New York Knicks Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Atlantic Notes: Knicks/Raptors Dispute, Shamet, Simmons, Beekman, Celtics

December 17th, 2024 at 3:02pm CST by Luke Adams

The NBA has scheduled an arbitration hearing regarding the Knicks/Raptors dispute for late July, reports Stefan Bondy of The New York Post (Twitter link). As Bondy points out, that means the hearing will occur nearly two years after the Knicks initially filed a lawsuit against the Raptors and over a year after a U.S. District Court judge referred the matter back to the league.

The Knicks filed a suit in August 2023 alleging that former video coordinator Ikechukwu Azotam illegally took thousands of proprietary files with him to a position with the Raptors and shared them with his new club. New York was seeking $10MM in damages from Toronto.

The Raptors, referring to the suit as “baseless,” argued that the issue ought to be resolved through the NBA’s arbitration process rather than in court. The Knicks countered by contending that commissioner Adam Silver can’t provide an impartial ruling due to his close relationship with Raptors chairman Larry Tanenbaum, who is also the chairman of the league’s Board of Governors.

The Knicks, who have put out statements every step of the way criticizing the league for its handling of the situation, did so again on Tuesday.

“Last June, the Courts ordered the NBA to arbitrate this theft of proprietary and confidential files – and now, after the NBA sat on this for seven months, we are being told that we will finally get a hearing in another seven months,” an MSG spokesperson said (Twitter link via Bondy). “We remain skeptical because the NBA has consistently demonstrated no desire to address this matter, most likely due to the fact that the Chairman of the NBA is the defendant.”

We have more from around the Atlantic:

Landry Shamet, who dislocated his shoulder during the preseason, returned to action on Monday for the Westchester Knicks, scoring 10 points on 4-of-10 shooting in 20 minutes. There has been a belief that the Knicks will re-sign Shamet once he’s healthy and ready to contribute at the NBA level, but that won’t happen quite yet, according to head coach Tom Thibodeau, who attended Monday’s game (Twitter video link). “It’s good to see him out there healthy again,” Thibodeau said. “(But) there’s a number of things that have to happen before he can play with us.”
Ben Simmons played a season-high 31 minutes on Monday in his first game as the Nets‘ primary point guard following the trade of Dennis Schröder, but struggled running the offense and turned the ball over six times in a blowout loss to Cleveland, notes Brian Lewis of The New York Post. “I think it’s just reading the game. When you speed up, you’re gonna have more errors,” said Simmons, who was making an effort to push the pace. “But that’s on me to just know where my guys are gonna be and taking care of the ball as a point guard.”
New Nets two-way player Reece Beekman wasn’t active on Monday, but he’s embracing his new opportunity after being sent to Brooklyn in the Schröder trade, Lewis writes in a separate New York Post story. “For this to be my rookie year and not even halfway through the season for me to get traded is a little crazy,” Beekman said. “But that’s life in the league. So I just got to be able to adjust fast. Just blessed for this opportunity. New situation, but got to get settled in and be ready to hoop. Just do whatever the team needs. I’m coming in with a work-hard mentality and try to do what’s best for the team to put ourselves in a better position.”
Brian Robb of MassLive takes a look at what the Celtics can and can’t do on the trade market this season, given their second-apron restrictions, and considers whether the team has any areas of need to address.

Raptors Notes: Barnes, Poeltl, Boucher, Brown, Barrett, Knicks Dispute

December 17th, 2024 at 8:03am CST by Luke Adams

After Scottie Barnes went down with an ankle sprain last Monday, a report from ESPN indicated that he was expected to miss several weeks. However, the Raptors forward appears on track to beat that projected timeline, according to Michael Grange of Sportsnet, who says there’s optimism Barnes could return to action as soon as this week.

Within the same story, Grange explores which Raptors players are and aren’t likely to be in-season trade candidates ahead of the February 6 deadline. Notably, sources who have spoken to Grange believe that starting center Jakob Poeltl will probably stick with the team through the deadline rather than being dangled as a trade chip.

As Grange explains, Toronto would ideally like to just spend one season rebuilding and then begin pushing back toward contention next season in a relatively weak Eastern Conference. Poeltl is under contract for at least 2025/26 (with a player option for ’26/27), so he could be part of the Raptors’ next playoff team. And if the retooling process don’t progress as quickly as hoped, he’d still have trade value in a future transaction window.

