Insiders Drop WILD Knicks Free Agency Update…

Insiders Drop WILD Knicks Free Agency Update…

NBA insiders have dropped a wild update as it pertains to the New York Knicks in free agency. With the Knicks being linked to multiple free agent targets, now we are seeing another name really come into the fold who we have talked about a bit, but now it is more at the forefront with a lot of discussion surrounding who is correct for Mike Brown’s team and insiders giving a huge update on all of this. And we’re going to break it all down. But guys, before we do that, if you are not subscribed to Nicks Digest and you’re part of that 59%, make sure to subscribe for daily New York Knicks updates. We have a lot of videos coming out right now preseason training camp. It’s closing in and there’s going to be so much noise surrounding the Knicks with some of these moves that they make, including this final roster spot that we have to jump right into and talk about because there’s been a lot of guys linked to the New York Knicks in recent days. I mean, obviously we’ve seen probably more than anyone Ben Simmons get linked to the Knicks time and time again. Simmons is holding up the market for multiple guards right now as he is really the guy who most teams are looking at. Teams like the Sacramento Kings, the Knicks, they’re looking at Simmons as a very serious option for this team going into next season for a bench role on a veterans minimum contract. something that has fans split basically across the board with every single team, whether it’s Kings fans, whether it’s Knicks fans, whether it’s anyone in between whose team has shown interest in Simmons. The fan base has never been all agreeing 100%. And now, guys, what we’re seeing is a situation where other players are now being linked to the Knicks, one of them being Russell Westbrook. Now, recently, SNY did discuss Russell Westbrook as a real free agency option for the Knicks. As David Versburgger said, Westbrook looks like a long shot given rumors don’t tie him to New York and there’s no clear path to consistent minutes in this rotation. With that being said, he’s proven much more impactful than Malcolm Bragden or Ben Simmons in recent years and would be an absolute firecracker of an ad if the Knicks pulled it off. What Westbrook’s lost in athleticism and scoring efficiency, he’s leaned or learned to make up for with defensive tenacity and high motor play, which you know he’s always done. He does not take a play, let alone a game off. And he’s always full tempo when he’s on the court. These are especially valuable things to bring off your bench, especially in a limited role on a small deal. It’s just unlikely that Westbrook takes one with three guards ahead of him on the depth chart. Fun to think about, especially in the context of a slower Knicks team, but not much else to consider here. Now, the thing is the Knicks have shown a lot of interest in Westbrook. Last year, he put up 13 points, five rebounds, and six assists per game. still showing signs of that guy who was once one of the best players in the NBA winning the 2016 the 2016 2017 MVP. Look, there’s obviously issues. He’s not a great shooter, though. He did shoot 43% on corner threes. He shot 45% from the field and 32% from through, which is around his career average now. But still, there’s there’s signs there of that guy who’s still very much I mean, still an impactful player. He’s a bigger guard. He’s a complete point guard and the Knicks do have a lot of guards on this roster. would make things difficult considering you do have Jordan Clarkson and Duce McBride as well with obviously Jaylen Brunson starting. So finding a spot for Russ is difficult as he’s going to be 37 next year entering year 18 of his storied NBA career. But look, I mean when you look at the numbers between Russ and Ben Simmons, Russ still looks like the better player numbers wise. I mean, Simmons is obviously a better defender, can defend multiple positions and play multiple positions, sort of putting up five points, five rebounds, and five and a half assists per game, shooting 52% from the field, and still being a very positive defensive player. Ben Simmons is someone who the Knicks have interest in because of his versatility more than anything and the ability to be a lead ball handler, something the Knicks clearly do want another one of. Now, on top of that, there’s also Malcolm Brogden, who Knicks fans, myself included, have had a lot of interest in because Brogden, look, he had a weird year considering his shooting was way below what it usually is. But, he is one of the better shooting guards in the league still. That 28% from three, I’m chalking it up to him being just in a losing situation all year. So, he just did not have as efficient of a season as he would on a team like the Knicks. We’ve seen him play much better on the Indiana Pacers and Boston Celtics in the past. So, I do think Malcolm Brogden could easily get back there. He put up 13 points per game last year, four rebounds, four assists. He’s an RA defender as well and shot 40% on corner threes. Malcolm Brogden is a solid player and the Knicks have held interest in Brogden before, but it’s going to just time and time again come down to there is a lot of guards on this Knicks roster already, which is why the Knicks have so much interest in Simmons over other players because Simmons can play multiple positions. Meanwhile, Russell Westbrook, the man’s a pure point guard. We all know that that’s something that is not going to change in time with this Knicks team whatsoever. We have seen them really, really focus on trying to get more guys around Jaylen Brunson who could handle the ball so Brunson does not have to dominate it. But when you look at a guy like Russell Westbrook, he does fit into Mike Brown’s system in a lot of ways. Yeah, he can’t shoot and that’s a problem. However, he’s a very quick moving guy who can make the tempo go faster and be an extension of the coaching staff in a lot of ways while understanding his role as a veteran on this team who’s being a leader and also is going to be kind of a mentor to some guys. I mean, it’s not exactly the youngest Knicks team in the