New York Knicks & Brooklyn Nets Free Agency Preview | NY Got Game

New York Knicks & Brooklyn Nets Free Agency Preview | NY Got Game

Welcome to New York gut game we are back with another edition of New York got game and you get an episode a couple of days earlier this week well because of free agency that starts on Sunday evening June 30th but before we get to that what a week it has been in New York basketball for the first time since 1983 we saw a deal between the Knicks and the Nets that never happens basically and it was a major one the Knicks they acquire Mel Bridges for buan bogdanovich and a hall of picks we are going to get into all of that we’re going to preview free agency for both of the local teams and we’ve got two guests on today’s show to break it all down so let’s get right into it the Knicks are heating up okay so the Knicks appear to have gone all in with their acquisition of Mel Bridges and they’re bringing back OG anobi on a new deal but where does this leave the nickach in terms of other moves they can or cannot make in free agency and throughout this off season let’s preview free agency for the Knicks and we’re going to do that with New York Post Nicks beat reporter The One and Only Stefan Bondi who joins me now and Steph I would ask how free agency has been going for you the offseason but one it’s been busy and two it might basically already be over yeah that’s right I mean they made a bunch of moves maneuvering on draft night um they have no cap space and the big question now is what happens with Isaiah hardenstein um and we’re going to find out by tomorrow tomorrow night I think well I I wouldn’t say that we’re going to find out definitively by tomorrow but we’re going to get a bigger picture of where this is going by tomorrow night yeah we should know that that’s why we want to preview this today get right into it and before we get to free agency I want to go back with you and look at the draft so the Knicks they made two trades and took one of their Selections in the first round of this year’s draft they used the 25th pick on 18yearold French Wing Pome dier the Knicks also made three Selections in the second round Tyler kak Kevin mcculler Jr and Ariel hooky how do you evaluate what the Knicks did at this year’s draft yeah I mean I think that they um you know in the second round they got some guys that could potentially make the final roster but yeah you don’t know I mean they could also be g-league guys in the first round um they got a guy who’s a project obviously 18 years old only and um one one of the interesting aspects of it is there was speculation right when the pick happened that they were going to send this guy overseas because you know a draft in stash doesn’t count against the C it can help them resign Isaiah hartenstein theoretically but then he got to the podium and said um I’m my plan is to stay here um at which point the Knicks would have to give him a rookie contract and he starts you know counting against the cap so I think that’s something interesting to monitor unlike other any other teams most teams make their um Executives available to the media or their first round picks available to the media after you know the day after after the picks are done the Knicks did not do that so there’s no further Clarity on what’s happening with him um you know but overall I thought you know they made a lot of picks um and we’ll see where they are the draft is always a crapshoot draft is always a crapshoot indeed and I know fans would like a little bit more clarity in terms of what is going on with Pome dier will he stay will he be stashed or not but unfortunately because as you mentioned the Knicks do not talk to the media we have no idea so we’re we’re all in the dark just like the fans are now before the draft Steph the team upgraded to Nova Knicks with a big trade that sent Bo bogdanovich five first rounders a pick Swap and a second rounder to Brooklyn for Mel Bridges did the Knicks give up too much for bridges in your eyes and do you like his fit on this roster right now I I don’t I think they gave I mean it’s certainly a lot but I don’t think it’s too much because you had to do what had to get done to get muel Bridges I think he’s a perfect fit for the Knicks um back in February I wrote a story saying that they should go after the guy just because he makes so much sense with who the Knicks are for a very for an inornate amount of reasons um including you mentioned the Nova stuff I mean there’s chemistry there’s friendship um that worked a that went a long way last season with the Knicks just you know watching the team kind of come together and he he only adds to that on top of that he is the consumate um number three guy that you want on the team he wasn’t a good number one when he was on Brooklyn um he couldn’t carry the torch there but in Phoenix when he was the number three uh that was a championship contending team and you know guess what he’s going to be in New York he’s going to be a number three so you know they got they got a guy on a cheap contract they didn’t have to give up one player that