David Fizdale Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Fizdale: Knicks Will Be Attractive Destination For Free Agents

December 6th, 2018 at 3:45pm CST by Luke Adams

Speaking today to reporters, including Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News, Knicks head coach David Fizdale expressed a belief that the franchise will be an attractive destination for 2019 free agents. As Fizdale explains, he and the current management group have worked hard to change the idea that the Knicks are a toxic or poorly-run organization.

“What I think we’ve done together with (president) Steve Mills and (GM) Scott Perry and (owner) Mr. (James) Dolan and myself and all our staff, is we changed the perception of how we operate and treat each other and what’s important,” Fizdale said. “That’s the first step in getting people to come to New York. When they see we have a really tight ship, really take care of our guys, our guys get better and get a lot of attention.

“Hopefully all of those things, with the combination of the understanding we have Kristaps Porzingis there, too, this team isn’t necessarily what our record is when you put him in the mix,” Fizdale continued. “We have something free agents will like.”

The Knicks should have the flexibility to open up enough cap space for a maximum-salary free agent in 2019, and are expected to pursue Kevin Durant and other stars. While Fizdale, who said that Dolan is “on board with everything we’re doing,” didn’t identify any specific targets, he suggested that the Knicks should be in a “good position” to make strong pitches by the time the free agent market opens next July.

Enes Kanter, who has expressed a desire to remain with the Knicks beyond his current contract, agrees with head coach that Fizdale, Perry, and Mills have helped improve the culture in New York.

“There was this thing that people don’t want to come here or they were just scared,” Kanter said, per Bondy. “With all this new front office, with the coach and everything, it definitely changes. If you see the moves, see the pieces have changed, you see all the young guys have come in and everything, I think it’s definitely changing. It’s definitely going to a good destination.”

Although the Knicks certainly appear to be on the right track, with Fizdale making a positive impact early in his tenure and the front office avoiding short-sighted roster decisions, they’ll face plenty of competition in 2019 free agency. The Lakers, Clippers, Sixers, Bulls, and Nets are among the other big-market clubs expected to have significant cap room.

Knicks Notes: Knox, Ntilikina, Porzingis, Robinson, Lee

November 30th, 2018 at 5:36pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Knicks’ lottery picks over the last two years, point guard Frank Ntilikina and wing Kevin Knox, have been called soft by rival scouts and other league personnel interviewed by the New York Post’s Marc Berman. Knox was also labelled as selfish offensively, settling for long-range jumpers and refusing to move the ball. Ntilikina was knocked for lacking of acumen expected of a floor leader. Coach David Fizdale bristled at the criticism, according to tweet from Newsday’s Steve Popper. “Give them a break,” he said. “These guys are learning on the fly.” Knox said he’ll take the knocks in a constructive way, as Popper relays. “I love the criticism because that’s just going to help me go watch film and make sure I can get better at that,” Knox said.

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Knox is eager to establish chemistry with Kristaps Porzingis, Berman reports in a separate story. Porzingis could return in late December from the ACL tear he suffered last season. “It will be great to get him on the court and get the connection going a bit see how it is to play with an All-Star,” he said. “It will be pretty fun when he gets back. Hopefully, we’ll connect.”
Fizdale said there’s no talk of sending Knox and fellow rookie Mitchell Robinson to the G League’s Westchester Knicks, Berman writes in another piece. “I’m keeping both of them with us,’’ Fizdale said. “Through whatever tough times we go through, that’s what we have to go through with them right now. But I want them with our guys, playing with our guys, interacting with our guys, having successes and suffering with our guys.”
Courtney Lee could make his season debut against the Bucks on Saturday, Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic tweets. Fizdale said the veteran shooting guard is probable to play, Vorkunov adds. Lee has been sidelined with a neck injury.

