- The Knicks added a number of potential high-reward players this offseason that carry little long-term risk for the franchise, but the team’s bench remains dangerously thin, Bobby Marks of The Vertical opines in his look at New York’s offseason.
Knicks team president Phil Jackson opened up to Charley Rosen of TodaysFastbreak.com about what went wrong in New York with former coach Derek Fisher, noting the two had markedly different philosophies on how to develop and train players. “Almost from the start, this was a difficult time for Derek. Derek did have a situation that took some focus away from his coaching during the preseason, but I never doubted that his focus was on coaching the team,” Jackson said regarding Fisher’s off the court run-in with Matt Barnes. “A divorce and coast-to-coast move with children does put pressure on a person’s life, but that’s the NBA. However, Derek did move the team forward. He was dedicated and he worked hard. The players hustled and, for the most part, stayed as positive as was possible. And Derek did manage to survive last season and to deal with the heavy pressure of the constant losing, which is probably more intense in New York than in any other NBA city.”
Former Mavericks and Knicks shooting guard Ricky Ledo, who spent last season in the D-League, will play in Turkey next season, according to Orazio Cauchi of Sportando. The announcement that he will join the Yesilgiresun franchise was made on social media this morning by Ledo’s agent, Misko Raznatovic (Twitter link).
The 23-year-old was waived by New York in July of 2015 and was picked up by the Reno Bighorns, Sacramento’s D-League affiliate. Ledo, who averaged 21.2 points per game, was a late addition to last season’s D-League All-Star Game. After the season ended, Ledo signed with Santeros de Aguada in Puerto Rico, where he spent two months before being waived.
Ledo was taken by the Bucks with the 43rd pick in the 2013 draft, but was traded to the Sixers and later the Mavericks. He played just 16 NBA games in nearly two seasons with Dallas, making frequent trips back and forth to the D-League. After the Mavericks waived him in February of 2015, he signed two 10-day contracts with the Knicks before inking a deal for the rest of the season. Ledo averaged 7.4 points in 12 games with New York.
- In an interview with ESPN’s Marc Stein, Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony suggested that if his professional basketball career ends without an NBA championship, he’ll still consider it a success if he walks away with three Olympic gold medals and an NCAA title. “I would be very happy walking away from the game knowing that I’ve given the game everything I have, knowing I played on a high level at every level: high school, college, won [a championship at Syracuse] in college and possibly three gold medals,” Anthony said.
- The Knicks included partial guarantees of $100K in the contracts of Chasson Randle and J.P. Tokoto, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders tweets.
Ray Allen is seriously considering a return to the NBA and Longtime Knicks fan Spike Lee has been trying to persuade Allen to sign with New York, Ian Begley of ESPN.com passes along. “Spike Lee has been trying to recruit me,” Allen said. “We’ve been texting.” Begley adds that it’s not clear whether the team has interest in bringing the shooting guard aboard. New York has 16 players under contract, as the team’s depth chart at Roster Resource indicates, though only 14 of those deals are fully guaranteed.
Former All-Star shooting guard Ray Allen has had conversations with the Celtics and Bucks as he contemplates an NBA comeback at age 41, writes Dom Amore of The Hartford Courant. Both teams have a special significance for Allen, who won an NBA title with Boston in 2008 and broke into the league with Milwaukee in 1996.
“I would love going back to those places if it worked out,” Allen said, “because both teams are good, too. It doesn’t necessarily have to be championship-or-bust for me to go back to the NBA. I want to be in a situation where I thought I could help, play a little bit and help where they have good young talent.”
Allen hasn’t played in the league since 2013/14, when he appeared in 73 games for Miami, mostly as a reserve. He said he has started going through intense workouts to prepare him for NBA competition and has felt “great” afterward.
After winning titles with the Celtics and Heat, there has been speculation that Allen may want to join the defending champion Cavaliers or the runner-up Warriors to give himself the best shot at another ring. The Spurs and Clippers have also been mentioned as possible destinations, and Allen said Knicks’ super-fan Spike Lee has been texting him about coming to New York.
Allen made it clear that a return to the league is not definite and said he will make a decision by the time training camps open late next month. His choice will be based on finding the right franchise and the right role.
“My decision is predicated on what is available,” he said. “I said that I was interested because I never retired for a reason. I’ve been watching, seeing what teams have been doing and I’ve been waiting to see if the opportunity presented itself where I think I could fit.”
AUGUST 4: The Knicks have officially signed Randle, the team announced today (via Twitter).
AUGUST 3: The Knicks are bringing another former undrafted free agent to training camp this fall, according to Frank Isola of The New York Daily News, who reports (via Twitter) that point guard Chasson Randle has signed a contract with the team. The deal includes a partial guarantee, says Isola.
New York, having previously signed Marshall Plumlee to a three-year contract, also formally announced a deal with Ron Baker this week — those two players went undrafted this year, while Randle went undrafted in 2015. The Knicks also signed 2015 second-rounder J.P. Tokoto on Tuesday to compete for a regular-season roster spot.
[RELATED: Knicks’ free agent signings, via our Free Agent Tracker]
Marc Berman of the New York Post reported last month that the Knicks were one of three teams pursuing Randle, who made a favorable impression on the club’s brass while playing for New York’s Summer League squad. The Knicks have used their cap room and nearly all of their room exception, so it will be a minimum-salary deal for Randle.