was projected to be in their rotation I guess bogdanovich might have been in the rotation but he certain certainly wasn’t going to be a big piece of the rotation and now if you look at the entire Knicks rotation right now I mean they’re from one through eight they’re pretty incredible um I mean you got coming off the bench you’re gonna have Josh Hart Dante Devan chenzo and Miles McBride um that’s that’s a good as good a trio Off the Bench as I can think of now granted we don’t know the lineup yet um whether D you know Dante obviously started last year and whether he’s going to go to the bench for male Bridges we don’t know that stuff yet but I’m just projecting looking at this lineup and seeing how deep it is and and how they can you know be just a tremendous rotation one through eight yeah looks strong right now with Bridges sliding right into that 1 to eight rotation so we’ll see how all that plays out and right before the draft reports came up that ogn and Obi agreed on a 5year $212 million deal to return to the Knicks what did you make of the deal for OG to be back in the fold here in New York I think it’s similar to what I just you got to do what you have to do to get it done because there was no way the Knicks were going to let ogan and Obi leave they gave up RJ Barrett Emanuel quickly for him and you know there was sticker shock immediately because you see that contract and you know before free agency started the projections were four years 160 million or 140 million and then he ends up getting 213 million you’re like wow but then when you look across the NBA this is now the going rate um salaries have exploded the NBA just signed a 7.6 billion and I mean billion dollar television media rights deal so you know this is where it’s going the Knicks have a b you know they signed a bunch of people before this free agency so they got some good contracts including Jaylen Brunson who’s under a tremendous deal and eligible for a an extension this summer Julius Randle is on a good deal right now Mel Bridges is on a good deal right now Dante Devan chenzo Josh Hart so you know at some point you have to pay the going market rate and that’s what the Knicks did with ogan and Obi yeah and one other thing that should be noted as well too you know this the cap will eventually be going up so two three years into this the number that OG is making is not going to count for as much against the cap and so it won’t be that b bad but you know this people have the sticker shot we do this every year in free agency unfortunately we see this every year Steph everybody gets shocked at these had it too I said whoa yeah when I saw I get it right two 212 SE is a whole lot I get it it’s a lot but you got to do what you got to do I’m in agreement with you on that so Steph now with the draft over and the the deal that we saw happen with Mel Bridges we turn our attention to free agency and there’s been so much talk surrounding whether or not the Knicks can bring back Isaiah hardenstein with free agency starting Sunday June 30th 6 PM in your eyes is it imperative that the Knicks bring back iHeart assuming that he wants to stay in New York and what’s a realistic way they can make that happen with the cap space that they really don’t have available right now so imperative I’ll start with your first question imperative I I don’t know the answer to that OB I could go either way because on one hand if you look at the center situation Mitchell Robinson was great when he played in the beginning of last year and then he got hurt like he often does and so you you question hey how much can I rely on Mitchell Robinson and you know Isaiah hartstein stepped in and I thought he was an even better fit than Mitchell Robinson um and the way that he you when they had that death line of you know in January Isaiah hartstein was a part of it when ogan anobi was and Julius Randle were both playing um and the Knicks look looked like you know Championship contenders for a month um that’s when I really realized hey this guy he’s a starting center in the NBA and you know frankly if you look at the free agent list he’s the top Center available Center in free agency right now um now you know I mentioned the Mitchell Robinson aspect also Tom Tibido has been great at developing centers who are you know who nobody thought much of who were underpaid and underappreciated and underdogs he takes them and he gives them defined roles and he um elevates them to spots that nobody thought they’d go to I mean he did it with nerland Noel he did it with Taj Gibson he he did it with Mitchell Robinson and then he did it with zaiah hardenstein and even precious tuua so um you question hey can the Knicks just easily replace somebody like Isaiah hartstein by bringing in another guy like him who’s undervalued and and developing him in the tip system that’s a possibility um but when you look at Isaiah 2 there’s other aspects to his game that makes him unique he’s a tremendous passer um he’s a great rebounder he’s tough so I think the Knicks definitely want to retain him I wouldn’t call it a disaster if they don’t um and