Atlantic Notes: Trier, Mudiay, Butler

November 25th, 2018 at 6:57pm CST by Eric Spyropoulos

With the Knicks focused on player development and youth in this rebuilding season without Kristaps Porzingis, one bright spot in the first quarter of the team’s season has been the play of Allonzo Trier. As Tommy Beer writes for Forbes, Trier has showcased his elite scoring abilities and has proven that he belongs in the league, despite going undrafted last summer.

Trier has played nearly 500 minutes so far this season and has provided a consistent scoring threat off the bench, averaging 11.5 points per game while knocking down 47.2% of his 3-pointers.

While a lot of attention has been on Kevin Knox and the surprising play of second-round pick Mitchell Robinson, Beer points out that fans shouldn’t overlook Trier and his place in the team’s young core, especially given the consistency he has provided this season.

As Porzingis works on recovering from his torn ACL and the Knicks have plans to spend in free agency, it will be interesting to see what the team’s young core looks like moving froward.

There’s more from the Atlantic division:

At his introduction press conference in May, Knicks head coach David Fizdale told Emmanuel Mudiay that “we’ll get you right.” As Marc Berman points out for The New York Post, Fizdale has kept that promise with an increased role for Mudiay, who has rewarded his coach with the best play of his career.
While Sixers head coach Brett Brown has enjoyed Jimmy Butler‘s approach to integrating himself with the team, Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer reveals that there are times in which Brown wants Butler to be more aggressive offensively.
Another recent Atlantic division notes post highlighted David Fizdale‘s return to Memphis and the Celtics‘ offensive struggles.

Atlantic Notes: Fizdale, Leonard, Celtics, Brown

November 25th, 2018 at 10:21am CST by Arthur Hill

Knicks coach David Fizdale plans to keep his emotions in check today as he returns to Memphis to face the team that fired him after 19 games last season, writes Zach Braziller of The New York Post. Fizdale took the Grizzlies to the playoffs during his first season with the organization, but was discarded last year as the team got off to a rough start highlighted by an early-season injury to Mike Conley and Fizdale’s feud with Marc Gasol.

Fizdale became one of the hottest free agents on the coaching market, interviewing with several teams before accepting the job in New York. He insists he’s not bitter about the experience in Memphis, saying it taught him lessons that made him a better coach.

“Probably the emotional part will be me remembering the good part of it,” he said. “I got a standing ovation in that building from a great fan base, and that’s the moment I’m going to remember, in the playoffs when we fought our butts off against the Spurs, and those guys being able to give me that moment as a young coach, and to share that moment with them. I’ll never forget that.”

There’s more from the Atlantic Division:

Heat forward James Johnson, who spent three and a half seasons in Toronto, believes Kawhi Leonard will find a lot to like about the city, relays Ira Winderman of The Sun-Sentinel. Leonard is averaging 24.4 points per game and has propelled the Raptors to a 16-4 start, the best record in the league. “I think guys are more focused on winning now and getting to a team that can get to those Eastern Conference finals or can get to the championship series,” Johnson said. “So I don’t think it’s about place anymore. It’s about building the right team.”
The slumping Celtics are having trouble finding the right roles for the younger players who helped them reach the Eastern Conference finals last season, writes Tim Bontemps of ESPN. Terry Rozier has struggled in his return to a reserve role, Jaylen Brown‘s shot has been off all season and Jayson Tatum is settling too often for long two-point shots.
X-rays were negative after Brown landed hard on his back late in last night’s game, according to Steve Bulpett of The Boston Herald.
The Celtics were counting on a draft pick bonanza in June with picks possibly coming from the Kings, Grizzlies and Clippers, but based on the current standings all of those would be later than Boston’s selection, tweets Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe.

