If it is, let him sit.

As for Willy, he has not done well in crunch time on defense and its why he has sat. He seems to thrive in transition.

Nalod wrote:THe answer is more about what to do with KP and where to play him when he does come back.
Willy might be a trading chip.
As for Noah, he is very valuable when healthy. Watch the Milwaukee game in Milwaukee and where melo finds him for easy baskets. Watch his offensive rebounds and how HE starts a fast break.
He needs to just be decent with a 15 footer. Is it his shoulder?

If it is, let him sit.

As for Willy, he has not done well in crunch time on defense and its why he has sat. He seems to thrive in transition.

Really should avoid trading Willy under almost any circumstance. He is very close with KP and brings some nice upside. It's all about building around KP, so trading his close friend isn't a good move. O'Quinn would be the more likely trade chip.

Knixkik wrote:

Nalod wrote:THe answer is more about what to do with KP and where to play him when he does come back.
Willy might be a trading chip.
As for Noah, he is very valuable when healthy. Watch the Milwaukee game in Milwaukee and where melo finds him for easy baskets. Watch his offensive rebounds and how HE starts a fast break.
He needs to just be decent with a 15 footer. Is it his shoulder?

If it is, let him sit.

As for Willy, he has not done well in crunch time on defense and its why he has sat. He seems to thrive in transition.

Really should avoid trading Willy under almost any circumstance. He is very close with KP and brings some nice upside. It's all about building around KP, so trading his close friend isn't a good move. O'Quinn would be the more likely trade chip.

Nalod wrote:When I say "Might be a trading chip",
Its not my preference. Its seems that he is a prospect and one with greater value at a position we are deep at.
As for keeping KP happy, I do think its important. How important is that? not sure.

I don't think it should be an absolute that KP plays 5. He should absolutely start at 5, because Melo can not start anywhere but 3. The right spot for Melo is 4. Melo doesn't want to do that but he should be given no choice. Phil, Horny all should make it clear. You may have a NTC, but you play ball the way we want you to play. So what the Knicks have to do is start KP at 5, but then bring him back in at 4 when Melo sits, with a big like Willy or Plumlee and then active quick perimeter players at 3/2/1. Such as Holiday/Lee/Jennings were yesterday playing the 3/2/1.

Noah his role in my opinion should be of a 4th Center to let Willy and Plumlee develop and be a mentor to them. He shouldn't be part of the rotation until he is 100% recovered physically. He should lose weight, work on his game, and keep training. He should be a mentor for other bigs on the roster. I think he can accept this role. It may be tough, but he should. Injuries happen all the time and we will have some without question. That's when Noah gets back in. Meanwhile work on that shoulder strength, lose weight, be a great mentor.

We should also consider trading O'Quinn. His value is probably at it's peak right now and the Knicks could maybe swing a deal where they get back a guard or wing. Even though we are seeing better play, we are starting Baker right now. That's a guy who wasn't drafted. So we need to think about getting more help. It won't hurt.

However if forced to deal him, I would do so for a few players. Players within his age (3 years max older) who are bigs who can do what he basically does or better.

Anthony Davis
Karl Anthony Towns

I think that's it. I may be missing someone else at the 5 spot. I don't think I am. Not many great 5's or bigs who are under 24 right now in the league. Embiid, I think Porzingis will be better than him. Embiid also has a major injury history. Already on minutes restriction.

I wouldn't deal him for players 27+ years old, or 30+ because of age. However if I could get Towns or Davis, I'd do it. Just have to. More of a sure thing.

He's not going to get any younger. He's not going to magically stop being an injury risk.

Extending his shooting range spaces the floor, it allows other players to work the post, it opens up the court by drawing out opposing bigs, it allows him to excel using his passing ability ( he's actually a very smart player and a capable passer) It would allow him to be some kind of offensive threat while focusing what energy he has left on defense.

Using a "Stretch 5" is very much in line with how Hornacek actually likes to run an offense.