there it’s going to be an uphill battle to bring back what I mentioned is the top center right now in the free agency market yeah it’s going to be a challenge for the Knicks to do that we’ll see what happens as you said not that we’re going to definitively know by Sunday June 30th but we have a little bit better idea of what direction that’s going in and we could we could definitively know I’ve been you know you’ve seen it before as soon as that deadline hits it’s just the stream of deals being completed and Isaiah hardenstein who by the way has been legally allowed to negotiate with the Knicks right now um so yeah I I could see something happening on on tomorrow night but at the deadline yeah we could see that remember 6 p.m. June 30th we’ll see what happens how it all goes down Nick fangs anxiously waiting to see what happens s with iHeart Steph the not so fun part at least now in my eyes in talking about free agency this off season with the Knicks and really all teams is we got to do cap gymnastics now right as it stands after trading for Mel Bridges the Knicks are capped out as you mentioned or hard capped at the 185. 6 million first apron they can’t exceed for folks who don’t understand they can’t exceed that number unless they expand the bridges trade to send an additional 4.3 million in outgoing salary so Steph let’s say the Knicks can’t bring back iHeart who are some names they could Target to fill out the rest of the roster and Sh up the center position um so they’re like you said they’re gonna have nothing to spend so it’s going to be have to be a cheap option um I like I’ve always liked Mason plumbley I covered him um when he was at the Brooklyn Nets over a decade ago I think he’s a he’s a tibs guy he plays hard as heck he can pass he’s like a older a much older hardstein in a lot of ways so you know he’s a guy that I would Target I don’t know necessarily you know what the Knicks are looking at in terms of their backup options pre aoua is also a restricted free agent so they have to figure out what they’re going to do with him um I mentioned Mitchell Robinson is already on the roster so you know I I think a lot has to unfold before we we understand like who who’s part plan BC and D because we we’re not we don’t know the answers to plan A and B yet you know what I mean yeah no completely understood still so much that is up in there I do like Mason plumbley as a name I think we both were covering the Nets at that time Mason plumbley good good dude covering he would fit right in I think into tibs system last thing for me Steph let’s assume and this is probably likely that there’s no more major moves this offseason for the Knicks does this team have the core players that they want going forward and where do you view this team in terms of being a title Contender right now are they a contender for an NBA title this upcoming season well I mean you got Boston that’s the big problem um I think the Knicks are clearly at this point number two in the East and Boston was just freaking steamrolled the entire Eastern Conference and then they bulldozed the Mavericks in the final they have a complete um and balanced roster and rotation and they also have you know an injury problem with Chris porzingis who’s undergoing surgery but I mean I think if you look at the road to and the path to the championship it goes through Boston and the Knicks as a result of that um B got two wings and oan noi and Mel Bridges now to compete with the Celtics to guard Jason Tatum and Jaylen Brown so I I sure as heck hope we get a Celtics Knicks Conference finals next year I think that would be freaking theater um so yeah I mean I I I don’t think they’re better than the Celtics now but I think they’re more competitive against them and they would give them a good series all right I’m here for that let’s sign up for that that let’s get a Celtics Knicks Conference Finals I think a lot of basketball fans would love to see that that is Stephan Bondi Knicks beat rider for the New York Post check out his work Steph I know it’s about to get busy for you you’re going to be on your watch at 6 pm on Sunday June 30th and then you know maybe you’ll relax before summer league but we’ll see we’ll talk to you soon man thank you my friend appreciate it all right buddy n are heating up it appears as though the Brooklyn Nets have made a decision about their Direction after Trading Kell Bridges to the Knicks and now they’re looking at an off season where they also already reportedly resigned Senator Nick Claxton so let’s talk about the net offseason with Nets beat rider for the New York Post my friend Brian Lewis joins me now Brian how are you doing how’s the start to your Net’s off season going I’m doing well uh I guess we can call this the off season it’s heavy season busy season yeah it’s it’s a off season for the team it’s not an offseason for you because basketball never stops we we understand this but here we are still continuing to talk about the off season all right Brian with the bridges trade it seemed like the Nets as I mentioned just now at the top like they finally picked