Frank Isola’s BIG OFFSEASON MOVES for Jalen Brunson & New York Knicks | THE HERD NBA Reaction

Frank Isola’s BIG OFFSEASON MOVES for Jalen Brunson & New York Knicks | THE HERD NBA Reaction

Great guest coming up right now. He’s covered the Knicks for a long time, a fixture in New York media. Frank Isola, currently with SiriusXM NBA radio. Frank, thanks a lot for taking the time this morning. I know you’re a busy man. Everybody wants to talk Knicks. I’m curious your macro thoughts watching that series as they blow game one and then ultimately lose the series at six. Well, I think you said it. blowing game one was the big difference there because if you look at what the Knicks did to Boston winning game one and two, Boston should have won game two. They lose that. They’re chasing the series. Cleveland should have won game two at home against Indiana. They’re chasing the series. The Knicks losing game one and it wasn’t just being up 14 with 258 to go or you’re up nine points with 58 seconds to go. And the Knicks scored four more points. So that had to be a 13-4 run by Indiana just to tie the game up. Look at that Hallebertton shot. So a little bit of luck factors in. So, a game that the Knicks should have won. To me, that set the tone for the entire series. The Knicks were chasing the series. They never caught up to Indiana. And that that was the killer game right there. That’s the one they never recovered from. So, just to be clear, you know, this is the greatest season they’ve had this century, right? Long playoff run, but Knicks fans were expecting, hey, we’re favored in the series. How are we not in the finals? And now it’s let’s do the autopsy. Uh, do we fire Tibido? Do we trade Cat? What do we do with Bridges and his new deal? Lots on the table. It’s going to be a busy summer in New York. Frank, let’s start with this. If you’re giving advice to Dolan and company, what do you say about Giannis? Do you try to make a move and get in the mix or stand pat? Oh, 100%. I’m trying to make that move. I think the Knicks window is right now over the next two to three years and you haven’t won a title since 73. If a player like that is available, you certainly go for it. I don’t know if the Knicks can get it done. If I’m Milwaukee and I’m making that big step to trade a guy like Giannis Tetakmpo, I’m thinking about rebuilding. I’m looking to get a lot of picks back, maybe a young player. I think I still think that Houston is the ideal team for Milwaukee. I think it would be the ideal team for Giannis as well, but certainly the Knicks should go for it. Hope that maybe Giannis could finagle his way there. Jason, you know this the story of Queens got the huge Greek population. Giannis knows that as well. So, there is a bit of a tie there, but I don’t know. So, I think that’ll be hard to pull off, but I’m certainly exploring that upon the Knicks. Yeah, I can’t imagine the Bucks wanting to build around Carl Anthony Towns. By the way, let let’s talk for a few moments about Cat. Bit of a space cadet defensively, commits some really goofy fouls. Seems to get the ball. You remember how Julius Randle was a black hole? This is like a different version of it because he can actually shoot threes with some reliability. I don’t really know what to make a cat. He has flashes of that’s the NBA player I know. And then it’s like I don’t He makes some really poor decisions. He He certainly does. There’s a reason why he was available for the Knicks to acquire him. And it’s not breaking news that he struggles defensively. Everyone knew that before the Knicks acquired him. I do think the fallout from them losing this series, losing game six. I think there’s been far too much criticism on Carl. You know, he was the only starter that was a plus, like the plus minus. He was a plus. He was a plus all throughout the playoffs. So yeah, defensively he struggles, but he also had a game three with the Knicks season on the line where he scored 20 points in the fourth quarter. He had a couple of really big moments against Detroit. He had some big moments against Boston in games one and two where he kind of bailed them out. I think the big issue for the Knicks and I think Carl, you know, my my uh morning radio partner Brian Scallivini talks about all the time and he played for Tom Tibido in Chicago. He feels like when guys are under Tom that second year, he thinks it’ll help Bridges. He thinks it’ll help Towns much like it helped Ojanobi, like it helped out Randall, like it helped Jaylen Brunson. Jaylen Brunson was an MVP candidate a few years into uh coming to the Knicks and playing for Tom Tibido. But the biggest issue, Jason, and you know this, can you win when your two best players are not great two-way players, and that’s going to be the biggest issue. Jaylen Brunson, Carl Anthony Towns, both terrific offensively, struggle defensively, and that’s an issue. Do you think there’s a world where the Knicks are a bench or two player away? You know, they go out and get like Nikail Alexander Walker, maybe start him for Josh Hart. You go try to pl pry Al Horford, like a veteran who can actually make shot like Mitchell Robinson at times is unplayable because of the free throws, but like Al Horford can play defense and make threes and you’re not asking heavy minutes. Are they just a couple pieces away? Because remember, no Tatum next year in Boston. Yeah, you 100% right. And if you know going into this season, a lot of us felt, I know I did, that Boston was a clear favorite. They’ll repeat as Eastern Conference champions, probably repeat as NBA champions. Now you look at the East, it’s completely wide open. And I think you’re right. I think there is something to be said. You know, Indiana got eliminated in four games in the Eastern Conference Finals. They kept that core together. As the old saying goes, you know, you let the cake bake a little bit. You know, why not try to run it back if you’re the Knicks? Maybe like you said, I think you’re you’re right with your thinking. Trying to add a guy that can shoot coming off the bench. You know, their shooting isn’t great and adding that kind of player will really open up the offense. But again, they’re going to have to address issues on the defensive end and hope that they could figure something out because for me that was the biggest issue they had against Indiana going up and down the court and the Knicks really couldn’t play for long stretches and Jaylen Brunson and Carl Anthony Towns. It’s an issue when you can’t play your two best players a lot because both struggle so much defensively. So, uh, let me ask you about this Jaylen Brunson. Uh, several months back, Becky Hammond, uh, made a statement, you can’t win with Jaylen Brunson as your number one player. I