Marc and Jay talk about all the coaches that got signed and or didn’t interview with the Knicks, Phil is maybe secretly interviewing some coaches, the Knicks might be in the hunt for a draft pick, recapping the conference semifinals and previewing the conference finals
draft
Episode 334: Season Wrap-Up
Marc, Jay, and Stats Guy IV wrap up the season by giving final grades to each player, comparing our pre-season predictions to the actual standings, compare last years team to this year, talk about who is staying and who is going, and more
Episode 303: Summer League
Marc and Jay talk about the newest additions to the team, Bargnani joining the Nets, the first summer league game, and more
Episode 301: More Draft Reactions
Marc and Jay get more in depth with their reaction to the draft and address all of their listener questions and concerns. And there are a lot of them.
http://traffic.libsyn.com/thenewyorkknickspodcast/Episode_301.mp3
Knicks 2015 Draft Reaction & Breakdown
Written by Ian Ellis (iellis2018@yahoo.com)
Hey guys, I’m baaaaack to help explain what happened last night. The Knicks got three players: Kristaps Porzingis (4th Pick), Jerian Grant (19th Pick) and Guillermo Hernangomez (35th Pick). So everybody calm down, and let’s begin!
Kristaps Porzingis, PF/C, Latvia
The Knicks made a huge splash in the draft by taking the big man from Latvia with the 4th pick. To be completely honest, I booed this pick for the first minute after the pick, just like most of the Barclays Center, but after that I reminded myself why I and all other Knicks fans should be excited with the pick. Let’s look more into Porzingis.
Player Analysis
Pros:
Physical Tools: Porzingis is very long at around 7’3″. May I repeat, 7′ freaking 3″. That’s huge for a player projected to be a PF in the league. Size is not the only thing going for Porzingis, as he is also very athletic. In addition to all of this, he is very smooth and quick like a guard in his movements, he is not just a huge and clunky bigman (*cough* Bargs *cough*)
Shooting: Porzingis has a silky smooth stroke and might be the best shooter in the entire draft class. This, with his superb size, gives him an unblockable shot and allows him to space the floor. In addition he has a very good touch around the basket.
Level of Competition: It should be noted that he played in the ACB last year, probably the best basketball league besides the NBA. Granted, there still is a huge dropoff in play, but it’s good to note that Porzingis probably played against better competition than players like Karl Anthony Towns and Jahlil Okafor in the NCAA.
Defensive Potential: While Porzingis struggles with defensive concepts (like most young big) and will struggle defending post players due to his lack of strength, he has the tools to become an outstanding shot blocker and pick & roll defender.
Attitude: The problem with a lot of these Euro busts it seems like is that they don’t love the game. For example, when you watch Bargs play, he never seems to really care. From what’s he’s told us, he really cares. He has amazing English, which shows that he wants to learn the game here with language not being a barrier. He’s already said how he doesn’t want to be the next Bargs or Darko or Weis. He’s shown a fire and desire for the game, which I think is important.
Cons: Continue reading
Episode 300: Draft Reaction
Jay was in class and has no idea what happened and Marc watched live, so Jay tries to guess the top 10 picks.
My Knicks Top 8 Big Board
Written by Guillem @goodoldliam
For the last 2 months or so, I’ve spent quite an amount of time reading and watching videos about the best players in Thursday’s draft. Now it’s the time of truth, and I’ve come to this conclusion to which players I’d draft if I was making the decisions. This order doesn’t mean that I would draft them all at #4, but how high I regard each player. If a player doesn’t have the value, then I’d trade down. Now, let’s go to the big board:
1 Karl-Anthony Towns
The comparison I like the most is a bigger Al Horford. That’s a center that does everything well, including shooting from distance. With the extra size, he could be a better defender and a rim protector too. That’s why he’s considered the best prospect. And that’s why the Knicks won’t get him. We needed to win those final games.
2 D’Angelo Russell
Russell is the first player the Knicks could potentially draft if he falls to 4. I like his shooting, creativity and vision. Would be a great fit in the triangle, and Phil reminded us that the triangle offense is still the plan. With not a lot of quality guards available through free agency this summer or next (Dragic and Rondo in 2015; Conley and Lillard (RFA) in 2016), this draft may be the only way to get one, and potentially a great one. He has a very high bust potential though, read more here [http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/projecting-the-top-50-players-in-the-2015-nba-draft-class/]: he has the highest % of bust potential in the top 25 college players, and also the highest % to become a star from all of them.
