Knicks · [GT 4/28/24 1PM ABC] R1G4 Knicks @ Sixers (NYK 2-1) (page 18)

VDesai wrote:

nycericanguy wrote:

DLeethal wrote:But in this modern NBA it's such a "game of runs" style with big point swings in every game. I think we've gotten comfortable in this series making our pushes late and letting Philly blow their loads early. I've gotten comfortable as a fan, in this series in particular, watching this team dig an early hole knowing they will position themselves for the late run.

embiid wears down as the game goes on

Even game 3, where he exploded for 50- he mostly did it on FTs in the 4th quarter. The fact that he never sat yesterday was possibly an issue for him. He was gassed.

If you read Philly forums it's a huge talking point. They were so bad in the non-Embiid minutes that Nurse gambled and got burned for not finding him a spot to rest. Very similar to common Thibs critique. Nurse doesn't empower his bench, runs his best players into the ground, yada yada.

I think we do give ihart the money unless someone comes in much higher.
Mitch contract actually declines. he has two years left.
might be reasonable to keep him one more year then move him. I love the guy but he is injury prone and perhaps someone makes us an offer we can't refuse while we wield our magic and develop a new Thibian favorite.
Like Take Edey and work him until he is Thibian ready. There are others.

DLeethal wrote:

nycericanguy wrote:

DLeethal wrote:I think we most definitely give iHart the bag. No reason not to keep Mitch unless it's part of a bigger trade. Precious will be tough to convince to stay when he's clearly only part of rotation when Mitch is hurt. So the decision becomes whether you want a more reliable Precious or the best ORBer in the league in Mitch.

our defensive rotations are also just much faster with Precious. and we can switch easier, he's def a different look.

but Mitch is clearly not 100%, he's a beast otherwise.

I could see a scenario where we trade Mitch and keep Precious. but we dont have to do anything.

Knicks have prioritized depth every year. Each year going in we argue about mins distro because of all the depth. I would not be shocked to see Knicks try hard to retain Precious for that reason alone. Just not sure Precious will be that interested. But going into this season they had DDV, Grimes, RJ, IQ, Deuce. They wanted the depth so they could make trades and also survive injuries. Obviously it paid dividends. So I could see them wanting to have iHart, Mitch, and Precious, and Sims all come back. You have to bank on Mitch getting hurt at this point. Precious might also be comfortable knowing that. He's gonna get his time throughout the year even as a 3rd big.

in hindsight, and even without hindsight you could see IQ's days were numbered when we signed DDV. they clearly saw him as a cheaper replacement and probably a better fit. I mean even Jhart made RJ expendable really. Thibs was playing Jhart more than RJ.

Heard the commentators talking about how the knicks felt guys like Jhart, DDV and Deuce needed more reps/mins to thrive and thats why they made the OG trade as well.

I would love to bring back Precious too, especially since he can play PF and Randle has been injury prone of late and of course OG.

just a matter of, does Precious want to be here for that emergency role?

gonna throw this out there too, PHO got swept, they need depth and picks. They probably dont want to move Booker. But KD? he'll be 36 next season, could def see them moving him. Would Randle, Mitch and a couple of picks do it? I can see that making sense for both teams and as much as i dont like KD that would be hard to turn down.

DLeethal wrote:Also as much as DDV did not play a great game, but Knicks were down 70-63 deep in the 3rd and things were starting to look bleak. He blasted B2B 3s to make it a 1 point game. If both of those don't go down that game could take a much different direction. We've gotten those B2B 3s from somebody in every game pretty much, Deuce a few teams, Bogie, DDV. That was a critical juncture of the game.

I think I'm there with nycericanguy on DDV and his ability to be a starting SG, especially in deep playoffs, where he won't survive big minutes. Not that he is bad or anywhere near that territory, but upgrading that position probably the Knicks best route, along with bench ball handler.

He'll have well deserved gonzo games during regular season, but playoffs different animal. Good thing we have Deuce.

fishmike wrote:

martin wrote:

technomaster wrote:This is a seriously deep Knicks team. It's like a player is forced to leave the game due to foul trouble or injury, and the Knicks just get even better. That's gotta piss off the Sixers.

Our two 7 ft centers were out of the game against a taller team with their MVP-level center - no prob, we proceed to out-hustle and out-rebound them the rest of the way.

The brand of defense this team plays is really different from the Patrick Ewing Knicks - those Knicks dominated with size, muscle, and toughness. These Knicks are so quick - we're a little undersized but we have tough guys that play larger than their heights.

Modern 90’s defense.

Knicks did it, and Brunson isn’t a weak link IMHO, not stout but not weak link either.

