Would you believe I went to sleep in Spain thinking the Knicks had landed the last piece of the puzzle as they submitted an offer sheet for Mavericks big man Moussa Cisse…
…and I woke up to P&T’s Michael Zeno informing me the Mavs had matched the Knicks’ two-year, $4.7 million offer, updating his story on it, and killing my hopes of New York’s putting an end to this third-string-center saga? Cold world, links and notes.
- In all honesty, and while Cisse isn’t a world beater, the move was shrewd and one for a kid coming on the cheap and with huge upside — definitely something better (given the role he’d have taken on) than signing Jonas Valanciunas or any other dodderer. Nick Richards remains out there, but the Knicks’ front office keeps showing us they can come up with out-of-left-field moves at any moment.
- SNY’s Ian Begley noted that if the Knicks sign a third center, as it looks to be the intention following Saturday’s developments, they simply will not have enough space to give rookies Tyler Nickel or Jack Kayil a standard contract for next season. A third center would fill the 14th roster spot, and there would only be one left for one of Nickel or Kayil, who would need to sign a two-way deal. That inevitably points to Nickel staying and Kayil going back to Germany, as explained here.
“If the Knicks sign a third center, they wouldn’t have enough financial wiggle
room to offer Nickel or Kayil a standard NBA contract. With Miles McBride, Jordan Clarkson and Landry Shamet all on the roster next year, having Kayil stay overseas would make the most sense. Nickel could be in line for a two-way contract.”
- SNY’s Rafael Canton dropped a piece sharing the four main takeaways from the SummerKnicks run in Sin City. Mohamed Diawara’s Summer League was described as a “failure to launch.”
- Fellow SNY scribe David Vertsberger put together an “offseason development wish list” in which he discussed what all players under contract should improve at heading into the 2027 season. Here’s an example:
“Mikal Bridges – Pick-and-roll and isolation playmaking
“Bridges was invaluable and hilariously efficient in New York’s playoff run, but at times it felt he had a little more to give when Brunson was being pressured, and the Knicks needed an extra dose of ball-handling.
“He stepped up with his shooting as others like Jose Alvarado took over more ball-handling duties, but this could be an area for Bridges to tap into more.
“ His mid-range game is so effective; being comfortable using a screen or developing some kind of go-to dribble move that creates some space when he’s out on the perimeter could take his game to another level — it would also make defenses second-guess giving him a favorable matchup.”
- Jalen Brunson was asked at the Fanatics Fest whether he had recruited LeBron James to New York, and described his job nicely.
- Jose Alvarado spoke at the ESPY Awards ceremony about being the only native New Yorker on the championship roster. “It’s cool,” Jose said, among a few other things, including his foodie preferences.
- No offseason for Andre Drummond.
- Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns returned to Madison Square Garden on Saturday, this time as part of WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event. You can check out JB’s cameo and KAT’s table-breaking performance in full, if you’re into it.
- Tyler Kolek, at the ESPYs, said he would approve of Timothee Chalamet playing him in a movie about the Knicks’ championship season, while Kolek himself could probably play Chalamet’s role in the joint.
- Kolek, for one, is already getting his acting reps.
- Trae Young embarrassed himself in a very public and sad way.