world. They’re not old by any means. They’re mostly just all the players are in their primes, which is great. I mean, absolutely, we should be happy about that. But when it comes down to it, it’s not like Russ is mentoring a bunch of young guys in a way that Chris Paul did with OKC. It’s more of Russ’s just a veteran on a team that could use another veteran more than anything else is really what it is and also could just use another good player. So, there’s something like that to consider as well when it comes down to it, which is important. I mean, you look at Russ, he did have a solid run in the playoffs. He put up 11.7 points per game, four rebounds, and two and a half assists in the 13 games that he appeared in. in 24 minutes a night. He shot not great at all, shooting just under 40% from the field and 32% from three. So, the numbers there were not ideal. And you can sag off Russ a lot. And if you could put Russ out there with Mitchell Robinson and Josh Hart, something that would be pretty hard to not do. You’re really going to hinder your shooting a lot, which is the big concern here. It’s the same concern we have with Ben Simmons. Simmons is a little bit bigger, but it doesn’t really matter. He doesn’t look at the rim at all. So, it’s still going to be the same thing where if you add a non-shooter, you’re going to have some just struggles here and there with the amount of non-shooting on this team. But Russ was still able to ball out in game seven against the Los Angeles Clippers. He had an excellent game putting up 16 points, five rebounds, five assists, five steals as well. Shot really well from the field. Russ was able to be very, very effective with the Denver Nuggets last year in the playoffs. He had a good run, including in game one having a steal that led to the Thunder or wow that led to the Nuggets winning that game before ultimately losing to the Thunder in seven the next time around or the next series around I should say. But when it comes down to it, it is very very much a move that will have its its good and its bad. Now, the Knicks are not the only team interested in Russ. The Sacramento Kings dream off season is to land both Jonathan Kaminga and Russell Westbrook. know, Scott Perry out there doing whatever Scott Perry’s doing out there. And on top of that, you look at a guy like Landry Shamid, who I still do want the Knicks to sign. To me, it’s been Andrew Shamid. That’s the guy who I want to see the Knicks go get. It just makes a ton of sense. The man, he shot 54% from three when he started getting consistent minutes with the Knicks in the playoffs. I mean, it’s not like he was doing anything crazy, but he was getting 13.2 minutes per game, and he was shooting, he was putting up six points on 54% from three. That’s the guy who I want to see the Knicks sign because I do think they need another quick trigger shooter. Landry Sham, I I said it all year last year. He’s the discount Dante Danchenzo. It does really give you another guy who can shoot the ball and yeah, he’s not a lead ball handler, but you do have Jordan Clarkson now who can definitely do a lot of the ball handling and I feel like the Knicks are ignoring that right now and they want more of a floor general passing guy as well. But there are some in the Knicks organization that do highly value Landry Sham and want to see him come back. Meanwhile, Ben Simmons in the playoffs got played off the court by the Nuggets, which is something that we should all be aware of. He averaged eight minutes per game and they slowly decreased. And he didn’t even average a full point in that, shooting 33% from the field. So, it’s one of these situations where I genuinely do think the Knicks, their best move is still going to be Landry Shamut. And if it’s not, go get Malcolm Brogden. Get someone who could hit a jump shot. I’m biased towards people who could shoot because the Knicks having both Josh Hart and Mitchell Robinson in the rotation. Adding another non-shooter is going to make things difficult. Not to say that Josh is a non-shooter. He’s not a complete non-shooter, but he doesn’t take a lot of shots from three and it’s an issue because I mean at times he’s been a great shooter. He’s averaged around 40% from three for whole seasons before. In the last two playoffs, Josh Hart has shot 37% from three. But in the regular season, the jump shot’s not there. And I don’t care too much about the regular season wins and losses. But at the same time, what I do care about is just having him have the confidence to shoot threes. season if he doesn’t have it and you also have Russ or Ben Simmons and then you have Mitchell Robinson, it’s going to become so clustered and that Mike Brown offense is not going to work the same. Who do you guys want to see the Knicks sign? Let me know in the comments down below if you have interest in Russell Westbrook. We have a few other free agency videos to do. I’m going to try to tie them into other stuff. So, I’m not just doing any video with like a player with a jersey swap going on. I know that you guys that I know you guys hate when I do that back toback. So, I’m going to try my best to find other topics as well because we do have some other free agency stuff to go over. But guys, training camp is just around the corner. I am so excited. We’re about to have basketball back in a month. It’s going to be excellent. There’s a lot of stuff that’s going to happen. The Knicks are going to sign some guys to training camp deals. We’re going to see those two-way contracts get done. We’re going to see them make that veteran minimum signing and we’re going to see them make that rookie minimum signing. And there’s going to be a lot to talk about in the upcoming days and weeks. So, you guys want to make sure to subscribe to have those post notifications on. Thank you so much for watching. As always, like this video, subscribe, turn on post notifications, have a great day, and go Knicks. Also, I did I realized I didn’t say my name all video. Is Chris here? It’s actually I’m not here.

Chris Gallagher breaks down the New York Knicks being linked to Russell Westbrook, albeit being a long shot.

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