And it’ll be even badder next year

Brunson has been a huge positive surprise on defense. I think he's good. Has some obvious limitations but a legit asset. Makes tons of plays, is very strong and physical, plays his role perfectly on switches and challenging jumpers. Legit part of an elite team defense.

it's gonna be an interesting offseason. Starting to think we lose IHart. It's gonna take his wife saying "Im not going to OKC" to stop it cause I think they offer him a good bag and my god he would be a crazy good fit.

So for us I think it's something like Mitch/Precious and we make a move for someone. I like Naz Reid. He's 24 and could be a great fit under Thibs as a 3&D big with some other skills. Minn is going to be an apron team so something Burk's expiring (can we still do that around the draft?) and say pick 25 and 36 (we keep and draft someone w/ 24)

Wow... our squad
Brunson/DD/OG/Jules/Mitch
bench: McBride/Josh/Bojan/Precious/Reid
end of bench: Rokas? Drafted player at 24, Jericho under contract at $2mm ish

That's looking really phucking nasty

You know who is not putting this level of energy on the defensive end of the court? Embiid. Doncic. Lots of other posers.

Brunson's defense allows Precious to do his thing.

It's lovely

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nycericanguy wrote:

DLeethal wrote:

nycericanguy wrote:

DLeethal wrote:I think we most definitely give iHart the bag. No reason not to keep Mitch unless it's part of a bigger trade. Precious will be tough to convince to stay when he's clearly only part of rotation when Mitch is hurt. So the decision becomes whether you want a more reliable Precious or the best ORBer in the league in Mitch.

our defensive rotations are also just much faster with Precious. and we can switch easier, he's def a different look.

but Mitch is clearly not 100%, he's a beast otherwise.

I could see a scenario where we trade Mitch and keep Precious. but we dont have to do anything.

Knicks have prioritized depth every year. Each year going in we argue about mins distro because of all the depth. I would not be shocked to see Knicks try hard to retain Precious for that reason alone. Just not sure Precious will be that interested. But going into this season they had DDV, Grimes, RJ, IQ, Deuce. They wanted the depth so they could make trades and also survive injuries. Obviously it paid dividends. So I could see them wanting to have iHart, Mitch, and Precious, and Sims all come back. You have to bank on Mitch getting hurt at this point. Precious might also be comfortable knowing that. He's gonna get his time throughout the year even as a 3rd big.

in hindsight, and even without hindsight you could see IQ's days were numbered when we signed DDV. they clearly saw him as a cheaper replacement and probably a better fit. I mean even Jhart made RJ expendable really. Thibs was playing Jhart more than RJ.

Heard the commentators talking about how the knicks felt guys like Jhart, DDV and Deuce needed more reps/mins to thrive and thats why they made the OG trade as well.

I would love to bring back Precious too, especially since he can play PF and Randle has been injury prone of late and of course OG.

just a matter of, does Precious want to be here for that emergency role?

gonna throw this out there too, PHO got swept, they need depth and picks. They probably dont want to move Booker. But KD? he'll be 36 next season, could def see them moving him. Would Randle, Mitch and a couple of picks do it? I can see that making sense for both teams and as much as i dont like KD that would be hard to turn down.

I think we're gonna hear chatter about KD, Giannis, and LeBron for Randle. Especially if we make an ECF run without him. I don't necessarily agree with it, but I think the chatter is inevitable given how things are playing out.

nycericanguy wrote:

DLeethal wrote:

nycericanguy wrote:

DLeethal wrote:I think we most definitely give iHart the bag. No reason not to keep Mitch unless it's part of a bigger trade. Precious will be tough to convince to stay when he's clearly only part of rotation when Mitch is hurt. So the decision becomes whether you want a more reliable Precious or the best ORBer in the league in Mitch.

our defensive rotations are also just much faster with Precious. and we can switch easier, he's def a different look.

but Mitch is clearly not 100%, he's a beast otherwise.

I could see a scenario where we trade Mitch and keep Precious. but we dont have to do anything.

Knicks have prioritized depth every year. Each year going in we argue about mins distro because of all the depth. I would not be shocked to see Knicks try hard to retain Precious for that reason alone. Just not sure Precious will be that interested. But going into this season they had DDV, Grimes, RJ, IQ, Deuce. They wanted the depth so they could make trades and also survive injuries. Obviously it paid dividends. So I could see them wanting to have iHart, Mitch, and Precious, and Sims all come back. You have to bank on Mitch getting hurt at this point. Precious might also be comfortable knowing that. He's gonna get his time throughout the year even as a 3rd big.

in hindsight, and even without hindsight you could see IQ's days were numbered when we signed DDV. they clearly saw him as a cheaper replacement and probably a better fit. I mean even Jhart made RJ expendable really. Thibs was playing Jhart more than RJ.

Heard the commentators talking about how the knicks felt guys like Jhart, DDV and Deuce needed more reps/mins to thrive and thats why they made the OG trade as well.