thought it was ludicrous. I said some stuff that was kind of harsh. Listen, Jaylen Brunson’s an unbelievable player, man. He I think he’s fourth in the league in playoff scoring this year. The Knicks are not anywhere near the Eastern Conference Finals without him, but like you said, the defensive questions. Now listen, that stuff dogged Steph Curry early in his career, too. And they had had to go out and get Iguodala and then Kevin Durant. Kind of a cheat code. But is that the one argument for moving off towns? Hey, we need another defender. OG and Bridges are good, but you kind of need another defender to help out Brunson, right? Yeah. And that’s the thing. If you look at Carl, he’s an unbelievable offensive player, but defensively struggles. And I understand what Becky Hammond was trying to say, but you know, Isaiah Thomas was a undersized Yeah. guard. He won a championship as what is he like 6’2 now that’s an all-time great player but Brunson has been outstanding the last couple of years with the Knicks and you know it from watching it you see him on the court in the fourth quarter has all the confidence in the world that he’s going to make the right play. I think if you go back to game one, I thought he gave up the ball a little early with what 14 seconds left in regulation to Carl. That’s Jaylen’s got to hold on to the ball, get fouled, then he needs to go to the free throw line and knock down those two free throws. But again, to your point, it’s something that the Knicks have to figure out if they want, you know, let’s, you know, they finished four w six wins shy of winning a title, right? They had 10 wins. They still needed to win six. It’s hard to win 16 playoff games. And right now that it was proven that this team simply wasn’t good enough. I still think there were moves that they could make. I still think Jaylen Brunson could be that player. You look everywhere he’s been, every level, high school, college, in the NBA, he’s won big. He hasn’t won the ultimate prize yet in the NBA, but he took the Knicks to a place they hadn’t been in 25 years. So Kevin Durant has been a fascination of the Knicks for probably at least a decade. Let’s just say I don’t think it could happen, but let’s say Carl Anthony Town straight up for Durant. Do you do that deal? You know what? I would think long and hard about it just because I know I can trust Durant in the playoffs, especially offensively, even defensively. He’s going to give you something. And again, I’m looking at that window for the Knicks. I really do think it’s about a two to threeear window with a lot of these guys. And when you haven’t won a championship, 73, been to the final since 99. That’s why I mean I thought they gave up too much to get Bridges, but I understood swinging for the fences because it’s been that long since you’ve done anything. And I think with Kevin Durant out there and I think Kevin Durant will be rejuvenated. When a guy like of that status hasn’t appeared in a postseason game this season, he’s going to be hungry to get back there. And I think Kevin Durant would come in with the right attitude. I think he would like the serious of the Knicks program. You know, Tom Tibido, Jaylen Brunson, I think he’d fit in perfectly. Is it a gamble? 100% because of his age and the injury factors, but it’s something that I certainly would consider. Yeah, the age is a is a question. You mentioned window. So Durant turns 37 in September. And if you look at his last few seasons, he’s been injured a lot. Do you think that he would shrink the Knicks window to maybe just one season? That’s that’s certainly a possibility. But you know this, Jason, you know this about Kevin Durant. He loves to play basketball. All right, take away the Twitter stuff that he does. He loves to play basketball. He loves to compete. So, you know that he’s going to do everything that he can to get himself ready to play the basketball part. I had heard at the Olympics a lot of these coaches that weren’t around him that much, they were blown away by how much he puts into it every single day. So, you know, you’re getting the guy with the right kind of mindset. And I think if he came, I think I think he’d be able to handle the pressure. I know he gets sensitive to it at times, but I would think after what happened in Phoenix this year with that team not making the playoffs, I think he would be rejuvenated come to the next. Interesting. All right, on to the finals real quick. Uh, actually, first of all, uh, Eastern Conference Finals MVP voting. You know, we didn’t do the subject yet, but we might. Seakum won 54 over Hallebertton. First of all, um, do you think this award is dumb because it’s just the series and not all of the playoffs? And B, shouldn’t it have been Hallebertton? Well, I don’t have a problem with them giving out awards. Everyone gets awards, you know, that’s like our our new thing now. But I agree with you. If I had a vote, and that takes nothing away from Pasco, but to me, everything is different. Like Hallebertton’s shot in game one is not just one shot that wins one game. That was a massive shot that tied it up. They go on to win that game. So, in the biggest moment, he delivered. Then in game four, after they had blown the 20-point lead in game three and he didn’t play well, he put up historic numbers. The numbers that he put up in that game with no turnovers was something that no player had ever done in any NBA game. So those two games right there and the fact that he played well in the second half of G again, no problem with Seiakum. I didn’t have a vote because I wasn’t there in Indiana. I know some of our brethren in the media, people that you know and I’ve already given them a hard time about it. Everyone’s entitled to their opinion. I would have voted for Tyres. All right, 15 seconds. Uh, who you got in the finals, OKC or Indiana? And how many games? You know what? It’s it’s hard to pick against OKC. They’re such a good team defensively. I look at Indiana. It’d be great for that city and for that franchise. Been in the NBA a long time, a former ABA team to to get the banner. But I don’t know. Oklahoma City winning that game four, Jason, in Denver. They were down 2-1 in the series. They were down entering the fourth quarter. Them winning that game four. I think that’s the game they’re going to look back on and say that’s the game that changed. Yeah. Lou Dort special. All right.

Jason McIntyre is filling in for Colin Cowherd and is joined by Frank Isola to react to the NBA playoffs. They discuss what Jalen Brunson and the New York Knicks should focus on this offseason after losing to the Indiana Pacers in Game 6 to be eliminated from the NBA playoffs.

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