Yab looks kind of fat but he has surprisingly good athleticism for his size.
Uptown wrote:fishmike wrote:Uptown wrote:VDesai wrote:I think we're leaning into offense, but still sport a lot of defenders. What do we think the new rotation looks like?
Starters
PG Brunson
SG Bridges
SF Anunony
PF KAt
C Robinson
Bench
PG/SG Clarkson
PG/SG McBride
SG/SF Hart
PF/C Yabusele
C: Hukporti
PG: Kolek
SF/PF: Dadiet
SG/SF: McCullar
Maybe one more vet min signing like Shamet? I think we may be hard capped from signing him now due to using the MLE?
If we are leaning into the offensive side of the ball, why not go all in? I would start the following:
Brunson
Deuce
Mikal
OG
Kat
That lineup is a legit 5-out offense. The opponents 5 will have to play Kat or at least it will force the opposition to figure out how to guard us. Deuce is our best point of attack defender and it moves Mikal to the wing which I think is his best defensive position, playing the passing lanes and as a helper.
We have Mitch, Yabu, Hart and Clarkson off the bench which is a nice mix of offense and defense. Lots of interchangeable parts and suddenly, our bench is more than formidable.
Like we saw that... a lot. Here's what happens. You get a wing on KAT because teams prefer to force him to the rim where anything can happen and it's physically tiring then let him shoot 3s at 40+ %. Then you have Brunson who's best skill is scoring. You give him space. Great. He's scoring a bit easier now.
And that's it. The REASON Hart is better than McBride on offense is because he moves the ball. He's literally the only one who passes off the dribble. The offense always looks better when Josh is in the game.
It's really down to Brunson. Do we need Jason Kidd to say "pass more" ???
Actually, we didn't see that lineup enough...All the metrics and numbers fron last years squad told us that our best lineups were witj Deuce...The main reason a wing player was able to get away with guarding Kat is because of Harts presence. The opposition would put their 5 on Hart because he couldn't and most times wouldnt shoot the 3. T he 5 would sag off Hart and clog the lane discouraging Kat from driving. Replace Hart with Deuce and who is the other teams 5 going to guard?
Duece, Mikal, OG, Brunson and Kat are all serious threats from 3 and that would give us a legit 5-out offense.
To really realize Kats full potential on offense to play him at the 5, and playing him at the 5 and not going 5 out is pointless...with that said, I do get the concerns defensively...
More to it than that. As Kat didn't show he could bully the smaller defender with deep post position and quick moves. Kat also didn't display much passing and creation ability for others. Drawing a double and find a cutting Hart or other wasn't really an option.
While Deuce in the starting lineup does make sense. Overall I would probably look to go bigger and start Mitch.
VDesai wrote:https://www.libertyballers.com/2025/5/3/...Sixers fans pretty positive about his D and hustle. He was definitely a good player for them despite their horrid year. Was really good for the French national team as well.
The 3 pt shooting is real.
If he can defend that would be a HUGE+ -- just not sure on that end.
Assume best fit would be next to Mitch off bench and maybe in some spots as small ball 5.
This guy can definitely score the ball so not some Precious/Mitch type - think he's a legit all around offensive guy.
Add him in with Clarkson and definitely more fire power off bench.
martin wrote:
This comment I don't understand.
Didn't we use the Tax MLE which I think is 2 years at $5.5M per OR did Knicks do something different here???
Assumed Tax MLE is 2 year guarantee regardless of what team or player wants.
martin wrote:
Oh so he can opt out if he over-performs the deal.
Didn't realize you could fool with Tax MLE like that.
VDesai wrote:BigDaddyG wrote:VDesai wrote:BigDaddyG wrote:VDesai wrote:I think the Knicks were rumored to want Yabusele and Clarkson at the deadline or at least had talks. Now they add both with the same core roster. Pretty nice move. Pretty deep 9 man with Kolek/Hukporti waiting in reserve.Not entirely sure they can add another vet like Shamet back with the apron rules.