Here’s more on the Raptors:

Grange identifies big man Chris Boucher and swingman Bruce Brown – both on expiring contracts – as logical trade candidates for Toronto, but notes that the club is unlikely to extract a significant return for either player due to their large cap hits ($10.8MM for Boucher, $23MM for Brown) relative to their production. “If there was big demand, he wouldn’t be on the Raptors,” one Eastern Conference executive said of Boucher.
As for Brown, Grange hears from team sources that the veteran has bought into what the Raptors are trying to build and wouldn’t be opposed to sticking around, meaning it’s not entirely out of the question that he stays in Toronto and re-signs in the summer.
In a separate story for Sportsnet.ca, Grange takes a look at the impressive strides that forward RJ Barrett has made this season as a play-maker and de facto point guard with Immanuel Quickley having missed most of the season due to injuries. The 24-year-old, who never averaged more than 3.0 assists per game with the Knicks, increased that number to 4.1 APG after being traded to the Raptors last season and has bumped it up again to 6.0 APG so far in 2024/25.
After the Knicks and Raptors informed the U.S. District Court last week that the NBA hadn’t provided them with any updates on its investigation into the Knicks’ allegations of stolen files, the league reached out to both teams on Monday to begin the process, reports Stefan Bondy of The New York Post (Twitter link). The Knicks, who initially filed a lawsuit against the Raptors and were referred back to the NBA’s arbitration process by the court, have maintained all along that commissioner Adam Silver isn’t an impartial judge and beat that drum again on Monday. “The NBA has admitted to sitting on this serious theft of proprietary and confidential files for several months,” the team told The New York Post in a statement. “The NBA has a clear conflict of interest and a lack of desire to see a fair outcome in this matter – which we’ve said all along.”

New York Notes: Nets, Simmons, Bridges, Sims, Towns

December 16th, 2024 at 9:44pm CST by Dana Gauruder

While dealing Dennis Schröder to Golden State is viewed as a tanking move for a team looking to accumulate assets, the Nets can now play at a faster pace, according to head coach Jordi Fernandez.

“Dennis was bottom ten slowest point guards in the NBA – pace doesn’t mean you’re better or worse – and Ben (Simmons) is 18th-fastest,” Fernandez said, per Lewis (Twitter link). “… We’re going to try to play faster. The ball is going to fly. He’s going to push. He’s going to throw it ahead.”

We have more from the New York teams:

Simmons, who underwent back surgery in March, hasn’t played more than 27:20 in any game this season. An unrestricted free agent after the season, the Nets‘ new top point guard said his playing time could expand soon, Lewis adds in another tweet. “I think my restriction right now is 27,” he said. “I think it’s around that. So hopefully that changes soon.”
In an era when playing in all 82 regular-season games is a rarity, Mikal Bridges has established himself as NBA’s iron man. The Knicks wing made his 500th consecutive appearance in Sunday’s 100-91 victory over the Magic, a streak that began with his first game with the Suns as a rookie, Stefan Bondy of the New York Post notes. “Everyone talks about offensive traits and talents and defensive traits and talents, but the most impactful and the greatest trait you can have is availability and he has it and he’s shown it,” Karl-Anthony Towns said. “Shoutout to him. That’s a huge accomplishment.”
Jericho Sims has garnered some trade interest, according to Bondy. Sims, playing on an expiring $2.1MM contract, has seen his playing time cut in recent games. The center position is the Knicks’ most obvious need, even though Mitchell Robinson is expected to return at some point. But the team doesn’t have many assets left after making two blockbuster trades in the offseason, though Miles McBride and/or Josh Hart could conceivably be dealt for the right player, Bondy suggests.
Towns will return to Minnesota on Thursday for the first time since he was traded to the Knicks. He’s not sure how he’ll be received, according to Bondy. “I don’t know (how they will embrace me). But I know that every single day that I put on that Timberwolves jersey I gave the absolute best of me even when I wasn’t 100 percent,” Towns said. “I gave them all of me mentally, physically, spiritually. I was there nine years, so I go there with a lot of pride and joy for the memories that I have.”

Atlantic Notes: Johnson, Brunson, Thibodeau, Barnes

December 15th, 2024 at 1:41pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

It has been a roller coaster ride for Nets shooting guard Keon Johnson over the past year-plus, according to Brian Lewis of The New York Times (subscriber link), who notes that the former No. 21 overall pick was out of work when last season began before catching on with Brooklyn on a two-way deal in November.

The 6’5″ Tennessee alum earned a promotion to a standard partially guaranteed contract over the summer and is now a part of head coach Jordi Fernandez‘s rotation as he looks to hang onto his roster spot through the league-wide salary guarantee date of January 7, Lewis writes.

