SF SG Barrett, Reddish, Fournier, Grimes, Keels
Did u pick that order out of a hat?
It should be Barrett, Reddish, Grimes, Fournier, Keels. Keels may move up, but we should let him play first before we decide.
Mitch is back at 15 per, 60 over four years.we are over the cap and under the tax. We may be done except for picking the two way players
Mitch Isiah Jericho
Randle Obi Taj
Reddish Fournier
Barrett Grimes Keels
Brunson IQ Rose McBride
I can see Hartenstein wind up as a closer.
Perspective?
There is, as always, the OH GOD WE STILL SUCK WE WILL ALWAYS SUCK perspective of long suffering fans such as Luee.
There is, as always, the WELL THIS IS HOPEFUL AND COUNTS AS PROGRESS perspective of eternally positive pussies such as Chip.
Hard to argue with the evidence of our eyes. Collectively we are always projecting outrageous expectations on our Knicks, and inevitably being underwhelmed. Dolan has never been gun shy about spending money, but in terms of our "ledership" ever since Dave "How Long Do We Have To Pay For The Stanley Cup" Checketts solidified his power base, allowing Pat Riley to walk and the debacle of the Ewing Trade/Expulsion From Eden and a series of crippling moves by his piss boy Scott Layden, moving on to Isiah Thomas, and thence to Donnie Douche, Glenn Grunwald, Phool Jagoff, Steve Mills...one crushing dissappointment after another, being teased and farted on by every free agent looking to drive up their market value, eating our young, no player development, gutting our draft capital and making dubious selections when we actually had any picks.
Worth noting that Mitchell Robinson is NOW the very first Knick draft pick to be resigned to a contract at the expiration of their rookie deal since...CHARLIE WARD.
Speaking for myself?
The Rose Crime Family, and his concilerges, such as WWW, Scott Perry & Copmany, have had their share of missteps, to be sure, and the chummy sense of FAMILY which led us to pursue talent based on CAA relationships and the Kentucky connection, has, led us inevitably to the Brunson signing, another CAA connection [Leon's first client?], which proceeds directly from Leon's first decision, which was to pass on PG Tyreese Haliburton to select a player repped by his son, in Obi Toppin, and now, JALEN BRUNSON.
I mark it as progress to take note of how The Rose Crime Family has pivoted from mis-steps by Steve Mills and those precipitated during its own watch.
We are still dealing with the implications of Steve Mills' Quxiotic pursuit of Kevin Durant & Kyrie Irving with the assets garnered from the Porzingis Debacle.
Who'd Mills sign in their stead? Julius Randle, Bobby Portis, Elfrid Payton, Taj Gibson and Reggie Bullock. Drafting Barrett.
How did Rose follow that? Drafting Toppin, not picking up option year on contracts of Portis, Payton and Gibson, signing Alec Burks, Nerlens Noel, reupping Payton at a lower salary, bringing back Gibson when Omari Spellman flamed out, and losing out on Portis.
Drafted well, cumulatively: Passing on Haliburton was a mis-step, but Toppin, Quickley, Grimes, Jokubaitis, McBride, Sims were good picks.
Then, following a winning season from Coach Thibs, keyed by a breakthrough season from Julius Randle and a wonderful post trade deadline second act from Derrick Rose, Leon re-upped everyone to two year deals, with a third year team option, let Bullock walk in lieu of Evan Fournier. Oh, and the feel good Kemba Walker signing.
Well, we all know how that went. Kemba was a disaster, with gumpy knees and no D, and disrupted the chemistry of Julius and RJ. Evan took Reggie's place, and clearly Julius missed Bullock [and Payton], and Fournier took the better part of the year to click chemistry wise with Julius, who chafed under all-star expectations and bgeing tasked with being Thibs' point forward, albeit WITH NO POINT GUARD after Rose went down, and Thibs insisted on Burks as his facilitator, which he gamely attempted. We moved on from our Kevin Knox experiment and traded him for Cam Reddish after the all-star break, and through injuries and happenstance, in the absence of a lead guard, RJ took a more aggressive role as a creator, and when given the opportunity, Obi, IQ, Grimes, Reddish, McBride and Sims showed flashes of competitive talent.
