Knicks · Interviews with the new Knicks (page 1)

Seem like a likeable bunch. Sheds some light on the Williams signing (he says what Phil and Fish told him). Afflalo comes across as a smart guy- I wasn't sure if he'd lost his work ethic the last couple of years, but he still seems to be all business.

guess this is ROLO's cat's instagram that he mentioned:

https://instagram.com/pezwardisking/

Can't believe OQuinn is only 24..looks like he has been in the NBA for years..

Smart, hard working, team oriented.

This team will be fine under PJax.

Yeah this is a good bunch of guys to add to the other really good guys on the roster. There's a seriousness to the roster as it's full of hard working players "lunchpail" as it were. I like the identity that this roster has now. It should all be about one thing and that is winning. These guys are fully capable of supporting our stars Melo, KP and perhaps also Jerian. I feel good about the new additions. Some of the media are looking at this as kind of a fail but really we needed players like this. The only so called miss in Free Agency was not getting a Jordan or Aldridge but that's not necessarily the loss that they make it out to be. It's all gonna depend on how quickly our young players can develop.

Interesting there were virtually no questions about playing with Carmelo.

Our team looks much more professional and organized than it has in the last 15-18 years. Give Phil Jackson a lot of credit--nothing much can be done for year 1 he came in an cleared house--that was the job. Now did he get the right picks--lets hope so but overall we should be a better organization going 4ward--well until Dolan jumps back in.

BRIGGS wrote:Our team looks much more professional and organized than it has in the last 15-18 years. Give Phil Jackson a lot of credit--nothing much can be done for year 1 he came in an cleared house--that was the job. Now did he get the right picks--lets hope so but overall we should be a better organization going 4ward--well until Dolan jumps back in.

I actually think Dolan is cool about this arrangement. I think he's enjoying not being involved with trying to fix the Knicks. I just get that vibe from how little he's been around since Phil came on board. I think the big issues is going to be Melo. He's the one vestige of the old order and it's not totally clear what his thinking is about all the moves this summer.

If I had to guess what Melo's impact will be i'd say he'll likely start off slow and that would allow others to really establish themselves. The more others are involved the better IMO. We can't have a Melo dominated offense again. There are enough players now that we shouldn't have to be overly reliant on one player. He's still the top scorer for now, but not to the degree that we saw the last few years. We've got too many players that need to spread their wings too.

nixluva wrote:

BRIGGS wrote:Our team looks much more professional and organized than it has in the last 15-18 years. Give Phil Jackson a lot of credit--nothing much can be done for year 1 he came in an cleared house--that was the job. Now did he get the right picks--lets hope so but overall we should be a better organization going 4ward--well until Dolan jumps back in.

I actually think Dolan is cool about this arrangement. I think he's enjoying not being involved with trying to fix the Knicks. I just get that vibe from how little he's been around since Phil came on board. I think the big issues is going to be Melo. He's the one vestige of the old order and it's not totally clear what his thinking is about all the moves this summer.

If I had to guess what Melo's impact will be i'd say he'll likely start off slow and that would allow others to really establish themselves. The more others are involved the better IMO. We can't have a Melo dominated offense again. There are enough players now that we shouldn't have to be overly reliant on one player. He's still the top scorer for now, but not to the degree that we saw the last few years. We've got too many players that need to spread their wings too.

I agree that a Melo-centric offense is not what we want, but when I look at the roster at this point in time I still see a team that might struggle to score. We are going to need Melo's 24 points a night in order to compete. However, we need Melo's shots to be in the flow of our offense as part of one cog in the machine, if he starts forcing things then he can score 35 on 33% shooting and we will lose.

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Ha!

TPercy wrote:Can't believe OQuinn is only 24..looks like he has been in the NBA for years..

he definitely looks older than he is

nixluva wrote:Yeah this is a good bunch of guys to add to the other really good guys on the roster. There's a seriousness to the roster as it's full of hard working players "lunchpail" as it were. I like the identity that this roster has now. It should all be about one thing and that is winning. These guys are fully capable of supporting our stars Melo, KP and perhaps also Jerian. I feel good about the new additions. Some of the media are looking at this as kind of a fail but really we needed players like this. The only so called miss in Free Agency was not getting a Jordan or Aldridge but that's not necessarily the loss that they make it out to be. It's all gonna depend on how quickly our young players can develop.

yep- our only hope for this season is that the team is better than the sum of it's parts- we can't make the playoffs unless that x factor kicks in.

Dagger wrote:Interesting there were virtually no questions about playing with Carmelo.

