WATCH OUT FOR THE KNICKS

DO NOT LOOK NOW BUT THE KNICKS BUILT THEMSELVES A PRETTY GOOD TEAM.

NEW YORK POST

The pieces fit perfectly together for Joakim Noah — his longtime worship of Phil Jackson, his years wearing the jerseys of Patrick Ewing and Larry Johnson as a New York City schoolboy, the chance to rejoin his “brother” Derrick Rose and fill the Knicks’ vacant center position.

Noah, the 7-foot former Bull, was in his glory at Friday’s introductory press conference, professing his love for the Big Apple after signing a $72 million contract and listing 72 million reasons why this coming-home scenario makes sense.

“I’m not taking this opportunity for granted,’’ Noah, the 2014 Defensive Player of the Year, said. “This has been a dream of mine since I was 5 years old.”

Noah’s mother, Cecilia, a former Miss Sweden, and his sister, Yelena, a former model and current jewelry maker, both still live in Brooklyn, where he attended Poly Prep. His father is former French tennis star Yannick Noah.

“We’re proud to be from New York,’’ said Noah, who grew up in Hell’s Kitchen. “My parents are divorced, but my father is a proud New Yorker. We all are. Fortunately, his son is playing for the New York Knicks now. This means everything to me. I’m going to do everything to make this special.”

Noah listed several former Knicks players as his heroes — from Ewing to Johnson to Chris Childs to Marcus Camby to Latrell Sprewell.

He said he had many of their jerseys and claimed to be in the Garden the night of Johnson’s miraculous four-point play in the playoffs against the Pacers, and when Michael Jordan dropped 55 on the Knicks in his return from retirement.

“Not following in anyone’s footsteps, but these are the people who shaped me,’’ Noah said. “Those are the people I looked up to. I had their jersey. I had their pictures on my wall.
Modal Trigger
Joakim Noah and Phil JacksonPhoto: AFP/Getty Images

“Even though none of those guys won a championship, I know what they mean to the city because I’m from here.”

Noah said his connection with Jackson is strong. Yannick had him read all of Jackson’s books when he was a kid.

“And I hate reading books,’’ Noah said.

Noah told a bizarre story about journeying to Montana five years ago to pay an unannounced visit to the then-retired Zen Master at his lakehouse retreat. Noah’s dentist was a Jackson friend and once had put the two together on the phone briefly. Still, Jackson was stunned by Noah arriving at his doorstep.

“I took a plane, went to Montana and I knocked on his door,’’ Noah said. “We started talking. ‘Why are you here?’ [he asked]. I said, ‘I don’t know.’ It was a great couple of days — an opportunity to meet one of the legends and spend time with him. Life works in mysterious ways and now we’re here.”

Jackson had made Noah — not the pipe dream Kevin Durant — his top priority as the Zen Master spread out his cap space between a starting center, starting shooting guard Courtney Lee, sixth man/backup point guard Brandon Jennings and 2015 draft pick, center Willy Hernangomez.

“Joakim is somebody who has been on my list for a long time,’’ Jackson said. “Like to have this guy as a leader with the defensive attitude that he carries and likes to promote. Most players and a lot of coaches recognize this.

“He was initially our first choice in the first-agent market. We have offensive players. We need guys to do the rest of the work what’s behind the scenes or not as noticed. Similar to Robin Lopez last year.”

Noah is a free spirit and often throws an expletive into his conversations to emphasize a point — like the concern about his health after playing just 29 games last season because of shoulder surgery and being limited the year before after offseason knee surgery. Though Noah is just two years removed from finishing fourth in the MVP voting, he doesn’t mind fans worrying about his health.

Noah said he wants to retire a Knick — even if he’s barely able to run by that stage.

“I understand completely,’’ Noah said. “I’ve been injured the last couple of years, and it sucks as an athlete. Trust me, there’s nothing more I want than to be on the court. No matter what anyone writes or says, nobody cares about this s–t more than me. I’m going to be very passionate about this — always have been, always will. This is where I want to end my career until my wheels fall off. This is my path. I won’t have it any other way.’’
Modal Trigger
Jeff Hornacek, Joakim Noah, Phil Jackson and Steve MillsPhoto: Anthony J. Causi

Noah met with Jackson, coach Jeff Hornacek and general manager Steve Mills at a posh Disney resort hotel on July 1, but he said his decision was made the moment the Knicks dealt starting center Robin Lopez as part of the deal to bring Rose from Chicago to New York.

“This is my dream situation, this is where I wanted to be when I saw the Derrick Rose trade happened, and we were together [in the NYC clubs]. I was like: ‘Let’s make this happen,’ ” Noah said.

Still, Noah enjoyed his dinner recruitment meeting with brass when he agreed to contract terms.

“He’s really a historian,’’ Noah said of Jackson. “Not just about basketball, but life. Having somebody like that around and being able to talk to him as a basketball player and as a young man growing up in the game, it’s such a blessing.”

Noah said none of this would have happened if the Rose for Lopez deal hadn’t occurred.

“I never would’ve thought he’d have left Chicago,’’ Noah said. “It’s pretty amazing. He was hometown guy showing me around, now he’s on my turf. I get to play with my brother.”

NBA scouts are buzzing that the Knicks — with their primary additions of Rose, Noah, Lee and Jennings — have become players in the East. Noah won’t say how much so.

“I have no idea. I love the makeup, the characters Phil put together,’’ Noah said. “Now it’s on us to jell. Chemistry is everything. Everybody has to take their egos — and what they think it should look like — [and put it] aside. Make the right sacrifices to be the best team possible. That doesn’t always happen. There’s no place I’d rather find out.”