I would love to bring back Precious too, especially since he can play PF and Randle has been injury prone of late and of course OG.

just a matter of, does Precious want to be here for that emergency role?

gonna throw this out there too, PHO got swept, they need depth and picks. They probably dont want to move Booker. But KD? he'll be 36 next season, could def see them moving him. Would Randle, Mitch and a couple of picks do it? I can see that making sense for both teams and as much as i dont like KD that would be hard to turn down.

KD at 36 could also simply fall apart at any moment. Randle fell. Mitch is problematic but at the moment we have a tandem.
Im partial to Randle as he is family and the team has gotten really good around him! OG makes his life so much easier. Randle was getting some really easy looks for the first time in his knick career! He and DDV were just starting to play together.

How we pay OG and give raises to our guys is a different story.
OG with KD upfront would be pretty darn interesting!

DLeethal wrote:I think we most definitely give iHart the bag. No reason not to keep Mitch unless it's part of a bigger trade. Precious will be tough to convince to stay when he's clearly only part of rotation when Mitch is hurt. So the decision becomes whether you want a more reliable Precious or the best ORBer in the league in Mitch.

most we can give him is 175% of what he made this year ($9.2mm -> $16mm). $16mm is a decision. He's really good and obviously we like him alot. It's another choice for the FO, but they have a lot of options.

nycericanguy wrote:

DLeethal wrote:

nycericanguy wrote:

DLeethal wrote:I think we most definitely give iHart the bag. No reason not to keep Mitch unless it's part of a bigger trade. Precious will be tough to convince to stay when he's clearly only part of rotation when Mitch is hurt. So the decision becomes whether you want a more reliable Precious or the best ORBer in the league in Mitch.

our defensive rotations are also just much faster with Precious. and we can switch easier, he's def a different look.

but Mitch is clearly not 100%, he's a beast otherwise.

I could see a scenario where we trade Mitch and keep Precious. but we dont have to do anything.

Knicks have prioritized depth every year. Each year going in we argue about mins distro because of all the depth. I would not be shocked to see Knicks try hard to retain Precious for that reason alone. Just not sure Precious will be that interested. But going into this season they had DDV, Grimes, RJ, IQ, Deuce. They wanted the depth so they could make trades and also survive injuries. Obviously it paid dividends. So I could see them wanting to have iHart, Mitch, and Precious, and Sims all come back. You have to bank on Mitch getting hurt at this point. Precious might also be comfortable knowing that. He's gonna get his time throughout the year even as a 3rd big.

in hindsight, and even without hindsight you could see IQ's days were numbered when we signed DDV. they clearly saw him as a cheaper replacement and probably a better fit. I mean even Jhart made RJ expendable really. Thibs was playing Jhart more than RJ.

Heard the commentators talking about how the knicks felt guys like Jhart, DDV and Deuce needed more reps/mins to thrive and thats why they made the OG trade as well.

I would love to bring back Precious too, especially since he can play PF and Randle has been injury prone of late and of course OG.

just a matter of, does Precious want to be here for that emergency role?

gonna throw this out there too, PHO got swept, they need depth and picks. They probably dont want to move Booker. But KD? he'll be 36 next season, could def see them moving him. Would Randle, Mitch and a couple of picks do it? I can see that making sense for both teams and as much as i dont like KD that would be hard to turn down.

Brunson being GREAT as opposed to just Good also made the calculus on IQ different. I think we did a great job developing IQ and he played himself into 20-25mm per annum, but when Brunson was more than just a good PG it didn't make sense to pay someone sitting behind him that much money. So the front office made some good hedges - they signed DDV, they stayed patient and held on to Miles McBride. Now we don't miss IQ at all.

And your point is true on Hart vs. RJ too. We developed RJ. He is a pretty good (not great player). He didnt exceed Brunson or Randle as a scorer. As a third ball dominant/downhill player he was made redundant. Josh Hart on the other hand is the kind of guy, when put into a lineup with some scorers, is the perfect fit. Everything he does out there makes others better. He grabs every loose ball, he plays multiple positions on offense and defense. He is a decent secondary ballhandler. He can give you improvisational scoring when the shot clock breaks down. He can create fast breaks. And he can also thrive and help without having the ball.

This front office sees "fits" as good as anyone front office we've had. I think people keep like to talk about the 2000s Pistons, because they did things the same way. It wasn't the biggest stars, but everything about that team made sense. The sum was greater than the individuals.

martin wrote:

fishmike wrote:

martin wrote:

technomaster wrote:This is a seriously deep Knicks team. It's like a player is forced to leave the game due to foul trouble or injury, and the Knicks just get even better. That's gotta piss off the Sixers.

Our two 7 ft centers were out of the game against a taller team with their MVP-level center - no prob, we proceed to out-hustle and out-rebound them the rest of the way.

