Lebron James

LeBron James will never be on the New York Knicks

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There are some New York Knicks rumors and chatter out there that just doesn’t need to happen.  LeBron James coming to New York is one of them.

The New York Post’s Marc Berman thinks there’s a possibility of him playing for the Knicks.  ‘I will never rule this one out — especially for his last season before retiring’ Berman says.

Well one thing is for certain, I’m here to say that will never happen.  LeBron James will never play for the Knicks.

Yes, James said he loves playing in the Garden but who doesn’t.  Michael Jordan said the Garden was his favorite place to play too. But he he come play for the Knicks?  Um, no. He wanted to win.

Why would James leave a winning team for one of the worst in the league?  Yes, he did it with the Cavaliers on the second go around but that was his hometown.  New York isn’t and the Knicks are constantly losing.  Not a chance.

Players these days don’t care about the rich history of the Knicks.  They want to win and win now.  The Knicks aren’t winning. Other superstars or even above average players aren’t coming to the Knicks.  Why do people think the games best player will come to a, currently, dysfunctional franchise?  Makes no sense.

Everyone is talking about James being able to play with his son, Bronny Jr.  But, there’s no guarantee that his son will even be on the Knicks. This whole conversation is just ridiculous.

Just by writing this people will think this is click bait.  But other major publications, The New York Post, are covering it so why not.  But in reality, LeBron James is never playing for the New York Knicks.

How can we keep the Yankees off the IL?

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New York Yankees, Luis Severino

Since the very beginning of spring training for the New York Yankees we already started to wonder, does the “ next man up “ mantra continue into 2020? 

Right now it feels like déjà vu, with 5 players already out with injuries, including big name players like Right Fielder Aaron Judge, starter Luis Severino (who is recovering from Tommy John surgery) and former NL MVP Giancarlo Stanton.  

The injury bug hit the Yankees hard last year sending 37 players to the IL in 30 IL stints. Still the Yankees were able to overcome all the injuries and finished with over 100 wins last season.  

Following the record breaking number of injured players last year, the Yankees fired their strength and conditioning staff. Now a days players seem to be getting hurt a lot more often. The days of high consecutive games played seems to be in the past. 

So how could we keep these players on the field and off the IL ?

We know our players love to hit the gym and lift weights to stay in shape, but what about yoga? I know yoga might be the last thing you would think players with big frames like Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton should be doing. But really the question should be why not yoga? 

Will we see Yankees on the Yoga mat?

Yoga works on your core, agility, endurance, strength and most importantly flexibility, which helps prevent injuries. 

For years professional athletes and teams have been using yoga to improve their game and prevent injuries. Big name players in the NFL and NBA like Shaquille O’Neal, LeBron James and even New York Jets Quarterback Sam Darnold.

I think the Yankees can really benefit from this and maybe should add this into their routine. 

Opening day was set to start a week from today, but has now been pushed back to a date that has not been determined yet. With there being a delayed start to the season, maybe we will see Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton Opening Day after all. And maybe they can all use this extra time to work on some yoga. 

Hopefully baseball will be back soon. And I’m hoping you all stay safe. 

New York Knicks primary target for 2020 free agency

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Could the New York Knicks pursue Anthony Davis next offseason?

While it’s certainly a bit early to consider free agency next season, it’s always fun to contemplate who could be available for the New York Knicks, especially after missing out on both Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving.

The top players on the market next year will be Anthony Davis, Mike Conley, and Draymond Green. The Knicks could go after one, if not several of these players, but convincing them that Madison Square Garden is more appealing than the Barclay’s center will be the tall task at hand.

The youth evolving for the Knicks is the key to luring superstars to the franchise. Players like RJ Barrett, Kevin Knox, Mitchell Robinson and more hold the keys to being a successful franchise with NBA Final hopes down the line, but it could be sooner rather than later.

Davis, who was traded for the remainder of his contract (one year) to the Los Angeles Laker, will perform on a stacked team already housing the league’s best player in Lebron James. Adding Davis to the mix will make the virtually unstoppable, which will only increase his monetary value for the next free agency period.