a direction in terms of where they want to go as a franchise with all the first round picks that they have which is 16 between now and 2031 that they acquired in the trade with the Knicks and also the trade from the Rockets is Brooklyn in full rebow mode here that’s subjective right because I mean this is certainly far more of a rebuild than what they were doing which was straddling the line uh kind of half measures trying to win and trying to build so it’s more of a rebuild than that um but some would contend that a full rebuild would include trading either Dorian finny Smith or Cam Johnson or both um and the question is do you want to trade do you want to use all of these expiring contracts or some of these expiring contracts and they have many um you got Ben Simmons at 40 million uh you got bogy at you know close to 20 um you got Dennis Schroeder who’s on a good contract but 13 million do you want to use some or all of these in salary dumps uh to get back even more assets and that’s what Shawn Mars did during his first rebuild so the question is whether you want to do that again um and if you do that then that pushes out um how long this rebuild will take it would be even deeper and longer if you do that so that’s the question yep that is a question it’ll be interesting to see how they move to that and we’ll get to some of the players that they can still move off of we’ll get to that in a little bit but Brooklyn we know that they will bring back Senator Nick claxon he’ll be back on a 4-year $100 million deal do you like like this move to have claxon at least for the time being as part of this Nets core going forward yes because he’s one he’s young enough that he can still be here and be in his prime when the team is good again so I do like that and you also have to take into consideration the cap you know the cap is going up you know it may be what 155 million and then go up to what 171 or thereabouts so 2 5 million with the new cap as they’re flushed with all his TV money really equates to more like 16 17 or maybe 18 a year ago right and that’s the thing because when you look at it with as you said all the new money coming in and the cap going up the percentage of the cap that claxon’s contract will be in a couple years will obviously be a lot less so it’s really a pretty fair deal for him and will be good money for him even in 2 three years from now so it’ll fine and he’s a good player to have as part of their core now this is what you touched upon Brian a bit earlier because it seems and I use the stress the word there seems like the Nets would be open for business to make some more moves do you think the team has interest this summer in moving on from two guys you mentioned Dorian finy Smith and or Cam Johnson they would seem to hold the most value at least in trades if you don’t take the expiring contracts of Ben Simmons and also buan bogdanovich do you think the team will look to move both or either of those guys I would be moderately surprised if they’re not looking to move at least one of those two because that’s still a half rebuild right you can do that and not feel obligated to take on you know tons of bad contracts now in the case of Cam Johnson I think that’s where the higher ask will be you look at his age he’s 28 you look at his height he’s 68 almost 69 you look at his shooting he’s going to hit 40% or thereabouts I think the ask is higher on cam I think Dorian might be a more reasonable price also when you consider that he can opt out right so he’ll he would play this year he could opt out when you’re still in full re rebuild mode which I think would be likely so you’d lose him for nothing after after a year so I think if I had to put money on it and I’m not a Gambling Man but I would say moving Dorian seems more likely than moving K all right that makes a lot of sense with his contract should be a little bit easier to move we’ll see if the Nets move off of either of those two guys and Brian we know next year the 2025 off season not to get too far ahead the Nets they could have as much as $80 million in cap space to spend what should the next goal be here this summer in free agency and what kind of players should they look to bring into Brooklyn as they try to to your words it’s subjective here is it a full rebuild is it a quas rebuild so what kind of players should they be looking at in free agency depending on the direction that they’re going in with a rebuild what kind of player should they be looking at for 2024 for yeah this summer this summer y well I think that partly depends on your plan and how you’re going to operate right so we mentioned as an example Dennis schroer right so you’ve got a point guard situation where you’ve got Ben Simmons who frankly you can’t trust his health you’ve got Dennis schroer who’s only under contract for one year and has the feeling of a a bridge or a stop Gap or what have you right so if you opt to move Dennis schroer you absolutely need a point guard you may need a point guard who’s under contract for multi Years anyway but if you move Dennis you absolutely need a point guard so