R.J. Barrett drafted by the New York Knicks!

jets82

jets82

Curious George
Jet Fanatics
Ty D. Bowls said:
I feel the same regarding getting Barrett instead of Zion. I always think of Larry Johnson when I look at Zion and wonder if Zion will be the same guy if he loses that explosiveness, which is not uncommon. It happened to Amare Stoudemire too after he first came in and got hurt early on.

Barrett on the other hand will rely on intelligence and savvy. It may take him time to adjust but I think he ultimately will.

Btw, I was encouraged by how Knox looked in the Summer League game against N.O., before the earth quake- yikes, even tho Zion ripped the ball out of his arms at one point. I am one who was down on Knox so I was looking with a critical eye. And Zion did look good, no denying.
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Yeah, I was thinking all along even before the draft that if Zion can stay healthy, motivated and keep improving his game with all that weight then he’ll grow into a player maybe like no other. Those are all very big IFS though. That 285 pounds on a 6’7” frame has got to come into play sooner or later, if he doesn’t lose that weight. And that’s not hating on him at all. It’s a simple common sense and evolution thing.

They (commentators) are already talking about he looks sorta out of shape, he looked a little winded at times during that summer league game and suggesting that he needs to lose about 30 pounds. Him being out of shape and the being winded part probably isn’t true at all but needing to weight, I can see that. This all appears to be his natural body frame so maybe he won’t need to but I don’t how that can be the case.

While Barrett can grow to being our Kobe Bryant. He seems to have all the motivation, heart, skill, determination and alpha dog mentality for it. I recorded the game but I still haven’t watched it yet. Long working weekend! I did see quite a few highlights and Knox looked very good. They showed Zion quite abit so it looked like he was doing well. Barrett hit a few shots but looked like he struggled abit from the stat line. Not uncommon for a rookie but I’m sure he’ll come along just fine.
 
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BlindsideD'Brick

BlindsideD'Brick

Franchise Tagged
Jet Fanatics
jets82 said:
I agree with everything your saying except the Porzingis comment. Correct me if I’m wrong but the main reason Porzingis wanted to leave the Knicks is because of the Knicks management and how horrible they were at trying to build a team around him. This is all mainly on the owner and Phil Jackson. If my thinking is correct then that is the Knicks fault that he left, the fact he wanted to leave and the fact that they didn’t whatever they could to fix that. So you can’t really blame Porzingis for wanting to go.

Now I believe he should’ve given the new regime a chance especially the new head coach but he wanted to go, so get what you can for him. Now his injury issues are another thing and if the Knicks didn’t want to chance paying him the max because of his injury I can sort of understand that. However; Porzingis is a developing talent that can flourish to be like not many others. He’s only 23 or 24, so he’s not like Kevin Durant who is 31. The Knicks keeping and paying Porzingis the max definitely would have been a smart and understandable move the pay the money, if he wanted to stay.

Imagine a starting five of Barrett, Knox, Porzingis and Mitchell. I’m assuming that if Porzingis would have stayed then the Knicks probably wouldn’t have signed Randall. Then again they still could have used a scorer and rebounder like Randall. I’m guessing Nilikilia at point guard or some one else I guess.
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I am the furthest thing from a Dolan apologist. He’s a terrible owner, and his basketball knowledge is highly questionable. The Isaiah Thomas and Phil Jackson hirings, and JVG and Donnie Walsh firings are the ultimate examples of ineptitude. He needs to sell this team, or truly stay the hell out of basketball operations. He’s been screwing this team for years.

But I believe it was a predominantly media driven narrative surrounding Porzingis. Perry and Mills approached Kristaps regarding his future with the Knicks, and he made it very clear that he didn’t believe in the rebuild. He told Perry he wasn’t happy with the current state of the team, nor the immediate future. For the record, I understand his pessimism. The Knicks are a huge question mark, even at this point, in turning this team around with players like Knox, Robinson, and Barrett. This team has no star power, in a league that has been redefined on the idea of super teams (thanks in large part to LBJ and his desire to “take his talents to South Beach”. That started all this insanity).

If KP didn’t want to be here, then Goodbye. The NBA has become star player driven, and nobody wants to keep players who gripe about wanting out. Look at Kawai. Paul George. Kevin Durant. They all forced their way out of town. This goes beyond KP. It’s the reality of basketball today.
 
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