New York Knicks Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Porzingis Frustrated With Injury, Brothers Remain Agent

December 18th, 2017 at 9:12pm CST by clarkcrum

Kristaps Porzingis missed his second straight game tonight when the Knicks traveled to Charlotte to take on the Hornets. Porzingis also missed Saturday night’s win over the Thunder in the return of former teammate Carmelo Anthony to the Big Apple. Porzingis has now missed six of the team’s first thirty games and while, as Marc Berman of the New York Post reports, Porzingis understands that it’s a long season, his frustration is growing.

Porzingis is expected to return to the Knicks lineup for Thursday’s game against Boston at Madison Square Garden.

In other Porzingis news, Liz Mullen of the SportsBusiness Journal reports that the Knicks‘ star will continue to be represented by his brothers Janis and Martins after former agent Andy Miller relinquished his NBPA certification in the fallout from the FBI’s investigation into college basketball. Per Janis, “Now that Andy does not have his license anymore, not much is changing.”

Knicks Benefiting From Trust In One Another

December 17th, 2017 at 9:14pm CST by Austin Kent

Two months into the 2017/18 NBA season, the Knicks are one of the most impressive turnaround stories. One of the major reasons why is that the club is learning to trust one another, Fred Kerber of the New York Post writes.

The Knicks and Nets, with rosters jam-packed with promising young players, have set about rebuilding the right way, no small feat in the superteam era, a Nets Daily report opines.

Ron Baker Finds Opportunity To Channel Ron Burgundy

December 17th, 2017 at 6:26pm CST by Austin Kent

An injury to Tim Hardaway Jr. has allowed Ron Baker to slide back into the Knicks rotation and start making the impact that he became famous for as a rookie. Marc Berman of the New York Post writes that Ron Burgundy is back.

Knicks Notes: Anthony, Kanter, Hardaway

December 17th, 2017 at 8:51am CST by Arthur Hill

Returning to New York Saturday for the first time since being traded to Oklahoma City in September brought back a lot of memories for Carmelo Anthony, relays Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv. Anthony addressed the six-and-a-half years he spent with the Knicks, along with several other topics, in a post-game press conference.

“I like what I see, I like the potential that they have,” Anthony said of the Knicks. “I like what they having going on over here. For me, just to see those guys having fun again knowing that it wasn’t fun. The fun was lost over the past couple seasons, so to see those guys having fun again, bringing that energy, bringing that love back to the game, back to the Garden, is something that I’m happy for those guys when it comes to that.”

Anthony brushed aside a question about his feud with former team president Phil Jackson that eventually drove both men out of New York. Anthony was a frequent target of Jackson for not adapting his game to fit into the triangle offense, but he declined to speculate how the night may have been different if Jackson were still with the team.

“I don’t know what would’ve happened, to be honest with you,” Anthony said. “I try not to think about the past. I put that chapter behind me.”

There’s more this morning from New York:

Anthony got a mixed reaction from the crowd in his first game back at Madison Square Garden, with overwhelming cheers during introductions but consistent boos when he touched the ball during the game. The team helped smooth things over with a pre-game video that highlighted Anthony’s best moments with the organization. “The video montage caught me by surprise,” Anthony said. “… I’d like to thank [GM] Scott Perry, [team president] Steve Mills, and the organization for doing that and making that gesture. That was big time and, for me, that goes a long way for myself, and it’s much appreciated.” (Twitter link from Michael Scotto of Basketball Insiders).
The spotlight was on Anthony, but Knicks center Enes Kanter also faced his former team, notes Brian Heyman of Newsday. Kanter, who spent the past two-and-half seasons in Oklahoma City, was part of the return New York received in the Anthony trade. “Whenever I play my old team, it always feels special,” Kanter said. “I get a little emotional, especially jacked up. I’ve battled with them. We went to the Western Conference finals together. So it feels really special.”
Injured guard Tim Hardaway Jr. is helping the coaching staff while recovering from a stress reaction in his left leg, relays Marc Berman of The New York Post. Out for the past two weeks, Hardaway is slated to be re-evaluated this week by the Knicks’ medical staff. “It’s tough — like I had something taken away from me,’’ Hardaway said.

Anthony Reportedly Advised Free Agent Not To Sign With Knicks

December 16th, 2017 at 6:06pm CST by Arthur Hill

Carmelo Anthony, who returns to Madison Square Garden for the first time tonight since a September trade to the Thunder, was open about his plans to leave New York throughout the summer, according to Ian Begley of ESPN.

While the Knicks and his agents were working out Anthony’s future, he isolated himself from the process, spending the offseason in intense workouts and star-studded pickup games that featured some of the NBA’s top players.

Privately, Anthony was telling friends that he didn’t plan to return to New York, even though he was under contract for this season. He also delivered that message to at least one unidentified free agent who was part of the pickup games, Begley relays, recommending that he not sign with the Knicks on the assumption that Anthony would be there.

Anthony was still stinging from the year-long feud with former team president Phil Jackson, who launched a public crusade to get his star player to waive his no-trade clause. Jackson called Anthony a poor fit for the triangle offense and insinuated that the franchise would be in better shape without his hefty salary taking up cap room.

