New York Knicks Blog – Page 38 – NBA Blog

No Knicks on 2015 Christmas day

Here’s the New York Post with a Knicks update. No surprise that the league isn’t showcasing the team on Christmas day, as the Post reports:

The Knicks will find out what they’re missing right away when they stage their season opener Oct. 28 in Milwaukee against new Bucks center Greg Monroe, according to an NBA source.

The Knicks’ home opener will be Oct. 29 against the Hawks, welcoming back former first-round pick Tim Hardaway Jr. after his Draft Night trade for the rights to rookie point guard Jerian Grant.

The Knicks were considered the front-runners for Monroe during free agency, but he chose the Bucks max deal because he deemed Jason Kidd’s club more playoff-ready. The Knicks settled for Robin Lopez.

It won’t be a Merry Knicksmas for Phil Jackson either. For the first time since 2008, the Knicks won’t be playing on Christmas, zapped from the annual nationally televised, five-game festival, according to a source.

Knicks sign Thanasis Antetokounmpo

New York Knicks President Phil Jackson announced today that the team has signed guard/forward Thanasis Antetokounmpo.

According to the New York Post, “Antetokounmpo passed up lucrative deals in Europe last summer to play for $25,000 in the D-League. He has been an enigma, with a boatload of energy, but low basketball IQ and an erratic jump shot.”

Antetokounmpo, 6-7, 215-pounds, averaged 13.9 points, 6.2 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 1.70 steals and 1.68 blocks over 32.9 minutes in 47 games (all starts) during the inaugural season of the NBA D- League’s Westchester Knicks. He earned NBA D-League All-Defensive Second Team honors last season after a Third Team selection in 2013-14 as a member of the Delaware 87ers. He ranked in the D-League’s Top-10 in steals (fifth, 80), free throw attempts (seventh, 251) and blocks (eighth, 79).

The Greece native, who was born to parents of Nigerian descent, was selected by New York in the second round (51st overall) of 2014 NBA Draft with a pick acquired from Dallas. He played for New York’s entry in the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, NV each of the last two summers after playing for Delaware in 2013-14 and Filathlitikos (Greece) in 2012-13. He is the older brother of Milwaukee forward Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Knicks sign Sasha Vujacic

New York Knicks President Phil Jackson announced today that the team has signed guard Sasha Vujacic. He is expected to play limited minutes as a reserve. And he is very familiar with the triangle offense, which the Knicks will still apparently stick with.

Vujacic, 6-7, 193-pounds, holds career averages of 5.6 points, 1.9 rebounds and 1.3 assists over 15.9 minutes in 478 games over eight seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers, New Jersey and Los Angeles Clippers. A two-time NBA champion with the Lakers alongside Phil Jackson and Derek Fisher in 2009 and 2010, he last played in the NBA for the Clippers, appearing in two games during the 2013-14 season.

The Maribor, Slovenia-native played for Laborla Kutxa (Spain) and Istanbul BB (Turkey) last season and has also played in Italy. He was originally selected by the Lakers in the first round (27th overall) of 2004 NBA Draft.

Video: Kristaps Porzingis summer highlights

New York Knicks rookie Kristaps Porzingis looks very tall, very thin and very promising. He gives NYK fans something to watch right away. Here are video highlights of his summer:

Knicks sign Kevin Seraphin

New York Knicks President Phil Jackson announced today that the team has signed forward/center Kevin Seraphin.

Seraphin, 6-10, 278-pounds, holds career averages of 6.4 points, 3.7 rebounds and 16.4 minutes in 326 games (31 starts) over five seasons with Washington. He appeared in 79 games for the Wizards last season, averaging 6.6 points, on 51.3-percent shooting, with 3.6 rebounds over 15.6 minutes.

The Cayenne, French Guiana-native, was originally selected by Chicago with the 17th overall pick in the 2010 NBA Draft before having his draft rights traded to Washington. He played professionally for Cholet Basket (France) from 2007-10 and Caja Laboral (Spain) for part of the 2011-12 season.

Knicks waive Ricky Ledo

New York Knicks President Phil Jackson announced today that the team has waived guard Ricky Ledo.