The brand of defense this team plays is really different from the Patrick Ewing Knicks - those Knicks dominated with size, muscle, and toughness. These Knicks are so quick - we're a little undersized but we have tough guys that play larger than their heights.

Modern 90’s defense.

Knicks did it, and Brunson isn’t a weak link IMHO, not stout but not weak link either.

And it’ll be even badder next year

Brunson has been a huge positive surprise on defense. I think he's good. Has some obvious limitations but a legit asset. Makes tons of plays, is very strong and physical, plays his role perfectly on switches and challenging jumpers. Legit part of an elite team defense.

it's gonna be an interesting offseason. Starting to think we lose IHart. It's gonna take his wife saying "Im not going to OKC" to stop it cause I think they offer him a good bag and my god he would be a crazy good fit.

So for us I think it's something like Mitch/Precious and we make a move for someone. I like Naz Reid. He's 24 and could be a great fit under Thibs as a 3&D big with some other skills. Minn is going to be an apron team so something Burk's expiring (can we still do that around the draft?) and say pick 25 and 36 (we keep and draft someone w/ 24)

Wow... our squad
Brunson/DD/OG/Jules/Mitch
bench: McBride/Josh/Bojan/Precious/Reid
end of bench: Rokas? Drafted player at 24, Jericho under contract at $2mm ish

That's looking really phucking nasty

You know who is not putting this level of energy on the defensive end of the court? Embiid. Doncic. Lots of other posers.

Brunson's defense allows Precious to do his thing.

It's lovely

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4th Q Precious had as many points as 4th Q Embiid. Let that sink in for a moment.

4th Q Precious> 4th Q Embiid

fishmike wrote:

DLeethal wrote:I think we most definitely give iHart the bag. No reason not to keep Mitch unless it's part of a bigger trade. Precious will be tough to convince to stay when he's clearly only part of rotation when Mitch is hurt. So the decision becomes whether you want a more reliable Precious or the best ORBer in the league in Mitch.

most we can give him is 175% of what he made this year ($9.2mm -> $16mm). $16mm is a decision. He's really good and obviously we like him alot. It's another choice for the FO, but they have a lot of options.

I think its a no brainer to max him out - it will be his choice to accept that or try and get more. I think for the marginal couple million he will stay here. He really seems to love it here and love his teammates.

martin wrote:

fishmike wrote:

martin wrote:

technomaster wrote:This is a seriously deep Knicks team. It's like a player is forced to leave the game due to foul trouble or injury, and the Knicks just get even better. That's gotta piss off the Sixers.

Our two 7 ft centers were out of the game against a taller team with their MVP-level center - no prob, we proceed to out-hustle and out-rebound them the rest of the way.

The brand of defense this team plays is really different from the Patrick Ewing Knicks - those Knicks dominated with size, muscle, and toughness. These Knicks are so quick - we're a little undersized but we have tough guys that play larger than their heights.

Modern 90’s defense.

Knicks did it, and Brunson isn’t a weak link IMHO, not stout but not weak link either.

And it’ll be even badder next year

Brunson has been a huge positive surprise on defense. I think he's good. Has some obvious limitations but a legit asset. Makes tons of plays, is very strong and physical, plays his role perfectly on switches and challenging jumpers. Legit part of an elite team defense.

it's gonna be an interesting offseason. Starting to think we lose IHart. It's gonna take his wife saying "Im not going to OKC" to stop it cause I think they offer him a good bag and my god he would be a crazy good fit.

So for us I think it's something like Mitch/Precious and we make a move for someone. I like Naz Reid. He's 24 and could be a great fit under Thibs as a 3&D big with some other skills. Minn is going to be an apron team so something Burk's expiring (can we still do that around the draft?) and say pick 25 and 36 (we keep and draft someone w/ 24)

Wow... our squad
Brunson/DD/OG/Jules/Mitch
bench: McBride/Josh/Bojan/Precious/Reid
end of bench: Rokas? Drafted player at 24, Jericho under contract at $2mm ish

That's looking really phucking nasty

You know who is not putting this level of energy on the defensive end of the court? Embiid. Doncic. Lots of other posers.

Brunson's defense allows Precious to do his thing.

It's lovely

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His defense is underrated. How about this fast break strip he makes on Maxey? I think they messed up the possession call after, but it was a huge play to stop easy points.

fishmike wrote:

DLeethal wrote:I think we most definitely give iHart the bag. No reason not to keep Mitch unless it's part of a bigger trade. Precious will be tough to convince to stay when he's clearly only part of rotation when Mitch is hurt. So the decision becomes whether you want a more reliable Precious or the best ORBer in the league in Mitch.

most we can give him is 175% of what he made this year ($9.2mm -> $16mm). $16mm is a decision. He's really good and obviously we like him alot. It's another choice for the FO, but they have a lot of options.

The choice is easy, max him out. He will happily sign it IMO.