In his final year at Stanford in 2014/15, Randle averaged 19.6 points per contest, chipping in 3.3 RPG, 3.0 APG, 1.4 SPG, and 2.4 3PG.
- Chasson Randle, who agreed to a partially guaranteed deal with the Knicks earlier today, has a good shot to stick as the team’s third point guard, Marc Berman of The New York Post writes. Despite New York being thin in the backcourt, the young guard isn’t taking this opportunity for granted, the scribe adds. “He’s still got to come in and earn it,” Randle’s agent, Kevin Bradbury, told Berman. “He feels this is the place where he can make the next step.”
- The Knicks‘ offseason moves were geared about winning immediately, not with an eye on the future, Ian Begley of ESPN.com opines in his look back at the team’s summer. The scribe notes that the team has depth concerns and lacks the outside shooters necessary to maximize coach Jeff Hornacek‘s system, but adds that the squad’s defense and pace of play should be much improved over last season.
- Want to see where the Atlantic Division teams stand roster-wise? Check out the complete breakdowns along with depth charts at Roster Resource for the Nets, Celtics, Knicks, Sixers and Raptors.
Over the course of this week, we’ve been breaking down 2016 NBA free agent spending by division, examining which teams – and divisions – were the most active this July.
These divisional breakdowns won’t present a full picture of teams’ offseason spending. Some notable free agents, including LeBron James, remain unsigned, so there’s still money out there to be spent. Our lists also don’t include money spent on this year’s first- and second-round picks or draft-and-stash signings. There are a few free agent names missing in some instances as well, since those deals aren’t yet official or terms haven’t been reported.
Still, these closer looks at divisional spending should generally reveal how teams invested their money in free agency this summer, identifying which clubs went all-out and which ones played it safe.
With the help of our Free Agent Tracker and contract info from Basketball Insiders, we’ll focus today on the Atlantic division. Let’s dive in…
1. New York Knicks
- Total money committed: $164,387,929
- Guaranteed money committed (including player options): $153,474,723
- Largest expenditure: Joakim Noah (four years, $72,590,000)
- Other notable signings:
- Courtney Lee (four years, $48,003,340)
- Lance Thomas (four years, $27,549,950)
- Mindaugas Kuzminskas (two years, $5,773,035)
- Brandon Jennings (one year, $5,000,000)
- Notes:
- Sasha Vujacic will earn a $1,410,598 salary, but the Knicks will be on the hook for just $980,431 of that total, with the NBA picking up the rest of the bill.
- The exact terms of reported deals for Chasson Randle and J.P. Tokoto aren’t yet known, so they haven’t been included here.
- The Knicks also signed Willy Hernangomez, but he was a draft-and-stash player, rather than a free agent, so his deal isn’t included here.
- The fourth year of Thomas’ deal, worth $7,583,975, is fully non-guaranteed, contributing significantly to the gap between the team’s total money and guaranteed money committed.
2. Toronto Raptors
- Total money committed: $146,025,440
- Guaranteed money committed (including player options): $143,228,000
- Largest expenditure: DeMar DeRozan (five years, $137,500,000)
- Other notable signings:
- Jared Sullinger (one year, $5,628,000)
- Notes:
- The Raptors were one of just three teams that didn’t go under the cap this summer, so their free-agent expenditures came using Bird rights (DeRozan), the mid-level exception (Sullinger), and the minimum-salary exception (other signees).
3. Boston Celtics
- Total money committed: $130,306,661
- Guaranteed money committed (including player options): $122,306,661
- Largest expenditure: Al Horford (four years, $113,326,230)
- Other notable signings:
- Tyler Zeller (two years, $16,000,000)
- Notes:
- Gerald Green will earn a $1,410,598 salary, but the Celtics will be on the hook for just $980,431 of that total, with the NBA picking up the rest of the bill.
- The second year of Zeller’s deal, worth $8MM, is fully non-guaranteed, creating the gap between the team’s total money and guaranteed money committed.
4. Brooklyn Nets
- Total money committed: $78,488,356
- Guaranteed money committed (including player options): $74,963,953
- Largest expenditure: Jeremy Lin (three years, $36,000,000)
- Other notable signings:
- Trevor Booker (two years, $18,375,000)
- Justin Hamilton (two years, $6,000,000)
- Luis Scola (one year, $5,500,000)
- Greivis Vasquez (one year, $4,347,826)
- Randy Foye (one year, $2,500,000)
- Notes:
- If offer sheets for Allen Crabbe ($74MM+) and Tyler Johnson ($50MM) hadn’t been matched by the Blazers and Heat, respectively, the Nets likely would have been the Atlantic’s highest-spending team.
- Anthony Bennett, Joe Harris, Beau Beech, Yogi Ferrell, and Egidijus Mockevicius all have contracts that include some non-guaranteed money.
5. Philadelphia 76ers
- Total money committed: $57,346,160
- Guaranteed money committed (including player options): $44,220,000
- Largest expenditure: Jerryd Bayless (three years, $27,000,000)
- Other notable signings:
- Gerald Henderson (two years, $18,000,000)
- Sergio Rodriguez (one year, $8,000,000)
- Notes:
- The totals above don’t include the Sixers’ previously-reported agreement with Cat Barber, which has not been made official.
- The Sixers also signed Dario Saric, but he was a draft-and-stash player, rather than a free agent, so his deal isn’t included here.
- The second year of Henderson’s deal, worth $9MM, is fully non-guaranteed, contributing significantly to the gap between the team’s total money and guaranteed money committed.