The New York Knicks set themselves up correctly for next offseason:

The Knicks smartly built contracts around veterans with an out after their first season, which allows them to clear cap if need be to pursue a top player like AD.

(via SNY’s Ian Begley)

Depending on how the Knicks spend their money during the summer of 2020, they could also have a sizeable amount of cap space heading into the summer of 2021.  The 2019-20 free-agent class could include Anthony Davis if he doesn’t sign an extension with the Lakers, and could also include restricted free agents Brandon Ingram and Jaylen Brown.

Davis may elect to sign on with the Lakers for the long haul considering the talent already on the roster, but if the Knicks seem like they’re headed in the right direction, Davis can step into a position to succeed where Carmelo Anthony ultimately failed, despite fantastic offensive production for years.

 

 

New York Knicks: NBA Preview Part 2

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And now we move onto that den of mediocrity….the eastern conference….click here for part 1 of this preview.

 

  1. Boston Celtics: I think people are underestimating the amount of damage Kyrie did here. Tatum and Jaylen Brown should be infinitely better without Kyrie complaining to the media the team needs Channing Frye and Richard Jefferson.  Gordon Hayward will be totally back from his devastating ankle injury, and Kemba Walker will provide 90 percent of Irving’s production with 0 percent of the drama. They will pick up a big on the buyout market at some point, and Enes Kanter can score and rebound. If they can replace Al Horfords defense this team will be the surprise top team in the east.

  2. Philadelphia 76’ers: Anytime you can move on from noted motivational speaker Jimmy Butler you will improve your team. Replacing him with Josh Richardson is a huge win for Philly. Al Horford provides shooting, team defense, and Joel Embid injury insurance.  They have a lot of talented young players on the bench, but I’m not sure just how ready they are to contribute. Losing JJ Reddick hurts their spacing, and T.J McConnell was a bigger part of the team than people realize. At the end of the day, this team will go as far as Ben Simmons ability to improve his shooting will take them.

  3. Milwaukee Bucks- They have Giannis, who still hasn’t reached his ceiling as a player. They were able to retain Brook Lopez and Khris Middleton and add Robin Lopez for comedies sake. Losing Malcolm Brogdon is huge for this team, especially since Eric Bledsoe turns into a pumpkin in the postseason. Milwaukee needs to find a guard who can create offense and play defense to replace the underappreciated Brogdon if they want to be a true title contender.

  4. Indiana Pacers:  Speaking of Malcolm Brogdon, he joins T.J. McConnell,  T.J. Warren, Jeremy Lamb and the brothers Holliday as new additions on the Pacers. Indiana still has Victor Oladipo, Myles Turner and Domantas Sabonis from last year’s team. With that many guards and with the overlapping skill sets of Turner and Sabonis this team has a trade still to come. If Oladipo returns at full strength and they add a two-way wing this team could potentially surprise some people and make it to the conference finals.

  5. Miami Heat: In a race to the bottom the team treading water moves up. As currently constructed the heat have a solid starting five with a few decent bench players. In the east that makes you a 5 seed apparently. Jimmy Butler and Goran Dragic will provide most of the offense, and Butler, Winslow, and Bam Abadeyo have the potential to be solid defensively. They have big men who can space the floor in Kelly Olynyk and Meyers Leonard, and Dion Waiters can be thrown on the court to see if he can provide some offense when they need a spark. They also have Kentucky’s Tyler Herro who has drawn rave reviews heading into the pre-season. They are probably a player or two away from true contention, and that’s only if nobody regresses or gets injured this year.

  6. Brooklyn Nets: The Nets added Kyrie Irving, but lost D’Angelo Russell. Irving has a ton of talent and playoff experience, but also has had health issues and is coming from a team he destroyed from the inside. I’m not so sure I would have swapped the two given Russell’s fit in the locker room and relative health and youth. They also added Kevin Durant, and we will see what that means next year when the veteran returns after his Achilles injury. DeAndre Jordan was last good 3 years ago, Caris Levert needs to show he can stay healthy and Jarret Allen needs to continue to develop for the team to improve on last season.