I'm all in for Yabusele and I'm tepid on Clarkson. I feel that they need a veteran wing player more than anything.
Wing depth may have been more of an urgent need last year when starting Hart, Bridges, OG and they were all playing 37 mpg. I think if you stick Hart on the bench and go big more often with Mitch and Yabu next to cap and Hukporti being playable, that gives you the luxury of bringing Hart off the bench as a veteran wing. That's what I'm thinking is the plan.
Also, OG gave us more games than usual. I think the team needs a nother wing in addition to Hart.McCillar developing would solve a lot of these issues, but I don't feel comfortable counting on him going into the season
So we can use the 3.5mm we have left to get a veteran min wing at the following scale of salaries depending on experience: https://www.spotrac.com/nba/cba/minimum
Which could mean around 2.8mm for someone like Shamet, leaving only 700k under the 2nd apron cap (which might come into play if we get bit by the injury bug).
OR
We can sign Nnaji to the 2nd round min - around 1.3 and that leaves us with 2.2mm in space to sign someone who might shake free mid-season from a buyout.
I think that's what its coming down to now...
Yossi Goslin (spelling?) put out a tweet that said post the 2 signings and barring other moves Knicks would only have a rookie minimum deal to work with to fit under 2nd APRON Cap.
Not sure how accurate that is but he is a CAP guy.
That wouldn't stop us from say trading a young player for a 2nd or two and freeing more room for a better player (vet min player that comes at a higher price).
BigDaddyG wrote:VDesai wrote:BigDaddyG wrote:VDesai wrote:I think the Knicks were rumored to want Yabusele and Clarkson at the deadline or at least had talks. Now they add both with the same core roster. Pretty nice move. Pretty deep 9 man with Kolek/Hukporti waiting in reserve.Not entirely sure they can add another vet like Shamet back with the apron rules.
I'm all in for Yabusele and I'm tepid on Clarkson. I feel that they need a veteran wing player more than anything.
Wing depth may have been more of an urgent need last year when starting Hart, Bridges, OG and they were all playing 37 mpg. I think if you stick Hart on the bench and go big more often with Mitch and Yabu next to cap and Hukporti being playable, that gives you the luxury of bringing Hart off the bench as a veteran wing. That's what I'm thinking is the plan.
Also, OG gave us more games than usual. I think the team needs a nother wing in addition to Hart.McCillar developing would solve a lot of these issues, but I don't feel comfortable counting on him going into the season
Hopefully we can utilize deeper rotations and maybe keep some guys like OG healthy again this year.
Would love to see us be able to drop starter minutes down ~3-5 minutes across the board. In Hart's case drop him 10 minutes 
LivingLegend wrote:VDesai wrote:BigDaddyG wrote:VDesai wrote:BigDaddyG wrote:VDesai wrote:I think the Knicks were rumored to want Yabusele and Clarkson at the deadline or at least had talks. Now they add both with the same core roster. Pretty nice move. Pretty deep 9 man with Kolek/Hukporti waiting in reserve.Not entirely sure they can add another vet like Shamet back with the apron rules.
I'm all in for Yabusele and I'm tepid on Clarkson. I feel that they need a veteran wing player more than anything.
Wing depth may have been more of an urgent need last year when starting Hart, Bridges, OG and they were all playing 37 mpg. I think if you stick Hart on the bench and go big more often with Mitch and Yabu next to cap and Hukporti being playable, that gives you the luxury of bringing Hart off the bench as a veteran wing. That's what I'm thinking is the plan.
Also, OG gave us more games than usual. I think the team needs a nother wing in addition to Hart.McCillar developing would solve a lot of these issues, but I don't feel comfortable counting on him going into the season
So we can use the 3.5mm we have left to get a veteran min wing at the following scale of salaries depending on experience: https://www.spotrac.com/nba/cba/minimum
Which could mean around 2.8mm for someone like Shamet, leaving only 700k under the 2nd apron cap (which might come into play if we get bit by the injury bug).
