Winning the championship made everything so good that I have been reading old P&T posts from nearly 20 years ago and rewatching early-aughts Knicks games, feeling great about it. Just imagine.
This machine never stops, even on Father’s Day, so here’s the latest I’ve gathered from the interwebs.
- The New York Post’s Jared Schwartz wrote a little piece for the early haters and the doubters who will inevitably, sooner or later, say the Knicks will have it impossible to become the next back-to-back champs. JS split the obstacles on the road into “Likely Threats,” “Variables,” and some internal business NYK needs to handle before next season. Anyway, never not enjoyable to read sentences like “Pistons exposed as frauds” and “Celtics overachieved.”
- The masses read the comments section… or the comments section’s inhabitants represent the masses. That’s why Stephen A. Smith was rained with boos as he joined the latest Roomates Show live at Infosys Theater at Madison Square Garden on Friday night. Either that, or the folks love Deuce so much.
- The Jalen Brunson statue talk is getting serious, with @newyorkers founder Benjamin Cohen going all-in for it. Cohen spoke to the NYP to discuss his ideas, and one can’t argue he’s got everything planned. “We’re at a stage where we have an artist and we have a private property in walking distance from Madison Square Garden,” he said, and hey, kudos to the artist, but I’m personally undecided about that mockup. “I hope that the city and Madison Square Garden will step up. If they don’t, we’re gonna make it happen.” That, I can agree with.
- Our friends from SNY have put together a solid Mock Draft roundup covering pretty much every MD published by all major outlets heading into Tuesday’s NBA Draft. As a fellow Latin man, I found it rather charming and surprising to find Mexican forward Karim Lopez projected to land in New York at No. 24 in CBS’s mock. The other predictions are more in line with what we have in mind, and the names linked to the Knicks are those of the usual suspects. Too bad, nobody is projecting the Knicks to go for a St. John’s standout. Suckers! Get a better idea of a bunch of possibilities by checking our own Draft Guide!
- Very long Q&A with Papa KAT at The Post. Worth reading in full.
- OAKAAK Jeremy Lin has been in the spotlight more during the past month than he was for the last decade, and he keeps squeezing the beat. According to Lin, who experienced the Knicks’ life from inside and seemingly stayed in New York to know the organization and all its inner workings, albeit 14 years removed from it, New York won the title because of much more than what went down on the court.
“It’s team and its grit, right? The team starts with [Jalen] Brunson giving up 113 million. And the grit, every time someone needs to step up, somebody does. Whether it’s OG or Mikal or Josh Hart, even Alvarado. They always have somebody that steps up and makes a difference and so really just their ability to create winning plays that’s something it just feels like every time it’s close, the Knicks are going to find a way.
“The team starts, you know, in college, them learning how to win, them dealing with pressure, them being clear-minded and focused in the clutch in endgame situations, getting used to that.
“Also, a lot of credit to Mike Brown coming in, the atmosphere, the culture, the way they talk about each other – you can just feel it.” “You can feel they really love each other, they root for each other… They just don’t care about individual stats.”
- Cute Country Boy Mitch Robinson had quite the gesture with his neighbors right before heading to Broadway. Shout-out Big Mitch!
- Speaking of gestures, OG Anunoby also had a feline one.
- Have you seen this man?
- Here’s another question for you to guess: which sport and dream pro team was Big Bogeda close to pursuing and aiming to join one day before locking into basketball? KAT spoke about his young life and early career decisions on Saturday.
- Non-Knicks (or maybe it is?) list item. The Timberwolves want to move up (h/t HoopsHype’s Michael Scotto) in the draft board—they own the No. 28 selection—and they are exploring moves involving Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo to sweeten a deal that gets the franchise to the podium quicker on Tuesday. Thoughts on potential landing spots?
- Per the same Scotto report, there’s a lot going on around the league. Quick summary here, but go read the full piece.
- The Miami Heat seemingly have the best package—Tyler Herro, Kel’el Ware, Jaime Jaquez Jr., and first-round draft compensation—to offer Milwaukee in exchange for Giannis Antetokounmpo, and are gaining traction again after the latest Celtics/Jaylen Brown rumors.
- The Detroit Pistons have shown interest in Tyler Herro and could become the third team in a multi-team trade.
- The Clippers are interested in Jaylen Brown if the Bucks don’t want to build around him following a three-team deal.
- The Orlando Magic are deciding between building around one of Anthony Black and Jalen Suggs, but likely not both.
- RJ Barrett—on an expiring $29.62 million contract—has drawn trade interest in multi-team conversations involving the Toronto Raptors.
- Isaiah Hartenstein is expected to remain with the Oklahoma City Thunder, though the structure could involve either his team option or a new multi-year deal.
- Lu Dort is likely gone from OKC, with reports linking him to the LA Lakers.
No Knicks game later today, just in case.