Ledo, 6-7, 195-pounds, averaged 7.4 points, 2.8 rebounds and 1.5 assists over 19.4 minutes in 12 games with New York last season. He signed the first of two consecutive 10-day contracts on Mar. 19 and then signed for the remainder of the season on Apr. 8.

Knicks re-sign Lou Amundson

New York Knicks President Phil Jackson announced today that the team has re-signed forward Lou Amundson to a contract.

Amundson, 6-9, 225-pounds, was acquired this past season as part of a three-way deal with the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Oklahoma City Thunder on Jan. 5, 2015 and signed his first 10-day contract with New York on Jan. 10, 2015. The Ventura, CA-native averaged 6.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and 1.3 blocks in 41 games for the Knicks in 2014-15. The nine-year NBA pro holds career averages of 3.8 points and 3.7 rebounds over 399 games.

He’ll mostly provide frontcourt depth off the bench and will likely play fairly limited minutes.

Carmelo Anthony may join August Team USA mini-camp

Here’s the New York Post reporting that Carmelo Anthony still has interest in Team USA, which is not involved in international competition this summer but is sorting itself out for 2016:

Carmelo Anthony chose not to come to Las Vegas to catch a Knicks summer league game or attend the Players Choice Awards or union meetings, but he will be descending on Sin City next month for the red, white and blue.

According to a source, Anthony has informed U.S. Olympic Team officials he will attend the Aug. 11-13 minicamp as the team gears up for the 2016 Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro.

Anthony is still rehabbing from February’s left-knee surgery so he will not be a fully active participant, according to a source. Team USA CEO Jerry Colangelo has encouraged roster members to come to the minicamp even if they can’t play due to injury.

Report: Emmanuel Mudiay happy to avoid Knicks triangle offense

Here’s the New York Post reporting some interesting insight on a talented rookie that isn’t taking his talents to the Big Apple:

Nuggets rookie point guard Emmanuel Mudiay told confidants after the draft he was, in retrospect, happy the Knicks passed on him at No. 4, as he was unsure he would have been a good fit for the triangle. Despite public comments to the contrary that he felt team president Phil Jackson could “make me a star,’’ Mudiay said he felt he was a better match in a more freewheeling Denver offense, according to sources.

On draft night, Knicks fans were upset Jackson passed on Mudiay at 4, and he became the best rookie point guard in the Las Vegas summer league, averaging 12 points and 5.8 assists in four games. He also averaged 3.5 rebounds and 1.2 steals. But Mudiay’s outside shooting was poor, as advertised, and that wouldn’t have served well in the triangle. In Vegas, Mudiay shot 14.3 percent from 3-point land.

Mudiay, who played in China last season, only worked out for the top four teams in the draft — the Timberwolves, Lakers, 76ers and Knicks, denying the Nuggets a look. Rumors are the Kings passed on Mudiay at No. 6 because he didn’t work out for them. During Mudiay’s Knicks workout, Jackson gave him a long triangle film session.

Knicks rookie Kristaps Porzingis makes summer league debut

Here’s the New York Post reporting on the hopes and dreams of the Knicks, rookie Kristaps Porzingis. And although the following reminder is not specific to the Knicks, Porzingis or this report, always remember, try to avoid leaping to wild conclusions about a rookie based on summer league play:

The boos on draft night last month were resounding when the Knicks selected Kristaps Porzingis with the fourth pick. But the cheers were solid Saturday at UNLV’s Thomas & Mack Center for the 7-foot-3 Latvian rookie who did just fine in his summer-league debut in limited minutes as the Knicks beat San Antonio, 78-73.

Cheered heavily during pregame introductions and whenever he came off the bench to check into the game, Porzingis scored 12 points. Held to just 18 minutes because of a sore hip, Porzingis shot 3-of-5 from the field, made 6-of-7 free throws and had two blocks. Rebounding is definitely is an issue, however, as he grabbed just three boards.

Porzingis, who started at center though his natural position is power forward, played just nine minutes in the first half — on a minutes restriction as a precaution. But he looked like he belonged, was comfortable though wasn’t super aggressive.