preseason game on Friday, a home contest against the rival Nets. Ntilikina, who’s known for playing most of his minutes at point guard, will have the chance to guard the power forward position when the two teams clash, head coach David Fizdale revealed.

“Brooklyn is fast-paced, they usually play four perimeters and a big guy. Why not? Let’s see it,” Fizdale said, according to Greg Joyce of the New York Post. “The fours that play in our league now … how teams are playing, they’re playing perimeter guys at that spot. Frank, that’s why I said he gives me so many options for having a ball-handler that can do multiple things and guard multiple people. So that’s where I think the flexibility comes in.”

The Nets typically play small at the four, with players such as DeMarre Carroll or Rondae Hollis-Jefferson likely to see minutes at the position. According to Joyce, Ntilikina wouldn’t be tasked with guarding bigger power forwards, but rather the small-ball prototype players such as Carroll and Hollis-Jefferson.

“You know what I think,” Ntilikina said. “Guarding anyone on the opposite end is good for me. It’s a challenge. I will do my best to deny them to score, to deny them to get what they want, to deny them to get comfortable. So yeah, if that’s the plan, let’s do it.

“It’s different, but at the end of the day, it’s basketball. Of course point guard doesn’t play like a four, but loving basketball and just being a student of the game, I want to be perfect at this. I want to be able to guard anyone.”

There’s more out of New York this week:

Lance Thomas has established himself as the team’s starting power forward for the time being, Ian Begley of ESPN tweets. Thomas appeared in 73 games last season, seeing 31 starts on the year.
Several teams called the Knicks last season with hopes of inquiring on the availability of Frank Ntilikina, but the team never showed any interest in trading him, Begley reports in a separate tweet.
Ron Baker has quickly earned the respect of David Fizdale this preseason, Marc Berman of the New York Post writes. “He’s a tough S.O.B.,’’ Fizdale said. Baker is entering his third consecutive season with the team and is on track to be an unrestricted free agent in 2019.