Are the Knicks a RECIPE FOR DISASTER? 😳 Debating Knicks head coaching vacancy 👀 | First Take

Are the Knicks a RECIPE FOR DISASTER? 😳 Debating Knicks head coaching vacancy 👀 | First Take

hello everyone welcome back to First Take it is time now for a quick take and we go to Brian Windhorse here wendy what is the most underrated move so far of free agency yeah I’d like to uh highlight what the Atlanta Hawks did last night in getting Alexander Nquille Alexander Walker in a signing trade deal from the Timberwolves the Wolves really wanted to keep him but they had to spend so much money on resigning Nas Reed um and Julius Randall that they he just didn’t fit under their second apron so they were they were willing to participate in signing trade uh Alexander Walker has been a really important piece to the Wolves getting to the conference finals the last two years he has great length he defends he can play multiple positions he can defend multiple positions and when you’ve got a player like Trey Young you need to have you know defensive versatility to help protect him and that’s what the Hawks have built here especially with Dyson Daniels who they acquired last year in trade and now Nquille Alexander Walker on the other side like the really the Hawks with a nice move here and they paid him an average of about $15.5 million a year which is a really good number in today’s day and age for a quality guard like this he was probably of the unrestricted free agents he was probably the most desirable guard out there and the Hawks were able to get it done in addition to landing Chris Apps Porzingis last week in a draft uh day move so really impressive nice move by the Hawks to upgrade their overall roster
the Hawks Hawk Shay last week also got the number one overall pick or potential number one overall pick in next year’s draft from the New Orleans Pelicans in that draft night trade going down a few slots in the draft but getting a hugely valuable and protected pick next year they have gone out and gotten guys who shoot the ball have length for for defensive purposes i think they got a chance to be a top four team in the East and are taking advantage of some of these other teams both inactivity and injuries across the conference
the Trey Young Invitational is over they are not a playin team anymore this is a definitely a top four team uh in the East i said that Houston has been pitching a perfect game in the offseason hawks have been pitching a no-h hitter they’ve been incredible with all their moves getting the defense around Trey Young and that pick still trying to figure out what the Pelicans are doing this is going to be a lottery pick that they’re getting to add to that team next year
which is good news look the Hawks have been good their defense has not been great bottom half of the league in defensive efficiency the last handful of years with these moves that obviously upgrades on the defensive side let’s go to the issues with the New York Knicks now because they still do not have a head coach but it doesn’t mean they’re necessarily not trying there’s been a lot of no thank yous and no second interviews but it appears one candidate is worthy of interview number two and that would be Mike Brown sham Shirania is reporting that Brown is now emerging as a strong candidate for the Knicks after he was fired by the Sacramento Kings this year brown was also an assistant with the Warriors and a former head coach of the Cavs and the Lakers but now this opens up to a bigger question and I feel like we’ve been discussing this a lot and especially now that we’re in this free agency land is the Knicks even a desirable coaching job at this point wendy what do you think absolutely it’s a desirable coaching job they have a top seven six or seven already built out installed they um are in the Eastern Conference where their their health as a team has enabled them to rise up the the ranks i mean they are in a better position than some of their other rivals just because they’re able to be healthy also Jaylen Brunson’s willingness to take a lesser contract a year ago which was really an underrated move at the time is kept the Knicks out of the second apron so that is going to enable them to continue to add to this roster i know it may not manifest itself in major free agent moves yesterday today or this week but they can do things in trades and things that other teams in their position cannot going forward and if you’re the individual whether it’s Mike Brown or somebody else you’re going to get paid a ton of money because they just fired a guy who made the conference finals and if and Mike Brown still owed $20 million by the Sacramento Kings he doesn’t have to do anything and he’s going to get a ton of money the next couple of years if they he if he has the choice he’s gonna have to get a he’s gonna get a ton of money for this this is it’s a high pressure job it’s a high expectation job and all that sort of stuff but it’s very good NBA job
i know someone who disagrees with you
i wouldn’t want to take this job now when you talk about the $20 million and all that that that means a little something too but in terms of all things being equal you’re coming into a situation where your expectation is championship or bust they made the Eastern Conference Finals they got rid of the coach and now you have to come in and take a team that is not a perfect team that has its flaws and you have to make it at least to the NBA finals that is a ton of pressure in New York City in Madison Square Garden now Mike Brown is somebody who has handled a lot of pressure he had to get coach LeBron and try to win a championship with LeBron he went to the Lakers uh with Kobe them did not quite work out when he went there but he he understands pressure but the type of stuff that you have to deal with to get to this to do this and especially when you look at the fact that Tibs when he left the Knicks have not been able to find anybody that I can see as a better coach as a as a just an upgrade from Tibs from start to like I just don’t see it right and so when you’re bringing in somebody who is not going to get that excitement from everybody says this is better than the guy that we had and you have to make it to the finals that’s just a recipe for disaster no disrespect but that is a crazy take because if you That’s what this show is for
