New York Knicks Blog – Page 4 – NBA Blog

NBA penalizes Knicks for early free agency discussions on Jalen Brunson

The NBA announced today the New York Knicks violated league rules governing the timing of this season’s free agency discussions and that the league has rescinded New York’s own second-round pick in the 2025 Draft.

From the league: “This outcome reflected a finding, following an investigation, that the Knicks engaged in free agency discussions involving Jalen Brunson prior to the date when such discussions were permitted. The team fully cooperated with the investigation.”

Per the New York Post, “the Knicks signed Brunson to a four-year, $104 contract, and he has been worth every penny so far, leading the Knicks to an 18-13 record and their current eight-game winning streak.”

Former NBA player Louis Orr dies

Louis Orr, who mostly played for the New York Knicks during his NBA career, has sadly passed away at a fairly young age. Via the New York Times:

Louis Orr, a star forward at Syracuse who in the 1980s played for the Knicks alongside Bernard King and Patrick Ewing and who later became a college coach, including as Ewing’s assistant at Georgetown, died on Thursday at his home in Cincinnati. He was 64.

The cause was melanoma, his daughter, Monica Russell, said.

Orr shot over 50 percent for all four years of his Syracuse career. After serving as the sixth man as a freshman, he became a starter, with his best year coming as a senior, in the 1979-80 season, when he averaged 16 points and 8.5 rebounds per game. The Orange won the Big East championship that year, and Orr was named the team’s most valuable player and selected for the all-Big East first team.

He was drafted by the Indiana Pacers in 1980 and joined the Knicks in 1982. He found that his skinny physique was an issue in the N.B.A.

Tons of traveling and carrying calls made in Cavs at Knicks game

Via the New York Post:

Julius Randle was still stunned 30 minutes after the game had finished.

Fourteen traveling and carrying calls were made in the Knicks’ 92-81 win over the Cavaliers on Sunday night, the most in an NBA game this season.

“I’ve never seen that in my life,” the Knicks forward said…

The 14 travels and carries were the most in a game in the last 25 years, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Since it is a play-by-play stat, that type of information is not readily available for all of NBA history, and Elias couldn’t go back any further.

FULL ARTICLE

Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau keeps the faith in Obi Toppin

Via the New York Post:

Obi Toppin’s promising season hit a road bump out west.

The reserve forward struggled in the final four games of the trip with his shot, going 5-for-28 from the field and 2-for-15 from 3-point range. He was particularly off against the Warriors, missing all five of his shot attempts — including two dunks.

Toppin had performed so well up to that point. He shot above 40 percent from distance before this mini-slump. But coach Tom Thibodeau believes it is only temporary.

“I trust his process,” the Knicks’ coach said. “He’s very diligent. I think he has a strategy for everything. He’s put a lot of time into his shooting. Players go through things like that, but he can help us in a lot of different ways. Just the way he moves the ball, the way he runs the floor, gets some rebounds. But I’m very confident in his ability.”

FULL ARTICLE

Knicks reportedly receiving trade interest in Immanuel Quickley

Via the New York Post:

It’s still early for trades in the NBA season, but the Knicks are apparently getting calls on one of their young pieces.

Immanuel Quickley has drawn trade interest, SNY reported on Friday, with multiple teams calling New York about its third-year guard.

Through 12 games, Quickley is averaging 7.5 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.1 assists in 21.3 minutes off the bench. He is shooting a career-low 28.3 percent from beyond the arc, though his corner 3 with 40.5 seconds left in Friday’s game against the Pistons helped the Knicks pull away for a win.

FULL ARTICLE

The latest on the Knicks

Via the New York Post:

The Knicks began their second 10-game segment of the season Wednesday night in Brooklyn with an embarrassing defeat, even busting the trend of statistical mediocrity — in almost every way — from their 5-5 start.

All of their wins in that initial stretch had come against teams with losing records, while all of the losses were suffered against clubs above the .500 mark.