  7. Toronto Raptors: The defending champs will not be repeating this season. Stanley Johnson is replacing Kawhi Leonard and, well…he’s not as good. Kyle Lowry has been in a steady decline, and Fred VanVleet is not the all-star he looked like in the finals. Pascal Siakam is a nice player but before we anoint him a franchise cornerstone let’s see how he does as the primary option on offense. They have some solid role players and will make the playoffs in a weak conference but that’s about it.

  8. Atlanta Hawks: This is probably wishful thinking on my part but wouldn’t you rather see Trae Young and a team of young exciting players over the Magic or Pistons mediocrity again?  Young and John Collins are great young players, and I like Kevin Huerter and De’Andre Hunter a lot. Evan Turner and Alex Crabbe are solid role players, and Alex Len was starting to look like less of a stiff on this team last year. They even have Charlie Brown’s son on the roster, good grief I like these guys.

  9. Orlando Magic: Knicks fans if your not careful this could be you. The team currently has Aaron Gordon, Jonathan Isaac, Nik Vucevic, Mo Bamba, and Al Farouq Aminu for their frontcourt and somehow don’t have a single player who can play well on both ends of the floor. Their point guard is D.J. Augustin who I was shocked to see is only 31, I would have sworn he has been in the league since 1997. Behind him is failed 76ers draft pick Michael Carter- Williams. Behind him is failed 76ers draft pick, Markelle Fultz. When I can cut and paste that sentence and just switch names you know your GM is garbage.  I think Dennis Scott is still playing 2 guard for them.

  10. Detroit Pistons: Blake Griffin hasn’t dunked in 3 years, they have wanted to trade Reggie Jackson from pretty much the moment they got him and Luke Kennard is going to be a starter. Somehow they are a playoff contender, the east is the worst.

  11. Chicago Bulls: Quietly the Bulls are starting to put together a solid team. Zach Lavine can score, Lauri Markkanen can shoot and the Jrs. (Otto Porter and Wendell Carter) can do a little bit of everything. I like the signing of Tomas Satoransky to run the offense, and Thad Young is a solid veteran presence. Coby White looked great in summer league, and at the very least brings athleticism and defense. I don’t think of any of these guys are superstars and that’s all that’s holding this team back from crashing the playoff party this year.

  12. New York Knicks: The Knicks are in a rough spot this year, too bad to go for the postseason but not bad enough to be a bottom 3 team thanks to some truly wretched competition. Last years top pick Kevin Knox was arguably the WORST player in the league. R.J. Barrett is either going to be the next James Harden or the next Stanley Johnson. Frank Ntikilina hasn’t learned to shoot in two years, and probably never will. They signed Julius Randle, Taj Gibson, Bobby Portis, and Marcus Morris to have them all fight each other and their one promising player from last year for minutes. They added Elfird Payton to ensure they have no guards who can shoot, and still have selfish gunners Dennis Smith Jr. and Alonzo Trier. After a season of promising being major players in the craziest offseason in years, the team now has eight 8th men and two lottery tickets.  They will not be scooching into the playoffs this year.

  13. Charlotte Hornets: Tony Parker retired and the Hornets were hoping he would take Nic Batum with him. They lost their franchise player and replaced him with a guy who is so up and down he was nicknamed “Scary Terry” for 20 million a year. Malik Monk still wishes he was drafted by the Knicks and Miles Bridges wishes he was drafted by anyone else. Bismack Biyombo is the third-string center because Cody Zeller is the starter. Michael Jordan is the Charlie Ward of league executives.

14.  Cleveland Cavaliers: Maybe after the Lakers debacle is over Lebron can “come home” again and passive-aggressively tweet at Kevin Love who they still would not have traded.

  1. Washington Wizards: Washington owes John Wall $37.8M in 2019-20
    $40.8M in 2020-21
    $43.8M in 2021-22
    $46.8M in 2022-23

drops mic

 

 

New York Knicks:Where do they land in my season preview?

