The Knicks found their SECRET weapon…

The Knicks found their SECRET weapon…

the New York Knicks have found their secret weapon as they just made a very sneaky move for this team which is perfect for the squad in so many different ways while also one of the key Knicks prospects has just revealed that he does not want to play for the New York Knicks in a wild update as well so we have a lot to go over what’s up guys welcome back to Nick’s Digest it’s Chris here and we’re going to jump right into things as always if you guys are part of that 71% that’s not subscribed to Nick’s we have daily Knicks videos on everything covering the New York Knicks multiple videos are coming out every single day you do not want to miss out on all the fun we’re having on this channel but we’re not here to talk about that we’re here to talk about the Knicks as the Knicks just found their secret weapon in this guy now Leon Rose and the Knicks are known to have a hectic offseason ahead of them with finding a head coach and also filling out a roster with multiple different players as they try to stay under that dreaded second apron which is basically just an amount of money that you can’t go over or you get a bunch of restrictions and it makes trading almost impossible so also just if you are over the second apron for three straight years you lose your draft pick so you don’t want to do that so the Knicks they’re over the second or they’re not over the second apron but they could easily find themselves over the second apron that’s something that they want to avoid and now they just made a sneaky move that got them a very cheap contract for a very exciting player that is an instant impact guy now it was revealed by Marco Del Rio from Sport which is a European site about you guessed it sports that James Naji still has two years remaining on his contract with Barcelona however as he approaches his 21st birthday and after two consecutive seasons in which he hasn’t performed as expected he has decided to take a new direction his career according to Sport Naji and his camp have informed Barca of his desire to leave the club they continue to believe that his future lies in the United States and are currently exploring every possible avenue to help him achieve his dream of playing in the NBA now Rio Orel Rio also mentioned that Soros I’m not going to try to pronounce that name because I will really butcher it and he doesn’t deserve that gave him his debut and he was also a part of Roger Grimau’s squad in the 2023 24 season a classic five with elite physical attributes and future potential that didn’t go unnoticed in the NBA he was selected 31st overall in 2023 in the draft by the Detroit Pistons but was traded to the Charlotte Hornets indirectly he was part of the summer’s trade involving Carl Anthony Towns to the New York Knicks the franchise that currently holds his NBA rights now Naji came over in the trade to the Knicks when the Knicks traded away they had to clear up some money so they worked in a financial loophole they paid Dwayne Washington Jr Dcoan Jeff they paid them $1 over the minimum contract because you couldn’t trade multiple minimum contracts together also Mamed Dakit was part of that as well all three of those guys got $1 over the veteran minimum deal so they could be all packaged in a trade even though the Knicks were over the apron this the first apron this was and what happened was they paid him all over a dollar found a salary cap loophole shout out to Brock Aller the best salary cap manager in basketball and in return the Knicks or the Knicks sent him to Charlotte and in return the Hornets gave the Knicks James Naji an overseas prospect which Leon Rose has loved for a while now leon Rose and the Knicks have the most draft and stash rights of any basketball team they currently have a guy who was on the Spurs coaching staff in his late 30s and he tweeted out when he learned that he was on the Knicks technically he’s like I guess I got to get back to playing like kind of joking around because the Knicks hold a ton of draft rights it’s just what they do and there hasn’t been a rhyme or reason to it but the expectation is it’s for salary cap loopholes which does make sense it’s a Brock Aller move in order to keep this team just getting more financial flexibility using those drafted stash rights for trades or for other reasons as well so looking at all that it’s important to note that what we’re seeing here with this New York Knicks team is a move to make to get a guy on a contract who’s going to be very very cheap also Naji has a lot of potential he’s 21 years old he comes over to a team that’s gonna have a new head coach he’s going to have a chance to play the Knicks obviously their big men right now are now Al Horford Mitchell Robinson Ariel Hooki and James Naji and first of all I think this is another reason why you should go try to sign Al Horford just get a veteran in there as well who’s just if Mitch gets injured you have someone who’s ready and has been in the NBA could also play the power forward so it’s not a lock jam situation but different conversation for a video that’s coming out in a couple hours from now but with Naji now on the team the Knicks get another guy who could be very helpful and is in every sense of the word a true five who looks very very talented when you look at the way he plays i mean Naji has been super super solid overseas so far he’s a big big guy who’s working good screens he sets hard screens rolls right off screens which is perfect because a lot of Nick centers have not rolled right off screens they’ve kind of waited a little bit and Naji just fights on those offensive rebounds you see him just getting down getting under and scoring lot of shades of Mitchell Robinson there when you look at the way that he’s playing where he’s just getting these offensive boards where he’s going up strong he’s drawing fouls he’s getting to the line he’s defending the screens well that was some drop coverage right there the NBA is kind of going away from drop coverage in a lot of ways but he covered it well and you continue to look as he helps over blocks shots creates a difference on that defensive end and with all this with seeing this guy just go out there and be able to put up these great defensive stops do well on offense be a true rim runner this is something the New York Knicks could use because Ariel Huckporti is not a rim runner and on top of that what we’ve also seen is the fact that Mitchell Robinson is injuryprone so you have Naji in there as great insurance i love this move by the New York Knicks i think this is going to work out very very well for them i’m really excited to see where this goes from here and I mean look as the ringer mentioned when they broke down Naji when he was going to the draft defensively alters everything around the basket he could drive as a drop defender and his skills translate to help situations he’s aware when defending off the ball and does a great job of timing blocks using