The 2021 New York Knicks: Leon's Friends & Co.

[bigeastbumrush]

Re: The 2021 New York Knicks: Leon's Friends & Co.

Smart decision. We’d be playing with fire next year if he didn’t agree now.

[ehh]

Re: The 2021 New York Knicks: Leon's Friends & Co.

Elf signed with the Suns. One year, vet min. This is the guy we had to watch over the last two seasons start 92% of the games in which he was healthy. Good riddance. Dude isn't even an in-demand backup point guard.

[bigeastbumrush]

Re: The 2021 New York Knicks: Leon's Friends & Co.

Great to have Rose as a backup with fresh legs.

[Hassan Darkside]

Re: The 2021 New York Knicks: Leon's Friends & Co.

Elf signed with the Suns. One year, vet min. This is the guy we had to watch over the last two seasons start 92% of the games in which he was healthy. Good riddance. Dude isn't even an in-demand backup point guard.

This also speaks to how devoid of talent we've been over the last couple years. Of the two players we'd debate the most about starting for our team, one had 0 interest until he signed a vet min, and the other is still unemployed.

[bigeastbumrush]

Re: The 2021 New York Knicks: Leon's Friends & Co.

So Noel’s 3 year $32M deal is only guaranteed at $18M for 2 years.

Sweet.

[DieHardYankee26]

Re: The 2021 New York Knicks: Leon's Friends & Co.

Interested to see what Thibs can do with McBride, also wondering when he’ll get to play in the regular season. Our depth has a chance to be a real strength.

[bigeastbumrush]

Re: The 2021 New York Knicks: Leon's Friends & Co.

He played mostly off-ball last night so he may find some minutes if we go small with our 2nd unit.

I’d love to see him guard Trae Young though.

[Hassan Darkside]

Re: The 2021 New York Knicks: Leon's Friends & Co.

I've been watching Summer League so far just because I'm an addict, so let me get these thoughts off. My disclaimer is that it's Summer League, something not to be taken too seriously for a few reasons. Notably, a number of players aren't NBA caliber players, they have barely played together, lineups and rotations are weird, and there's very little set offense. That being said, I believe that players can be evaluated on smaller attributes to a degree and there are characteristics and skills that should translate into the regular season.

Immanuel Quickley: Still plays with a green light and is extremely confident. His first outing was rough because he was firing at every open look and hunting fouls when he was closely guarded. He changed his play after that to be a little less selfish and stopped trying to draw as many fouls, and both he and the team benefited. Still has a tendency to pick up the ball before he knows what he wants to do with it, which is what I'd like to see him improve on while playing PG.

Obi Toppin: Him and Quick were often the best two players on the floor. Obi looked very decisive when he caught the ball and maintained his confidence even when he wasn't shooting well. He consistently played with the energy he showed in the short spurts he got off the bench last year. He looks better at being balanced and getting into his shot. When he had mismatches, he was aggressively attacking him. He made some nice moves off the dribble to get into the paint and power through smaller guys. Other times he kicked it out and posted up, calling for the ball. Obi still struggled at the rim. He's missed too many point blank shots, even if he followed them with tip ins. He's also not agile around the basket or in the air leading to a lot more contested finishes than you would hope to see from someone as explosive as him. He also played very little 5 so I'm guessing there won't be any lineups with him and Randle together.

Jericho Sims: I think this is who a lot of people thought Obi would look like when he stepped on the court last year. Sims looks like a grown man and his physically imposing. He gets off the floor very quick and is actually agile in the air. There was a play recently where he caught a pocket pass at the top of the key, took one gather dribble, and glided to the rim. He also was impressive going up and finishing strong in traffic. He's shown a soft touch at the rim too, something we don't see from any of our Cs currently. Unfortunately, he looks a lot bigger and stronger than he actually plays. I'm not sure if he was told to slip screens or what, but he wasn't making contact on a lot of them before rolling to the basket. He relies on his athleticism for rebounds, but doesn't consistently box out. He doesn't move people in the paint, and lets smaller guys box him out or sneak around him for rebounds. He picked up a foul on a freethrow when a smaller offensive player beat him to the basket (on a make) and he ended up grabbing him. I don't see him getting many minutes for Thibs until he starts doing that. Perhaps Taj will beat that into him during practice. If he gets that down, then he's a rotation player.

Quentin Grimes: One of the players that has struggled with some of the strange lineups and has mentioned he has to get used to not being the main option. At times he's the 3rd or 4th option on the floor in Summer League. I will say that his shot mechanics are extremely consistent and he has excellent footwork getting into his shot. He has great balance and can shoot off the catch, off screens, off hand-offs, and off the dribble. His flaws are what everyone said going into the draft, he struggles creating space and getting to the basket. However, he'll get most of his shots off the catch in his first couple years with the team.

Deuce McBride: He's the one I've been most impressed with. He's looked comfortable and consistent in every lineup he's been out there with, whether that's as the primary initiator or off the ball in a 3 PG lineup. He always looks under control and doesn't force tough shots or passes. He's shown good range and consistent form and also is comfortable shooting off the catch, off PnR, dribble pullups, or what have you. He said he watches a lot of Jrue Holiday and you can see that in his game, except that he's not near as good at getting to the rim as Jrue is. Defensively he gets into people and is very attentive off the ball. He anticipates well and has played strong team defense, switching when his teammates were beat and intercepting passes from panicked ballhandlers. He actually does look NBA ready and a guy you could trust to play 8-10 minimum mistake minutes if we needed that.

Luca Vildoza: Doesn't look NBA ready at all and really struggled playing off the ball. I'm surprised he got a 4 year deal.

Rokas Jokubaitis: Actually impressed me. He also struggled playing in the 3-PG lineup but showed he could catch and make open shots and finish at the basket. Showed a little handle too. He's very left handed though, I'm not sure I saw him do anything with his right hand.

[Hassan Darkside]

Re: The 2021 New York Knicks: Leon's Friends & Co.

It's about that time for ehh to start a new thread. I actually have some hopes for this year's team.

[ehh]

Re: The 2021 New York Knicks: Leon's Friends & Co.

On it!

https://forums.operationsports.com/f...post2050478514