Category: New York Knicks Blog

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Jay Larranaga interviews for Knicks coach job

Celtics assistant coach Jay Larranaga acknowledged Thursday that he interviewed with the Knicks for their coaching vacancy last week.

Larranaga, who is Brad Stevens’ lead assistant, said the interview with the Knicks took place in Milwaukee between Games 3 and 4 of the Celtics’ first-round series with the Bucks.

“They’re in the middle of their process. We’re in the middle of our process,” Larranaga told reporters at the morning shootaround in Milwaukee before Thursday night’s Game 6.

— NY Newsday

“Obviously they’re in the middle of their process,’’ Larranaga said. “We’re in the middle of our process. I appreciated them coming out here. Obviously all my focus is on the Milwaukee Bucks.’’

— Boston.com

Knicks fire head coach Jeff Hornacek and associate head coach Kurt Rambis

Knicks President Steve Mills and General Manager Scott Perry announced today that Jeff Hornacek has been relieved of his head coaching duties.

Mills and Perry stated: “Jeff is a true professional who has worked tirelessly for this organization the last two seasons. We sincerely appreciate his efforts and considerable contributions to the team and wish him well in his future endeavors.”

In addition, Associate Head Coach Kurt Rambis has been relieved of his coaching duties.

Mills and Perry continued: “Kurt has been a big part of the Knicks over these last four seasons, as both an associate head coach and interim head coach. We thank him for his dedication to New York and wish him the best moving forward.”

Per the New York Post, “Hornacek had one season left on his contract and the writing was on the wall — with the president stone silent virtually the entire season regarding his head coach. Mills and Perry now will embark on finding the Knicks their 11th coach since Jeff Van Gundy resigned in 2001. Mills is expected to meet the media Thursday afternoon to discuss the firing. Sources indicate the Knicks are expected to interview, among others, Mark Jackson, David Fizdale, Jerry Stackhouse, Jason Kidd and David Blatt. Doc Rivers will be a candidate if he doesn’t return to the Clippers.”

Hornacek joined the Knicks as the 28th head coach in franchise history on June 2, 2016 and posted an overall 60-104 (.366) record over two seasons.

Per the New York Daily News, “Before Wednesday’s game, Hornacek made a pitch to return for the final year of his three-year contract, expressing belief that the foundation he helped build will soon “blossom.” Knicks brass evidently did not agree, as Hornacek, who was hired by Mills and Phil Jackson in the summer of 2016, helmed the team to his second straight disappointing season.”

Unclear future for Jeff Hornacek in New York

The Knicks came into the season with a fairly limited roster. Kristaps Porzingis, Tim Hardaway Jr, and a supporting cast. Then Porzingis suffered a season-ending injury. So it was bound to be a fairly lost season. Making it tough to judge the job a head coach does. So what’s Jeff Hornacek’s future in NYC look like? Here’s the New York Post reporting:

Hornacek will take the sidelines Wednesday with a 59-104 Knicks coaching record to face the Cavaliers at Quicken Loans Arena. Then, Hornacek will likely face the firing line.

Lacking a vote of confidence from president Steve Mills or contract-extension talks, Hornacek looks like he is being set up as the fall guy for another depressing campaign that in some ways couldn’t have gone worse.

And the irony is the 28-53 record — already two games worse than last season’s final 31-51 mark — isn’t the coach’s fault. The Knicks could do worse — and possibly will — than Hornacek.

“John Wooden couldn’t win with this team,” one NBA scout told The Post. “But he’s just an OK coach — nothing special. A good person and smart basketball man, but there is more to the job. Both places [including Phoenix], there’s been some lack of discipline — whether that’s his fault or not.”

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Knicks sign Troy Williams

Knicks sign Troy Williams

The New York Knicks yesterday (Tuesday) signed forward Troy Williams. The team had previously signed Williams to consecutive 10-day contracts.

Williams, 6-7 and 220-pounds, is averaging 8.1 points and 2.9 rebounds over 13.9 minutes in eight games with the Knicks. He first signed a 10-day contract with the team on Feb. 21, 2018.

Williams previously averaged 5.6 points and 2.1 rebounds over 16.9 minutes in 34 games (16 starts) over two seasons with Memphis and Houston. He appeared in four games for the Rockets this season before being waived on Feb. 14.