OR
We can sign Nnaji to the 2nd round min - around 1.3 and that leaves us with 2.2mm in space to sign someone who might shake free mid-season from a buyout.
I think that's what its coming down to now...
Yossi Goslin (spelling?) put out a tweet that said post the 2 signings and barring other moves Knicks would only have a rookie minimum deal to work with to fit under 2nd APRON Cap.
Not sure how accurate that is but he is a CAP guy.
That wouldn't stop us from say trading a young player for a 2nd or two and freeing more room for a better player (vet min player that comes at a higher price).
Yossi is right. The 3.5mm was the number NOT counting McCullar. With McCullar in the number you can only really afford to add a 2nd rounder (i.e. Nnaji) and you need 2 players to get to the 14 min,.
VDesai wrote:LivingLegend wrote:VDesai wrote:BigDaddyG wrote:VDesai wrote:BigDaddyG wrote:VDesai wrote:I think the Knicks were rumored to want Yabusele and Clarkson at the deadline or at least had talks. Now they add both with the same core roster. Pretty nice move. Pretty deep 9 man with Kolek/Hukporti waiting in reserve.Not entirely sure they can add another vet like Shamet back with the apron rules.
I'm all in for Yabusele and I'm tepid on Clarkson. I feel that they need a veteran wing player more than anything.
Wing depth may have been more of an urgent need last year when starting Hart, Bridges, OG and they were all playing 37 mpg. I think if you stick Hart on the bench and go big more often with Mitch and Yabu next to cap and Hukporti being playable, that gives you the luxury of bringing Hart off the bench as a veteran wing. That's what I'm thinking is the plan.
Also, OG gave us more games than usual. I think the team needs a nother wing in addition to Hart.McCillar developing would solve a lot of these issues, but I don't feel comfortable counting on him going into the season
So we can use the 3.5mm we have left to get a veteran min wing at the following scale of salaries depending on experience: https://www.spotrac.com/nba/cba/minimum
Which could mean around 2.8mm for someone like Shamet, leaving only 700k under the 2nd apron cap (which might come into play if we get bit by the injury bug).
OR
We can sign Nnaji to the 2nd round min - around 1.3 and that leaves us with 2.2mm in space to sign someone who might shake free mid-season from a buyout.
I think that's what its coming down to now...
Yossi Goslin (spelling?) put out a tweet that said post the 2 signings and barring other moves Knicks would only have a rookie minimum deal to work with to fit under 2nd APRON Cap.
Not sure how accurate that is but he is a CAP guy.
That wouldn't stop us from say trading a young player for a 2nd or two and freeing more room for a better player (vet min player that comes at a higher price).
Yossi is right. The 3.5mm was the number NOT counting McCullar. With McCullar in the number you can only really afford to add a 2nd rounder (i.e. Nnaji) and you need 2 players to get to the 14 min,.
Yep - just figured out he wasn't counting 2 roster spots - thank you.
Nalod wrote:This was Precious replacement. Not seeing this as a rim protection. Glad to see this.
We can plug him with KAT. With Mitch he has the range to open things up.
He is 6-8 with a 7-1 span with a 38% 3pt range. Good back up and offer proper support for OG and if need be can start.
He played in Europe because he was not good enough to get rotation minutes and seemed to improve. Knicks I believe tried to bring him in last year.
He is an upgrade offensively to Precious. Solid addition.
Agree. Bench got better. Which I keep saying was our biggest weakness.
newyorknewyork wrote:Uptown wrote:fishmike wrote:Uptown wrote:VDesai wrote:I think we're leaning into offense, but still sport a lot of defenders. What do we think the new rotation looks like?