if you are an NBA coach if you can walk into a team with this kind of talent with this kind of expectations with this kind of money coming to you it’s a no-brainer job to take it’s a great job it’s one of the best jobs in the league now it isn’t a job that comes without pressure or expectations it is going to be very difficult for a guy to walk in and succeed in this job because to David’s point what he’s 100% right on is the only thing that’s going to be successful for a team in for the Knicks next year for this Knicks team is to make the NBA finals there is nothing less than that that’s going to be seen as a success when you look at the injuries across the conference when you look at the situation the Knicks are in having fired Tom Tibid for making the conference finals they lose in the first and second round that’s going to be a catastrophic failure who knows what the reaction that will be but if you’re a coach in the NBA there are very few opportunities where you can walk into a job with the kind of talent and situation the Knicks have the thing that’s ironic and interesting about this situation New York is in is typically every year there’s like one guy sitting out there that’s the obvious big candidate to go get right but this year for whatever reason that candidate was not there so the Knicks went and tried to get Jason Kidd and Billy Donovan and Quinn Snyder and they went down the list of these coaches that were hired by teams and employed by teams and those teams wouldn’t let them out so now they’ve gone through this process of waiting to see who they’re going to land i mean look we could look back on this a year from now and say the Knicks find their Joe Tory who 30 years ago got hired by the Yankees very similar situation buck Sho Walter got fired they’ve went a long time looking for a coach that is the situation everybody well that’s what I’m saying like that’s what I’m saying like your expectation is I mean think about a couple years ago or last year first or second round for this Knicks was a good season now they’re going to burn Mart Gardner if you don’t make the finals if you lose her on the play that is an intense amount of pressure you are a failure if you do not take a Knicks team that has not been to the finals this century to the finals that is unreal pressure
that’s what the money’s for
that’s right
that’s why you get paid all Yeah pressure builds diamonds right that’s the whole point of it the situation I I just find confusing they’re not really able to make moves in free agency right now because they don’t have a head coach and what did Wendy say in the first block today’s NBA needs to have depth and that is the one thing that the New York Knicks have none of
i I wouldn’t necessarily quite go that far they’ve agreed to get Jordan Clarkson signed and they have their taxpayers level exception to go sign somebody else and this is a team that’s large the cake is largely baked there’s not a lot of stuff they’re going to do right now brian’s right they can make trades but they have their top seven guys they need to add a couple definition
that’s not enough
well they seven is pretty close to what you need they have they’ve now added Jordan Clarkson if they sign one or two more guys this summer they’re going to feel good about what they have like to me it’s they don’t need to go out and fundamentally remake the roster like some of these other teams are talking about
really quick one player go ahead go ahead go ahead go ahead
yeah Shay they don’t
It’s not ideal to fire your coach after he’s just had your best season in 25 years okay but if you don’t have a high draft pick and you don’t have a lot of money to spend in free agency it’s not the end of the world not to have your coach for those two things it’s not perfect but the Knicks haven’t lost anything with this
really quick before we go to break here Wendy or anyone why aren’t they talking to Michael Malone that does seem like a candidate that’s floating out there that has not been at all in conversations with the Knicks i don’t think that’s a perfect fit
okay and we’ll leave it right there we’ll have our second night of coverage three more hours beginning at 7 Eastern 4 Pacific on ESPN players can sign contracts beginning July 6th you know one of the busiest teams in the NBA free agency was the Rockets they picked up Dorian Finny Smith and Clint Capella they also retained a few of their own in Fred Bland Steven Adams and Jabari Smith Jr another team though in the West that was busy was the Denver Nuggets michael Porter Jr was traded to the Nets and in return they got Cam Johnson the Nuggets are also bringing back Bruce Brown who won the title with them back in 2023 what about the Mavericks they got D’Angelo Russell he averaged a career low in points per game in field goal percentage but should get a lot more run in Dallas with Kyrie Irving out to start the year with that torn ACL overall teams have spent $1.42 billion in free agency that is yeah billions with a B that doesn’t even include player options like LeBron James which was above $52 million and so here we are now back with David Wendy and Tim and Wendy you saw all those moves but let’s talk more about some teams that were maybe not as active and that leads me to ask which team is under the most pressure now to make a move in free agency
