Did I just read this right? Townes to Knicks??

What is going on in Minny??? Are they nuts? They just blew up that team if this story is true. Karl Anthony Townes for Julius Randle and first round pick????

It’s not official, but everyone is reporting it. Should be confirmed by tomorrow. Don’t know who won this deal, which team? Timberwolves added a lot of depth, going all in on Anthony Edwards, who should STFU, thanks Magic. Knicks got a legit young monster center, when he’s right, who looks undisciplined to me and needs to lose some weight.

The report I saw last night said that Townes was not a good locker room guy, so chemistry is definitely one of the issues along with $$$$. Minny saved a lot of $$ dumping his contract

Well the Knicks moved the needle some on chasing us. However, their depth takes a hit. Basically, they have Towns, OG, Bridges, Hart and Brunson as starters. McBride is pretty good off the bench, and Robinson is solid when healthy. They match up pretty well with us, but if KP is healthy we are still better. The J's are going to have to step up because OG and Bridges are legit match ups. The J's have to dominate those matchups. especially if KP is not 100%. This should be a fun season.

IMHO

This is a huge trade for the Knicks.  

It makes a lot of sense for both teams.  We knew that MN was looking to reduce their payroll.  They will save around $10 million this year.  Randle will make $28.9 million this year and has a player option for S30.9 Million.  MN could move him again.  DiVencenzo has 3 year at around $12 million per.

Towns gives the knicks a legit center that can stretch the floor.  Probably the top center given his volume and percentage.  Towns is an 8 rebound per game guy and kinda on the soft side.  He is NO rim protector but neither was Randle.

The knicks had to make a move to upgrade their center spot.  They did that.  Towns is a 50/41.6/87.3   21 PPG scorer.

OG will move to the 4 spot but he is NOT a particularly good rebounder.  The knicks depth takes a hit because Donte has been a knock down 3 pt high volume 3 point shooter. Towns will take 5 per game but Donte led the team at almost 9 attempts per game  (40.1%)

Overall, I would say that the Knicks moved closer to Boston in terms of roster quality.

One more thing. Overall I think this trade gives the Knicks more balance 1-5.

This makes this starting lineup scary good. Where we will, I hope, be able to compete and beat them is that our lineup is so so deep. It will put the pressure on Brunson, especially to stay healthy. This trade was really a blockbuster for the Knicks. Not so sure about Minny unless Randle stays healthy and they build around him.

Rosalie

I think the Celtics still have the edge over NYK.  One can only speculate that the knicks new starting unit will be good.  We already know that our starting unit is the best in the NBA.  I suspect that they will have some chemistry problems because Brunson is a shoot first PG and they have nothing of consequence off the bench that can actually run an offense.

Their projected starting lineup is

Towns at center
OG Anunoby at  PF
Bridges at SF
Hart at SG
Brunson at PG

KAT is going to have an edge at center until we get KP back. However he is not a great defender.

But I'm taking JT over OG and JB over Bridges.   D White would likely matchup with Josh Hart and I am taking White over him because Derrick does everything well.  Brunson is the better pure scorer but Jrue is a multi-purpose guard at point, off the ball switching onto bigs, etc.  

Our bench is better because we have more center depth and both SH and PP are way better than McBride, Cameron Payne and "My Precious"

The bottom line for me is our 3 point heavy offense.  You cannot beat the Celtics unless you can outshoot them from deep.

Time for someone to start playing the Doubting Thomas card before this gets out of hand.  I'll pick up that ball/gift.  Until I see ANYTHING on the court with my own eyes that contradicts and erases well over 50 years or really shitty teams and horrendously horrible management/ownership, they are still the hapless Knicks and the second verse will indeed be same as the first.  They are still in the futility doghouse like the Cowboys have been over the last 30 years.  Stripes don't change, especially over night.  The Knicks will find a way to continue their futility and miserable endings to God-awful seasons.  The real fun is/will be watching heart on his sleeve hardcore Knick fans Steven A. Smith become/continue evolving into the sad, dejected, hat-in-hand Cowboy fans he incessantly shows and picks upon.  Am I the only one that sees these glaring similarities?!!  More in a minute.    