Starters
PG Brunson
SG Bridges
SF Anunony
PF KAt
C Robinson
Bench
PG/SG Clarkson
PG/SG McBride
SG/SF Hart
PF/C Yabusele
C: Hukporti
PG: Kolek
SF/PF: Dadiet
SG/SF: McCullar
Maybe one more vet min signing like Shamet? I think we may be hard capped from signing him now due to using the MLE?
If we are leaning into the offensive side of the ball, why not go all in? I would start the following:
Brunson
Deuce
Mikal
OG
Kat
That lineup is a legit 5-out offense. The opponents 5 will have to play Kat or at least it will force the opposition to figure out how to guard us. Deuce is our best point of attack defender and it moves Mikal to the wing which I think is his best defensive position, playing the passing lanes and as a helper.
We have Mitch, Yabu, Hart and Clarkson off the bench which is a nice mix of offense and defense. Lots of interchangeable parts and suddenly, our bench is more than formidable.
Like we saw that... a lot. Here's what happens. You get a wing on KAT because teams prefer to force him to the rim where anything can happen and it's physically tiring then let him shoot 3s at 40+ %. Then you have Brunson who's best skill is scoring. You give him space. Great. He's scoring a bit easier now.
And that's it. The REASON Hart is better than McBride on offense is because he moves the ball. He's literally the only one who passes off the dribble. The offense always looks better when Josh is in the game.
It's really down to Brunson. Do we need Jason Kidd to say "pass more" ???
Actually, we didn't see that lineup enough...All the metrics and numbers fron last years squad told us that our best lineups were witj Deuce...The main reason a wing player was able to get away with guarding Kat is because of Harts presence. The opposition would put their 5 on Hart because he couldn't and most times wouldnt shoot the 3. T he 5 would sag off Hart and clog the lane discouraging Kat from driving. Replace Hart with Deuce and who is the other teams 5 going to guard?
Duece, Mikal, OG, Brunson and Kat are all serious threats from 3 and that would give us a legit 5-out offense.
To really realize Kats full potential on offense to play him at the 5, and playing him at the 5 and not going 5 out is pointless...with that said, I do get the concerns defensively...
More to it than that. As Kat didn't show he could bully the smaller defender with deep post position and quick moves. Kat also didn't display much passing and creation ability for others. Drawing a double and find a cutting Hart or other wasn't really an option.
While Deuce in the starting lineup does make sense. Overall I would probably look to go bigger and start Mitch.
I get the idea of wanting to go bigger, especially for defensive purposes. However, Mitch next to Kat will hurt us a bit offensively. Its a give and take. Kat dominates his matchups vs the oppositions 5's. So the gols on the offensve end should be to get the opposing teams center on Kat as much as possible. Mitch is a non shooter and will hang around the dunker spot with a defender hagning around the paint. This will force Kat to be defended by a 4, reducing his ability to get around his defender and when he does, the 5 will be waiting for him in the paint because of Mitch's presence. Also, Kat will struggle as he did trying to chase Siakim and other small-ball 4's up and down the court.
When Kat puts the ball in the floor, he's going straight to the rack and rarely looks to pass, you are correct. However, in December, there was a stretch when Kat was in the high post or at the elbow and he did a great job of finding cutters, etc. For some reason we went away from that and I think there are some great actions we can run with Kat at the elbow that we never went to. Kat has shown to be a good enough passer at the elbow that we can run splits, hand-offs, etc....
In the end, when you have 2 suspect defenders in Kat and Brunson, regardless of the the 3 other players we juggle around them in the starting 5, there are going to be questions.
Uptown wrote:martin wrote:Wonder if this connect played a part
Definitely a favor. Yabusele had other suitors. Sixers probably should've traded him before he hit free agency
Viva la France. I took French in 9th and 10 th grade. But with all the Ecuadorian, Dominican, Puerto Rican, and Colombian girls I really practiced my Spanish
I followed Yabu because of fantasy. He's very good and when given starters minutes, he def showed out.