VDesai wrote:

fishmike wrote:

DLeethal wrote:I think we most definitely give iHart the bag. No reason not to keep Mitch unless it's part of a bigger trade. Precious will be tough to convince to stay when he's clearly only part of rotation when Mitch is hurt. So the decision becomes whether you want a more reliable Precious or the best ORBer in the league in Mitch.

most we can give him is 175% of what he made this year ($9.2mm -> $16mm). $16mm is a decision. He's really good and obviously we like him alot. It's another choice for the FO, but they have a lot of options.

I think its a no brainer to max him out - it will be his choice to accept that or try and get more. I think for the marginal couple million he will stay here. He really seems to love it here and love his teammates.

He comments a while back were something like his hard work has earned him an upgrade. He’s going to take the $$ and he should at this point in his career.

martin wrote:

fishmike wrote:

martin wrote:

technomaster wrote:This is a seriously deep Knicks team. It's like a player is forced to leave the game due to foul trouble or injury, and the Knicks just get even better. That's gotta piss off the Sixers.

Our two 7 ft centers were out of the game against a taller team with their MVP-level center - no prob, we proceed to out-hustle and out-rebound them the rest of the way.

The brand of defense this team plays is really different from the Patrick Ewing Knicks - those Knicks dominated with size, muscle, and toughness. These Knicks are so quick - we're a little undersized but we have tough guys that play larger than their heights.

Modern 90’s defense.

Knicks did it, and Brunson isn’t a weak link IMHO, not stout but not weak link either.

And it’ll be even badder next year

Brunson has been a huge positive surprise on defense. I think he's good. Has some obvious limitations but a legit asset. Makes tons of plays, is very strong and physical, plays his role perfectly on switches and challenging jumpers. Legit part of an elite team defense.

it's gonna be an interesting offseason. Starting to think we lose IHart. It's gonna take his wife saying "Im not going to OKC" to stop it cause I think they offer him a good bag and my god he would be a crazy good fit.

So for us I think it's something like Mitch/Precious and we make a move for someone. I like Naz Reid. He's 24 and could be a great fit under Thibs as a 3&D big with some other skills. Minn is going to be an apron team so something Burk's expiring (can we still do that around the draft?) and say pick 25 and 36 (we keep and draft someone w/ 24)

Wow... our squad
Brunson/DD/OG/Jules/Mitch
bench: McBride/Josh/Bojan/Precious/Reid
end of bench: Rokas? Drafted player at 24, Jericho under contract at $2mm ish

That's looking really phucking nasty

You know who is not putting this level of energy on the defensive end of the court? Embiid. Doncic. Lots of other posers.

Brunson's defense allows Precious to do his thing.

It's lovely

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this is a great snip. Look at how fast Brunson closes and he's strong. He can hold his footing. You can get off a jumper with a hand right in your face.

Rookie wrote:

VDesai wrote:

fishmike wrote:

DLeethal wrote:I think we most definitely give iHart the bag. No reason not to keep Mitch unless it's part of a bigger trade. Precious will be tough to convince to stay when he's clearly only part of rotation when Mitch is hurt. So the decision becomes whether you want a more reliable Precious or the best ORBer in the league in Mitch.

most we can give him is 175% of what he made this year ($9.2mm -> $16mm). $16mm is a decision. He's really good and obviously we like him alot. It's another choice for the FO, but they have a lot of options.

I think its a no brainer to max him out - it will be his choice to accept that or try and get more. I think for the marginal couple million he will stay here. He really seems to love it here and love his teammates.

He comments a while back were something like his hard work has earned him an upgrade. He’s going to take the $$ and he should at this point in his career.

Look if someone blows him out of the water maybe he takes it. I think it's unlikely someone gives him 25M. The starting role on an up and coming contender in New York where he is endeared by the fans and teammates is not something he'll pass up for a couple mill.

DLeethal wrote:

Rookie wrote:

VDesai wrote:

fishmike wrote:

DLeethal wrote:I think we most definitely give iHart the bag. No reason not to keep Mitch unless it's part of a bigger trade. Precious will be tough to convince to stay when he's clearly only part of rotation when Mitch is hurt. So the decision becomes whether you want a more reliable Precious or the best ORBer in the league in Mitch.

most we can give him is 175% of what he made this year ($9.2mm -> $16mm). $16mm is a decision. He's really good and obviously we like him alot. It's another choice for the FO, but they have a lot of options.

I think its a no brainer to max him out - it will be his choice to accept that or try and get more. I think for the marginal couple million he will stay here. He really seems to love it here and love his teammates.

He comments a while back were something like his hard work has earned him an upgrade. He’s going to take the $$ and he should at this point in his career.

Look if someone blows him out of the water maybe he takes it. I think it's unlikely someone gives him 25M. The starting role on an up and coming contender in New York where he is endeared by the fans and teammates is not something he'll pass up for a couple mill.

