Dallas also has Jalen Brunson and Dwight Powell and Maxi Kleber, all ready to play more minutes. Still, they're not even a lock for the playoffs next year (when they have their pick), but they certainly look better for the year after, when Luka's flirting with averaging a triple double and Porzingis presumably is healthy from his ACL tear.
I think:
- KP was ridiculously myopic about this, blaming this regime for Phil Jackson's insanity
- A bidding war still made sense. But not sure who else but Sacto could have given us all that cap space
- it's impossible to say if this is a good return or not. If you sign Kyrie and Durant it's the greatest Knicks trade ever, if you spend the money on max contracts for Bledsoe and an injured Boogie Cousins and DSJ never reaches so much as Dennis Schroder levels (and if Porzingis ever makes first team all-NBA) then it's one of the worst Knicks trades (there's a lot of competition there, mind). And there's all kinds of permutations in between. So it's tough to call it.
- I mean, what do you do with this: "Pick details via league memo: NYK receives next avail DAL 1st-rounder unprotected. Depending on when that happens, NYK then receives either DAL 2023, 2024, or 2025 1st-round pick-- top-10 protected in all three years. If they haven't received 1st by 2025, they get Mavs 2025 2nd."
- Ntilikina as a 2-guard next to DSJ makes more sense than him as a PG. I still like Ntilikina as a keeper. Mudiay, however, should be moved. Or DSJ should be moved. But with free agency coming, don't keep both.
- Vonleh now is a keeper! No matter who we sign, he makes sense. Kanter still has to go.
- We have more cap space than just for two max contracts - there will still be money left over for an MLE type contract to throw at Delon Wright
- There's a real chance next year's team has a host of depressing players, like Isaiah Thomas and DeAndre Jordan and Jabari Parker surrounding max contract Eric Bledsoe. But even then, we'd have our picks and a lot of youth. It's something. The catch: Fizdale gets a pass from me on this year...he hasn't exactly been Lloyd Pierce, but maybe he's still evolving as a coach. But there has to be actual cohesion next year.