Anji wrote:Beno or Brown would be very good, I like murry to, hope still keep him.

Jared Zwerling ‏@JaredZwerling 5h
Also, w/ Woodson agreeing to sign Tyler, it shows his interest in developing a young big -- something that was foreign in the past. #Knicks

Jared Zwerling ‏@JaredZwerling 5h
With #Knicks having no real backup center, it's a great chance for Tyler to show his stuff. Training camp will determine; no set role yet.

Chandler 7'1"
Bargnani 7'
Amare 6'10"
KMart 6'9" (6'8")?
Tyler 6'10"
CJ Leslie 6'9"

Do we still need a veteran big? (Jared Jeffries is still available - I had him almost as a lock to return, now it's looking doubtful)

Kind of surprised they made a guarantee before training camp. If Udrih declines the vet min, I would sign Murry and call it a day.

Tyler has the measurables -- his NBA Draft Combine measurements showed him to be a solid 6-foot-10½ and 262 pounds to go with a 7-foot-5 wingspan, 9-foot-2½ standing reach and an outstanding 12-foot vertical reach (meaning if he gets a running start, he can block a shot that's already 12 feet in the air) -- but it takes more than an NBA body to be worthy of a first round pick.

There are still skeletons in the closet stemming from his season in Israel and because of that, Tyler better have some NBA moves and a bit of Ridiculous Upside to go along with them.

Tyler spent this past season playing for the Tokyo Apache in Japan's second division alongside former NBA lottery pick Robert Swift while being coached by Bob Hill, the former head coach of the Seattle SuperSonics, San Antonio Spurs and Indiana Pacers (as well as Blake Griffin's personal trainer leading up the 2009 NBA Draft).

In Japan, Tyler averaged a respectable 9.9 points and 6.4 rebounds in just over 15 minutes per contest over the course of 33 games while dealing with foul trouble and free-throw deficiencies (49-of-108 on the season). Looking at those numbers, which is about all most NBA decision makers can do as only four of Tyler's games are on Synergy and it's highly unlikely many scouts make their way to Tokyo this season, it would seem that Tyler probably doesn't deserve the hype he's currently getting.

Andrew Lowman of Asia Basketball Update, the only person on the internet who followed Tyler this past season (to my knowledge) and therefore my go-to expert on this subject, believes that Tyler was more impressive than those numbers indicate. Lowman notes that over the course of Tyler's last 13 games -- when the team's other big man import, former D-Leaguer Kendall Dartez, left the team -- he averaged 30.4 points and 17.0 rebounds per 40 minutes (while playing just under 17 minutes per game).

"Watching the games, it is clear that Tyler thrived as Hill played him more at the 4 spot alongside Robert Swift at the 5," Lowman wrote of this drastic upturn in production. "Tyler showed his versatility away from the basket, including a drastically improved outside shot. Tyler's turnovers also dropped during this part of the season as he spent less time in the post getting double-teamed."

All of that said, and after watching as much Tyler footage from this past season as has been made available to me (89 possessions over four games on Synergy and all of Lowman's uploads on Youtube), I'm still not sure he's worth a first round pick.

BRIGGS wrote:Good move 3rd center who can develop into a good nBA player imho.

Also I really thought Terrance Jennings earned a camp invite--he was good just as good as Tyler and better than Murry imho.

I still find it weird that Jennings got no attention whatsoever during summer league from any writer- his stats were great.

Clean wrote:

smackeddog wrote:

BRIGGS wrote:Good move 3rd center who can develop into a good nBA player imho.

Also I really thought Terrance Jennings earned a camp invite--he was good just as good as Tyler and better than Murry imho.

I still find it weird that Jennings got no attention whatsoever during summer league from any writer- his stats were great.

I make some posts about this during the summer league. If I remember correctly he is close to the same stats as Tyler.

Jennings had some springs. He was the best rebounder on the team--if they let him go--he wouldve had a 30-15 game or something close--now its SL but the guy was playing like a pro 75% of his play in his limited minutes. At 6-10 230 for the 4 at 24 years old--if we cant find someone--he certainly nwouldnt be a bad fit--that would be 2 bigs one 22 and one 24 with nice upside who can help right now for cheap.

I dont view tyler as a center more of a 4.

If we sign haddadi and udrih/brown/murry id be happy

DurzoBlint wrote:

Clean wrote:Glad its a 2 year deal. If it works out well we will have his early bird rights.

^yup liking this pickup.