112288

we'll see. signing a couple of injury riddled "former" star players usually doesn't bode well.

Wasn't it the NY Post that was pumping out those ridiculous trade rumors about Danny trading Rondo to the Knicks for a bunch of spare parts, trying to lift the spirits of dispirited Knick fans?  Now they're trying to lift the spirits of dispirited Knick fans again.

To quote Sam, "See me in April".


bob


.

on another note, I wonder if there is any traction about the rumored Love for Cousins trade?

Cav's may need to make a move to stay up with the Warriors and I doubt that "birdman" is gonna do it!

also Westbrook t the Lakers makes a lot of sense now also. especially if the Laker keep Ingram. Just sayin'

Here's another opinion.  Perhaps one less, shall we say, blatantly partisan than the NEW YORK Post...?


https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/sports/wp/2016/07/09/the-knicks-are-the-biggest-losers-of-nba-free-agency-while-celtics-win-big/



The Knicks are the biggest losers of NBA free agency, while Celtics win big

By Tim Bontemps July 9 at 9:30 AM




Joakim Noah was the signature signing of this offseason for the Knicks. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)



By all accounts, the New York Knicks have emerged from this offseason as a better team than before it began. By trading for Derrick Rose and signing Joakim Noah, Courtney Lee and Brandon Jennings, the Knicks have surrounded star forward Carmelo Anthony and rookie sensation Kristaps Porzingis with veteran talent to lift them back into the playoffs after a three-year absence.

Contrary to a popular July belief, though, NBA games aren’t played on paper. And while the Knicks may have a terrific team in this year’s annual NBA2K video game – particularly if injuries are turned off – it’s hard to see this team taking the tangible steps forward many expect with this new roster.

The Knicks seemingly came into this offseason hell bent on trying to put together a team that could be a title contender in 2011, as opposed to 2017. They sent out a package of players for Rose, the NBA’s Most Valuable Player in 2011 who hasn’t been anywhere close to the same player since undergoing multiple knee surgeries. They immediately agreed to a contract with Noah, who has admitted he’ll never be the same after undergoing knee surgery two years ago and who played 29 games before a season-ending shoulder surgery last year. Noah’s deal will pay him an average of $18 million a year through 2020 – when Noah will be 35 years old.

Meanwhile, they declined to offer a contract to one of their nice finds of the past two years in Langston Galloway, a 24-year-old guard who showed a penchant for both hitting three-pointers and being a capable defender at either guard spot – the kind of commodity every team is looking for these days. They also shipped out 23-year-old Jerian Grant in the Rose trade, giving up on a first round pick after only intermittently playing him last season.

These are the kinds of players, in theory, the Knicks should have been keeping around Porzingis, a gifted 20-year-old center who appears to have star potential. New York would argue bringing in veteran talent will help with Porzingis’s development, but all it seems likely to do is clog up the team’s salary cap with money spent on aging, less-effective talent over the next few years.

Contrast that with the approach of the Boston Celtics, the biggest winners in free agency outside of the Golden State Warriors. Boston was coming off an iffy draft, and entrered free agency armed with plenty of cash but no clear targets to spend it on. All the Celtics did was wind up with Al Horford, the second best unrestricted free agent behind Kevin Durant, a move that both delivered Boston the star it has craved for years and smashed the stereotype that no stars would consider the Celtics as free agents.

Now the Celtics head into next season armed with plenty of young players and draft picks to package in trades for another star, and they’ve maintained salary cap flexibility moving forward to go big-game hunting in the free agent market next summer. It’s an approach that allowed them to get better in the short-term, and in the long-term.

The Knicks could learn something about that. New York may well be better in the season ahead. But will that cost them in seasons beyond? It sure seems like it might.

But the Knicks and Celtics aren’t the only losers and winners from a wild opening few days of July.


Winner: Memphis Grizzlies – Not only did Memphis retain free agent point guard Mike Conley, but it also managed to lure forward Chandler Parsons from Dallas, winning a bidding war to sign the first free agent max contract in Grizzlies history. Memphis should still be a contender in the Western Conference.


Loser: Chicago Bulls – No, the Bulls didn’t ruin their future this summer, but neither the signing of Rajon Rondo nor Dwyane Wade make much sense with their current roster. It will be a fascinating season in the Windy City, though, with that pair in a starting backcourt next to Jimmy Butler.


Winner: Mid-tier markets keeping their stars – Yes, Durant decided to go to Golden State. But between Memphis keeping Conley, Toronto keeping DeMar DeRozan and Charlotte keeping Nicolas Batum, this was a free agent class that showed if players like where they’re at, and think they can win, they’ll be happy to stay.


Loser: Los Angeles Lakers – The Lakers couldn’t get a meeting with Durant, or even with Hassan Whiteside. So what did they do? Give a combined $34 million a year to Luol Deng and Timofey Mozgov. Deng was a strong signing, but that wasn’t the haul the Lakers envisioned when they went into this summer with a war chest full of money.


Winner: Dwight Howard – There was a serious question as to whether Howard would get more than a one-year deal, and if he’d come anywhere close to the $23.5 million option for next season with the Houston Rockets he turned down. Instead, Howard got that same number – on a three-year deal, no less – to go home to the Atlanta Hawks.


Loser: Indiana Pacers – Team president Larry Bird has wanted to play smaller, faster and score more, and this summer made several moves to ensure that will happen. What’s not clear, though, is if it will make the Pacers better. Indiana now has little shooting, should be worse on defense and fired a successful coach in Frank Vogel, making this, at best, an offseason full of risky moves.



bob


.