The Hampton, Va. native also appeared in 19 games for Rio Grande (G League) during the 2017-18 season, averaging 19.8 points, 5.9 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.9 steals over 29.1 minutes. He won the 2017 D-League Dunk contest and played in 33 games for Rio Grande and Iowa last season. He was originally signed by Memphis as an undrafted rookie free agent in Oct. 2016 after two collegiate seasons at Indiana University.

Knicks and Joakim Noah will not reunite anytime soon

The Knicks have barely used well-paid center Joakim Noah this season. Currently, the two sides are taking a break from each other. Which isn’t really an ideal situation. How will it resolve? Tough to say, because Noah has a lot more Knicks money coming to him. Here’s NY Newsday with the latest:

Jeff Hornacek wouldn’t comment on reports that he pushed Joakim Noah during their heated exchange last month in Denver. But Hornacek gave the strongest indications yet that Noah won’t be back with the Knicks.

“I think that is the plan,” Hornacek said following practice Tuesday night.

That was the expected outcome when the Knicks sent Noah away after he and Hornacek got into it at a practice Jan. 24 in Denver. Noah was upset that he played less than five minutes the night before in a lopsided loss to the Warriors when the Knicks were without Kristaps Porzingis and Kyle O’Quinn.

“That’s something that happened three weeks ago, four weeks ago,” Hornacek said. “We handled that thing with Jo. It’s not finalized because he’s still on the roster. We’ve dealt with that situation.

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Knicks have crowd at PG spot

The Knicks now have several young point guards. How will the minutes situation play out? Will be interesting to watch in the coming weeks. Here’s the New York Post reporting:

Knicks general manager Scott Perry said the addition of young point guard Emmanuel Mudiay is part of their “talent acquisition phase’’ and has no reflection on any disappointment with their struggling rookie lottery point guard Frank Ntilikina.

Thursday’s trade with the Nuggets for Mudiay, 21, a former lottery pick himself in 2015, gives the Knicks four point guards — including three lottery picks 25-and-under. Perry said the move would have been made regardless of Kristaps Porzingis’ catastrophic ACL tear that jeopardizes next season, too.

“A former lottery pick was available and he adds ingredients to our roster that can be very helpful,’’ Perry said in a Friday conference call to discuss the trade-deadline acquisition. “I envision them competing with one another and alongside one another. I’ve discussed the importance of adding more athleticism and ball-handling to the team. It will help each one of these guys. I’m excited how it manifests itself on the court. There’s some promising options.”

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Three-team trade sends Emmanuel Mudiay to Knicks, Doug McDermott to Mavs, Devin Harris to Nuggets

The New York Knicks have acquired guard Emmanuel Mudiay in a three-team deal with Denver and Dallas. In the deal, New York sends forward Doug McDermott to Dallas and its 2018 second-round draft pick to Denver (Subject to Philadelphia’s right to swap that pick with the Los Angeles Clippers second-round pick). Dallas also sends guard Devin Harris to Denver, with Denver sending a 2018 second round pick to Dallas.

“We welcome Emmanuel to New York and are excited to add this talented player to our roster,” said Scott Perry, General Manager, New York Knicks. “He is a young, athletic guard who we feel will be a valuable addition to the Knicks moving forward.”

Mudiay, 6-5, 200-pounds, holds career averages of 11.1 points, 4.3 assists and 3.1 rebounds over 25.6 minutes in 165 games (107 starts) through three seasons with Denver. The Democratic Republic of Congo-native is averaging 8.5 points, 2.9 assists and 2.2 rebounds over 17.9 minutes in 42 games this season. He was originally selected by Denver with the seventh overall selection of 2015 NBA Draft. He represented the Nuggets in the 2016 Rising Stars game at All-Star Weekend and was named to the 2015-16 All NBA Rookie Second Team.

“We can’t thank Emmanuel enough for his time in Denver” President of Basketball Operations Tim Connelly said. “Emmanuel has been nothing but a complete professional both on and off the court and has done so much to help improve our organization and the city of Denver. New York is not just getting a good basketball player but a fantastic individual and we wish him the best moving forward.”

McDermott (6-8, 225) holds career averages of 7.8 points, 2.3 rebounds and 20.4 minutes per game in 238 games (10 starts) with Chicago, Oklahoma City and New York. He has shot 44.9 percent from the field, 39.2 percent from beyond the arc and 81.8 percent from the foul line for his career.

