Knicks · Luca Vildoza signed! (page 7)

Might make signing both Mitch and Noel more doable.

If Luca can contribute, and is as rugged as advertised, The Garden will embrace him and lift his game to new heights.

New York cares about players who care.
The moment Luca dives for a loose ball, the place will go wild.

knicks1248 wrote:

jrodmc wrote:I sure hope he's good in the locker room. I'd hate some late term addition like this to be a subtraction to what's going on right now.

This front office bypass a slew of players they could have had this season through trades and FA signings. They had the cap space, roster spot, an assets to make anything happen. They chose to do nothing and proceeded to kick ass and take names.

At this point questioning anything this FO does as if they didn't do a mountain of research before they make moves is a flat out insult.

From the Laziest man on the UK thats a mouthful!

Nalod wrote:

knicks1248 wrote:

jrodmc wrote:I sure hope he's good in the locker room. I'd hate some late term addition like this to be a subtraction to what's going on right now.

This front office bypass a slew of players they could have had this season through trades and FA signings. They had the cap space, roster spot, an assets to make anything happen. They chose to do nothing and proceeded to kick ass and take names.

At this point questioning anything this FO does as if they didn't do a mountain of research before they make moves is a flat out insult.

From the Laziest man on the UK thats a mouthful!

Sounds like they paid for this transaction with a free option. They had to spend cap space anyway. Luca gets a free buyout from Spain. Knicks have a free look. He will be tradeable by FA and if the money is not guaranteed, if he is taking up valuable cap space, they can waive him. Sounds brilliant. Especially because it looks Luca has the ability to contribute.

That said, I wouldn't really expect him to walk in off the street and start here. Thibs seems pretty loyal to his rotation. Gotta take the rotation spot by putting in the work.

EwingsGlass wrote:

Nalod wrote:

knicks1248 wrote:

jrodmc wrote:I sure hope he's good in the locker room. I'd hate some late term addition like this to be a subtraction to what's going on right now.

This front office bypass a slew of players they could have had this season through trades and FA signings. They had the cap space, roster spot, an assets to make anything happen. They chose to do nothing and proceeded to kick ass and take names.

At this point questioning anything this FO does as if they didn't do a mountain of research before they make moves is a flat out insult.

From the Laziest man on the UK thats a mouthful!

Sounds like they paid for this transaction with a free option. They had to spend cap space anyway. Luca gets a free buyout from Spain. Knicks have a free look. He will be tradeable by FA and if the money is not guaranteed, if he is taking up valuable cap space, they can waive him. Sounds brilliant. Especially because it looks Luca has the ability to contribute.

That said, I wouldn't really expect him to walk in off the street and start here. Thibs seems pretty loyal to his rotation. Gotta take the rotation spot by putting in the work.

Apparently only the first year is guaranteed, the rest partially.

GustavBahler wrote:

EwingsGlass wrote:

Nalod wrote:

knicks1248 wrote:

jrodmc wrote:I sure hope he's good in the locker room. I'd hate some late term addition like this to be a subtraction to what's going on right now.

This front office bypass a slew of players they could have had this season through trades and FA signings. They had the cap space, roster spot, an assets to make anything happen. They chose to do nothing and proceeded to kick ass and take names.

At this point questioning anything this FO does as if they didn't do a mountain of research before they make moves is a flat out insult.

From the Laziest man on the UK thats a mouthful!

Sounds like they paid for this transaction with a free option. They had to spend cap space anyway. Luca gets a free buyout from Spain. Knicks have a free look. He will be tradeable by FA and if the money is not guaranteed, if he is taking up valuable cap space, they can waive him. Sounds brilliant. Especially because it looks Luca has the ability to contribute.

That said, I wouldn't really expect him to walk in off the street and start here. Thibs seems pretty loyal to his rotation. Gotta take the rotation spot by putting in the work.

Apparently only the first year is guaranteed, the rest partially.

Isn't this year the first year?

misterearl wrote:Remember when the Knicks signed an exceptionally troubled man?
The moment Latrell Sprewell hit his first corner jumper, all was forgiven.

That was a trade.

My only hope is that no one sets expectations too high so as not to be disappointed later because as I have already written, some players come from Europe and almost immediately make a difference while some find it very difficult to adjust. It’s hard to know what it’s going to be like with Luca, but with a contract like this we don’t have to worry too much about it.

EwingsGlass wrote:

Nalod wrote:

knicks1248 wrote:

jrodmc wrote:I sure hope he's good in the locker room. I'd hate some late term addition like this to be a subtraction to what's going on right now.

This front office bypass a slew of players they could have had this season through trades and FA signings. They had the cap space, roster spot, an assets to make anything happen. They chose to do nothing and proceeded to kick ass and take names.

At this point questioning anything this FO does as if they didn't do a mountain of research before they make moves is a flat out insult.

