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Post by irish2u2 on Mar 17, 2021 12:22:48 GMT -5
The Knicks have former Kentucky players Julius Randle, Kevin Knox, Nerlens Noel, and Immanuel Quickly on the roster along with assistant coach Kenny Payne who coached at UK.
Devin Booker, De'Andre Fox, Bam Adebayo, Tyler Herro, Jamal Murray, Anthony Davis, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Rajon Rondo, Karl Anthony Towns, and PJ Washington are just some of the Kentucky players who might help the Knicks. Some of them have signed max deals but not all. With our corporate connection to Kentucky through Leon Rose, World Wide Wes and Payne is it too much to imagine some of these guys ending up on the Knicks roster eventually?
Just one, Booker, Fox, SGA, Murray or KAT could transform the trajectory of the Knicks. We all know there is back channel maneuvering by players, agents and eventually management. Could that back channeling already be at work? For us? 
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Post by pearl on Mar 17, 2021 13:05:29 GMT -5
Irish,
The one player who is not so defensive oriented, whom I feel could be a major factor for us is KAT. THibs would get the most defense out of KAT, that he is capable of playing. His outside shooting would blend perfectly with Randle and would allow us to move Mitch in either that deal for KAT or to obtain another asset. My gut is Minnesota would want Mitch though.
Pearl
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Post by jbnewyork162 on Mar 17, 2021 13:17:17 GMT -5
Irish, The one player who is not so defensive oriented, whom I feel could be a major factor for us is KAT. THibs would get the most defense out of KAT, that he is capable of playing. His outside shooting would blend perfectly with Randle and would allow us to move Mitch in either that deal for KAT or to obtain another asset. My gut is Minnesota would want Mitch though. Pearl It's funny you mentioned KAT because he was one of the few players who had a problem with Thibs in the first place. Why would I think he would want to be traded to play for the same coach that essentially got him fired? I think KAT is overrated in my opinion. But that last part of just me. The first part is fact. This is who Jimmy Butler was saying was lazy in practice and didn't want it when he was there. What we need to a quality starting small forward and a sniper like a Kevin Huerter type. I just don't think Burks is our long term solution. There's a reason he keeps bouncing around. |
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Post by pearl on Mar 17, 2021 13:21:27 GMT -5
JB,
Jimmy is a very difficult teammate at times. I know this from the friend reference I made earlier. My friends son coached Jimmy twice. True, we don't want any lazy players, however Thibs seems open to reconnecting with KAT.
Pearl
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Post by irish2u2 on Mar 17, 2021 14:22:37 GMT -5
I'm with Jason on KAT. Very talented player but he seems to have motivational/attitude issues though it is indeed rumored Thibs would not have an issue with KAT on the Knicks. So what does Kat bring?
Basically on offense he's a bigger version of Randle who can play effectively inside and outside. He's a double double threat with 3 point range who is also an above average passer. He can play defense when properly motivated. He could supply the Knicks with another 20+ scorer which they need but he cannot create his own offense.
To me the biggest issue is cost. Randle, RJ and IQ are off the table though Minnesota would want a combination of at least 2 of them. Certainly Mitchell Robinson and Obi Toppin would be part of the price and in lieu of our big three multiple first round picks would have to be included like the next 3 years mixing our picks with Dallas' picks we got in the KP trade. That is a whole lot of draft capital for one player not in my top 20 NBA players.
Aside from cost and attitude I have another concern. After only missing 5 games in his first 4 years KAT has missed 20 games out of 64 last season and 20 out of 40 this season.
Of the Kentucky players I like Booker the best. Again the cost would be high. Then the Knicks could swing a trade with the Pelicans for Ball to tie the whole offense in a nice bow with Rose and IQ coming off the bench. But I don't think the Suns would trade Booker any more than I think the Nuggets would trade Murray, the Kings trade Fox or OKC would trade SAG who incidentally would be a great addition. KAT seems like the most likely to be traded of the good Kentucky players on other teams.
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