One of my main points for this upcoming season is our bench.  It has to show up all the time and particularly more so when it counts during the playoffs.  They must be relevant.  This season now more than ever.  For the most part, they did not show up in the playoffs mainly because Joe didn't play them.  

Those are two really good starting 5's now, I'll agree.  But our bench has to show up to show the huge difference between the two teams.  Knicks overall don't have the experience we have nor a bench now with D-Squared gone to Minny.  This could be a ECF match up now.  PHI still has to report in.  Who comes out 1st in the East will be huge because one of those three teams will have to play the other two more than likely.  If you're 1st you avoid that 2/3 bracket where one is eliminated.  I'm not convinced we will be 1st yet under the theory that overall I don't know if we are still rising or have already peaked and/or the others have caught up here in the off-season.  First few regular games will tell us a lot. 

First Take could really catapult itself further if this upcoming season one of the other motormouths there would do a side-by-side of Steven A. heart on his sleeve Knicks highs and lows along with his Dallas montages of the hopeless-looking Cowboy fans.  I can promise you the results for both franchises and their fans are/will be IDENTICAL.  I'm surprised no one has thought of this there, but since SAS controls the narrative and the guests, it would be the end of your broadcasting career if you tried to pull it off.  Molly could do it and get away with it.  Legs MAYBE but he's too much of a nice guy and knows where his bread is buttered.  That's about it. 

My FT interest this am will be where SAS drops this weekend breaking NBA bombshell (so HE thinks) into the heavily laden NFL deluge narrative on a Monday during football season. 

db

To your point db, I think it will be very interesting to see how coach Thibs reacts to KAT sometimes moody ways and his (much) less than enthusiasm and desire when it comes to playing defense.

willjr,

Yeah that's going to be a trainwreck definitely worth adding the Knicks to your recorded teams for the season!

So my list is now

Boston, clearly
Knicks - for any and all implosions players or coach
76ers - any and all PG13/Joel Embiid meltdowns
LAL - for losses only, of course
DAL - ditto

Speaking of which, I use YouTubeTV for my LP.  Has anyone tried to order that yet form them?  Got it last year and had no problem but you do need to re-order it every year online.  I keep getting the ol' Error message when I go online to purchase it for this upcoming season.  Is anyone else having these troubles or is it just the Village Idiot of Technology here?  We should be getting all preseason and regular season games, so since Friday is opening day for the pre-season, I was just curious.  Thank you all in advance.   

db

As a Celtics fan I really embrace rivalries. At the very least I want my team to have matchups against competitive teams. Every Ali needs a Joe Frazier

The NBA is a stronger league when the Knicks are a good team.

They have executed 3 significant trades (Anunoby, Bridgers and Towns) They are all in but building a contender does not come cheap.

On paper they look like the top contender to the Celtics. But paper never won a damn thing.

Every teams looks at Boston as the standard for excellence just like teams did with the GSW.

The Oct 22 matchup should be must watch TV.

I will give Leon Rose credit for building up that team, they do have a tough gritty talented team and he has amazingly brought in key pieces, Brunson, Hart, OG, Bridges, Randle and Devo who are both gone now for KAT. He has really built up that team, we can’t deny that and the Garden is rocking once again. Having said all that, they totally overpaid for OG, who has never shown me he can reliably play enough games to earn that contract and be dependable to his teammates and the franchise to rely on for the really big games. I would have kept Hartenstein and gotten him for a lot cheaper than OG. My friends said they had to sign OG or they would have got nothing for RJ and Quickley. The Knicks will have a lot of good moments, if they jell, they could be very formidable and ECF worthy.

dboss wrote:As a Celtics fan I really embrace rivalries.  At the very least I want my team to have matchups against competitive teams.  Every Ali needs a Joe Frazier

The NBA is a stronger league when the Knicks are a good team.

They have executed 3 significant trades (Anunoby, Bridgers and Towns)  They are all in but building a contender does not come cheap.  

On paper they look like the top contender to the Celtics.  But paper never won a damn thing.  