Atlantic Rumors: Rozier, Dudley, Chandler, Knicks

November 9th, 2018 at 10:00pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Unless Kyrie Irving has a change of heart about staying in Boston, the Knicks won’t have a shot at signing the Celtics’ starting point guard. They might have a chance at Boston’s other talent point man, Marc Berman of New York Post speculates. Terry Rozier would be a good fit for them, since they’re still trying to choose among Frank Ntilikina, Emmanuel Mudiay and Trey Burke. Ntilikina, Noah Vonleh, Allonzo Trier and Damyean Dotson are some of the young players New York could dangle as trade bait for Rozier, Berman opines. Rozier will be a restricted free agent in July.

We have more from the Atlantic Division:

Veteran forward Jared Dudley has been a pleasant surprise on and off the court for the Nets, Chris Milholen of Nets Daily writes. Dudley, acquired from the Suns in an offseason deal, has posted modest numbers but he’s started every game and he’s served as a mentor to the team’s younger players. “He’s doing it in the locker room and he’s also doing it with his play, because he doesn’t need the ball in his hands,” coach Kenny Atkinson said. Dudley’s $9.53MM salary comes off the books at the end of the season.
Sixers forward Wilson Chandler will remain on a minutes restriction as he works his way back from a hamstring injury, Sarah Todd of the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. Chandler will play approximately 15 minutes until coach Brett Brown is satisfied that he can handle a back-to-back situation. “I think the minute restriction won’t be long, a couple weeks or so, it’s not long term, I’m not worried about that at all,” Chandler told Todd.
The Knicks’ trio of president Steve Mills, GM Scott Perry and coach David Fizdale have put a plan into action designed for the long-term health of the franchise, Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today writes. They are focused on player development and building through the draft rather than the quick-fix solution that have dragged down the franchise for so long.

Porzingis, Fizdale Clear Up Rehab Confusion

November 9th, 2018 at 3:57pm CST by Luke Adams

A fairly innocuous update on Kristaps Porzingis‘ ACL rehab from Knicks head coach David Fizdale on Thursday prompted a response from Porzingis himself, as Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News relays.

After Fizdale suggested that Porzingis hadn’t made significant progress since training camp and was still just doing light jogging work, the big man – apparently frustrated by the perception that his recovery was moving slowly – published Instagram photos that showed him sprinting on an outdoor track.

Speaking today to reporters, including ESPN’s Ian Begley, Fizdale explained that he wasn’t aware Porzingis had started sprinting, since the 23-year-old has been working with his own physiotherapist and hasn’t been rehabbing exclusively in the Knicks’ practice facility. According to the Knicks’ head coach, he touched base with Porzingis this morning and they’re now on the same page.

“We had a great talk about it,” Fizdale said. “I think how he took (media reports of Fizdale’s comments on Thursday) was that people thought he wasn’t busting his hump, he took it personally. It got to him that people would think that. … I think maybe when he heard me say, ‘Hey, we’re taking it slow’ and all of that stuff — that’s what we’re doing — but at the same time he (doesn’t) want people thinking that he’s not busting his hump, because he’s killing it.”

While a slight misunderstanding involving a player and his coach hardly qualifies as a major story (even in New York), the communication between Porzingis and Fizdale, who quickly resolved the issue, is a good sign for a Knicks franchise that has been plagued by dysfunction in recent years. Under another coach, it’s possible that similar comments could have ballooned into a larger problem and created resentment between the franchise and its star, who will be eligible for restricted free agency in 2019. Fizdale wants to make sure that sort of thing doesn’t happen under his watch.

“With this group of people that we got here right now, our agendas are on point. Everybody’s coming from a good place. So why let things linger?” Fizdale said, per Begley. “That’s how stuff ends up festering into a real problem. It’s all usually some miscommunication or a misunderstanding and something you could’ve hashed out as an adult right there. So I stress that to all of these guys, handle stuff face to face. Eye-to-eye communication. Get it over with.”

