Julius and Mitch are probably my two favorite players just because I like my heroes with a tragic flaw, a little bit of hamartia. When people say mean things about them, I get angry.

Context: KAT and Minny were up and coming having defeated Denver but had financial barriers. Look at the roster. To keep McDaniel and of course pay Ant something had to give and trading Rudy was not really feasible. They made conf. finals with Randle so it was not a disaster trade. Season one for both teams was about even. Knicks go to conf. finals with KAT. Hindsight looks like a "Heist" but lets be real becuase KAT stepped up big time and stopped fouling and Mike Brown eventually figured out what Thibs didn't.

DDV? Hell of pick up for MInny to insert. Minny got two starters for KAT! DDV had a career year last year and was doing rally well before he tore his heel. As for Randle's personality issues? Its why he is not a max or near max player and was perhaps let go by Lakers and NOLA. Granted they had Lebron adn Zion coming in. Randle a 3x all star and twice all NBA. You get him right in the head on a reasonable contract is a hell of a value. Knicks win a chip with KAT and Randle gets moody and DDV blows out a tire? Trade looks a bit lopsided after two years.

OG? He wanted bigger role and perhaps the money too. With Siakim and Barnes that was not going to happen, Toronto needed to make a trade and got two young starters with upside that needed to get paid. RJ at 25mil was not an awful contract and home town kid. IQ was the upside risk. That contract has not worked out mostly IQ played only 33 games his first full season with Toronto. His numbers? they are declining each year.
Not awful and perhaps its a chemistry thing as the team was constructed. Ingrahm is gone and perhaps that opens things up for him?
He has 3 years left on that bag that pays him 32mil per! Jury might still be out. IQ still young and justify that money. He is not far off.

As for OG......Teams wanted him and there was some talk we over paid? OG under thibs was magical. Leon did not mess around and wait until the trade deadline. He went in hard and early. Knicks to make the financial commitment they also had to give him some time and opportunity to develop a bit more. He has gotten better every year. The Tip? At that moment he was the series MVP. Brunson game 5 clearly defined that not being the case but OG has a knack for hitting the important shot or keeping the game within reach, the right steal, deflection, lose ball, and block!
What is not talked about enough is what he did to D'aAron Fox. Media talks about his choke? I believe OG was "DEMONIZING" him in parts of the game. If Fox was the engine to run the Spurs attack it got choked!

There was a risk to both the "Heists" but Leon looking really good and even more so with hiring Mike Brown who unlocked even more than Thibs did.

AKA: Thibs did a really good job. MIke Brown did a Great job!

newyorknewyork wrote:Today is the day Denver should make a decision on Valanciunas

I really want that guy. He's a viking beast.

Tweet was deleted or there was problem with the URL:

https://www.twitter.com/shamscharania/status/2074961137301402024

martin wrote:OK here we go

Tweet was deleted or there was problem with the URL:

https://www.twitter.com/shamscharania/status/2074961137301402024

So he has to clear waivers first before you can sign him . Otherwise you have to pick up his 10 mil right ?

BlueKnickers wrote:

fitzfarm wrote:

martin wrote:OK here we go

Tweet was deleted or there was problem with the URL:

https://www.twitter.com/shamscharania/status/2074961137301402024

So he has to clear waivers first before you can sign him . Otherwise you have to pick up his 10 mil right ?

I don't think so. If I understand correctly, Denver is still liable for the portion not covered by his salary with the team that signs him, i.e. receives $2.5M from Knicks, balance of $7.5M sill due from Nuggets.

That's why trades matter. Waiving players can still carry a price tag. But if nobody wants to give up an asset for JV, then Denver is holding the bag. The market recognizes this, so any team that is interested will just wait for him to clear waivers.

Senior capologists are welcome to correct me if I am wrong.

My understanding was that only $2m was guaranteed of the $10m, so that’s how much Denver owes him and that’s it. No waivers.

Tweet was deleted or there was problem with the URL:

https://www.twitter.com/IanBegley/status/2075179242086617225

Knixkik wrote:

Panos wrote:

newyorknewyork wrote:Today is the day Denver should make a decision on Valanciunas

I really want that guy. He's a viking beast.

The thing is, he wanted to play overseas last year. Is he coming here to compete with Drummond for backup duties? I know Leon was his agent which helps. But I assumed he wants to leave the nba.

NY is way closer to Europe than Denver it’s just a cheap flight from JFK away.