Kevin Durant and the Nets came in with a 4-7 record — not to mention being embroiled in a recent coaching change and the Kyrie Irving suspension — yet hammered the Knicks from start to finish in a 112-85 beatdown at Barclays Center.

Through Tuesday’s league-wide shutdown for Election Day — a terrific idea, by the way — the Knicks also were squarely in the middle of the NBA pack statistically, ranking 16th in offense and 16th in defense (they’re now No. 23 in offense and No. 19 in defense). Such symmetry held both encouraging and disappointing trends depending on your general optimism or pessimism when evaluating the team’s progress and long-term prognosis, beginning with how they respond to this horrid showing Friday night at home against the Pistons.

FULL ARTICLE

On the Knicks starting lineup

Via the New York Post:

Knicks fans eager to see change seven games into the season are going to need to be patient.

Tom Thibodeau doesn’t sound ready to make any alterations to his starting lineup yet despite the unit’s early struggles.

“We’ll see how it unfolds,” the Knicks’ coach said, when asked how much of a sample size is needed before considering a change. “So, you wanna make sure that you get a good look at everything.”

When the starters issues were pointed out, that the quintet of RJ Barrett, Jalen Brunson, Mitchell Robinson, Evan Fournier and Julius Randle has a minus-9.2 rating per 100 possessions and a defensive rating of 116.9, which would be 27th in the league, Thibodeau pointed out how well the group started in Wednesday’s loss to the Hawks. The team’s third straight defeat, in which a 23-point, second-quarter lead became a noncompetitive 13-point loss, he felt was on everyone.

FULL ARTICLE

Jalen Brunson makes debut for Knicks

Here’s the New York Post on the big Knicks off-season addition, Jalen Brunson:

Jalen Brunson’s first night as a Knick wasn’t perfect. It didn’t end in victory. It featured some key missed shots late in regulation and overtime that could’ve changed the final result and early foul trouble that factored into the Knicks’ poor first half.

But it also showed why team president Leon Rose and coach Tom Thibodeau went all-out to land him. He fits into what they are trying to build in a mentally strong, tough and determined team. He shook off a poor start and played his best basketball in the second half, keying the Knicks’ rally from 19 points down. He didn’t force shots and got the Knicks into their offense, creating transition opportunities when they were there. He made game-saving plays in the final seconds of regulation, setting up Cam Reddish for a game-tying 3-pointer with 3 seconds left, then drawing a charge on Ja Morant with 0.5 seconds to go. He finished with 15 points, nine assists and zero turnovers.

FULL ARTICLE

Knicks sign RJ Barrett to huge contract extension

The New York Knicks have signed guard/forward RJ Barrett to a contract extension.

Per the New York Post, “while his new contract extension is a less-than-the-maximum extension afforded to studs like Ja Morant, it still will pay him $108 million guaranteed over four years ($120 million if he reaches incentives such as All-Star/All-NBA/All-Defense selections). He stands to make $28 million in 2023-24 after his rookie deal ends after the upcoming season.”

Per the New York Daily News, “Barrett’s extension includes a “poison pill” provision, which is in place until next summer and makes it difficult to match salaries. According to ESPN, Knicks president Leon Rose set a Monday deadline of completing a deal for [Donovan] Mitchell before extending Barrett.”

“We are thrilled to announce a well-deserved extension for RJ Barrett, a core piece of our team’s foundation,” said Knicks president Leon Rose. “At only 22 years old, he has elevated his game each season, solidifying himself as a force on both ends of the court. We believe he will continue to improve because of his passion for the game and dedication to his craft. We want to continue to build our team and culture around players like RJ who possess these values and qualities.”

Barrett, 6-6, 226-pounds, is coming off a career year, in which he averaged 20 points, 5.8 rebounds and three assists over 34.5 minutes in 70 games (all starts) last season. He holds career averages of 17.5 points, 5.6 rebounds and 2.9 assists over 33.5 minutes in 198 games (197 starts) over three seasons with New York. He is one of only five players in NBA history to eclipse 3,000 points, 1,000 rebounds and 200 three-pointers before turning 22 years old, joining Kobe Bryant, Luka Doncic, Kevin Durant and LeBron James.