yeah the Lakers need a starting center in fact the Lakers need a starting center and a backup center quite frankly and so we’ve seen a number of centers come off the board in the first few day first few hours of free agency and the Lakers were not able to do that now there is no timeline here it’s not like you get penalized if you don’t do a deal immediately uh they have to have a team in place by the fall um but you know there was a couple of people that you know look like they would be good fits for them that went elsewhere i think the real surprising one was Brook Lopez brook Lopez was a starter uh level player in Milwaukee a core piece of that team for the last seven years still is a very good defensive player and a floor stretcher he’s not the rim runner roller to the basket type player that is you know maybe more ideal for Luca Donuch but certainly a piece that would have helped the Lakers out and he leaves a potential starting job in Milwaukee passes on the Lakers who I do think had some interest in him um where he would have probably been a good chance to be the starter and takes a backup job for just one full year guaranteed with the Clippers so that was interesting um so the Lakers are under some pressure to get that center no matter where LeBron is about his his investment with with what the team is doing no matter where Luca is with his contract they have to have a starting center to be able to play and balance their roster out by the fall and they have known this since uh uh February they did not get it done in the regular season they have not gotten it done in and around the draft they have not gotten it done in the first night of free agency so they’ve got to make sure they get a player and the longer and the whole league knows it and the longer this goes the higher the price will be whether it’s to sign a player or whether it’s in in via trade
you agree is that the is that the team under the most pressure in the Lakers
i certainly think the Lakers are in a ton under a ton of pressure and I certainly agree with Brian that they need to get a center and frankly have from the moment they traded for Luca Donuch back in January but just to change things up a little bit I’m going to say the Milwaukee Bucks because we have spent months if not the last couple of years talking about what is the future of Giannis Tetakoupo and where is he going to be playing moving forward and for the Milwaukee Bucks who have now lost three years in a row in the first round who now have Damen Lo who’s probably going to miss the whole season with a torn Achilles we’re now looking at a team that so far in free agency has resigned Bobby Portoris ressigned Kevin Porter Jr ressigned Gary Trent and has lost Lopez in free agency and by the way that was a Milwaukee Bucks team including Damen Lillard for half of that series that lost in five games to the Pacer to the Indiana Pacers in the first round of the playoffs that is not a team that is close to being a contending team that is not a team that’s close to being a factor which is what you’d think a guy like Gasten Koopo would want to be at this point in his career so there’s still time for the Bucks left to make moves they still have some flexibility to add salary we’ll see if they go out of center to replace Brook Lopez here over the next 24 hours or so we’ll see if they can make some trades to try to improve this roster but the question of the summer is is Giannis Tennakoupo satisfied and happy with this Buck’s roster if the answer is yes and he wants to stay in Milwaukee that’s awesome good for him he’s deserved he earned he has earned and deserved that right if he wants to play his whole career with the Bucks that’s great if he is looking around and thinking hey do I want to finish my career in Milwaukee do I want to have a chance to compete for a title do I want to have a chance to compete for being one of the elite teams in the conference this Bucks team is not a top four team in the East they have a lot of work to do to get there and if they don’t it’s going to only renew the questions about what Giannis’ future might look like
okay but so but center seems to be the hot commodity right now between the Lakers obviously and the Bucks and yes keeping your stars happy is another layer to this whole thing do you agree with Tim and Wendy is it the Lakers the Bucks or you got another team well those two teams are definitely under a lot of pressure i think the the thing with those two teams is that I would say that there’s not much out there that can move them into contention right like they can make all the moves that they can try to want try to make but I don’t think there’s something that you can say we wake up they made a trade they got a center they got a little bit of depth and now suddenly they are top four in their respective conferences i think the one team that I think could move into contention that needs to make a sort certain move very quickly is the Golden State Warriors they need to figure out what to do with this Kaminga thing and they need to pretty do it pretty fast like this Steph Curry well first of all the two timelines thing has not worked out right and so now Kaminga is the last sort of uh bastion of that move that they have and they need to figure out what they’re going to do with him and what they can build around Stephen Curry for those last couple of years that they can get you know deeper into the playoffs we saw last year they got second round they maybe could have beaten Minnesota if Steph Curry was healthy we’ll never know but I think that this Kaminga thing is the missing piece that they can figure out can we get some other guys in there can we get a little bit more depth can we get something to build around him uh it’s been so too much of this will he or won’t he with this guy they need to figure out what how to maximize his value