Draft Net has Kyle Filipowski falling to us. He plays no D though. You also got Ware and Missi within reach. Realistically Mitch starts next season and we are looking for a b/u development guy. Knicks are also in good position to trade up for Clingan. We have options. iHart has been great but if he wants to cash in on a good year we'll be alright. We could really use a C who can spread the floor but that's not a Thibs staple

DLeethal wrote:

nycericanguy wrote:

DLeethal wrote:I think we most definitely give iHart the bag. No reason not to keep Mitch unless it's part of a bigger trade. Precious will be tough to convince to stay when he's clearly only part of rotation when Mitch is hurt. So the decision becomes whether you want a more reliable Precious or the best ORBer in the league in Mitch.

our defensive rotations are also just much faster with Precious. and we can switch easier, he's def a different look.

but Mitch is clearly not 100%, he's a beast otherwise.

I could see a scenario where we trade Mitch and keep Precious. but we dont have to do anything.

Knicks have prioritized depth every year. Each year going in we argue about mins distro because of all the depth. I would not be shocked to see Knicks try hard to retain Precious for that reason alone. Just not sure Precious will be that interested. But going into this season they had DDV, Grimes, RJ, IQ, Deuce. They wanted the depth so they could make trades and also survive injuries. Obviously it paid dividends. So I could see them wanting to have iHart, Mitch, and Precious, and Sims all come back. You have to bank on Mitch getting hurt at this point. Precious might also be comfortable knowing that. He's gonna get his time throughout the year even as a 3rd big.

In the very least, you extend Precious to a contract that are good for team, Precious, and tradable.

martin wrote:

DLeethal wrote:

nycericanguy wrote:

DLeethal wrote:I think we most definitely give iHart the bag. No reason not to keep Mitch unless it's part of a bigger trade. Precious will be tough to convince to stay when he's clearly only part of rotation when Mitch is hurt. So the decision becomes whether you want a more reliable Precious or the best ORBer in the league in Mitch.

our defensive rotations are also just much faster with Precious. and we can switch easier, he's def a different look.

but Mitch is clearly not 100%, he's a beast otherwise.

I could see a scenario where we trade Mitch and keep Precious. but we dont have to do anything.

Knicks have prioritized depth every year. Each year going in we argue about mins distro because of all the depth. I would not be shocked to see Knicks try hard to retain Precious for that reason alone. Just not sure Precious will be that interested. But going into this season they had DDV, Grimes, RJ, IQ, Deuce. They wanted the depth so they could make trades and also survive injuries. Obviously it paid dividends. So I could see them wanting to have iHart, Mitch, and Precious, and Sims all come back. You have to bank on Mitch getting hurt at this point. Precious might also be comfortable knowing that. He's gonna get his time throughout the year even as a 3rd big.

In the very least, you extend Precious to a contract that are good for team, Precious, and tradable.

Yea, Knicks might have the luxury of giving him more than most teams are willing to give even for a smaller role. If they can give him 8M or so even for that emergency role, it is probably worth it to us and to him.

nycericanguy wrote:gonna throw this out there too, PHO got swept, they need depth and picks. They probably dont want to move Booker. But KD? he'll be 36 next season, could def see them moving him. Would Randle, Mitch and a couple of picks do it? I can see that making sense for both teams and as much as i dont like KD that would be hard to turn down.

Gotta get Eubanks back in the trade.

https://gophnx.com/drew-eubanks-expectat...

Speaking with PHNX Sports at NBA Summer League, Doug McDermott — a former teammate of Eubanks from their time together on the San Antonio Spurs — praised the Suns for landing such a great fit for their roster.

“I really liked what they did in free agency, got a lot of great role players,” McDermott said. “Obviously I played with Drew Eubanks for a couple years in San Antonio as well, and he’s another guy that just plays his butt off every night and not gonna have any issues with him in the locker room. So I just think the Suns did a great job of doing that with the right pieces.”

Eubanks may officially be listed as a power forward, but the 6-foot-10 big man spent last year with the Portland Trail Blazers as their backup center. That’s exactly what he’ll be in Phoenix too, despite “only” possessing a 6-foot-11 wingspan.

As a rim protector, the 26-year-old makes up for his comparative lack of length with lateral mobility, great anticipation and otherworldly hops. Eubanks recorded 102 blocks last season, the 11th-most in the entire league. For comparison, Ayton finished the year with 53 blocks despite playing 450 more minutes.

That’s not to drag Ayton (though he needs to improve in that respect under Frank Vogel), but rather, emphasize that Eubanks was an unbelievably engaged shot-blocker. McDermott believes his former teammate is under-appreciated in this respect.

“He really is [underrated],” McDermott said. “He’s a very strong, mobile athlete.”