Through 23 contests so far, Johnson is averaging 6.0 points, 2.8 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 0.5 steals per contest, with a shooting line of .355/.315/.750. Although he had a couple DNP-CDs earlier in the season, he has been part of Brooklyn’s starting lineup for the past four games.

“I think good things happen to players that work really hard and they do whatever it takes for the team — Keon has been doing it,” Fernandez said. “And he’s not the only one right now. He’s in this position … because he deserves it. He still has work to do and improve, but I’m very happy with him. He’s a guy that can be very, very, very good defensively. He’s able to catch and shoot, he’s an amazing athlete, and all those things so far are important for us.”

There’s more out of the Atlantic Division:

Former Knicks starting center Isaiah Hartenstein, who departed for Oklahoma City in free agency this summer, claimed he wouldn’t have let All-Star Hawks point guard Trae Young celebrate his NBA Cup victory atop the team’s logo on the Madison Square Garden court. All-NBA Knicks point guard Jalen Brunson had a succinct retort when asked about his former teammate’s comments, per Zach Braziller of The New York Post. “Isaiah isn’t here,” Brunson said.
Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau disputes the notion that his team has struggled defensively, Braziller writes in another New York Post story. “I think we’re top 10 in points allowed, we’re [12th] in points in the paint, we’re fifth in fast-break points allowed, we’re top five in second-chance points allowed, so those are all good markers,” Thibodeau said. “Defensive field goal percentage the last 10 games has been good. I think we’re 13th [overall]. It’s all moving in the right direction. Can it be better? Yes, and that’s what we’re aiming for.” Braziller notes that the team, which brought in All-Defensive Team forward Mikal Bridges and All-Star center Karl-Anthony Towns in separate offseason trades, currently ranks 16th in defensive rating, a dip from its ninth-place finish in 2023/24.
Fourth-year All-Star Raptors forward Scottie Barnes was able to go through a light workout on Sunday with Toronto assistant coaches, reports Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca (Twitter link). Barnes injured his right ankle in a 113-108 loss to the Knicks on Monday, and it is anticipated that he will be sidelined for multiple weeks. Toronto’s best two-way player, Barnes is averaging 20.6 points, 8.4 boards, 7.4 dimes, 1.3 steals and 0.7 rejections in his 14 healthy games for the 7-19 squad.

Apron Concerns To Limit Knicks' Trade Options

December 15th, 2024 at 11:06am CST by Arthur Hill

The Knicks‘ trade options will be limited this season because they’re about $500K away from their second-apron hard cap, notes Steve Popper of Newsday. Popper considers Mitchell Robinson to be the team’s most valuable trade piece, as the arrival of Karl-Anthony Towns may have made Robinson expendable.

Trade Rumors: Sixers, Pelicans, Nuggets, Early Movers, Simmons

December 13th, 2024 at 10:57pm CST by Luke Adams

The Sixers‘ slow start this fall hasn’t changed the expectation that Daryl Morey and the front office in Philadelphia will be active leading up to the February 6 trade deadline, sources tell Tim Bontemps of ESPN (Insider link).

Shooting and frontcourt size are among the area the 76ers may look to address, with KJ Martin viewed as the team’s most logical trade chip due to his pseudo-expiring contract, which includes a cap hit of $7.98MM for this season. However, Martin won’t become trade-eligible until January 15, so Philadelphia will have another month to assess its needs before moving forward on potential trade scenarios.

Within that same ESPN story, Bontemps and Brian Windhorst address another injury-plagued team off to a disappointing start, citing sources who say that there has been an increase in opposing scouts at Pelicans games, with rivals looking to gather intel for possible deals. While New Orleans’ plans are unclear at this point, the club is expected to at least make a move to get out of the luxury tax — its team salary is currently $1.4MM above that threshold.

Brandon Ingram, of course, is considered a potential trade candidate, but his $36MM+ cap hit will complicate trade talks. According to Bontemps, several sources have recently told ESPN that they’re not sure whether anyone making more than $20-25MM will be dealt during the season.

Here are a few more trade-related notes and rumors from around the NBA:

The Nuggets are interested in making a trade to upgrade their rotation and “know they need a shake-up move of some sort,” but will be hard-pressed to find an appealing deal due to their position relative to the tax aprons and their lack of movable contracts, NBA insider Marc Stein said during an appearance on DNVR Sports (Twitter video link). “It’s been painted to me as eager. They are eager to make a move,” Stein said. “(But) the reality is if they don’t involve (Michael) Porter (Jr.), the optionality there is extremely limited.”
While most in-season deals are unlikely to be completed until much closer to the February 6 trade deadline, Jake Fischer (Bleacher Report video link) identifies the Lakers and Bucks as teams who could be motivated to act sooner rather than later on the trade market, adding that the Knicks are also “still sniffing around on what to do for their center depth.”
In a separate video clip, Fischer explores whether the Nets could realistically trade Ben Simmons and his $40MM+ expiring contract, suggesting that a team seeking 2025 cap room might be able to incentivize Brooklyn to take on multiyear salary in exchange for Simmons by attaching an intriguing young player and/or draft assets.
Fred Katz of The Athletic takes a closer look at several of the CBA and trade rules – new and old – that are expected to make it more challenging than ever for teams to pull off trades this season.

