"Death to the Pessimistic State of Mind" - Nas Voice: NYK '23 Pre-Season Thread

[Derek Lee]

 

[storyteller]

Trust that I see your vision because I am usually advocating for Tanking. However, your plan is ignoring Dolan. He wants to raise ticket prices.

This team with or without Fournier is made to make a playoff run. The amount of effort to make them a bad team seems unlikely. So if Fournier, and two picks can get them securely in the 5-7 range I fully expect them to do it.

As for the youth developing, there is a simple solution. Thibs plays the starters 30 minutes max so he can give the bench about 20 minutes a game. He could also hold them all accountable and play bench guys when the starters are having a bad night, maybe even…. Load manage.

Having 10-11 NBA ready guys should be this teams strength that can be used to mitigate the lack of a superstar in the regular season. It won’t hold up in the playoffs, but the kids (RJ, Grimes, IQ, Obi, Mitch, and Reddish) are young enough getting some playoff experience might pay dividends later.

I agree that Dolan's a concern and might force a win-now approach. But I think Dolan's interference has to do with the fans. If the seats are selling and the fans are cheering then he'll be fine. I suspect, that fans won't boo if it's young cats trotting out and competing. Therein lies my concern though.

Thibs could play the starters 30 mins max and let the bench play bigger roles. But that's not Thibs. He leans on his starters and his ego seems to be at play with rotation decisions (this is my only explanation for Burks at PG). He's notorious for poor load management. So if you want the kids to play, you need them higher up the rotation and the only way to bump them up with certainty is to dump some vets.

I think this team is constructed to compete but that's it. The Mitchell trade would have been a true playoff push imo. They made strong offers but drew lines because they know this squad isn't there yet (my speculation here). Their depth should keep them competitive most nights and is definitely their biggest strength. I think their position will be more decided by injury reports for teams in that 5-12 range than anything else.

 

[Wargames]

I agree that Dolan's a concern and might force a win-now approach. But I think Dolan's interference has to do with the fans. If the seats are selling and the fans are cheering then he'll be fine. I suspect, that fans won't boo if it's young cats trotting out and competing. Therein lies my concern though.

Thibs could play the starters 30 mins max and let the bench play bigger roles. But that's not Thibs. He leans on his starters and his ego seems to be at play with rotation decisions (this is my only explanation for Burks at PG). He's notorious for poor load management. So if you want the kids to play, you need them higher up the rotation and the only way to bump them up with certainty is to dump some vets.

I think this team is constructed to compete but that's it. The Mitchell trade would have been a true playoff push imo. They made strong offers but drew lines because they know this squad isn't there yet (my speculation here). Their depth should keep them competitive most nights and is definitely their biggest strength. I think their position will be more decided by injury reports for teams in that 5-12 range than anything else.

I actually think the opposite. I think getting Mitchell for the amount of players Ainge wanted would have cost them any chance at this years playoffs and Grimes was untouchable because they knew a small back court for 48 minutes a game would get roasted this year.

Also you are right about Thibs but let’s see. The FO should have had a talk to him already about playing the kids more. They let all the vets walk except Fournier and Rose. Thibs should be forced to play the kids more to win.

I been pretty good reading this FO, and I think they go into the season full playoff push mode and if an upgrade for Fournier hits the market at a reasonable price they will pull the trigger. If this team makes the playoffs it’s a successful season and Dolan raises the ticket prices. If they can somehow pull a minor miracle and make it to the second round, all of their jobs are secure for the immediate future and Dolan probably raises prices more.

 

[Peter Popoff]

Lemme put this in spoilers instead of knicking.

Spoiler

Y'all hearing these rumors of Booker to the Knicks (next target after Donovan Mitchell) after the Suns implosion with the Sarver shyt? Not enough legs but......

1. Jalen Brunson
2. Devin Booker
3. RJ Barrett or Q Grimes or swap 2 and 3 and put in IQ.
4. Obi Toppin
5. Any center

 

[DPresidential]

Lemme put this in spoilers instead of knicking.

Spoiler

Y'all hearing these rumors of Booker to the Knicks (next target after Donovan Mitchell) after the Suns implosion with the Sarver shyt? Not enough legs but......

1. Jalen Brunson
2. Devin Booker
3. RJ Barrett or Q Grimes or swap 2 and 3 and put in IQ.
4. Obi Toppin
5. Any center

No, for Booker, even established teams would be willing to empty their entire team for him.

shyt, Utah could give every one of the picks they got.

 

[Youhadasparkwhenustarted]

You'd have to give up the whole farm for Booker and I'm not convinced he's better than Spida, and if he is its not by much.

 

[ISO]

You'd have to give up the whole farm for Booker and I'm not convinced he's better than Spida, and if he is its not by much.

Mitchell better.

 

[seemorecizzy]

You'd have to give up the whole farm for Booker and I'm not convinced he's better than Spida, and if he is its not by much.

booker is better than mitchell and a better fit.
it aint happenin though so i wont waste any more time on it

 

[Peter Popoff]

booker is better than mitchell and a better fit.
it aint happenin though so i wont waste any more time on it

Booker is a better fit. Exactly. I'd trade any guards they want and a center along with Julius and picks for Booker in a heartbeat and it won't hurt them as much as the Mitchell offers.

 

[firemanBk]

@ Booker
I see this is the next guy in the long line of stars that Knicks fans theorize getting and actually have no fukking shot at
Reminder the last star to come here by choice was Carmelo who the fans treated like shyt and blamed for everything despite playing his ass off while being surrounded by a carousel of mediocre talent

 

[tremonthustler1]

You'd have to give up the whole farm for Booker and I'm not convinced he's better than Spida, and if he is its not by much.

Then there isn’t a guy you wanna trade the picks for, which goes back to draft night and everything they did wrong.

 

[Wargames]

No, for Booker, even established teams woupd be willing to empty theirnentire team for him.

shyt, Utah could give every one of the pocks they got.

This really needs to be repeated. Utah and the Thunder have more picks than the Knicks. The Knicks can’t outbid either of them and Booker is worth it. It would have to be for a mix of young players and picks and that doesn’t really make sense either because the Knicks don’t have that market locked down either. If a mixed package was needed for Booker a team like the Pelicans could make the same offer but throw Zion or Ingram in with a bunch of picks.

The only way the Knicks have a chance at Booker is the kids all build up their value AND get bigger contracts because the next time Booker can be traded his contract is 50 Mil a year.

 

[TOAD99]

Booker couldn’t do anything without cp3 or Ayton. The fukk is he gonna do here with RJ and Randle

 

[Youhadasparkwhenustarted]

Then there isn’t a guy you wanna trade the picks for, which goes back to draft night and everything they did wrong.

I've recently come to the conclusion we fukked up badly on draft night, we should've kept our pick. Going back even further we shouldn't have traded for Reddish either. We could've used that extra pick for Mitchell and maybe keeping it would've prevented Atlanta from getting Dejounte Murray.

 

[ISO]

booker is better than mitchell and a better fit.
it aint happenin though so i wont waste any more time on it

Devin Booker is not better than Donovan Mitchell.

The two headed snake of Brunson and Mitchell specifically the way those two attack to me could have blitzed teams.