Lots of people tried Drew Eubanks at the rim. He met most of them in midair at the peak of their trajectory, and he sent them away either shocked, confused or disappointed:

Eubanks ranked in the league’s 96th percentile in blocks per 75 possessions, but he wasn’t just wildly swinging at highlight-reel blocks devoid of impact. According to The BBall Index, he held opponents to 5.3 percent worse shooting at the rim than they were expected to shoot, which placed him in the NBA’s 89th percentile.

With most big men, a lack of mobility can be an issue. Although the Blazers were a miserable team, Eubanks fared well enough in his backup role and even filled in capably as a spot starter for 28 of his 78 appearances. He only placed in the 54th percentile in on-ball perimeter defense, but the film on some of his rejections shows he can hold his own when it comes to containing ball-handlers:

That’s Russell Westbrook (twice), Anthony Edwards (twice), Devin Vassell, Ja Morant and Desmond Bane he’s sticking with off the dribble. And not only is he shuffling his feet quick enough to do so, but he’s still got the burst to rise up and get a piece of their running layups at full speed!

Eubanks is fully committed to protecting the paint. Last season, he contested nearly 45 percent of all shots at the rim whenever he was on the court, ranking in the 95th percentile in that category. He also placed in the 99th percentile in rim points saved per 75 possessions and the 81st percentile in block rate on contests.

Whether he was shifting over from the weak-side to challenge a shot in midair, defending the pick-and-roll in the drop, or simply hustling to get back into the play, you could never count Eubanks out of a possession. His ability (and dedication) to recover in any situation and swat away shots that should’ve been gimmes was a pleasure to watch, but no one relished it more than Eubanks himself:

Whether he was denying Westbrook for what felt like the 18th time, standing over his victim, or volleyball spiking layups into the fifth row, Eubanks loved blocking shots. He looked like the Whomping Willow out there, only if the Whomping Willow uprooted itself, started patrolling the grounds of Hogwarts and talked shit to all the little wizards the whole time he did it.

Eubanks’ technique and footwork are sound when it comes to defending the pick-and-roll, which helped him rank in the 81st percentile in screener mobile defense. He also ranked in the 89th percentile in screener rim defense thanks to the pogo sticks he calls legs and his sense of urgency in recovering back to the basket.

The Suns won’t need him to play starter’s minutes, but in the shot-blocking department, Eubanks’ devotion to defending the rim’s honor makes him a Jock Landale upgrade and a suitable Bismack Biyombo replacement.
Drew Eubanks lives above the rim on offense too

Much like Josh Okogie, Bol Bol and even Chimezie Metu at times, Drew Eubanks has a penchant for busting out some unbelievable blocks that ignite the crowd. But much like those three, he’s also fully capable of unleashing vicious dunks that do the same thing.

On the offensive end, Eubanks is a lot like the Suns’ other centers in that he doesn’t create much of his own offense. Despite taking the vast majority of his shots around the basket, Eubanks ranked in just the 19th percentile in drives per 75 possessions, as well as the 35th percentile in his percentage of made shots at the rim that were unassisted.

There will be questions about whether the three-pronged attack of Devin Booker, Bradley Beal and Kevin Durant has enough playmaking to overcome Phoenix’s lack of a “true point guard.” But Eubanks placed in the 90th percentile in movement points per 75 possessions, and that was back when the only superstar he got to share the court with was a frequently-injured Damian Lillard.

Now he’s got three of them to make his life easier in Phoenix. Whenever Eubanks gets those easy dump-offs because of all the attention defenses are paying to the Big 3, rest assured he’ll finish them off emphatically:

In transition, in the pick-and-roll, in the dunker’s spot, it didn’t matter; Eubanks enjoyed punishing the rim just as much as he enjoyed protecting it on the other end. His one-handed rim rockers looked like the Statue of Liberty met the Air Jordan logo with the way he spread his feet for maximum dunking power, and his two-handed jams looked like he wanted to yank the rim right off the backboard.

Eubanks shot an impressive 75.3 percent at the rim last season, which ranked in the 94th percentile. He also placed in the 97th percentile in rim shot quality, establishing himself as the type of guy opponents didn’t want to challenge in mid-flight. Of his 214 made field goals last year, 76 of them were dunks. That was more than one-third of his made buckets!

Eubanks actually ranked 18th in the percentage of his field goal attempts that were dunk attempts — not far behind his new Suns teammate in eighth place, Chimezie Metu. And like Metu, Eubanks is more than just an idle finisher waiting in the dunker’s spot for his offense. He ranked in the 95th percentile in points per possession as the roll man in pick-and-roll situations, showcasing great timing on his dives and a fearlessness to rise up over help defenders:

The high-flying dunks grab all the attention, but watch how he immediately pushes off when he feels contact on the screen, opening up toward the ball-handler as quickly as possible to set up his runway to the basket. In some cases, he barely makes contact on the screen before he pivots, almost as if he’s slipping the screen entirely.

