Everyone is laughing at the Knicks, but they did the right thing
The New York Knicks, man. They just continue to be the team it’s super easy to make fun of.
We even joined in on the fun here on draft night when it was not very obvious what their strategy was going into things. They came out of all that with a hoard of draft picks.
Draft picks most people expected them to move for one Donovan Mitchell. But, uh, they didn’t. Instead, they signed RJ Barrett to an extension, essentially removing the possibility of him being in any Mitchell trade moving forward. They also hilariously dropped this tweet when the Mitchell news broke.
Except for Knicks fans, of course. They now have all these draft picks with nothing to really show for it. Which, on the surface, is pretty funny. Think about it. They did all that work on draft night to get these picks and then did absolutely nothing with them.
People are going to laugh at that. Not just because it’s funny, but also because it’s the Knicks. Jokes were flying across the internet.
James Harden hints that the Philadelphia 76ers will take on the New York Knicks at The Garden on Christmas Day on Twitter.
The 2022-23 NBA schedule has not yet been released, but it appears some of the schedule is beginning to leak. Some matchups on opening night have been reported as have some Christmas Day matchups.
At the moment, the Philadelphia 76ers do not know anything about their schedule, but star guard James Harden hinted on Twitter that the Sixers will be spending Christmas at The Garden in New York to take on the Knicks.
The Bearded superstar simply tweeted out “Christmas in the Garden!” which confused most fans, but it’s obvious The Garden means Madison Square Garden in New York.
Harden obviously knows something most don’t when it comes to the Christmas Day schedule, but it appears Philadelphia will be in New York that day. That would be a prime matchup between two classic rivals on the NBA’s marquee day on the calendar.
HoopsHype’s Michael Scotto and Jazz beat writer Tony Jones share the latest updates on trade talks between the Jazz and Knicks surrounding Donovan Mitchell. Plus, the possibility that Patrick Beverley, Bojan Bogdanovic, Jordan Clarkson, Mike Conley, Malik Beasley and others are traded, and more on the latest edition of the HoopsHype podcast.
For more interviews with players, coaches, and media members, be sure to like and subscribe to the HoopsHype podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and anywhere else you listen to podcasts. Listen to the podcast above or check out some snippets of the conversation in a transcribed version below.
With the dog days of August upon us, NBA executives and several free agents are awaiting a blockbuster trade domino to fall with Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, Donovan Mitchell, and Russell Westbrook as potential candidates to be moved.
Several notable names remain on the free agent market, including Collin Sexton, Montrezl Harrell, Dennis Schroeder, Carmelo Anthony, LaMarcus Aldridge, Jordan Nwora, DeMarcus Cousins, Isaiah Thomas, Blake Griffin, Tristan Thompson, and Lou Williams, per our HoopsHype free agent rankings.
As those free agents wait for a blockbuster trade to open up potential roster spots, here’s the latest HoopsHype intel report on trade talks between the Knicks and Jazz for Mitchell, Westbrook’s future with the Lakers, Turner’s future with the Pacers, and several updates on the Houston Rockets.
The NBA world felt shockwaves when the Jazz sent Rudy Gobert to Minnesota in a blockbuster trade for a historic return. When the Jazz got eliminated from the playoffs in April, speculation began on whether the Jazz would break up their All-Star duo and enter a rebuild. In our offseason preview for the Jazz, we concluded that they were in good hands for a rebuild under newly hired Danny Ainge because of his history of extracting optimal value in trades.
The former Boston Celtics executive managed to outdo his previous haul from the 2013 trade with the Brooklyn Nets by not only getting three unprotected first-round picks again (2023, 2025, 2027), but also an additional Top 5 protected first in 2029. If you include this year’s 22nd overall pick, Walker Kessler, the Jazz got five first-round picks for Gobert, all without taking on any long-term money. They also traded Royce O’Neale to the Nets for a first-round pick on the eve of free agency.
Now the big question is, what happens next? And what that really is asking is if the Jazz will also trade Donovan Mitchell now that the roster has taken a major competitive hit in the short term. As hard as it is to move an all-time generational defender, who by all accounts was fully bought-in to the organization and the city of Utah, the return they got was too good to pass.