either hand it’s not uncommon for him to rock it off the floor swats the floor for SWAT plays as strong as he looks he battles in the post and fights relentlessly for rebounds whether he boxes out or positions himself to follow the trajectory of the ball he’s a good defender in space he could slide his feet laterally to stick with guards coming off screens or handoffs if he needs to switch he is more than capable and they also mentioned offensively he sets strong fundamental screens with a wide frame making it hard for opponents to fight through he rolls hard and can handle lobs excellent interior finisher who can dunk through contact but also shows natural instincts making himself available with relocations and basket cuts he can put the ball on the floor once or twice to score or he’ll use pump fakes to draw defenders before elevating so he’s got some skill on that offensive end as well and we’ve seen that come into play we’ve seen that he can do it i mean we look at the measurements they’re absurd when he was young also so there’s a chance he grew a little bit the man’s seven feet tall in shoes he’s got a 77 wingspan he was 251 pounds he’s a big dude and he’s full of muscle on top of that he’s got a 9 foot4 standing reach meaning the wingspan thing that is or not wingspan exactly but half wingspan kind of when you’re reaching your arm all the way up dude when he reaches his arm all the way up he’s 8 in away from the basket that is nuts this is someone who can impact very very very much instantly now as the ringer put it there’s shades of Clink Capella being a long-armed big man who’s built like a tank and has the mentality to dominate on both ends of the paint with the key things being shot blocking on ball defense interior scoring and rebounding this is a man who’s going to help the Knicks out a ton and I’m so excited to watch it now looking at his numbers that’s not his numbers but look basically what we’ve seen is a man who’s been very very solid up to this point in his career and Naji he’s someone who Leon Rose is going to love having on this team and was a great move because he’s going to be on a cheap contract now real quick there is a very good chance that he does end up on a two-way contract to start things it’s possible it’s also possible that he’s not that 55th pick the Knicks have is going to as long as they don’t trade up which they might as well and this still might be the case they’re going to put that 55th overall pick on a two-way deal 100% guaranteed on top of that there’s a few other few other guys here and there who they might put on two ways again we saw some guys on two ways i mean I can see Anton Watson coming back on a two-way marjan Bochamp I think is actually going to get get a spot on the roster this year that’s my guess so we could see that two-way spot be open maybe for Nagi maybe for someone else we’ll see but Naji is certainly going to play for the Knicks in Summer League so we’ll get a taste of that very soon and another Nick Knick who played in summer league Rockus Yokabitis has revealed that he does not want to come over to the New York Knicks the Knicks drafted Rockus Yokabitis over Deuce McBride this is true they drafted Rockus Yokabitis believing in him heavily drafted him stashed him and it initially seemed like Yoka Yokobitis was going to come over that first year and then it seemed like he was going to come over that second year but the thing with Rockus is he wanted to play he wanted to come over and be on the court now first of all with Tom Tibido if you’re a second round pick get ready buddy you’re not playing on top of that he didn’t want to go to the G-League he wanted to play in the NBA the thing is the Knicks are a contending team how often is a draft and stash guy first year big minutes it’s not happening it’s just not it’s an unrealistic goal from Rockus i understand why it feels that way and I don’t disagree with his feeling but I’m just saying it’s not going to happen and now the Knicks are a bit thinner so maybe there was a chance but Rockus spoke on this about the summer league and said “Summer league no I won two times i think I showed myself now it’s up to them i’m in Europe enjoying basketball here but in the future you never know so Yogabet is seemingly not interested in playing for the Knicks right now we look at his numbers or we look at James Naji’s numbers and is this Naji oh no it’s Yogis because he’s you know Lithuanian i’m an idiot guys this is what happens this is what happens when you’re focused on going to a Yankee game in 30 minutes but Yokabitas has been very very solid in the Euro League numbers don’t jump out in the Euro League they just don’t it’s just not what they do however in FIA with Lithuania he played solid basketball he showed some good stretches with Barcelona where he actually played with James Naji funny enough so there’s that fun connection most recently he played for McCabe Tel Aviv where he did put up solid numbers put up 12 11 points per game got a couple assists as well got around four assists he’s shown a lot of solid stuff and on top of that we saw in the summer league he put up around nine points and four assists as well so Yokabitas is an interesting player and I think he is a very skilled guy he’s got good shooting good passing good control of the ball but the Knicks they have Tyler Kick for that and on I just I don’t see it maybe they’ll move his draft rights and he’ll come over and play but I don’t think he’s going to come over and play for the Knicks if you ask me however Naji is and we should be excited about James Nagi and all he’s going to offer to this team and guys I’m looking forward to seeing him play in the summer league him and Tyler Kick on that pick and roll is going to be lovely to watch they’re just going to have a good summer league team man I’m excited to watch their summer league squad go down going to be a nice little taste of basketball in July when it’s 98 degrees outside we’re sweating bullets and well we get to watch some basketball while our guys show up and show out in Vegas guys let me know what you think about this do you like the James Naji move how do you feel about it let me know in the comments down below like this video subscribe turn on post notifications have a great day and go Knicks

Chris Gallagher breaks down the Knicks making a sneaky move that is going to seriously help the team next season.

Knicks Digest is a YouTube channel dedicated to covering all the latest news, trades, reports, and rumors surrounding the New York Knicks. We provide in-depth coverage on game highlights, player performances, and expert analysis of team strategies. Our channel features discussions on key players like Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns, Mikal Bridges, and Mitchell Robinson, as well as insights from Head Coach Tom Thibodeau and the Knicks’ front office. Stay tuned for all the latest updates and engaging content on everything Knicks!

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