From the Laziest man on the UK thats a mouthful!

Sounds like they paid for this transaction with a free option. They had to spend cap space anyway. Luca gets a free buyout from Spain. Knicks have a free look. He will be tradeable by FA and if the money is not guaranteed, if he is taking up valuable cap space, they can waive him. Sounds brilliant. Especially because it looks Luca has the ability to contribute.

That said, I wouldn't really expect him to walk in off the street and start here. Thibs seems pretty loyal to his rotation. Gotta take the rotation spot by putting in the work.

Because of his durability concerns we still need to draft a rookie pg for the part of the year rose goes awol lol

I would go with ayo dosunmo

Starting pg

Could it be vildoza?

Are we signing ball?

Or are we using the money we will save by not signing ball to extend guys like Mitch Noel bullockor add a free agent

xblvdels3 wrote:If we are talking talent and career resume with the current roster rose is the best pg.
With his age, injuries and missing many regular season games you can’t realistically put him down as our starting pg for an 82 game season. I doubt he plays 45-50 games. With that being said unless it’s the playoffs he should not be slotted as are (regular season starting pg)

Because of his durability concerns we still need to draft a rookie pg for the part of the year rose goes awol lol

I would go with ayo dosunmo

Starting pg

Could it be vildoza?

Are we signing ball?

Or are we using the money we will save by not signing ball to extend guys like Mitch Noel bullockor add a free agent

My take is that this signing is at its worst insurance in case Ball asks for 28 mil per year. At its best we might have found our PG of the future.

xavier wrote:I really like this signature. The contract is more than team friendly and this is a really low risk, high reward type free agent signing. I really hope that Luca will adapt well to the NBA league and that we will have a good player for rotation. Bringing a player like this on a contract like this is like we got an extra pick somewhere in the 6-12 range.

My only hope is that no one sets expectations too high so as not to be disappointed later because as I have already written, some players come from Europe and almost immediately make a difference while some find it very difficult to adjust. It’s hard to know what it’s going to be like with Luca, but with a contract like this we don’t have to worry too much about it.

By pegging him a 6-12th pick you sort of raised expectations. We read how he was coveted by other teams and hail praise on this signing which we have no idea will pan out until he plays. Basically it was a fairly savvy move by him and the knicks. I say him because that contract really says “if I’m not in the rotation then cut me and I’ll go back to Europe and play”. He obviously got a promise from us to get an opportunity and a path to rotation if he can play up to it.
Besides the video and looking at it with a homer perspectives the contract in a way puts things into perspective. Its a low risk deal which is good. At 25 years old he is who he is and I applaud his stepping up to see if he has the chops for the NBA. Good for him! I have low expectations of this signing but high hopes it works out. Love some of those EuroPG’s swagger (I know he is Argentine) with some flair to his game. NBA size might be similar to Europe leagues but the speed is another story. I can hear Clyde already being critical of the cross court passes regardless of its success. He is a daring playmaker who gives us options. We might have just signed IQ’s replacement? There might be a trade scenario that includes that very move. IM spitballing.
I don’t know where he was scouted at age 20 but its like a low 1st pick, or second that got eurostashed (yes, an Argentine EuroStash! LOL) and now he is coming for his chance.
There is no downside to this.

Nalod wrote:

xavier wrote:I really like this signature. The contract is more than team friendly and this is a really low risk, high reward type free agent signing. I really hope that Luca will adapt well to the NBA league and that we will have a good player for rotation. Bringing a player like this on a contract like this is like we got an extra pick somewhere in the 6-12 range.

My only hope is that no one sets expectations too high so as not to be disappointed later because as I have already written, some players come from Europe and almost immediately make a difference while some find it very difficult to adjust. It’s hard to know what it’s going to be like with Luca, but with a contract like this we don’t have to worry too much about it.

By pegging him a 6-12th pick you sort of raised expectations. We read how he was coveted by other teams and hail praise on this signing which we have no idea will pan out until he plays. Basically it was a fairly savvy move by him and the knicks. I say him because that contract really says “if I’m not in the rotation then cut me and I’ll go back to Europe and play”. He obviously got a promise from us to get an opportunity and a path to rotation if he can play up to it.
Besides the video and looking at it with a homer perspectives the contract in a way puts things into perspective. Its a low risk deal which is good. At 25 years old he is who he is and I applaud his stepping up to see if he has the chops for the NBA. Good for him! I have low expectations of this signing but high hopes it works out. Love some of those EuroPG’s swagger (I know he is Argentine) with some flair to his game. NBA size might be similar to Europe leagues but the speed is another story. I can hear Clyde already being critical of the cross court passes regardless of its success. He is a daring playmaker who gives us options. We might have just signed IQ’s replacement? There might be a trade scenario that includes that very move. IM spitballing.
I don’t know where he was scouted at age 20 but its like a low 1st pick, or second that got eurostashed (yes, an Argentine EuroStash! LOL) and now he is coming for his chance.
There is no downside to this.