Clarkson + Yabu are two very good signings for the bench. And lets not forget that Precious is really good when given the chance.
Knicks had to fire Thibs. He would never play the 8th to 10th man on the team
Idk why but I have a feeling this is a diamond Hartenstein sort of signing.
I also think all of this offense is with Mike Brown in mind. Knicks vision with Towns was a top tier offense with scrappy wing defenders who can make timely stops. I’m bullish on next season with this new depth.
DLeethal wrote:Idk why but I have a feeling this is a diamond Hartenstein sort of signing.I also think all of this offense is with Mike Brown in mind. Knicks vision with Towns was a top tier offense with scrappy wing defenders who can make timely stops. I’m bullish on next season with this new depth.
I'm bullish on next season because our biggest rivals looking at having down years too. (Celtics/Pacers).
Uptown wrote:newyorknewyork wrote:Uptown wrote:fishmike wrote:Uptown wrote:VDesai wrote:I think we're leaning into offense, but still sport a lot of defenders. What do we think the new rotation looks like?
Starters
PG Brunson
SG Bridges
SF Anunony
PF KAt
C Robinson
Bench
PG/SG Clarkson
PG/SG McBride
SG/SF Hart
PF/C Yabusele
C: Hukporti
PG: Kolek
SF/PF: Dadiet
SG/SF: McCullar
Maybe one more vet min signing like Shamet? I think we may be hard capped from signing him now due to using the MLE?
If we are leaning into the offensive side of the ball, why not go all in? I would start the following:
Brunson
Deuce
Mikal
OG
Kat
That lineup is a legit 5-out offense. The opponents 5 will have to play Kat or at least it will force the opposition to figure out how to guard us. Deuce is our best point of attack defender and it moves Mikal to the wing which I think is his best defensive position, playing the passing lanes and as a helper.
We have Mitch, Yabu, Hart and Clarkson off the bench which is a nice mix of offense and defense. Lots of interchangeable parts and suddenly, our bench is more than formidable.
Like we saw that... a lot. Here's what happens. You get a wing on KAT because teams prefer to force him to the rim where anything can happen and it's physically tiring then let him shoot 3s at 40+ %. Then you have Brunson who's best skill is scoring. You give him space. Great. He's scoring a bit easier now.
And that's it. The REASON Hart is better than McBride on offense is because he moves the ball. He's literally the only one who passes off the dribble. The offense always looks better when Josh is in the game.
It's really down to Brunson. Do we need Jason Kidd to say "pass more" ???
Actually, we didn't see that lineup enough...All the metrics and numbers fron last years squad told us that our best lineups were witj Deuce...The main reason a wing player was able to get away with guarding Kat is because of Harts presence. The opposition would put their 5 on Hart because he couldn't and most times wouldnt shoot the 3. T he 5 would sag off Hart and clog the lane discouraging Kat from driving. Replace Hart with Deuce and who is the other teams 5 going to guard?
Duece, Mikal, OG, Brunson and Kat are all serious threats from 3 and that would give us a legit 5-out offense.
To really realize Kats full potential on offense to play him at the 5, and playing him at the 5 and not going 5 out is pointless...with that said, I do get the concerns defensively...
More to it than that. As Kat didn't show he could bully the smaller defender with deep post position and quick moves. Kat also didn't display much passing and creation ability for others. Drawing a double and find a cutting Hart or other wasn't really an option.
While Deuce in the starting lineup does make sense. Overall I would probably look to go bigger and start Mitch.
I get the idea of wanting to go bigger, especially for defensive purposes. However, Mitch next to Kat will hurt us a bit offensively. Its a give and take. Kat dominates his matchups vs the oppositions 5's. So the gols on the offensve end should be to get the opposing teams center on Kat as much as possible. Mitch is a non shooter and will hang around the dunker spot with a defender hagning around the paint. This will force Kat to be defended by a 4, reducing his ability to get around his defender and when he does, the 5 will be waiting for him in the paint because of Mitch's presence. Also, Kat will struggle as he did trying to chase Siakim and other small-ball 4's up and down the court.