3 Kristaps Porzingis
I can imagine a lot of people not wanting Porzingis here. But let me explain. Porzingis has elite size and length, and great athleticism and skill. His major weakness is his strength. Which is why he may need a couple of seasons to develop physically. But I would take the risk of not physically developed yet over players that can’t shoot, have issues off the court, don’t have size or have injury concerns. Because players can add enough muscle easily, like Durant, Pau Gasol or Noah did. In addition to that, Porzingis’ parents and older brother all played professional basketball, so he has good influences around him. If and when he develops, he could very well be the best player in the draft: a big man that can protect the rim and space the floor to an elite level, something that would complement to perfection a player like Greg Monroe, our most likely free agent signing. Continue reading
Draft Preview # 4: Trades!
Written by Ian Ellis (iellis2018@yahoo.com)
In our last draft preview, we look at one of the most talked options with the pick, trading it. Whether it be trading the pick for a superstar or to trade down, a lot of talk has been about trading the pick. So, I decided to create 12 mock trades that the Knicks could do. Here are some notes before you read this:
1) Some of these trade include the Knicks acquiring players owed more money than them the cap allows, so some of them would have to be done once free agency starts, but they can be agreed on draft day.
2) WARNING: Some of these trades are really crazy…
3) …But no, you can’t do Lebron/KD/Anthony Davis for the pick, nice try. Trades have to make sense for all teams involved.
4) Teams trading for the pick are probably targeting Kristaps Porzingis, the big man from Latvia producing tons of draft buzz, or Emmanuel Mudiay, the athletically gifted PG that played in China last year.
5) Knicks have a ton of trade exceptions that expire on draft night. A trade exception is essentially a cap filler in a trade. To keep things simple, I won’t include them in these trades.
Alright, now that we’ve got that down, let’s look at the trades!
Trade #1: NY Deals with MJ
| NYK Gets: | CHA Gets: |
| SF Michael Kidd-Gilchrist | 4th Pick |
| 9th Pick | |
| 39th Pick |
Why this Trade goes down:
The Knicks are doing this because MKG is very very good. While people may say that he’s a bust for going 2nd overall, that’s because they are only looking at his two weaknesses: his jump shot (that’s actually improved) and his 1 on 1 game. If you look at any other aspect at the game, he’s very good at it. MKG is athletic, an amazing defender, passable ball handler and playmaker, is a good slasher and good rebounder. Him next to Melo at the 3 or 4 is a great combo. With the 9th pick the Knicks could possibly take Cameron Payne, Frank Kaminsky or Stanley Johnson, or they could trade down this pick again to get a pick more around 14 & 15 to get even another asset. The second round pick is also nice. The Hornets are doing this because their roster is a mess and they need a franchise player, which they could get in Mudiay or Porzingis at 4. Also while giving up MKG stings, he is a restricted free agent next summer and I’m not sure if Charlotte wants to give a ton of money for him as while he’s very good, he’s not a franchise player.
Trade #2: Undoing the Bargtastrophy Continue reading
Draft Preview # 3: Mock Draft
Written by Ian Ellis (iellis2018@yahoo.com)
After parts 1 and 2 we know the basics of the draft and a bunch of the players so now I put that together and present *drumroll* the official Ian Ellis 2015 Mock Draft. For this I will only do the first round and I will take team needs into account, so this won’t just be a big board. In addition I won’t add in any potential trades to make it simple. Here we go!
*BPA = Best Player Available
Pick #1 Minnesota Timberwolves: Karl Anthony Towns, PF/C
While people want to speculate if the Wolves want Jahlil Okafor first, Towns should eventually be their pick. Towns has the most potential of any player in this draft, he can do nearly anything on the court, and is versatile enough to play with Nikola Pekovic at the PF or play C with any of Minny’s other young bigs.
Pick #2 Los Angeles Lakers: Jahlil Okafor, C
Similar to Minnesota, as much as people like to speculate about taking D’angelo Russell, it is in LA’s best interest to take Jahlil Okafor from Duke. He is the most dominant post scorer coming out of college in a long time, is a good offensive rebounder and while he doesn’t have the potential Towns has, he has the potential to be a franchise big man. While it is questionable pairing up of Julius Randle and Okafor because they both share similar weaknesses (no jumpshot to space the floor, not very good defenders), LA should just get Okafor now and think about those things like fit later.
Pick #3 Philadelphia 76ers: D’angelo Russell, PG/SG
The 76ers need a guard and here they get one. D’angelo Russell, the sweet shooting guard from Ohio State with amazing passing ability, is perfect for the 76ers because they need a guard and they are getting more of a combo guard, meaning that they can pair a PG or SG next to him. Look out for the 76ers taking Kristaps Porzingis out of Latvia. The 76ers have been interested in him, and combine this with Hinkie’s desire to gain high potential assets and Joel Embiid’s injury setback, don’t be surprised if Philly makes a real draft day surprise.
Episode 299: The Draft Preview
Marc and Jay recap the last two games of the finals and then go into their extremely informative draft preview.
