storyteller
Veteran
Damn man, I see a lot of complaints that I don't really think have much credence.
1. Did somebody say Melo doesn't have a superstar impact?
Look up the Knicks splits when he was on the floor and off the floor this past season and that was on a knee that needed surgery. Gtfoh with that.
2. We drafted a project when Melo needs win-now players.
I didn't like the Porzingas pick initially...but then we added Jerian Grant. If you were hyping up Mudiay then how can you sleep on that pick? Grant is an NBA ready 6'5 Guard who is a playmaker first and scorer second (best assist to TO ratio in NCAA ball if I'm not mistaken). So if you wanted a young PG who could come in and potentially start right away, we got that and we got it for Tim Hardaway, it was a complete robbery that this dude Phil pulled there. So if you wanted the Knicks to grab a win-now piece, Grant has you covered. If you wanted a player with high upside, Porzingas has more than any prospect not named Towns. Another important point to think about is that both of these players, while fulfilling both our need for a player with superstar potential and a need for an immediate contributor, also fit the system better than anyone we were considering outside of the three guys we had no chance at. Mudiay and Grant have a lot of similarities, but Grant has a better jumper by far. WCS projects to be a great defender but has no offensive game to show for it. And no, Winslow is not a perfect triangle fit either, dude fell in this draft for a reason, he's an SG's size with SF type skill set that only worked against PFs in college. We also got one of the best international prospects in the draft for a couple of second round picks, here's Givony breaking down both our international pick-ups before the draft. He calls our second round pick the future of the Center position for Spain...
http://www.draftexpress.com/podcast/2015-06-25-Jonathan-Givony-Doug-Gottlieb.mp3
3. But they traded two second rounders for one second round player.
He also picked up two when he traded Prigioni and one when he dealt JR. This was a fairly deep draft, so trading future seconds doesn't seem bad, especially when he's using assets he earned when he set up the tank. The Nets moved the same value to get the 39th pick, it was the going rate. So with no guarantees that a quality option would present itself in another second round, why not spend the picks earned and get someone Phil has faith in (plus Clarence Gaines is good...trust him).
4. We have to make the playoffs next season and now we won't. There's a 26 million dollar reason to wait for that reaction but let's be real about this. Not many 17 win teams turn it around in a single off season, so if you were expecting a miraculous resurgence in one year, temper expectations. We should be looking for progress, not instant gratification, that's a Dolan way of thinking. The goal should be to set this team up with a template for success going forward and just compare the character of our locker room right now to last season. We had two guys who literally didn't want to be here, Shump and JR fighting with fans on social media, Bargnani was trying to figure out which injury would get him the biggest break from playing...it was sorry. The kids we brought in are high IQ, high character players. The role players we're considering bringing back fought even with the team severely lacking talent. The first player that seems like a pick-up is David West, he opted out of a big one year pay day and is ready to take a pay cut and apparently wants to do it with us...and he's a leader in the locker room. We might have a tough season, fighting for a playoff spot, but the youth and character of the team is a huge bright spot.
But if you don't feel like reading all that, just read this...RELAX! This is the best situation our roster and cap situation has been in arguably since the Ewing trade.
1. Did somebody say Melo doesn't have a superstar impact?
Look up the Knicks splits when he was on the floor and off the floor this past season and that was on a knee that needed surgery. Gtfoh with that.
2. We drafted a project when Melo needs win-now players.
I didn't like the Porzingas pick initially...but then we added Jerian Grant. If you were hyping up Mudiay then how can you sleep on that pick? Grant is an NBA ready 6'5 Guard who is a playmaker first and scorer second (best assist to TO ratio in NCAA ball if I'm not mistaken). So if you wanted a young PG who could come in and potentially start right away, we got that and we got it for Tim Hardaway, it was a complete robbery that this dude Phil pulled there. So if you wanted the Knicks to grab a win-now piece, Grant has you covered. If you wanted a player with high upside, Porzingas has more than any prospect not named Towns. Another important point to think about is that both of these players, while fulfilling both our need for a player with superstar potential and a need for an immediate contributor, also fit the system better than anyone we were considering outside of the three guys we had no chance at. Mudiay and Grant have a lot of similarities, but Grant has a better jumper by far. WCS projects to be a great defender but has no offensive game to show for it. And no, Winslow is not a perfect triangle fit either, dude fell in this draft for a reason, he's an SG's size with SF type skill set that only worked against PFs in college. We also got one of the best international prospects in the draft for a couple of second round picks, here's Givony breaking down both our international pick-ups before the draft. He calls our second round pick the future of the Center position for Spain...
http://www.draftexpress.com/podcast/2015-06-25-Jonathan-Givony-Doug-Gottlieb.mp3
3. But they traded two second rounders for one second round player.
He also picked up two when he traded Prigioni and one when he dealt JR. This was a fairly deep draft, so trading future seconds doesn't seem bad, especially when he's using assets he earned when he set up the tank. The Nets moved the same value to get the 39th pick, it was the going rate. So with no guarantees that a quality option would present itself in another second round, why not spend the picks earned and get someone Phil has faith in (plus Clarence Gaines is good...trust him).
4. We have to make the playoffs next season and now we won't. There's a 26 million dollar reason to wait for that reaction but let's be real about this. Not many 17 win teams turn it around in a single off season, so if you were expecting a miraculous resurgence in one year, temper expectations. We should be looking for progress, not instant gratification, that's a Dolan way of thinking. The goal should be to set this team up with a template for success going forward and just compare the character of our locker room right now to last season. We had two guys who literally didn't want to be here, Shump and JR fighting with fans on social media, Bargnani was trying to figure out which injury would get him the biggest break from playing...it was sorry. The kids we brought in are high IQ, high character players. The role players we're considering bringing back fought even with the team severely lacking talent. The first player that seems like a pick-up is David West, he opted out of a big one year pay day and is ready to take a pay cut and apparently wants to do it with us...and he's a leader in the locker room. We might have a tough season, fighting for a playoff spot, but the youth and character of the team is a huge bright spot.
But if you don't feel like reading all that, just read this...RELAX! This is the best situation our roster and cap situation has been in arguably since the Ewing trade.