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It’s been one of the craziest offseasons in NBA history, with almost half the league switching teams. Some teams improved dramatically, some teams left us scratching our heads, and some teams managed to fall into both buckets. So I’d thought I’d take some time and offer my opinions/prediction on how everything is going to turnout. As always, delusional messages telling me how I’m an idiot and your team is going to the finals is always welcome @aelderbaum. Let’s start with the Western Conference.

  1. Los Angeles Clippers: They added two premier scorers who also happen to be two of the best defensive players in the league. They still have Patrick Beverly to make opposing point guards miserable, a great roll man in Montrazl Harrell, and sixth man extraordinaire Lou William’s. They also have quality depth with Landry Shamet, Rodney Mcgruder, Moe Harkless, Ivica Zubac and Jerome Robinson. The Clippers should be able to manage both superstars workloads and match up with any opponent. LA will be the top seed in the west.

  2. Utah Jazz : That’s right Utah will be the second seed in a brutal conference. By replacing Ricky Rubio with a point guard who could shoot the Jazz would become a contender, by replacing him with Mike Conley they are a legit championship caliber team. Along with Conley they also added a scorer with playoff chops in Bojan Bogdanovic, a quality back-up big man in Ed Davis, and a serviceable back up guard in Emanuel Mudiay. I can see Knicks fans rolling their eyes, but he had his moments for the team, and imagine him with actual NBA caliber teammates. Utah also still has Defensive POY Rudy Gobert, the underrated Joe Ingles, and Donovan Mitchell who maybe someday will measure up to the man the Knicks passed on him to take.

  3. Denver Nuggets: The Nuggets did what they always do and quietly added one of the best available players in a trade by acquiring Jerami Grant. Grant can play defense, is a career 37% three point shooter, and will play multiple positions. Adding him to a team that had the second best record in the west is only going to raise their ceiling. Nikola Jokic is an MVP candidate and maybe Jamal Murray wont soil himself in the post season this year. If Michael Porter can add anything and avoid spending time in a wheelchair this team is a legit title contender.

  4. Houston Rockets: This is the team I had the most trouble figuring out. Theres a reason every team Chris Paul has been part of has underachieved and had horrible chemistry. Removing him and the 30 games he was going to miss and replacing him with Russell Westbrook is a win for the Rockets. He and Harden will figure out how to coexist, and keep in mind Harden begged for this trade. He is going to be much more willing to play off the ball, defer to Russ, anything to make sure Houston is a better team. With teams having to try to stop the new superstar duo Eric Gordon and Clint Capela should be able to shine. Remember these guys almost took out the Warriors the last two years.

  5. Portland Trailblazers: The Blazers made the conference finals last season, and while I dont forsee an encore, they will still be a playoff team. With Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum they still boast one of the leagues best back courts, and have a ton of solid role players in Rodney Hood, Zach Collins, and Ken Bazemore. Hassan Whiteside should be able to man the middle until Jusuf Nurkic returns from his leg injury and the team is very high on second year guard Anfernee Simmons. Portland probably maxes out at a second round exit.

6.Golden State Warriors: Is it possible to call this team a sleeper? I think reports of their demise are greatly exaggerated. They still have Steph Curry, and by adding D’angelo Russell they have an all star caliber band-aid until Klay Thompson returns. Thompson is big enough to guard the opposition’s best wing player so him coexisting with Russell and Curry is not a ridiculous idea when he comes back. They still have Draymond Green, Kevon Looney and Alfonzo Mckinnie from last years team and I really like the Willie Cauley-Stein addition. I think he can be a rich mans Festus Ezeli, and an even better defender. If Klay does make it back they could be dangerous in the post season.