The Knicks made several attempts to unload Anthony before the deal with the Thunder came together, according to Begley. Anthony’s representatives negotiated a buyout agreement that owner James Dolan rejected, trade scenarios with the Rockets dragged through most of the summer and the Knicks discussed Anthony with the Trail Blazers and several other teams.

With Jackson now gone, much of the animosity between Anthony and the Knicks seems to have subsided. Former teammates remain supportive, especially Kristaps Porzingis, who has inherited Anthony’s role as the franchise player.

“He was trying to do the right things to win, but it was just not clicking,” Porzingis said. “It was not the right pieces around him to make that happen. I’m grateful that I had a player like that on my team that I could learn from. Not only on-the-court stuff, but also off the court, a lot. So I can’t say a bad thing about Melo.”

Knicks Would Have Improved With Or Without Anthony

December 15th, 2017 at 6:30pm CST by Austin Kent

The Knicks have thrived without Carmelo Anthony on board but veteran guard Courtney Lee doesn’t think that his absence is why the team is winning. “If Melo was here, we would’ve made that adjustment with him,” he told Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News. “So you can’t just pinpoint it at him and say, ‘Well he left and we made these adjustments.’ The style of play was going to be different from last year regardless.“

Enes Kanter Eager To Play Through Pain

December 15th, 2017 at 4:26pm CST by Austin Kent

Despite the fact that he’s barely over “40-50%”, Enes Kanter isn’t about to sit out any games for the Knicks if he doesn’t have to. The big man, who’s posted 13.4 points and 10.3 rebounds per game in a widely acclaimed first few months in New York, told Fred Kerber of the New York Post that he knows all too well that every single game matters over the course of an NBA season.

Tim Hardaway Jr. Not Close To Return

December 15th, 2017 at 9:27am CST by Luke Adams

Speaking to reporters on Thursday for the first time since being sidelined with a leg ailment, Knicks swingman Tim Hardaway Jr. referred to the injury as “serious” and suggested that he’s not close to a return. Asked if he thinks he’ll be back before the end of the calendar year, Hardaway was noncommittal, per Marc Berman of The New York Post.

“The goal is just to get better first,” Hardaway said. “That’s the goal. I’m not giving myself a deadline. I don’t want to get to that point and be upset and down on myself. I don’t want to give myself a set date on when I should return. I’ll do what I can to get this right. When I’m confident and ready to go, then we’ll see.”

Hardaway, who hasn’t played since November 29, was diagnosed with what the Knicks simply called a “stress injury” in his lower left leg. While it’s not clear if he has a stress reaction or a stress fracture, both injuries could take several weeks to heal, Berman notes.

Although they lost three of their first four games without Hardaway, the Knicks are currently riding a three-game winning streak and are hanging onto a top-eight seed in the East. General manager Scott Perry recently expressed a distaste for tanking, so it will be interesting to see if New York can remain in playoff contention during Hardaway’s absence, as the trade deadline approaches — the club’s approach to the deadline could vary significantly depending on its place in the conference standings.

Frank Ntilikina Improves Beyond Years

December 14th, 2017 at 10:06am CST by Austin Kent

Despite the fact that he hasn’t even turned 20 years old, Frank Ntilikina is beginning to show that he could lead an NBA offense, perhaps sooner than later. As Fred Kerber of the New York Post writes, the Knicks rookie continues to develop in a variety of ways as the season progresses.

New York Notes: Knicks, Ntilikina, Nets, Stauskas

December 13th, 2017 at 4:57pm CST by Luke Adams

With the Lakers playing the Knicks on Tuesday, Luke Walton was asked about his old coach, Phil Jackson, and admitted that Jackson’s ouster in New York didn’t sit particularly well with him, per Al Iannazzone of Newsday.

“I don’t know all the details of what was going on here, obviously, but a mentor to me like that and someone that means as much to me as Phil does, I’m not in favor of it happening,” the current Lakers head coach said of Jackson. “There’s people out here that I wanted to see succeed. I love the triangle offense. I wanted to see that work. But for whatever reasons it didn’t.”

Here’s more out of New York:

Kristaps Porzingis and Frank Ntilikina are showing Knicks fans that it’s okay to be optimistic about the club’s future, says ESPN’s Ian Begley. In praising Ntilikina, Begley notes that the rookie point guard is “low maintenance,” adding that there were some in the Knicks organization who had serious concerns before the draft about LaVar Ball’s impact in the event that the team had a chance to pick Lonzo Ball.
Sources tell Brian Lewis of The New York Post that the Nets‘ deal to have Joseph Tsai buy a 49% stake in the franchise could be done by the end of the month. Although it’s not finalized yet, controlling owner Mikhail Prokhorov referred to Tsai as “a great partner” who “will help the game and help the NBA.”
While Jahlil Okafor was the primary piece in last week’s trade between the Nets and the Sixers, the deal also gave Brooklyn coach Kenny Atkinson another reclamation project to work on. As Lewis writes for The Post, it will be interesting to see what Atkinson – who has a reputation as a “guard whisperer” – can get out of Nik Stauskas.