Eastern Notes: Knicks/Raptors Dispute, Hornets, Banchero, Holland, Sixers

December 13th, 2024 at 6:47pm CST by Luke Adams

The Knicks and Raptors were required to update the court on the status of the arbitration process of their legal dispute on Friday, but agreed in a joint filing that there’s nothing to report, as Stefan Bondy of The New York Post relays.

The Knicks filed a lawsuit in August 2023 alleging that former video coordinator Ikechukwu Azotam illegally took thousands of proprietary files with him to his new position with the Raptors and shared them with his new club. The Raptors, referring to the suit as “baseless,” argued that the issue ought to be resolved through the NBA’s arbitration process rather than in court, while the Knicks contended that commissioner Adam Silver wouldn’t be impartial.

A U.S. District Court judge ultimately sided with the Raptors and sent the matter back to the NBA, but with no movement yet toward arbitration, the Knicks didn’t miss the opportunity to fire another shot at Silver.

“We’ve been waiting for any direction from the NBA on next steps in this matter for months — proving our point that the NBA is not capable of appropriately and fairly handling this serious theft of proprietary and confidential files,” an MSG Sports spokesperson said in a statement, per Bondy. “Unfortunately, because of the clear conflict of interest between the Commissioner and the Chairman of the NBA, there has been complete silence from the league.”

We have more from around the Eastern Conference:

Two injured Hornets players have been cleared to return to action on Friday in Chicago, with Miles Bridges (right knee bone bruise) and Tidjane Salaun (left ankle sprain) deemed available, per the team (Twitter link). Bridges, who last played on November 19, has missed Charlotte’s past 10 games, while Salaun has been sidelined since last Thursday.
Magic forward Paolo Banchero stated in mid-November that he hoped to be back to the court by Christmas, but his return from a torn oblique doesn’t appear close, as Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel relays. “He’s doing the same ball-handling, a little light movement on the floor, and then just trying to find ways to get the cardio up without applying too much pressure,” head coach Jamahl Mosley said on Friday. “But again, he’s just slowly moving his way to touching the court.”
Pistons rookie Ron Holland entered Thursday’s game in Boston having averaged 5.6 points per game on .425/.180/.786 shooting through his first 25 NBA games. But with Detroit facing a 25-point deficit on Thursday, Holland got a chance to play the entire fourth quarter and showed glimpses of what he could become, finishing the game with 26 points on 11-of-14 shooting. While most of those points came in garbage time, the Pistons were encouraged by what they saw from the No. 5 overall pick. “It’s still against NBA players,” head coach J.B. Bickerstaff said, per Hunter Patterson of The Athletic. “Against a team who has a great system on both sides of the ball, and they understand what they’re doing. And it proved that he can be successful versus that. Hopefully, that leads to the confidence that kind of unlocks him a little bit and now he goes and he continues to build off of this.”
Sixers forward Paul George can identify first-hand with what teammate Joel Embiid is going through. After Embiid admitted that his knee issues have been “extremely depressing,” George – who has an extensive injury history of his own – said that dealing with health problems is the “toughest part of the game,” writes Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer writes. “We build ourselves up so much. The media builds us up. The community builds us up,” George said. “Then you face an injury that you know you’re not yourself. You’re not the same, but you are expected to be yourself when you get on that floor. So, mentally, it is tough.”

Knicks Notes: Cup Loss, Brunson, Inconsistency, Bridges, Nnaji

December 12th, 2024 at 2:35pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Knicks were eliminated from NBA Cup contention with their 108-100 home loss to the Hawks on Wednesday. They shot 26% on 3-point attempts and 60% on free throw tries. They also gave up 22 offensive rebounds, Stefan Bondy of the New York Post notes.

“Finishing possessions defensively [was a problem],” Jalen Brunson said. “They had a lot of offensive rebounds. Just unacceptable.”

Brunson was held to 14 points.

“Just wasn’t our night,” Brunson said. “Just wasn’t my night offensively. They got out in transition and Trae (Young) hit a couple key threes and once it went to a double-digit lead for them and they played well with a lead.”