  1. OKC Thunder: Chris Paul, Danilo Gallinari , Steven Adams, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Andre Roberson. Dennis Schroeder, Mike Muscala, Pat Patterson and Terrance Ferguson off the bench. OKC has built a sneaky fun roster while stockpiling approximately 450 picks in the next 5 drafts. Paul already has a chip on his shoulder, and now hes been exiled to Oklahoma, and everyone is saying he is stuck there because he is too old and expensive for anybody to want him. I think he will have his best season in the last few years just to prove people wrong, and he is on the perfect team to do so. Some talented role players, a borderline all star who can play unselfishly, and some young talent to mentor. I think it will be a struggle but they will sneak into the seventh seed.

  • New Orleans Pelicans: Lonzo on a team that will let him be this generations Jason Kidd, Brandon Ingram getting the chance to be a scorer and creator, and Zion electrifying crowds with his dunks and playmaking. In addition to that they have Nickeil Alexander-Walker looking like the steal of the draft, and Jackson Hayes being much further along then anyone planned. Jrue Holliday is an all star caliber two way guard to pair with Lonzo. They also added veteran shooter JJ Reddick and Jazz big man Derrick Favors. This is a fast rising team that seemed to make all the right moves this offseason and may arrive a year earlier than expected.

  • Los Angeles Lakers: Right now the Lakers starting five is DeMarcus Cousins or Javale McGee, Anthony Davis, Kyle Kuzma, Danny Green and Lebron James. Lebron will turn 35 in December and is coming off the most serious injury he’d had in his career, so naturally he will be the starting point guard. Their bench is the washed Avery Bradley, the never actually been that good Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, the even more washed Rajon Rondo, and probably should have retired Jared Dudley. There is noone on this roster to guard any of the Blazers or Warriors backcourt, or big athletic wings. Lebron will break down and this team will not make the playoffs.

  • San Antonio Spurs: They are running back essentially the same team in a stronger conference so I don’t see them finishing much higher than this. I’m more intrigued by the new Knicks/Spurs dirty tricks subplot. Popovich is ex military,  he may arrange for Marcus Morris to have an “accident” forcing the Knicks to sign yet another power forward.

  • Sacramento Kings: This one pains me, because I actually really like this team. Fox and Hield compliment each other perfectly, Nemanja Bjielica and Bogdan Bogdanovic provide spacing, and who doesent want to see Harry Giles stay healthy and have good year. Dwayne Dedmon and Trevor Ariza were perfect additions, and Marvin Bagley seems poised to make a leap. The Harrison Barnes contract is the first big issue I have, as he is being paid like an all star while hes at best slightly above average. They also dont have a true big defender, and on the wings Ariza is a little old to be your lockdown guy. I think Sacramento is a year and move or two away from really making some noise.

    • 12: Dallas Mavericks: I think Porzingis and Luka are going to be an awesome combination, and I dont get why Dallas backed out of adding Goran Dragic. Your not going anywhere this season,  why not go full Euro and bring in Luka’s buddy for a year. Maybe it goes great and Dragic resigns on a modest deal next season. Instead you add Delon Wright and resign Maxi Kleber with the money? Meh. Dallas has refused to tank in the past out of respect for Dirk, but now that hes gone, one lost year may not be the worst thing. They finally have their cap under control, adding another good young player and then building around Doncic, Porzingis and said player makes the most sense to me. I know Cuban and Carlisle always want to compete, but when your competitors have Paul George and Kawhi…maybe sit this one out.

    1. Memphis Grizzlies: Another team on the rise,  I just want to see Ja Morant play in games before I fully leap on the bandwagon. I dont have any real concerns and wish he would have landed in NY, but noone had concerns about Markelle Fultz either. I’m not sure what they’re doing at shooting guard with Josh Jackson and Grayson Allen, league sources tell me they are looking to add  Jayson William’s for  additional depth behind those guys.

  • Minnesota Timberwolves: So umm do YOU have any interest in picking up Andrew Wiggins?

  • Phoenix Suns: “So you know how theres tons of free agents right now, well were totally getting a new starting point guard!”

    • “Who? Kyrie? Kemba? Brogdon?

    “Ummm not exactly…”

     

    Click here for part 2, the eastern conference.

    Read moreNew York Knicks:Where do they land in my season preview?