it’s a bad year to be a restricted free agent it’s always tough to be a restricted free agent but right now there’s only a couple of teams that at the start of free agency that had money to spend that could offer and those teams have pretty much gone other directions they have not prioritized Kaminga but the only way Kaminga can get a salary that he wants is to assign and trade which requires the Warriors to cooperate it’s a historic problem it’s particularly pricky prickly this year so the the Warriors themselves as David laid out there are going to try they need to use Kaminga to to get another piece so where I suspect this is headed is the Warriors investing in a contract in Jonathan Kuminga that while they would never admit it at the press conference is specifically designed to be traded later on that they signed him to a deal that they intend to trade they did this rather famously with D’Angelo Russell when Kevin Durant wanted to leave you know they signed D’Angelo Russell they hugged him they posed for photos with him and they thought about trading him about 15 minutes later and that is something that they may end up with Kaminga the thing about it is is that you want Kaminga to be in a contract that he’s willing to sign that’s representative of what he think his value is and you want his value to remain high and his value has been all over the place because of the the way the Warriors have played with them but the Warriors are a dangerous team when it comes to transactions number one if indeed they get Kaminga into a contract whether it’s a sign and trade now or it’s something that they sign him to now and trade him later they have their draft assets they had they can really spice up a pick with with draft picks and they’re they’re a team that people want to play for the Stars want to play for so they have to be thinking about the future as well as how are they going to necessarily you know compete in October but where they might be able what they might be able to do in January and February because remember people were calling for them to do something last year they waited and they were patient ended up with Jimmy Butler
okay so it sounds like Lakers Warriors Bucks is there any other team we would throw into the pot that’s under pressure right now to do something in free agency or are we happy with this list obviously the Kaminga situation is pressing with the Warriors but as Wendy pointed out obviously they went and traded for Jimmy Butler and if they can figure out how to do this they’re a dangerous team anyone else we throw in there warriors Lakers Bucks you’re on the clock
i mean the thing about free
I think that go ahead Wendy
i I the Nuggets are under an interesting spot so they made a big move yesterday we talked about a little bit earlier by trading for Cam Johnson um the Nuggets have got to be sitting there thinking about these last two years they won the title two years ago then they lost to the to the Wolves in in seven games and they lost to the Thunder in seven games this year and they lost to the Thunder in large part because they ran out of players at the end and so they made this deal and this deal brings in a player who a lot of people think is going to be a perfect fit alongside Nikolai Joic um and it opens up a a lot of salary maneuvering room but they’re also very expensive and they’re in the repeater tax right now and every dollar they spend is costing their ownership four or$5 dollars and so they’re going to approach Nicola Yokic with a contract extension in the coming days and they’re going to say “Hey would you like to would you like to take three more years and $25 million to lock yourself up through your prime with us?” And I don’t know what Jokic is going to say and if I’m Jokic and I’m looking at the roster I’m saying “Okay you’ve opened up this money are you did you open up this money to save on luxury tax or did you open up this money to help build out our depth?” They did sign Bruce Brown yesterday and that and he’s a was a key piece on their 2023 team but they have they have maneuverability on their roster right now and they also have no luxury tax bill so which is it going to be is it going to be maneuverability or luxury tax bill when you go to Nicola Joic so there’s there’s I don’t think Yic is going anywhere to be clear but their owner Josh Kroni openly admitted he’s not sure whether Yokic is going to sign this deal because if he waits a year he can get a better contract offer well he also may consider what the team is doing with its roster when he considers whether to sign it now
okay well that would be a perplexing situation if Dakota Yokic decides not to sign a a max contract or to stay with the Nuggets but they did make some moves as you just pointed out

Brian Windhorst, Tim Bontemps and David Dennis Jr. join Shae Cornette on First Take to react to NBA free agency moves so far and dive into all things New York Knicks.

0:00 Nickeil Alexander-Walker to the Atlanta Hawks
2:27 Mike Brown emerges as Knicks HC frontrunner
3:28 Is being the Knicks’ HC desirable?
8:40 Free agency headlines
9:34 Los Angeles Lakers need a center
12:02 Giannis Antetokounmpo’s future
15:20 Jonathan Kuminga situation
16:30 Denver Nuggets’ situation

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