For a day smacked in the middle of the summer, kicking off August, and with most definitely nothing going around, I can’t believe I got this thing to go past 850 words. Links and notes.
- James Dolan expects the Knicks’ title defense to be the most enjoyable season of his ownership, following a summer in which New York’s squad is “coming back pretty much intact.” Keywords: Pretty much.
- In the eyes of everybody reading this and also New York Post pundit Jared Schwartz’s, the Knicks are now the team everyone else is building to beat. After using Boston as a blueprint during their own rise, New York will now have to adjust to fresh challenges from across the League as the 76ers, Heat, and other contenders all made moves to try and counter the Knicks’ greatness. Schwartz discussed them all and highlighted the main thing that might prove the biggest challenge for New York to deal with from each of those new contenders. An example:
“The 76ers’ length: The ‘Wingstop’ duo of OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges was brought in with the Celtics’ wing duo of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown in mind. The need to stop elite wings has become increasingly pivotal in the modern NBA, and the Knicks ensured they had the personnel to do so.
Now, it’s the 76ers — not the Celtics — who present potential wing problems in LeBron James and Jaylen Brown. In a matchup between the two teams, Anunoby assuredly would guard one of those, though the other is a bit more of an open question. Bridges spent much of the postseason as the Knicks’ point-of-attack defender, guarding opposing guards rather than wings. Against the 76ers in particular, he did a terrific job on Tyrese Maxey.”
- Kendrick Perkins didn’t rank the Knicks as the No. 1 team in the Eastern Conference heading into the 2027 NBA season.
- Same Perk didn’t call Jalen Brunson the Knicks’ “most important player” after he led New York to its first championship in 53 years.
- ESPN’s Vince Goodwill said Towns was and still is “disappointed” that the Knicks did not offer him an extension during the season nor in the early days of the offseason, although the situation is obviously expected to be resolved sooner rather than later.
“Go back to during the season when Karl-Anthony Towns wanted an extension from the Knicks. The Knicks did not offer him one. He was disappointed, but he says he wants to be a Knick for life. He said, ‘These are the things that handle themselves in the offseason as long as I handle myself on the floor. The Knicks won the championship. Karl-Anthony Towns was a hub. He’s expecting some resolution to that soon.”
- Could an overperforming Miles McBride put the Knicks in a difficult position? That’s what Daily Knicks’ Jack Simone believes, with Deuce coming off a disappointing end to the postseason and is entering his final year under contract in New York.
- Fellow Daily Knicks scribe Kenny Kluska thinks Tyler Kolek — and the Knicks’ needs — might have played his way out of New York.
- Per ClutchPoints’ Brett Siegel, Minnesota has an interest in signing former end-of-pine Knick Jeremy Sochan. Alright, then. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
- Siegel also reported that Golden State would welcome Kevin Durant back if he becomes available at some point next season.
- Shaquille O’Neal is convinced the Knicks’ championship came down to “a lot of luck” during their run. At least he called out the Spurs and, namely, De’Aaron Fox for their fooliness.
- On a positive note, Shaq also compared Brunson’s postseason mindset to Kobe’s Mamba Mentality.
“Kenny and I cornered (Brunson). We had a show right before the playoffs, and I like to mess with guys. I said, ‘Hey man, you going to win a championship this year?’ He had that look in his eye like when I used to ask Kobe. Like he really had that look where I was like ‘Hey, they were going to do it.’ And then when they played Atlanta and lost those games, I got nervous. But the way they stepped up, came back, and were beating teams, they actually did it the right way.”
- Now welcome to the Dillon Brooks corner.
- Brooks accused LeBron of doing “everything he can” to secure another championship and “get more footage” for his own Last Dance documentary. For context, LeBron and Maverick Carter had already pushed back (falsely, likely) on the reports that they are nearing an agreement with ESPN to film such a thing. Related to this, Rich Paul has suggested that playing in Philadelphia could energize James enough to play anywhere from two to four more seasons.
- Brooks named the only player he cannot hate on, believe it or not. “Nothing you can hate about him,” he said.
- Brooks also wants to fight Jimmy Butler in a boxing match. “I always feel the animosity.”
- Brooks described Russell Westbrook as an uncoachable dude, for not entirely bad reasons.
- Brooks claimed the delayed Kawhi Leonard trade to Toronto will never happen.
- The BIG3 is now valued at approximately $290 million and is targeting major expansion. Ice Cube revealed the league will eventually expand to between 24 and 34 teams, although he emphasized that growth must happen responsibly.
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