I actually wrote the 8-15 range first so I reworked it for no particular reason. Hayes was 7th pick, Frank was 8th. Yes, they were much younger, but also much less good at the time. But the range of the pick is mere speculation anyway.

And I was thinking about the quality of the player of course, the contract is another matter considering that the contracts of the players selected in the first round of the draft are structured differently.

But I agree, it is easily possible that today's Luca would hypothetically be chosen with a lower pick. I was the first to say I didn’t want to run into too high expectations. For now, I’m happy with the this contract, and if we get a player for rotation, we’ll see.

ramtour420 wrote:

xblvdels3 wrote:If we are talking talent and career resume with the current roster rose is the best pg.
With his age, injuries and missing many regular season games you can’t realistically put him down as our starting pg for an 82 game season. I doubt he plays 45-50 games. With that being said unless it’s the playoffs he should not be slotted as are (regular season starting pg)

Because of his durability concerns we still need to draft a rookie pg for the part of the year rose goes awol lol

I would go with ayo dosunmo

Starting pg

Could it be vildoza?

Are we signing ball?

Or are we using the money we will save by not signing ball to extend guys like Mitch Noel bullockor add a free agent

My take is that this signing is at its worst insurance in case Ball asks for 28 mil per year. At its best we might have found our PG of the future.

Vildoza is a great signing period I’ve been excited about his acquisition since the initial reports. I have high hopes for him despite him being an unknown commodity at the nba level.

Lonzo has negative factors against him. If we were to get both, the day’s of our playmaking / orchestrating worries would be gone.

That said, this still looks to be a very well orchestrated and calculated move. Nothing to dislike with how the FO went about business. Nabbed him up before the Olympics and the world watching, option to hold onto him for a long time, but ability to cut our losses and pretty much a moment's notice.

I hope we struck gold, but do not need this to turn into Vildozanity (on second thought, maybe let's go with Lucasanity instead...). Would settle for a more willing/able passing Elfrid Payton.

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https://nypost.com/2021/05/07/what-luca-...

What Luca Vildoza's $13.6 million contract means for Knicks
Marc Berman

PHOENIX – The Knicks have already made a solid investment in newly signed Spanish League combo guard Luca Vildoza even if he never plays a minute for the Knicks.

Vildoza’s four-year, $13.6 million contract signed Thursday that starts with a $3.5 million wage for the 2020-21 season is not pro-rated.

Vildoza, 25, will collect all of it, according to a source, minus a portion of the buyout the Knicks have paid Baskonia. It was a bonus to keep him off the free-agent market.

The Post has also learned Vildoza’s second season becomes fully guaranteed around the start of next season. The dates for next season’s opener has not been finalized but the Knicks will get a full training camp to evaluate Vildoza and can also watch him play for Argentina in the Olympics.

The final two years of the pact become guaranteed after other future dates.

Luca Vildoza will pull in the full value of his Knicks deal, even if he never plays a minute.

A quirk in the CBA states no pro-rated contracts are in place if a club is under the salary cap. The Knicks were about $12.5 million under the cap.

The Knicks, according to a Spanish report, doled out $2 million to Baskonia as part of a buyout. Under CBA law, Vildoza’s wage gets deducted $1.25 million for the $2 million buyout.

It’s hard to imagine with this heavy investment the Knicks aren’t convinced he’s ready to play a role for next season’s team. The expenditure could motivate coach Tom Thibodeau to give him minutes if he’s able to join the club for the final three regular-season home games.

The signing has one drawback to the current Knicks players. The Vildoza signing puts the Knicks past the salary-cap “floor’’ – which is the minimum payroll allowed.

If the Knicks stood pat, they would’ve been about $3 million under the floor. Under CBA law, the gap is split among the 15 players. That amounted to a $200,000 bonus for each player but that will now be wiped out.

It will be interesting if Vildoza – if and when he arrives — is put higher in the pecking order than Frenchman Frank Ntilikina, a restricted free agent already out of the rotation.

“He knows how to play and he’s still young,’’ said former Knicks European scout and ex-Charlotte international director of scouting Tim Shea, who lives in Spain as an NBA consultant and worked with Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau. “He’s a scorer and your modern-day point guard — more scorer. As a scorer, he is better than Frank. Plays hard but his defense is half of Frank’s. I like him for sure. The fact he’s hard-nosed must appeal to Thibs.’’

And of course what Tim Shea really meant to say was "He’s a scorer and your modern-day point guard — more scorer. As a scorer, he is better than Frank. Plays hard but his defense is half of Frank’s [BUT AN UNGODLY AMOUNT MORE THAN WHAT ELF PLAYS]. I like him for sure. The fact he’s hard-nosed must appeal to Thibs."