When Kat puts the ball in the floor, he's going straight to the rack and rarely looks to pass, you are correct. However, in December, there was a stretch when Kat was in the high post or at the elbow and he did a great job of finding cutters, etc. For some reason we went away from that and I think there are some great actions we can run with Kat at the elbow that we never went to. Kat has shown to be a good enough passer at the elbow that we can run splits, hand-offs, etc....
In the end, when you have 2 suspect defenders in Kat and Brunson, regardless of the the 3 other players we juggle around them in the starting 5, there are going to be questions.
Will be good for 50+ regular season wins sure, but will get exposed in the playoffs as teams lock in. Mikal's defense took a major hit with having no defensive anchor to funnel his man too. OG works 3 times harder at PF next to Kat which boiled over onto the bench. We basically would be selling out for three point spacing.
Kats ability to shoot from distance should allow Mitch to get one in one matchup when it comes to crashing the boards. Which is a plus for the Knicks majority of the time. Not able to capitalize like this with Hart for obvious reasons. Also moves Mikal and OG down a spot where their length becomes a bigger factor. While also having an anchor to funnel their man too. Granted teams will look to force a switch for KAT to guard them.
Plugging in 5 out with Deuce imo is more of a rotation we should use.
TheMTL wrote:I followed Yabu because of fantasy. He's very good and when given starters minutes, he def showed out.
Clarkson + Yabu are two very good signings for the bench. And lets not forget that Precious is really good when given the chance. Knicks had to fire Thibs. He would never play the 8th to 10th man on the team
Sorry but Precious sucked. he had some moments but overall he was bad. He is the Roberto Duran of baketball, "hands of stone". Def we needed someone who we can trust on the offensive side.
I think Yabu could lose 15 lbs and be even more explosive with more lift. He barely gets the dunk sometimes, but he is an aggressive dunker. No BS shots at the rim, he is throwing it down. Much better 3 shooter than Precious and does well with the PnR. This seems an upgrade over Precious, and we added a former 6MOTY player, an upgrade over Deuce/Shamet.
Hart should come off the bench now. Hart, Yabu the Hut, and Clarkson. That is a solid reliable 8-man rotation. Further develop Deuce, Huk, Kolek, McK, Dadiet, etc. That is damn good depth. I still expect a move.
NYStateOfMind wrote:I think Yabu could lose 15 lbs and be even more explosive with more lift. He barely gets the dunk sometimes, but he is an aggressive dunker. No BS shots at the rim, he is throwing it down. Much better 3 shooter than Precious and does well with the PnR. This seems an upgrade over Precious, and we added a former 6MOTY player, an upgrade over Deuce/Shamet.Hart should come off the bench now. Hart, Yabu the Hut, and Clarkson. That is a solid reliable 8-man rotation. Further develop Deuce, Huk, Kolek, McK, Dadiet, etc. That is damn good depth. I still expect a move.
Yeah I can see that sticking
martin wrote:NYStateOfMind wrote:I think Yabu could lose 15 lbs and be even more explosive with more lift. He barely gets the dunk sometimes, but he is an aggressive dunker. No BS shots at the rim, he is throwing it down. Much better 3 shooter than Precious and does well with the PnR. This seems an upgrade over Precious, and we added a former 6MOTY player, an upgrade over Deuce/Shamet.Hart should come off the bench now. Hart, Yabu the Hut, and Clarkson. That is a solid reliable 8-man rotation. Further develop Deuce, Huk, Kolek, McK, Dadiet, etc. That is damn good depth. I still expect a move.
Yeah I can see that sticking
I'm more partial to Yaba daba doo. Yaba the Hut is the fallback if he sucks
