Does the front office see Hukporti as a promising prospect and capable back up to Towns next year ? I seem to recall Huk had some great G league games last year where he scored and rebounded well. Does Huk have a big leap upcoming ?
Only 6 games but he shot 38% from 3 in the G league last year
His FT % is over 70%. Seems like he has upside. Maybe we already have our backup center?
This would be a great time to lock him up on a Deuce style deal
Been thinking about that too.
As much as it would suck to really lose Mitch, I think that our youngsters need to evolve into roles with more responsibility. Huk has shown flashes many times, and even in reduced roles he has done his job and had good minutes for us. It would speak volumes about our organization if part our development would come from within. I think that Huk should be given a chance at a bigger role. He has shown to be of use on both ends of the floor and has sometimes played in ways that remind us of Hartenstein.
On a similar note, I also think that, barring a trade, this should be the year to really give more of a role to Dadiet, McCullar and Kolek. The last one might be hard because Alvarado is back, but still. They all have talent and they all have been there to absorb the style the coaching staff wants to play. I just think they need to be given more responsibilities, even if just as the backups.
I’m intrigued to see if Shamet is brought back, because I think that we have to see what we truly have in McCullar. Same with Kolek. These guys aren’t filler, they all have talent and have all shown glimpses to think there might be something there for the bench.
I really like Hukporti! He has the possibility to reach a solid back-up potential! Thing is that Mitch in a weired way just has this crazy capability to really IMPACT a game in limited minutes due to his extraordinary D and especially offensive rebounding! I dont see any feasible backup copying this impact!
But this does not mean a player like Huk may not be able to impact the game in other areas more than Mitch! Obviously Offense is a topic, FTs as well!
To me honestly in this whole debate about the backup C for the Knicks my BIGGEST potenitial solution would actually be KAT fouling less and staying on the court more consistently!!! That diminishes the need for a "good" backup C already a LOT!!!!
Huk is going to be solid, the main question really is if he is good enough at this stage in his career to be a backup on a championship contender.
If we weren't contending for a chip he would easily get the backup spot and 20mins a game for his development.
Huk shown flashes in rim protection, rebounding, passing, floor spacing. His main knocks are fouls and turnovers. Which usually gets cleaned up with experience.
I was pretty down on Hukporti this year after he had a really solid rookie season. But he’s worth keeping around as long as we have the roster spots.
Hukporti is a solid player. He does have a much better free throw percentage than Mitch, and he will play hardnosed defense. He just does not have Mitch's size and rebounding ability. He is decent through. Mitch's rebounds per 40 mins is 17.9. Hukporti's is 12.4, which is solid but not at the elite level of Mitch. He would be a noticeable downgrade if we lose Mitch.
Funny but under Thibs Huk had more offensive touches. This year he looked like he'd be waived if he even looked at the basket!
He'd have the ball in the paint and look to pass without realizing if he turned around the lane was wide open. Not on me to judge. We got a chip!
At some point Mitch became reliable. Took years. At some point one has to consider when to pivot to a new look.
Perhaps we don't repeat with or without Mitch. We get hindsight for accuracy but Leon and Co. don't. They the ones making the big money to make the big decisions.
Huk was just so afraid to shoot. Not talking jumpers. I’m talking around the hoop. He would get the ball on a roll and pass it out. I’m having flashbacks of Kolek yelling at him to dunk it. That’s a tough player to work around. It’s 4 on 5 on offense.
I think Huk needs to find his man strength
Huk has potential definitely
PatCummings wrote:Only 6 games but he shot 38% from 3 in the G league last year
His FT % is over 70%. Seems like he has upside. Maybe we already have our backup center?
This would be a great time to lock him up on a Deuce style deal
Yes we do. We should still sign another C but I am interested in seeing a full season of Hukporti in the rotation.
Knixkik wrote:I was pretty down on Hukporti this year after he had a really solid rookie season. But he’s worth keeping around as long as we have the roster spots.