We have more on the Knicks:

The loss to Atlanta is more proof that the Knicks are nowhere close to being in the conversation as a potential NBA champion, James Edwards III of The Athletic opines. They have been unable to string together consistent quality performances, instead looking like world-beaters one game, then falling to mediocre or bad teams the next game. The blockbuster moves they made were supposed to make them a great team, but so far they’ve just been a good one, Edwards adds.
On a positive note, Mikal Bridges seems to be settling in. Bridges, who has averaged 21.8 points over his last six games, had been benched for the better part of two fourth quarters during a four-game stretch in late November, Peter Botte of the New York Post points out.
The Knicks acquired the rights to big man James Nnaji in the Karl-Anthony Towns deal after Charlotte drafted him in 2023. Nnaji is playing for Basquet Girona and averaging 7.0 points and 5.8 rebounds in 20.0 minutes per night, according to Toni Canyameras of MundoDeportivo.com. “The front office is following his progress. I’ll dig deeper into him in the summer, but I’m obviously excited to have his rights,” coach Tom Thibodeau said.

NBA Cup Semifinals Set; Sunday Games Scheduled For Eliminated Teams

December 12th, 2024 at 6:41am CST by Luke Adams

Following Atlanta’s and Houston’s wins in Wednesday’s NBA Cup quarterfinal matchups, the semifinals for the NBA’s second annual in-season tournament have been set, with the Hawks, Bucks, Rockets, and Thunder advancing to the final four.

Both games will be played on Saturday, December 14, and the matchups and tip-off times are as follows, per the league (Twitter link):

Atlanta Hawks vs. Milwaukee Bucks (3:30 pm Central time)
Houston Rockets vs. Oklahoma City Thunder (7:30 pm CT)

Both games will be played at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, with the winners squaring off in the NBA Cup final on Tuesday.

Players on the team that win the NBA Cup will be awarded $514,970 apiece in prize money, while bonuses for the runner-up team will be worth $205,988 apiece and the semifinal losers will receive $102,994 each. In each instance, the bonuses for players on two-way contracts will be worth half that amount.

Players on the Knicks, Magic, Warriors, and Mavericks will receive bonuses of $51,497 apiece ($25,749 for two-way players) after being eliminated in the quarterfinals.

Those four teams have also had an extra game added to their regular season schedules to ensure they get the necessary 82. Those games will be played on Sunday, Dec. 15 and are as follows:

New York Knicks at Orlando Magic (5:00 pm CT)
Dallas Mavericks at Golden State Warriors (7:30 pm CT)

Since both Dallas and Golden State played on the road in the NBA Cup knockout round, the Mavericks will be the unlucky team that ends up with 42 road games and 40 home games on its schedule this season, since they were the lower-seeded quarterfinalist. The Magic played on the road in the quarterfinals, while the Knicks lost at home, so the home/road schedules for the Eastern clubs will be evenly balanced.

Atlantic Notes: Fernandez, Nets Trade Talks, Celtics, Hart, Towns

December 10th, 2024 at 7:08pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Nets head coach Jordi Fernandez struck a threatening tone after his team’s loss to the Bucks on Sunday. After seeing Brooklyn’s defense allow 67 second-half points, Fernandez had a pointed message for his players.

“If our guys who wear a Brooklyn Nets jersey don’t play harder defense, they don’t have a place in our roster,” he said, per Jared Schwartz of the New York Post.

The Nets shot over 50% from the field but it was offset by the leaky defense, particularly on the perimeter.

“No defense to finish that third [quarter]. No defense to finish the fourth,” Fernandez said. “That’s how you win and lose games in the NBA. … You look at the offensive line, it’s pretty good. It’s just our defense was worse than bad.”

We have more from the Atlantic Division:

The Nets are very active in the trade market, according to an ESPN report, however they are being picky with what types of players they might take back in a trade, according to NetsDaily.com. A source familiar with the Nets discussions says that GM Sean Marks only wants to take back expiring contracts in order to preserve his cap space. However, another source told NetsDaily that Brooklyn might be willing to take on a contract with another year left on it if the draft assets are rich enough.
The Celtics are taking a high volume of three-point shots and making them. The Athletic’s Jared Weiss details how the defending champion’s offense has changed from last season. One notable difference is that the second unit is not as reliant on Jayson Tatum or Jaylen Brown to orchestrate the attack.
Josh Hart is questionable to play in the Knicks‘ NBA Cup quarterfinal game against Atlanta on Wednesday due to a left ankle sprain, Ian Begley of SNY TV tweets. Karl-Anthony Towns is probable with a right knee ailment.