Every teams looks at Boston as the standard for excellence just like teams did with the GSW.  

The Oct 22 matchup should be must watch TV.

I agree.

The Knicks and 76ers are 2 teams that will be prime candidates to try and tweak lineups with an eye on matchups against, and attempting to catch up with, the Celtics.

cowens/oldschool wrote:I will give Leon Rose credit for building up that team, they do have a tough gritty talented team and he has amazingly brought in key pieces, Brunson, Hart, OG, Bridges, Randle and Devo who are both gone now for KAT. He has really built up that team, we can’t deny that and the Garden is rocking once again. Having said all that, they totally overpaid for OG, who has never shown me he can reliably play enough games to earn that contract and be dependable to his teammates and the franchise to rely on for the really big games. I would have kept Hartenstein and gotten him for a lot cheaper than OG. My friends said they had to sign OG or they would have got nothing for RJ and Quickley. The Knicks will have a lot of good moments, if they jell, they could be very formidable and ECF worthy.

Cowens

You are absolutely right about the knicks over-paying for OG Anunoby.  5 years with an average salary of $42 million is quite a bit for a guy who had his best scoring season during the 21-22 season.  He  does seem to get (excuse the pun) nicked up a bit.

Last year he scores 15.1 PPG with 3.9 rebounds for Toronto and scored 14.1 with 4.4 boards with the Knicks.

With the addition of Bridges and Towns along with high volume shooter, Brunson, OG is very likely to be a 4th or 5th option on the Knicks.  They project him to play the 4.  He is no 4 because he is not a good rebounder and cannot defend the rim.  His salary will look even more out of line once his production goes down.

$42 million per is far too much to pay for a role player.

Yes they were compelled to resign him after moving Barrett and Quickley.  

The biggest problem for the Knicks will be having multiple play makers.  Right now they have 2 in the starting lineup in Brunson and bridges.  They have zero legit playmakers in their rotation.  

I expect them to be a very competitive team but they still do not have a great team top to bottom.

NYCelt wrote:

dboss wrote:As a Celtics fan I really embrace rivalries.  At the very least I want my team to have matchups against competitive teams.  Every Ali needs a Joe Frazier

The NBA is a stronger league when the Knicks are a good team.

They have executed 3 significant trades (Anunoby, Bridgers and Towns)  They are all in but building a contender does not come cheap.  

On paper they look like the top contender to the Celtics.  But paper never won a damn thing.  

Every teams looks at Boston as the standard for excellence just like teams did with the GSW.  

The Oct 22 matchup should be must watch TV.

I agree.

The Knicks and 76ers are 2 teams that will be prime candidates to try and tweak lineups with an eye on matchups against, and attempting to catch up with, the Celtics.

NYCelt

Both the Sixers and Knicks have legit big 3's on their team. Neither team if fully built from top to bottom. I was checking out the Sixers rotation depth and they have 38 year old Kyle Lowry and 35 year old Eric Gordon off the bench. Throw 34 year old Reggie Jackson in that mix and you have a collection of Smurfs. They added Drummond as their BU center and he will get played off the court. Who plays the 4 for them? Yabu? Who is their viable SG. Caleb Martin or Kelly Oubre?

The Knick have their own set of problems. #1 not enough playmakers and #2 not enough offense off the bench.

While I can appreciate the improvements made by a few competitors, I do not envy anything that they have done.

db

"Speaking of which, I use YouTubeTV for my LP.  Has anyone tried to order that yet form them?  Got it last year and had no problem but you do need to re-order it every year online.  I keep getting the ol' Error message when I go online to purchase it for this upcoming season.  Is anyone else having these troubles or is it just the Village Idiot of Technology here?  We should be getting all preseason and regular season games, so since Friday is opening day for the pre-season, I was just curious.  Thank you all in advance. "  

db

You can also get LP on Prime.

It shows Celtics/Nuggets upcoming game on Friday.

I also have some other alternatives that you may be interested in.

I usually watch the Boston station that carries most of the Celtics games (NBC Sports Boston) To watch all the game you will need TNT, NBATV, ESPN and ABC. Prime includes NBATV when you get LP.