Same. The rookie year built up very solid expectations that he just didn't meet this year. Whether that's due to new coach, lack of reps, sophomore slump, I don't know. I will keep rooting for him, but I don't have nearly the same faith in him I did a year ago, and the stakes are higher now.
Hopefully he steps up. I still like him better than Sims.
Philc1 wrote:PatCummings wrote:Only 6 games but he shot 38% from 3 in the G league last year
His FT % is over 70%. Seems like he has upside. Maybe we already have our backup center?
This would be a great time to lock him up on a Deuce style deal
Yes we do. We should still sign another C but I am interested in seeing a full season of Hukporti in the rotation.
I like Precious. He’s a very solid small ball center
who do we have in G league now?
I ask because not that long ago we had the guy now at Toronto and turned into a player (they call him Memu for some reason but his last name is really long and IIRC not part of it is actually Memu)
I ask because I'm wondering if there's someone down there that we liked enough to let Memu walk.
For whatever it's worth, I refuse to believe the mgmt is being caught with their pants down and have thought through what we can and can't do. Who knows, maybe there is some team willing to give Mitch 25+/year. Obviously we're not going to do that and probably wouldn't even if we had the cap space
PatCummings wrote:Philc1 wrote:PatCummings wrote:Only 6 games but he shot 38% from 3 in the G league last year
His FT % is over 70%. Seems like he has upside. Maybe we already have our backup center?
This would be a great time to lock him up on a Deuce style deal
Yes we do. We should still sign another C but I am interested in seeing a full season of Hukporti in the rotation.
I like Precious. He’s a very solid small ball center
For a team like Sacramento and that level record but that’s it
Knixkik wrote:Huk was just so afraid to shoot. Not talking jumpers. I’m talking around the hoop. He would get the ball on a roll and pass it out. I’m having flashbacks of Kolek yelling at him to dunk it. That’s a tough player to work around. It’s 4 on 5 on offense.
I think he was trying to hard to just be a supportive player and give the ball back to "stars".
If you look at any of his overseas tape or G league games, he is more than capable of being a force on the offensive end. I actually compare his game to iHart.
I was hoping the Knicks would hand him the back up role and sign Precious as the small ball center/backup 4
I was comparing Hukporti and Mitch's combine specs/reports.
Height (no shoes) 6'10.75" vs 6'11"
Wingspan 7' 2.5" vs 7' 4"
Standing Reach: 9' 3.5" (tied)
Max Leap: 31" vs 40.0"
Mitch: Elite second jump. (mitch didn't do the athletic testing). Very lean when drafted (223lbs)
Hukporti: did a killer job on agility drills. Low center of gravity. Big body from the get-go (246lbs).
When we first saw Hukporti in summer leagues, we saw that he could play - good athleticism, offensive skills. He's not the leaper that Mitch (and Sims) is, but he's got pretty decent offensive skills.
I think he'd be a fine primary backup. We'd be able to do different things if he were getting the playing time vs Mitch.
I'd imagine that if Hukporti slid into the main backup role, he'd do fine, maybe get us 8ppg/5rpg in 15 mins. I'd expect more rebounds to go around for folks like Hart and OG. You'd see Huk boxing out a bit more rather going up and getting it himself like Robinson.
I don't mind the likes of Precious (26) or Looney (30) slotted as a F/C as our deep reserve center... or going after physical types like Olynyk (35) who also sports some swagger and 3pt range (BIG BONUS: his last name ends with NYK!), or Mason Plumlee (36) with his passing, or Biyombo (33)/Jordan (37) for shot blocking.
Interestingly, Olynyk/Plumlee/Biyombo were all sitting on the deep bench for the Spurs in the Finals... so going with the theme, any of those 3 could bring that "Sochan" vibe with inner knowledge of the workings of the Spurs offense.
(Tho to be clear, I think Mitch returning gives us the best chance of winning regardless of opponent)
Knicksfan wrote:Well…
certainly a head scratcher.