Last season, RJ became the youngest player in franchise history to average at least 20 points for a season. His scoring average ranked second on the team (Julius Randle, 20.1 points), third among players 21 years or younger and 27th in the NBA. On Feb. 25, 2022, Barrett recorded a career-high 46 points against Miami, becoming the second player in franchise history to score 45 or more points at the age of 21 or younger (Carl Braun, 47 points, 1947).

The Toronto, Ontario-native, has increased his points per game production from 14.3 to 17.6 to 20.0 points over his three NBA seasons. He helped lead the Knicks to a 41-31 (.569) record in 2020-21, earning the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference, the most wins by a Knicks team since 2012-13, and first trip to the postseason since that season.

He was originally selected by New York third overall in the 2019 NBA Draft, following one season at Duke University. He started all 38 games, averaging an ACC and team high 22.6 points to go along with 7.6 rebounds and 4.3 assists over 35.3 minutes en route to being awarded Consensus All-America First Team honors and 2018-19 National Player of the Year by USA Today. He set an ACC freshman record with 26 20-point games. The Jerry West Award winner, given annually to the nation’s best shooting guard, broke the ACC freshman scoring record, previously held by Georgia Tech’s Kenny Anderson (721) in 1989-90.

Trade sends Alec Burks, Nerlens Noel from Knicks to Pistons

The Detroit Pistons have acquired Alec Burks, Nerlens Noel, a 2023 second-round draft pick, originally belonging to Detroit, a 2026 second-round draft pick, via Minnesota or New York, dependent on draft position, and cash considerations in a trade with the New York Knicks for the draft rights to Nikola Radicevic and a protected second-round pick in 2025.

Burks, 6-6, 214, recorded clips of 11.7 points, 4.9 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.0 steals in 28.6 minutes through 81 games (44 starts) with the Knicks in 2021-22. He scored at least 20 points in nine contests, including a season-best 34 points against the Pistons on Dec. 29, 2021. Burks had 43 games with multiple 3-pointers and made at least four triples 14 times a year ago.

The Grandview, Mo. native has 11 years of NBA experience after he was drafted 12th overall by the Utah Jazz in the 2011 NBA Draft. Burks has suited up for the Jazz, Cleveland Cavaliers, Sacramento Kings, Golden State Warriors, Philadelphia 76ers and Knicks with career marks of 10.6 points, 3.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 0.7 steals in 625 NBA games (135 starts).

A former standout at Colorado, Burks played two seasons collegiately for the Buffaloes while garnering Big 12 Rookie of the Year honors and All-Big 12 First Team honors as a sophomore.

Noel, 6-11, 220, tallied 3.4 points, 5.6 rebounds, 1.2 steals and 1.2 blocks in 22.5 minutes over 25 games (11 starts) with the Knicks last season. He pulled down double-digit rebounds twice and had multiple blocks in nine games in 2021-22. Noel spent two seasons with New York, appearing in 89 games (52 starts) since 2020-21.

The former sixth overall pick in the 2013 NBA Draft, Noel has played eight seasons in the league for the Philadelphia 76ers, Dallas Mavericks, Oklahoma City Thunder and Knicks. He was named to the 2014-15 All-Rookie First Team and has ranked in the top-15 in the NBA in steals twice and blocks three times, including ranking third (2.2 bpg) in 2020-21.

Hailing from Malden, Mass., Noel played collegiately for the Kentucky Wildcats in 2012-13. He was named to the All-SEC First Team and was selected to the SEC All-Defense and SEC All-Freshman teams. Noel also earned SEC Defensive Player of the Year and SEC Rookie of the Year in his lone season with the Wildcats.

Radicevic, 6-6, 200, was acquired by Detroit via trade from the Denver Nuggets on Nov. 22, 2020. He was drafted 57th overall by the Denver Nuggets in the 2015 NBA Draft.