The fourth-year man out of Creighton averaged 7.2 points, 2.4 rebounds and 21.3 minutes per game in 55 games (one start) for the Knicks this season. He is shooting a career-high 46 percent (151-of-328) from the floor and 38.7 percent (53-of-137) from deep in 2017-18.

McDermott was originally selected by Denver with the 11th overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft, but had his draft rights traded to Chicago along with Anthony Randolph in exchange for the draft rights to Gary Harris and Jusuf Nurkic and a future second-round pick.

On Feb. 23, 2017, McDermott was traded, along with Taj Gibson and a future second-round pick, to Oklahoma City in exchange for Joffrey Lauvergne, Anthony Morrow and Cameron Payne. On Sept. 25, 2017, he was dealt, along with Enes Kanter and a future second-round pick, to New York in exchange for Carmelo Anthony.

The 6-8 forward played four years for his father, Greg McDermott, at Creighton from 2010-14. He finished his college career ranked fifth on the NCAA Division I all-time scoring list with 3,150 points. As a senior in 2013-14, he led the nation in scoring (26.7 ppg) en route to being named the consensus national player of the year.

McDermott was a high school teammate of Mavericks forward Harrison Barnes at Ames High School (Ames, Iowa). Barnes and McDermott led the Little Cyclones to back-to-back Iowa 4A state championships and a combined 53-0 record during their junior and senior years (2008-09 and 2009-10).

McDermott will wear No. 20 for Dallas.

Devin Harris, 6-3, 192, appeared in 44 games (one start) for Dallas this season, averaging 8.5 points, 1.9 assists and 1.9 rebounds in 18.3 minutes per game. Over 14 seasons, Harris has appeared in 890 career games (446 starts) for Dallas, New Jersey, Utah and Atlanta averaging 11.2 points, 4.1 assists and 2.2 rebounds in 25.1 minutes per game.

The 34-year-old has played in 64 playoff games (31 starts) holding averages of 9.1 points, 2.6 assists and 1.9 rebounds while shooting 45.0% from the field in 23.7 minutes per game. The University of Wisconsin product was also named to the NBA Eastern Conference All-Star team during the 2008-09 season while playing for the New Jersey Nets.

Kristaps Porzingis suffers torn ACL

 

A post shared by Kristaps Porzingis (@kporzee) on

The single worst thing that can happen to the Knicks this season has now happened. Young star Kristaps Porzingis has suffered a serious injury. Here’s New York Newsday reporting:

Kristaps Porzingis’ beautiful breakout season, the one that began with his setting a Knicks record by scoring 300 points in his first 10 games, ended in the most ugly of fashions with him rolling around underneath the basket and clutching his left knee.

MRI? It was more like MR-Cry. At least that’s how many Knicks fans felt Tuesday night after the team announced that that the test had shown that their star has a torn left ACL. Not only does that mean Porzingis is out for the season. He likely won’t be back for the start of next season if you go by the average time it takes to rehab such injuries. Former Knick Derrick Rose took 16 months to come back from his torn ACL, while Iman Shumpert took nine months.

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And here’s the New York Post:

“It’s deflating,” Knicks coach Jeff Hornacek said, and that was before he knew of the awful diagnosis to come. “Very deflating.”

Porzingis was on the floor. He was pounding his fist when he wasn’t grabbing for his left knee. Earlier in the season, on the other end of the floor, Porzingis had nearly bent his ankle in half against the Heat, thrown a shivering scare into the Garden, missed a few games, admitted how scary it is to have your body betray you like that.

This was different. This wasn’t the ankle. This was the knee, twisting in a way it wasn’t intended to twist. The replay went up on the Garden board and the gasp was immediate and it was unambiguous. He struggled to his feet, hobbled off the floor.

Soon, he flashed a thumbs up as he walked out of the Garden, his leg wrapped in a knee stabilizer, bound for an MRI tube that would deliver the devastating news: torn anterior cruciate ligament. Out for the year. And who knows how much more after that.

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And another New York Post report:

The Knicks didn’t announce a timetable, but the 7-foot-3 Latvian will need surgery and is done for the season. His availability for training camp in late September is in doubt.

A review of torn ACLs in the NBA in recent years show absences that range from seven to 12 months.

The injury, which occurred after his dunk over Giannis Antetokounmpo occurred 12 days before Porzingis was slated to make his first All-Star appearance, in Los Angeles for Team LeBron.

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