But even when he’s not getting rewarded on the roll, Eubanks is still a reliable, physical screener. He ranked in the 96th percentile in screen assists per 75 possessions, which will make him a natural fit setting whiplash-inducing picks for Booker, Beal, Durant and Eric Gordon. That physicality on both ends is something Vogel is already looking forward to.

“We want to make sure that we’re one of the more physical teams in the league,” Vogel told PHNX Sports. “We’re gonna have a lot of offensive firepower, but a guy like Eubanks comes in and is gonna give us great physicality.”

Just watch how he barrels over somebody to free himself up for the first dunk in the clip blow, soars through midair contact in the second play, or outright drops his ball-handler’s man with a screen in the third. Eubanks doesn’t shy away from physicality, bulldozing his way into buckets or even and-1s when he actually gets the whistle:

Eubanks only ranked in the 56th percentile in contact finish rate, but that statistic is dependent on scoring while a foul is called — something that doesn’t show up when a player finishes through contact but doesn’t get the whistle. The eye test shows how much of a bruiser Eubanks can be, and it’s the exact type of profile teams love from their backup bigs.
Where else Drew Eubanks can contribute

If we’ve painted a picture of Drew Eubanks as some high-flying, physical monster without much actual skill, let’s go ahead and fix that now. Because as much as his athletic profile jumps off the page, Eubanks isn’t just some brute who leaps his way to the rim and powers the ball through the hoop.

Over the last few years, he’s shown a few burgeoning skills that hint he’s ready to meaningfully contribute on a winning team. The first is his footwork, which we already caught a glimpse of with his pick-and-roll defense.

Dunks are more fun, but watching him catch the ball in the short roll, take a power dribble and gracefully finish a finger roll through the trees will be a welcome sight in Phoenix. His footwork on post-ups in the clip below isn’t too shabby either:

Attacking the short roll is something that Ayton needs to work on, but he and Eubanks both share an affinity for — and almost an over-dependence on — their hook shots.

Like DA, spinning into a right-handed hook shot is Eubank’s go-to move in the paint. Also like DA, it can be predictable when scouted properly, even if it is a highly effective, nearly unblockable shot.

According to NBA.com, Eubanks shot 56.3 percent on hook shots last season. (For reference, DA shot 57.5 percent.) Eubanks attempted 103 hook shots overall, which made up nearly one-third of his total field goal attempts.

Some of them — especially the running sky hooks he took off the dribble — looked like overly ambitious tributes to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. But Eubanks mixed in physicality, pump fakes, nifty footwork and spin moves on the block to get to his most trusted weapon:

Beyond the confines of the paint, Eubanks has a serviceable jump shot, but one that still needs work. It takes too long to load, and it’s nowhere near being ready off the dribble. He shot 38.9 percent from 3-point range, but it was almost exclusively as a stationary shooter. It came on extremely low volume with only 18 attempts from beyond the arc.

However, the foundation is there, and when he did have enough time to let it fly, the results didn’t look bad by any means:

More than likely, the Suns won’t need him to be a floor-spacer. His screen-setting, rolling and finishing abilities will shine instead, as will his offensive rebounding. Eubanks ranked in the 83rd percentile in offensive rebounds per 75 possessions, 73rd percentile in put-backs per 75 possessions and 95th percentile in points per possession off put-backs, so he can certainly help generate extra possessions.

In terms of playmaking, Eubanks doesn’t rate well in most categories, but he did build a familiarity with moving the ball where it needed to go whenever his superstar (Lillard) was trapped.

“He just makes the right play on offense,” McDermott said. “He knows his role, and he’s a really good communicator out there, too.”

Most of his assists aren’t particularly flashy, but being able to read the floor and find the open man when Booker, Beal or KD swing him the ball out of double-teams should prove useful:

Drew Eubanks won’t swing the title hunt all on his own, but he’s a high-end backup who will finally be getting the chance to prove himself on a championship-caliber team.

Thanks to his hyperactive rim protection, vertical spacing as an above-the-rim finisher, screen setting, physicality and all-around competence, Eubanks is as great a pickup as the Suns could’ve hoped to land behind Ayton.

fishmike wrote:

DLeethal wrote:I think we most definitely give iHart the bag. No reason not to keep Mitch unless it's part of a bigger trade. Precious will be tough to convince to stay when he's clearly only part of rotation when Mitch is hurt. So the decision becomes whether you want a more reliable Precious or the best ORBer in the league in Mitch.

most we can give him is 175% of what he made this year ($9.2mm -> $16mm). $16mm is a decision. He's really good and obviously we like him alot. It's another choice for the FO, but they have a lot of options.

Yeah he is getting the $16m.

I don't know, would a team offer him something in the $20M starting range? That's a lot.