Eastern Notes: Korver, LaVine, Celtics, Kanter

November 5th, 2018 at 10:55pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Sixers, Thunder or Lakers are the most likely landing spots for veteran sharpshooter Kyle Korver, Jordan Greer of the Sporting News opines. Korver is likely to get traded or bought out by a Cavaliers team that suddenly finds itself in a rebuilding mode. The combination of Korver and J.J. Redick could drive opposing defenses crazy in Philadelphia, while Oklahoma City desperately needs a 3-point shooter. LeBron James and Korver have good chemistry, as displayed by James’ 89 assists to Korver last season, Greer adds.

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The Bulls matched the Kings’ four-year, $78MM offer sheet for Zach LaVine and thus far it’s looking like a wise decision. As Sam Smith of the Bulls’ website notes, LaVine is shooting a career high 46.8% and averaging 26.6 PPG. He’s second in the Eastern Conference in usage rate to Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo and his efficiency rating still is top 10 in the conference, Smith adds.
Interior scoring might be the Celtics’ biggest weakness, Marc D’Amico of Celtics.com points out. It entered Monday’s game at Denver ranked last in points in the paint with an average of just 35.3 per game. Coach Brad Stevens admits the lack of inside scoring is a carryover from the last two seasons. “Last year we were not very good either,” he said. “That’s been an issue for us for the last 18 months. Prior to that we were pretty good at it. So we’ve just got to keep hammering on it, see if we can get a little better.”
Knicks coach David Fizdale knows Enes Kanter isn’t happy coming off the bench but Fizdale believes he could be a candidate for Sixth Man of the Year, as he told Adam Zagoria of ZagsBlog.com and other media members. Kanter, a free agent after the season, is playing behind rookie Mitchell Robinson. “I just want him to keep settling into that role right now,” Fizdale said. “Quite honestly, if we keep going this rout, he’s a guy that with the numbers he’s going to get … he’s going to have his hat in that Sixth Man of the Year Award.”

Knicks Notes: Robinson, Knox, Vonleh, Carmelo

November 2nd, 2018 at 5:37pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Coach David Fizdale is committed to making rookie Mitchell Robinson his starting center, Marc Berman of the New York Post reports. Robinson has replaced Enes Kanter, who will enter the free agent market next summer, because Fizdale feels the second-round pick is a “superior natural defender” and he wants the whole team to have a defensive mindset. “He’s going to be our foundation, our anchor of our defense for the future,” Fizdale said. “Let’s get this guy going right now and really commit to the development of these guys and to what it’s going to take to get them to where they need to be for us to be the team we’re going to be later.” By making an early commitment to a youth movement, Knicks appear to have gone into tanking mode early, sacrificing wins this season to improve their draft position.

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First-round pick Kevin Knox will likely return on Monday from a left ankle sprain, Berman writes in a separate story. Knox has only played three games and with Fizdale cancelling practice on Thursday, he won’t play against the Mavericks on Friday, according to Berman. Even if Knox practices on Saturday, he’ll likely be held out of playing Sunday against Washington because the team doesn’t want him playing back-to-backs right away, so he’ll return against Chicago on Monday.
Noah Vonleh has emerged as Kristaps Porzingis‘ fill-in as the starting power forward, Berman notes in another piece. Vonleh signed a partially guaranteed $1.6MM contract that doesn’t fully guaranteed until January 10th but he’s jumped ahead of Mario Hezonja, who signed a one-year, $6.5MM contract in the offseason, in the pecking order. Vonleh only has a cap hold of $1.62MM but he doesn’t want to look too far ahead. “I definitely want to be here in New York, but that’s up in the air,” he told Berman. “I have to focus on this season and go from there.”
Carmelo Anthony believes the franchise’s reputation scared away top-shelf free agents during his time with the team, as he told Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News. “The perception of the organization. I think it probably scared a lot of people away,” he said. “Scared some people away. Not knowing the nuances and the ins and outs of kind of what was going on, who is in charge, who is not. So it was more than just basketball when it came to people making those decisions.”