Not everyone in the world outside these boards is obsessed with Melo

BRIGGS wrote:Our team looks much more professional and organized than it has in the last 15-18 years. Give Phil Jackson a lot of credit--nothing much can be done for year 1 he came in an cleared house--that was the job. Now did he get the right picks--lets hope so but overall we should be a better organization going 4ward--well until Dolan jumps back in.

You mean until Dolan puts IT back in charge- I fear that is our fate, especially if Phil doesn't work out.

smackeddog wrote:

Dagger wrote:Interesting there were virtually no questions about playing with Carmelo.

Not everyone in the world outside these boards is obsessed with Melo

Well I brought it up because most of them were asked about Porzingis, maybe this subtlety indicates the direction the team is headed is all I was suggesting.

smackeddog wrote:

nixluva wrote:Yeah this is a good bunch of guys to add to the other really good guys on the roster. There's a seriousness to the roster as it's full of hard working players "lunchpail" as it were. I like the identity that this roster has now. It should all be about one thing and that is winning. These guys are fully capable of supporting our stars Melo, KP and perhaps also Jerian. I feel good about the new additions. Some of the media are looking at this as kind of a fail but really we needed players like this. The only so called miss in Free Agency was not getting a Jordan or Aldridge but that's not necessarily the loss that they make it out to be. It's all gonna depend on how quickly our young players can develop.

yep- our only hope for this season is that the team is better than the sum of it's parts- we can't make the playoffs unless that x factor kicks in.

I'm actually counting on that. When you build with guys that make their living sacrificing for the team it's going to have an impact. This group of guys will support Melo and KP rather than take away from their strengths. We have some guys that will do the grunt work and fight hard in the trenches. That can't be overlooked.

nixluva wrote:

smackeddog wrote:

nixluva wrote:Yeah this is a good bunch of guys to add to the other really good guys on the roster. There's a seriousness to the roster as it's full of hard working players "lunchpail" as it were. I like the identity that this roster has now. It should all be about one thing and that is winning. These guys are fully capable of supporting our stars Melo, KP and perhaps also Jerian. I feel good about the new additions. Some of the media are looking at this as kind of a fail but really we needed players like this. The only so called miss in Free Agency was not getting a Jordan or Aldridge but that's not necessarily the loss that they make it out to be. It's all gonna depend on how quickly our young players can develop.

yep- our only hope for this season is that the team is better than the sum of it's parts- we can't make the playoffs unless that x factor kicks in.

I'm actually counting on that. When you build with guys that make their living sacrificing for the team it's going to have an impact. This group of guys will support Melo and KP rather than take away from their strengths. We have some guys that will do the grunt work and fight hard in the trenches. That can't be overlooked.

i think 35 wins is probably a realistic ending next year. Then the next year in 2016 we should be better after kp and grant have a year under them and we sign more free agents

Dagger wrote:

smackeddog wrote:

Dagger wrote:Interesting there were virtually no questions about playing with Carmelo.

Not everyone in the world outside these boards is obsessed with Melo

Well I brought it up because most of them were asked about Porzingis, maybe this subtlety indicates the direction the team is headed is all I was suggesting.

Sorry if I came across as being curt! I thought it was going to be a case of a thread turning into a thread about how bad Melo is!

Mills did say in the player introductions they already told melo how it was going to be (when asked if he would be happy with not signing any stars)- got the impression he was saying he could like it or lump it.

StarksEwing1 wrote:

nixluva wrote:

smackeddog wrote:

nixluva wrote:Yeah this is a good bunch of guys to add to the other really good guys on the roster. There's a seriousness to the roster as it's full of hard working players "lunchpail" as it were. I like the identity that this roster has now. It should all be about one thing and that is winning. These guys are fully capable of supporting our stars Melo, KP and perhaps also Jerian. I feel good about the new additions. Some of the media are looking at this as kind of a fail but really we needed players like this. The only so called miss in Free Agency was not getting a Jordan or Aldridge but that's not necessarily the loss that they make it out to be. It's all gonna depend on how quickly our young players can develop.

yep- our only hope for this season is that the team is better than the sum of it's parts- we can't make the playoffs unless that x factor kicks in.