He also becomes a safety valve when Melo dribbles for 15 seconds, gets triple teamed than uses a rare pass to get out of it to a guy behind the arc with 2 seconds left.

Knixkik wrote:

nyknickzingis wrote:I'd hate to trade KP, period. He's just a great kid and someone who can grow up as a Knick and evolve into something for them as a staple. I think he will develop into a more athletic Dirk. People will not always love that he plays "soft" by shooting so many jumpers, much like many didn't always like that about Dirk until he won a championship. The potential is there to be even better than Dirk because of his greater defensive and athletic skills. He has a ways to go to even be Dirk on offense, but he is on the right path for that.

However if forced to deal him, I would do so for a few players. Players within his age (3 years max older) who are bigs who can do what he basically does or better.

Anthony Davis
Karl Anthony Towns

I think that's it. I may be missing someone else at the 5 spot. I don't think I am. Not many great 5's or bigs who are under 24 right now in the league. Embiid, I think Porzingis will be better than him. Embiid also has a major injury history. Already on minutes restriction.

I wouldn't deal him for players 27+ years old, or 30+ because of age. However if I could get Towns or Davis, I'd do it. Just have to. More of a sure thing.

There would never be a reason to ever trade KP. You don't trade homegrown superstar talent, period. It is just asking for trouble. There is no one with more talent who would likely ever be available, because all teams operate the same way, to protect their superstar talent at all costs.

Completely agree. Any talk about trading him is pretty thick.
I don't think he is a superstar yet and honestly I don't care about stardom. But he has shown some worrying signs of playing iso ball. Horny needs to step in and cut that out. The last thing we need for him is to learn Melo's bad habits. I also don't care if he starts at 4 or 5, for now I think he should play both positions. But he really needs to commit to perimeter defense and not let people blow by him. KP, Willy and Plumlee sharing minutes at 4 and 5 are a solid nucleus. Kuz should be starting at 3. If we need to trade out of our frontcourt depth then we should look to move KOQ. He is not as nimble as the others and while he is playing well now, I can't seem to dig into him as a great long term future prospect. I am not sold on Baker but I think we should keep Holiday. Lee is also great off the bench.
I think Rose makes more sense for this group than Melo ever did. Because he can still score and he is fast. If Melo can come off the bench and finish games that may not be the worst thing. As long as he is not shooting 3-17 and/or killing game flow.

TripleThreat wrote:Noah needs to develop an effective three point shot.

He's not going to get any younger. He's not going to magically stop being an injury risk.

Extending his shooting range spaces the floor, it allows other players to work the post, it opens up the court by drawing out opposing bigs, it allows him to excel using his passing ability ( he's actually a very smart player and a capable passer) It would allow him to be some kind of offensive threat while focusing what energy he has left on defense.

Using a "Stretch 5" is very much in line with how Hornacek actually likes to run an offense.

He also becomes a safety valve when Melo dribbles for 15 seconds, gets triple teamed than uses a rare pass to get out of it to a guy behind the arc with 2 seconds left.

Bonn1997 wrote:

knicks1248 wrote:

Welpee wrote:

Nalod wrote:When I say "Might be a trading chip",
Its not my preference. Its seems that he is a prospect and one with greater value at a position we are deep at.
As for keeping KP happy, I do think its important. How important is that? not sure.

Well, we can't let any player not named Lebron James hold the franchise hostage from making moves in order to keep him "happy." This is a business and I'm sure KP understands that. I bet KP would be the first to sign off on moving Willy if it improves the team.

I highly doubt anyone in the front office is looking for KP's approval. when he starts carrying the team on his back, that's when is input is needed, other than that, he could even be traded for the right peices

Right pieces? They know Knicks fans are in love with KP. I don't think there's anyone in the league they'd trade him for. I was gonna say Curry but he's not really that marketable a player. Lebron's already played most of his prime. Maybe Durant?

Durant is what, 29 years old? I would never do it. The only player I would consider trading him for is the Greek Freak. But there is no logical reason I could ever think of to trade him.