Knicks Notes: Fizdale, Knox, O’Quinn, Durant

October 31st, 2018 at 7:29pm CST by Arthur Hill

David Fizdale enjoyed working as a television commentator and might have stayed in that role longer if not for the opportunity with the Knicks, writes Ian Begley of ESPN. Fizdale called TV work a “comfortable” job without “the stress of coaching,” but he couldn’t pass up the opportunity to try to build a winner in New York. He had interviews with several teams and turned down a four-year offer from the Suns to take the Knicks’ job.

Fizdale led the Grizzlies to the playoffs in his first year as a head coach, but injuries slowed the team last season and he was fired after 17 games in the midst of a well-publicized clash with Marc Gasol. That led to his job as an ESPN analyst.

“I went in there just force-feeding culture down everyone’s throat,” Fizdale said of his time in Memphis. “I had a small window, I felt, with those guys. So I really tried to fast-track everything. And there’s just some things you can’t rush. You can’t rush relationships, you can’t rush trust, you can’t rush the culture.”

There’s more out of New York:

The Knicks are hoping to get injured rookie Kevin Knox back in the lineup soon, possibly by Friday, according to Marc Berman of The New York Post. Knox suffered a sprained ankle in the third game of the season, and his father says he could be ready to return sometime between Friday and November 10. A tweet from the Knicks yesterday relays that Knox is making “good progress” and has “advanced to participating in shooting drills and non-contact court activity.”
Former Knicks center Kyle O’Quinn tells Berman it wasn’t an easy decision to leave New York and sign with the Pacers over the summer (Twitter link). “It’s the biggest decision I’ve ever made as far as making a choice in my career,” O’Quinn said. “I slept on it, prayed on it. I made the decision and I’m sticking with it. It’s no secret I would’ve loved to play for Fizdale or be here. It’s tougher than telling a girl you’re moving on.’’
The close relationship between Knicks assistant coach Royal Ivey and Warriors star Kevin Durant may give New York an edge in free agency next summer, Berman suggests in another story. They both went to college at Texas and Durant is the godfather of Ivey’s daughter.

Atlantic Rumors: Korkmaz, Kanter, Marks, Wallace

October 29th, 2018 at 5:49pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Sixers are still mulling whether to pick up swingman Furkan Korkmaz‘s option for next season, Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer tweets. Philadelphia has a Wednesday deadline to make a decision. His option for the 2019/20 season is slightly over $2MM. If the Sixers decline, Korkmaz will be an unrestricted free agent next summer. The 6’7” Korkmaz has made four brief appearances this season after seeing action in 14 games last season.

We have more from the Atlantic Division:

Knicks center Enes Kanter isn’t thrilled about being demoted to the second unit, Howie Kussoy of the New York Post reports. Kanter came off the bench against Golden State on Friday even though he’s the team’s second-leading scorer and top rebounder. Coach David Fizdale is determined to develop his younger players. “We all understand where our team is at and what we’re trying to accomplish right now,” Fizdale said. “One way or another we do have to bring our puppies along.” Kanter’s $18,622,514 salary comes off the books at the end of the season and the Knicks are expected to pursue higher-level free agents.
Warriors GM Bob Myers believes Nets GM Sean Marks has a blueprint for future success, as he told Brian Lewis of the New York Post. Brooklyn has hoarded cap space to be a major player on the free agent market next summer. “I think they’re on their way,” Myers said. “They play in a great city, and Sean is smart. They’re in a position now with their picks and cap space where they’ll be able to make some change, and it’ll probably be positive.”
Rasheed Wallace, who won a championship with Detroit in 2004, was invited to Knicks practice on Sunday to instruct the big men, Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News reports. Wallace, who was invited by GM Scott Perry, gave rookie Mitchell Robinson plenty of food for thought. “He pushed me to talk more on defense. I have a tendency to be a little quiet. And him, he brings it,” Robinson told Bondy. Fizdale plans to invite another ex-Piston, Chauncey Billups, to deliver tips to his young guards.