I'm actually counting on that. When you build with guys that make their living sacrificing for the team it's going to have an impact. This group of guys will support Melo and KP rather than take away from their strengths. We have some guys that will do the grunt work and fight hard in the trenches. That can't be overlooked.

i think 35 wins is probably a realistic ending next year. Then the next year in 2016 we should be better after kp and grant have a year under them and we sign more free agents

I think Melo will ask for a trade before the all star break if we start off on track to win less than 30 games- if he does, it gives us options, and if he doesn't, then we can carry on building the way we are building.

smackeddog wrote:

StarksEwing1 wrote:

nixluva wrote:

smackeddog wrote:

nixluva wrote:Yeah this is a good bunch of guys to add to the other really good guys on the roster. There's a seriousness to the roster as it's full of hard working players "lunchpail" as it were. I like the identity that this roster has now. It should all be about one thing and that is winning. These guys are fully capable of supporting our stars Melo, KP and perhaps also Jerian. I feel good about the new additions. Some of the media are looking at this as kind of a fail but really we needed players like this. The only so called miss in Free Agency was not getting a Jordan or Aldridge but that's not necessarily the loss that they make it out to be. It's all gonna depend on how quickly our young players can develop.

yep- our only hope for this season is that the team is better than the sum of it's parts- we can't make the playoffs unless that x factor kicks in.

I'm actually counting on that. When you build with guys that make their living sacrificing for the team it's going to have an impact. This group of guys will support Melo and KP rather than take away from their strengths. We have some guys that will do the grunt work and fight hard in the trenches. That can't be overlooked.

i think 35 wins is probably a realistic ending next year. Then the next year in 2016 we should be better after kp and grant have a year under them and we sign more free agents

I think Melo will ask for a trade before the all star break if we start off on track to win less than 30 games- if he does, it gives us options, and if he doesn't, then we can carry on building the way we are building.

personally i want to trade melo not because i dislike him but because we seem to be in different directions. He is 31 coming off a big injury and probably doesnt have many big years left. We are building for the future which i actually love. Getting more picks and young assets probably makes more sense for our plan

smackeddog wrote:

StarksEwing1 wrote:

nixluva wrote:

smackeddog wrote:

nixluva wrote:Yeah this is a good bunch of guys to add to the other really good guys on the roster. There's a seriousness to the roster as it's full of hard working players "lunchpail" as it were. I like the identity that this roster has now. It should all be about one thing and that is winning. These guys are fully capable of supporting our stars Melo, KP and perhaps also Jerian. I feel good about the new additions. Some of the media are looking at this as kind of a fail but really we needed players like this. The only so called miss in Free Agency was not getting a Jordan or Aldridge but that's not necessarily the loss that they make it out to be. It's all gonna depend on how quickly our young players can develop.

yep- our only hope for this season is that the team is better than the sum of it's parts- we can't make the playoffs unless that x factor kicks in.

I'm actually counting on that. When you build with guys that make their living sacrificing for the team it's going to have an impact. This group of guys will support Melo and KP rather than take away from their strengths. We have some guys that will do the grunt work and fight hard in the trenches. That can't be overlooked.

i think 35 wins is probably a realistic ending next year. Then the next year in 2016 we should be better after kp and grant have a year under them and we sign more free agents

I think Melo will ask for a trade before the all star break if we start off on track to win less than 30 games- if he does, it gives us options, and if he doesn't, then we can carry on building the way we are building.

Possibly, I think Houston could offer us a good package if CA shows that he has recovered and could still play at a high level, with them striking out in FA but adding some decent pieces in the draft
Houston owns all of their 1st round draft picks, though can not trade 2016's 1st rounder as they dealt this summers to Lakers last year...
They also own our 2nd rounder, along with Portland's 2nd rounder in 2017

DMO would fit very well in this system, IMO, giving us a solid rotation of KP/Lopez, DMO, Kyle O Quin, maybe Louis Labeyrie next year and the 35th pick as well
Also own draft rights to Monztrel Harrellz who looks like he is a Ben Wallace type player that was selected with the 32nd pick (was our 2nd rounder)

DMO
Terrence Jones
Koustas Pap (unguaranteed salary at 5m)
Pablo Prigs along with other throw ins
Draft Picks, possibly 1-2 1st rounders, 2-4 2nd rounders, depending on who they give up in a package and CA's trade value
Sam Decker? Harrollz? Woods? their backup PF/C's, KJ McDaniels if he resigns...
It also depends if Josh Smith stays in Houston for less salary while they would have his early bird rights next year, though Detroit continues to pay him an extra contract, if depth would allow Houston to throw more players in if he stays who is great friends with D12 (who also has an OPT out next summer, though it is unlikely that he will get a similar contract with next years FA being very strong)
150% rule

Either Beverely/Corey Brewer could be thrown in, with Ariza, though I think they would try to keep all 3 of these players if possible with 150% rule

By making such a move, it could improve their chances in contending this year if CA is healthy however, it could take them out of next years Durant sweepstakes with other TOP TIER options and 2nd/3rd Tier's and solid role players as well, especially if D12 OPTS out, he could take less but secure a longer contract in order to improve the roster with the cap jump to bout 90m, both DMO and Terrence Jones are RFA's next year as well