There aren’t many teams out there with a ton of money to spend. We just got reported salary cap projections and, while the cap did rise, most teams are still well above that number. Well, at least according to most projections.
That’s OK, though. There are still exceptions teams can use and trades they can make to potentially free up cap space or find improvements for their teams.
Wondering where your favorite team will end up? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. Here’s how much every team could potentially spend this summer courtesy of the good folks over at Sportrac.
The numbers that follow aren’t the actual salary cap figures for teams — they’re projections. They factor in cap holds teams are likely to renounce, team options and non-guaranteed salaries.
These numbers are potentially what teams could have to spend this summer if all this comes into fruition as of Thursday afternoon at 2 p.m. ET.
The Knicks might be tampering for Jalen Brunson, but that’s not that big of a deal.
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What’s good, family. It’s your boy Sykes here with another edition of Layup Lines. Free agency is the talk of the town right now around the league — more specifically, Jalen Brunson.
It seems like the Mavericks guard is about to be a former Mavericks guard. Brunson is reportedly going to have a 4-year, $110 million offer from the Knicks waiting on him, per Chris Haynes of Yahoo! Sports.
After their trade with the Pistons on Wednesday where the shipped Nerlens Noel, Alec Burks, a 2nd round pick and $6 million (!!!!!!) in cash, the Knicks have cleared about $30 million in cap space to use on Brunson.
It’s pretty clear at this point this is a done deal. Everyone is reporting it from Marc Stein to ESPN to The Athletic and more. Brunson’s days as a Maverick seem to be over.
Now, if you’re a Mavericks fan, you’re probably a bit peeved right now. Free agency doesn’t even start for another day. But it feels like Brunson’s contract with the Knicks has already essentially been negotiated — he just needs to sign on the dotted line.
Let’s be honest about it — the Knicks probably tampered here. Maybe it was through his agent, Drew Morrison, who works at the Creative Arts Agency where Knicks Team President Leon Rose used to head the basketball division. Or maybe it was through his father, Rick Brunson, who the team recently hired. I’m not sure.
But here’s my thing: I think tampering is fine! Especially this sort of tampering. The season is over. All we’re doing is twiddling our thumbs and waiting for free agency to start, anyway. Why not get it popping early?
I get there’s decorum and you want to make sure teams get a true first swing at their own players. But the Mavericks had every chance to retain Brunson — at the beginning of the season with a better extension offer and in January before his extension deadline. They could even beat out the Knicks here if they wanted to, though it’d come at a hefty price.
At this point, this just is what it is. The Mavericks can’t be upset at anyone but themselves here if Brunson leaves. That’s on them.
The Tip-Off
Some NBA goodness from around the USA TODAY Sports network.
“Last week, Parker became the first player in WNBA history to record three career triple-doubles. On Wednesday, she became the only WNBA player to reach 6,000 points, 3,000 rebounds and 1,500 assists in a career after dishing a sweet, no-look dime to Kahleah Copper on the fastbreak.”
That’s pretty awesome stuff, man. Shoutout to Candace for continuing to grow her legend.
Storm (-1.5, -105) vs. Aces (-115), O/U 232.5, 10 PM ET
(Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
The Seattle Storm and Las Vegas Aces are two of the teams most think could make a legitimate run to the WNBA Finals. The Aces have been the clear-cut best team in the W all season long with three legitimate MVP candidates on the roster in A’ja Wilson, Kelsey Plum and Jackie Young. I’m taking the Aces +1.5 pretty easily here.
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Two top free agent point guards are already off the board before Thursday, with Kyrie Irvingexercising his player option, per The Athletic, and John Wall negotiating a buyout agreement to pave the way for him to join the Clippers, per ESPN.
The expected signing of Wall could impact how the Clippers handle some of their own free agents, such as Nicolas Batum and Isaiah Hartenstein.
Below is the latest intel gathered by HoopsHype on how Wall’s signing could change the Clippers’ flexibility this summer, Nerlens Noel trade talks, and the projected free agency values for Anfernee Simons, Gary Payton II, and Kevon Looney.
