Vmart wrote:This is like a episode of Gotham. One Villain leaves and another one comes along. Janis “the joker” leaves enter leVar “mr freeze” Ball. You can make this shyt up.

ramtour420 wrote:

fwk00 wrote:

Knicksfan wrote:Are we so down already on Ntilikina that we would trade him AND other assets for Ball?

FOR BALL?

BALL?

Ntilikina hasn’t had a good year but his potential is a swiss-army player that does everything you need to get the win.

Ball would potentially be a headache with more hype than actual play. Well, not really because the hype has died down considerably in LA.

I think this thread is less about Lonzo Ball and more about a Ntilikina hate club. Personally I don't get it but as an veteran of 25 years or more of Knicks fan sites I know that there's always an illogical contingent who are loud, persistent, and insatiable in their desire to throw shade on a player, coach, or FO figure.

Acquiring Ball makes zero sense. ZERO.

Ntilikina, at his price point and potential ceiling should be an untouchable after the Porzingis trade. If he never becomes a starter or a scorer, his combination of length, defensive ability, and character are exactly what the Knicks must be building around.

IMO, we are overloaded with PG candidates all of whom are too young to be evaluated too harshly. They have a few years to go before they grow into their mature potential. That said, yes the Knicks should take every opportunity to land better talent at every position.

Rather than lend the Lakers a hand, I think the Knicks would be wise to follow-up with Philadelphia. Fultz could be had for the taking and better yet could be had bundled with a desirable young player who isn't on Philly's trajectory, say Bolden.

So Thomas and Vonleh for Fultz and Bolden. This assuming we will lose Vonleh for nothing otherwise.

I would actually like to keep Vonleh. His skill set and attitude with a contract suitable for a backup (say 6-8 mill per year)would be a very nice asset for a championship contender.

I agree. I like Vonleh a lot and hope he's a keeper. He's only going to get better and his archetype is along the lines of Charles Oakley.

Hard to know what the FO thinks though.

smackeddog wrote:Can't help but feel the Lakers have fallen into the same trap Dolan fell into in the Melo trade:

Tweet was deleted or there was problem with the URL:

https://twitter.com/ScottDKushner/status/1092558573954048000

Lakers are now offering all their young players, plus are willing to take on a bad contract, plus give up 2 first rounders. Pelicans are now saying 4 first rounders and leaking out that they'll do a deal with the Celtics in the offseason if they don't get what they want. Think they're bluffing, like how Denver used Brooklyn against us.

Anyways we better hope the Lakers land AD, because if the Pelicans wait until the offseason, it hits our chances of Kyrie, which could stop KD coming here (if he'll only come here with another star). kyrie's main issues in Boston seem to be the young players- Boston would likely trade those (Tatum and Rozier) to land AD, which might make the Celtics more appealing for Kyrie to remain.

Nalod wrote:Lakers get close to a deal with Nola Knicks could get a great deal for Ball. Ball and Smith could be formatble and Frank off the bench. All on rookie deals.

Trades could be made later if Frank develops. I don’t trust myself or most of you to evealuate Franks value or projections.

Knicks could get AD but i’d Be afraid of what it would cost. KP would had to have been the centerpiece of our deal for him. To wipe our our youth gives me Melo nightmares. Our depth was crap after and we never build properly with Melo.

hello. feeling this exactly. the beauty of the kp deal is that we're perfectly positioned now to get 2 of the best players in the league surrounded by seriously legit youth (zion/morant/barrett, dsj, knox, frank, trier, robinson, dot) and plenty of upcoming draft picks. i don't see us landing ad without ending up in a worse overall place.

Nalod wrote:The Dallas picks we got for Ball straight up? Nola wants 4 picks?
IS Knox more appealing to Nola then Ball? Knox and the protected Dallas pick for Ball?

While his FG% is now north of 40%, the most concerning thing about him to me is his poor free throw shooting. He's shooting around .417% FT this year, after also shooting under 50% last year. This to me means his shot is broken. This is something that he should definitely work on over the next few years.

Gilbert Arenas broke down Ball's shooting issues here:

I still like Ball more than Frank or Mudiay at the moment, as I think he has a better feel for the game than either of them. The jury is still out for me on Ball vs KSJr. Smith Jr has amazing tools and the athleticism to be a dynamic scoring guard along the lines of Rose or Westbrook; perhaps the rest of his game can develop. (at this point I don't know how he fits in if Trier is in our future too)

SupremeCommander wrote:we just gained by losing Janis. No way in ****ing hell would I sign up for Janis on Crack

I think Ball, in spite of his shortcomings, would fall in the 20-30 range at this stage of his career - but with top-10 potential if he could fix his shot. An improvement with upside. Yeah he has baggage (ie his dad).

(I'd have considered Jack last year in the 30-40 range)

DSJr and Frank both have upside too... (though Frank seems farther away from achieving it...)

ankurk wrote:Across the board lonzo is better than frank.https://imgur.com/a/tfwMZOq

He's not that much better than the projects we have. If we're offered a sweetner, that's another thing. If not, we should move a long.

there are better options