In the 2022 offseason, having what amounted to a handful of one year contracts in Walker, Burks and Noel, through juggling our #11 pick and converting it into multiple #1 picks and transactions, managed to convert those contracts into cap space and used THAT to sign Brunson and Hartenstein. And reup Mitchell. Still holding on to a pair of #1 picks in 2023, and a beaucoup of #1 and #2 picks, as touted, over the next seven years.
HOW MUCH HAVE WE MOVED THE ENTERPRISE FORWARD? Well?
There is the
HOPE, that having an authentic point guard to run THIBS' pick and roll heavy offense, which, with a hopefully healthy DRose and a more confident IQ, will allow Randle and RJ and Fournier to be more efficient, and to get easier looks in rhythm with an actual factual PG at the helm. We have CONTINUITY in that we have a core of young deveopmental players with 1-2 years behind them in Toppin, Quickley, Sims, Reddish, Grimes and McBride, and another summer TOGETHER to prep for Thibs' third season and compete for more minutes. We have re-upped Robinson, which gives us more stability, and solidified his support system with the signing of Hartenstein and the return of Sims and Gibson.
AND MOST OBVIOUSLY, WE HAVE GONE ALL IN ON
Jalen Brunson
.
It is duly noted that Brother Luee is not enthusiastic about his signing, viewing it seemingly as MORE OF THE SAME.
We disagree.
BRUNSON is a solid citizen and a competitor who is a proven winner, and who displayed significant leadership in the playoffs, contribuitng mightily to the Mavs runot the WCF Finals.
IS HE A TOP TIER PG?
Jalen Brunson Is An Actual Factual POINT GUARD, who has gotten better every year as a pro, with a winning pedigree going back to his role on those perennial Villinova Final Four Teams.
Brunson gives us an authentic PG to rudder our offense, with solid offensive skills.
He gives us at least 30 minutes a night of ACTUAL FACTUAL point guard skills to stabilize our offense, improve our pace and motion and efficiency. As much as he improved with the mentoriship of Jason Kidd, we may anticipate likewise with the veteran leadership of a hopefully healthy Derrick Rose, who no longer had to log more than 15-20 minutes a night or play in back to backs. IQ has shown he is ready to make the next step.
Are we a more competitive team?
Yes we are.
How high should our expecations be?
WELL....
EVERYONE ELSE GOT BETTER, as well. SO...
Atlanta scored Deounte Murray to pair with Trae Young, which is huge.
Boston is a lock to sign Danilo Gallinari as a FA once he clears waivers from the Murray Trade. And, AND, the Celtics just traded Daniel Theis, Aaron Nesmith and their 2023 #1 pick to the Pacers for MALCOLM BROGDAN, which is a huge uptick for them.
Philly figures to have a much healthier James Harden, a newly signed PJ Tucker, a mcuh improved Ty Maxey, and a rejuvenated Joe Embid.
Chicago just reupped Zack Levine, brought on Andre Drummond, and should have a healthy Lonzo Ball.
The Bucks and Heat are still powerhouses.
Toronto finished with great momentum. As did the Cavaliers, who will be getting Sexton and Rubio back.
The Knicks are part of the scrum in the next tier, including Charlotte and Washington, with Detroit, Orlando and Indiana having made significant talent upgrades.
The NYETS? Stay tuned.
So Brunson gives us an uptick in talent, a highly motivated, solidly configured PG to add stability and cohesion. To the degree that everyone else comes ready for Freddie, and another year of continuity and stability and growth, and to the degree that Jalen can bond with Randle, and help him get his mojo back, and free up RJ to be even more of wild card, AND THIBS EVOLVES WITH THIS TEAM, we should be a good competitive team, capable of earning a playoff spot.
Beyond that?
We have a long row to hoe. We all expect Brunson to be a good player. If he can make the next evolutionary step, and pull Julius, RJ, Mitchell and Evan along with him, health willing, we should minimally be a competitive team.
THAT COUNTS AS PROGRESS.
If that ain't enough Knicks fans, well, you might request a trade. I hear Brooklyn is an up and comer.
Poll