You should call me and I can tell you what I have been doing for 3 years to watch every Celtics game.

I use to have Youtube TV but I kicked them to the curb like a bad habit.

dboss wrote:

cowens/oldschool wrote:I will give Leon Rose credit for building up that team, they do have a tough gritty talented team and he has amazingly brought in key pieces, Brunson, Hart, OG, Bridges, Randle and Devo who are both gone now for KAT. He has really built up that team, we can’t deny that and the Garden is rocking once again. Having said all that, they totally overpaid for OG, who has never shown me he can reliably play enough games to earn that contract and be dependable to his teammates and the franchise to rely on for the really big games. I would have kept Hartenstein and gotten him for a lot cheaper than OG. My friends said they had to sign OG or they would have got nothing for RJ and Quickley. The Knicks will have a lot of good moments, if they jell, they could be very formidable and ECF worthy.

Cowens

You are absolutely right about the knicks over-paying for OG Anunoby.  5 years with an average salary of $42 million is quite a bit for a guy who had his best scoring season during the 21-22 season.  He  does seem to get (excuse the pun) nicked up a bit.

Last year he scores 15.1 PPG with 3.9 rebounds for Toronto and scored 14.1 with 4.4 boards with the Knicks.

With the addition of Bridges and Towns along with high volume shooter, Brunson, OG is very likely to be a 4th or 5th option on the Knicks.  They project him to play the 4.  He is no 4 because he is not a good rebounder and cannot defend the rim.  His salary will look even more out of line once his production goes down.

$42 million per is far too much to pay for a role player.

Yes they were compelled to resign him after moving Barrett and Quickley.  

The biggest problem for the Knicks will be having multiple play makers.  Right now they have 2 in the starting lineup in Brunson and bridges.  They have zero legit playmakers in their rotation.  

I expect them to be a very competitive team but they still do not have a great team top to bottom.

My Knicks friends, which I have many, living in NYC and now back to Jersey all agree that OG in no way is worth 42 million a year. His agent did an incredible job and it was weird timing, guess they really are that desperate to match up with us and they knew just Hart, a rugged defender similar to Marcus Smart, and Bridges would no way be enough to match up to the best superstar wing tandem in the league, the J’s. I don’t mind referring to them as superstars now since they carried us to a title and have multiple all star games and all NBA selections on their resume. Oh yeah they are also just reaching their peak, either way both J’s match up or are nightmare match ups for the whole league as 2 way wings that are stud athletes and highly motivated and skilled. I expect both to have their biggest years, and not be held back from certain allocades, we know Jaylen is more than worthy of all NBA and all defensive and got railroaded in that respect. Tatum had trouble with his long ball, adapted really well without it during the championship run, but I know he can play a lot better and he’s first team all NBA the last 3 years. So Knicks were so desperate to overpay OG, because they know without him it definitely wouldn’t have been enough and guess what, it still won’t.

You’re right on your call on OG, while a very good defender, he can’t defend multiple positions like our guys. Specifically he can’t defend the 4’s like our guys have both done for years now and on the championship run
or the little points that our guys pressure all the way out to 3 point territory, other than that his defense on other wings is pretty good.

dboss,

Thank you for that.  I may just give you a ring after my wife and I spend about an hour with YT Customer Service last night and no resolution.  When we hung up, they were escalating us to the next level which is usually a very good sign when I've had a work experience like this as the higher you go up, the exponentially faster the problem is solved but as of this morning my wife did not hear anything back yet with either a call, email or text with the solution.  

I'll apply the 24-hour rule to what happened last night and if nothing, I'll give you a call.  Since we switched last year to YT and signed up for LP at that same time, everything went smoothly last season.  But re-signing this year has been the pain.  The funny (and proud) sidebar to all this is my wife was the one who has been asking and leading the charge, "We need to get LP!!  Games are coming up!!"  I quietly patted myself on the back as I have firmly added another rabid Celtic fan to the fold!!  Time to promote myself and go into management, I say!!