I would say off hand somebody like Ty Jones might make sense now the problem is I mean tus Jones is coming off a two-year $29 million contract so you would have to give him a multi-year deal with your mid-level exception to even consider getting him um but that’s the kind of guy you also need an adult in the room because is eventually you’re going to need to Mentor some of the young guys who that adult will be I don’t know I’m not saying it’s Kevin Love I’m saying you need an adult like a a Garett Temple who you had here before you will need a player like that to Mentor some of the younger guys yeah it’ll be really interesting but you make a great point it really depends on what the direction is and we still kind of have seen that we’ve seen that a little bit but it depends on what direction they go in with some players they could move off of and What needs may come about here in fre agency this year in 2024 but Brian last thing for me we’re saying this and we’re kind of don’t have Clarity on it it appears to be a full rebuild mode for the Nets if that is the direction they are in a full rebuild not a quasi rebuild a full rebuild how competitive if competitive at all do you expect this team to be during the 20 24 2025 season and do you believe the future is brighter for the Brooklyn Nets now than it was prior to the bridges trade well when you say how competitive I mean I you know I covered a 28 win season a 21 win season a 20 win season I it wouldn’t shock me if this is worse than all of those that wouldn’t shock me to see them win fewer than 20 games what I’d say though is I’d say Jordy Fernandez has a ref reputation as a developmental coach he’s got a reputation as a guy who can coach players and make them better than what they were before he got their hands on right so I would presume that he will do that over the course of this season and next season I would presume that the players would play hard for him I think they will be competitive do I think they’ll be good no I don’t I don’t expect them to you know pull a rabbit out of the hat and have some 500 season I think the players will play hard and compete but I don’t expect them to be a I don’t expect them to be a good team or a quality team or a talent Rich team and for the fans that want to see them not be a good team because they want to see them get as many high picks as they can they’re going to root for that however Brian I will say if they are worse in some of those teams that you covered you mentioned the 28 win team you mentioned the 20 win team this means that I’m going to have to check up on you more because you know you got to check up on your beat reporter friends and make sure that they’re okay because th those are rough Seasons we got to let the people know th it’s not easy it’s not easy covering those teams those are long Seasons yeah um and I understand why a good amount of the fan base would want them to just pick a side pick a Lane and go with it yeah right go out and get an All-Star a legitimate Allstar to pair with Mel Bridges whoever that is uh failing that then pick a lane and rebuild which they’re choosing that’s what they’re doing um what I would say is this that’s easier said than done if you are watching them on yes than it is if you are paying for season tickets H if you are a season ticket holder and you are in that building on the rig that’s tough that’s a long season or long several seasons y so we’ll see just how painful this gets before it gets better I do think it will get better because I do think you’ve got one of the best drafts in recent memory coming up next year and you’ll have four first round picks one of which is assured of being a lottery there so I I do think it will get better I just think it’ll get worse before it gets better and sometimes as we know in sports it has to go there you got to hit rock bottom before you can start making your way back up to the top that is Brian Lewis Brooklyn Nets beat reporter for the New York Post joining me here on new york. game Brian appreciate the time I will check in on you as always through the summer and hopefully the next season is not that bad hoping that for you thank you man thanks for having me all right people as I mentioned NBA free agency officially gets underway in Sunday June 30th we hope that this episode helped you preview things with both the Nick bockers and the nette special thanks to my guest Stephan Bondi and Brian Lewis both of the New York Post as always thank you to the great folks who make this the best digital basketball show in NYC for my director Zack to producer Lee enler editor Jim valver I’m Dexter Henry we got a bounce but we’ll see you next week on New York God game and thanks for watching New York God game boom shaka locket [Music]

New York Post Knicks beat reporter Stefan Bondy and Brooklyn Nets beat writer Brian Lewis join Dexter Henry to discuss the offseason thus far for each team and what moves could be made in NBA Free Agency.

#newyorkknicks #nyknicks #knicks #nba #mikalbridges #oganunoby #brooklynnets #nets

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