Hopefully talking to you soon!

db

dboss,

How do you get TNT, NBATV, ESPN and ABC, now that you dropped YoutubeTV?  

ABC was the missing ingredient with SlingTV, so I switched over to YouTubeTV just for that.

When I move here, the local Fox Sports channel covered the Hornets, which was broadcast on Sling and YT.  When Fox sold out to Bally Gambling, their contract ended, and the Hornets are only broadcast in Dish/DirectTV.  They do not broadcast over the air, so I cannot get them that way.  

Meanwhile, the NBA League Pass still goes under blackout rules for Hornets games, home and away.  How is that legal, seeing that they don't broadcast over the air, and they are only available by paying big money for a dish package?  Maybe I'll call them and see what they say.

Last season, I decided to go "no commercials" for my League Pass subscription.  Before, the commercials often played after pausing the game, even though the game was being played out on the court.  I had the usual commercial breaks PLUS some extras to add to my "enjoyment".

Now, I get the League Pass Premium package and there are no commercials.  The regular package with only Celtics games (and commercials) cost $96.  Premium costs more, $171.59 (after fees and taxes), but I can watch any game any time, except the nationally broadcast games, and of course, no Hornets games.

I've been purchasing LP directly from NBA.com since moving to NC.  It updates automatically, just last week I paid for the new year.  They are glad to take my money, but make it easy in the process.

Pretty soon we wiill all be paying for the privilege to watch our home team I can feel it coming. If Adam Silver has his way this will become a reality. Thank God, right now, NBC/TV Sports still covers the Celtics. Who knows what will happen soon. I miss the old days of putting on the game and just watching Mike & Tommy do it all, home and away. That is another thing, I do not see Drew Carter travelling on the west coast swing with this team, They will use Eddie I bet. $$$ rules the world. I hope I am long gone before I have to figure it all out.!!

gyso wrote:dboss,

How do you get TNT, NBATV, ESPN and ABC, now that you dropped YoutubeTV?  

ABC was the missing ingredient with SlingTV, so I switched over to YouTubeTV just for that.

When I move here, the local Fox Sports channel covered the Hornets, which was broadcast on Sling and YT.  When Fox sold out to Bally Gambling, their contract ended, and the Hornets are only broadcast in Dish/DirectTV.  They do not broadcast over the air, so I cannot get them that way.  

Meanwhile, the NBA League Pass still goes under blackout rules for Hornets games, home and away.  How is that legal, seeing that they don't broadcast over the air, and they are only available by paying big money for a dish package?  Maybe I'll call them and see what they say.

Last season, I decided to go "no commercials" for my League Pass subscription.  Before, the commercials often played after pausing the game, even though the game was being played out on the court.  I had the usual commercial breaks PLUS some extras to add to my "enjoyment".

Now, I get the League Pass Premium package and there are no commercials.  The regular package with only Celtics games (and commercials) cost $96.  Premium costs more, $171.59 (after fees and taxes), but I can watch any game any time, except the nationally broadcast games, and of course, no Hornets games.

I've been purchasing LP directly from NBA.com since moving to NC.  It updates automatically, just last week I paid for the new year.  They are glad to take my money, but make it easy in the process.

NYCelt Gyso  sending you a PM

Gonna get back to you today.  Getting the wife's car serviced.

NYCelt

I just sent you a PM. Subject IPTVSmarters Pro

damn. Got to replace all 4 tire pressure sensors on my wife's Lexus. Lexus wants $1,000. I'm going to the G-league (Local car fixit place) I should have went there in the first place because they have worked on all of my other vehicles for 25 years and they do a great job (with reasonable pricing)

dboss wrote:damn.  Got to replace all 4 tire pressure sensors on my wife's Lexus.  Lexus wants $1,000.  I'm going to the G-league (Local car fixit place)  I should have went there in the first place because they have worked on all of my other vehicles for 25 years and they do a great job (with reasonable pricing)

I’ve had too do that about a year ago for the same make of car. I ordered them from Amazon and had a local tire shop install them. I’d try discount tire, they are usually the cheapest in my area (Macon). Good luck!