New York Knicks

Looking for ways to improve after a disappointing 37-45 record last season, the New York Knicks might be interested in bringing back a former All-Star in free agency this summer.

Per Marc Berman of the New York Post, Knicks brass has had "internal conversations" about signing Carmelo Anthony.

Berman did note "more pressing concerns about how to rebuild a franchise that’s missed the playoffs eight of the past nine years have taken precedence."

Anthony spent seven seasons with the Knicks from 2011 to '17. He was originally acquired by the team in a three-team trade with the Denver Nuggets and Minnesota Timberwolves during the season.

The Knicks made the playoffs in each of Anthony's first three seasons with the team. They won the Atlantic Division in 2012-13 for the first time since the 1993-94 campaign, but their playoff run came to an end in the second round when they lost to the Indiana Pacers in six games.

Anthony continued to have individual success in New York, but the organization was unable to build a team around him. The 10-time All-Star averaged 24.0 points, 7.1 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game in his final four seasons with the Knicks from 2013 go '17. The team went 117-211 during that span.

The Knicks traded Anthony to the Oklahoma City Thunder in September 2017. He has played for four different teams in the past five seasons, including the Thunder, Houston Rockets, Portland Trail Blazers and Los Angeles Lakers.

Anthony has primarily come off the bench in each of the past two seasons. The 38-year-old had a solid offensive showing for the Lakers in 2021-22. He averaged 13.3 points and shot 37.5 percent from three-point range in 69 appearances.

The Knicks have $119.2 million in salary commitments for next season. They could afford to pay Anthony a minimum salary and still have room to make additional moves before hitting the luxury tax threshold ($149 million).

It's unclear what Anthony is seeking at this stage of his career. If he wants to pursue a championship, there could be contending teams seeking scoring help off the bench that make him an offer.

The Knicks tried to run things back last season after going 41-31 in 2020-21. Things didn't work out due to a combination of injuries and poor performances. They missed the playoffs and finished under .500 for the eighth time in the past nine seasons.

The Dallas Mavericks don't have "grave concern" about Jalen Brunson joining the New York Knicks this summer despite the franchise hiring his father, Rick Brunson, as an assistant coach, according to NBA insider Marc Stein.

"It has been known throughout the league that [Tom] Thibodeau has wanted Rick Brunson on his staff from the moment he joined the Knicks entering the 2020-21 season and not because it will help New York lure Rick’s son, Jalen Brunson, away from the Mavericks in free agency this summer," Stein wrote.

Marc Berman of the New York Post reported Thursday that Brunson would be joining Thibodeau's coaching staff. The elder Brunson had previously served as an assistant under Thibodeau with the Chicago Bulls and Minnesota Timberwolves.

Berman's report noted that "Rick Brunson told a confidant recently he just wants his son to sign the fairest deal representative of his market value." So, there's no guarantee he decides to team up with his father in New York.

Brunson, 25, is set to become an unrestricted free agent after spending the first four seasons in Dallas. The Mavericks selected him in the second round of the 2018 draft.

The Villanova product was solid in his first three seasons in Dallas, but he had a breakout 2021-22 campaign, averaging 16.3 points, 4.8 assists and 3.9 rebounds per game while shooting 50.2 percent from the floor and 37.3 percent from deep.

The point guard's impressive season helped the Mavericks finish fourth in the Western Conference with a 52-30 record and the team reached the Western Conference Finals, where they fell to the Golden State Warriors.

While a number of teams will likely be interested in Brunson this summer, Bleacher Report's Jake Fischer reported this week that there is a "growing sense" around the league that he will return to Dallas

That said, the Knicks are in desperate need of a point guard, so it wouldn't be surprising to see the team make some sort of run at Brunson. If they fail to sign Brunson, the team could look into other free-agent options.

The New York Knicks are reportedly finalizing a deal to sign Rick Brunson to serve as an assistant coach on Tom Thibodeau's staff, according to Ian Begley of SNY.

Brunson is the father of free-agent point guard Jalen Brunson, who is "on the Knicks' radar" this offseason, as the New York Post's Marc Berman reported in April.

Despite those potential links, Rick Brunson has a history with Thibodeau, serving as an assistant coach under him with the Chicago Bulls (2010-11 to 2011-12 seasons) and the Minnesota Timberwolves (2016-17 to 2017-18 seasons).

They have known each other since Brunson was at Salem High School in Massachusetts, per Begley, as Thibodeau was a coach at Salem State.

Brunson also served as an assistant for the Denver Nuggets (2006-07) and Charlotte Hornets (2012-13). He has been the head coach for Camden High School over the past three seasons in New Jersey.

Jalen Brunson, meanwhile, had a breakout season for the Dallas Mavericks in his fourth NBA season, averaging 16.3 points and 4.8 assists per game while shooting 50.2 percent from the field and 37.3 percent from three.

But he had some epic performances in the postseason, including a 41-point outburst in Game 2 of the team's first-round matchup with the Utah Jazz. He averaged 21.6 points per game in the postseason, helping the Mavericks reach the Western Conference Finals.

That performance guaranteed that Brunson is about to get paid in a major way.

Team governor Mark Cuban already expressed a desire to keep Brunson, adding in May that he believes the point guard wants to return to Dallas and that the Mavericks can offer him the most money.

"I think he wants to stay, and that’s most important," he said. "I think, again, J-Kidd [head coach Jason Kidd] has a big part to play in that, I think J.B. blossomed as a player, as much as anybody on the squad, you know, from where he was last year to how far he came this year, is a tribute to Jalen and how hard he worked."

If Brunson decides he does want a change of scenery, though, the Knicks have a major need at point guard and would be a logical suitor. As Begley noted, Brunson was a player the Knicks were "interested in prior to the trade deadline."

And now they'll have the family connection as they make their pitch.

The New York Knicks may not be satisfied with waiting until the No. 11 pick to make their first selection of the 2022 NBA draft.

"A few people in touch with the team last month came away with the impression that New York was open to moving up in this draft, trading up for a higher pick in the draft," Ian Begley of SNY reported. "And I'm sure that the Knicks will continue to look into all scenarios."

New York will be one of the most intriguing teams to watch this offseason.

After all, the storied franchise in a major market has been anything but successful on the court of late with just one playoff appearance since the 2012-13 campaign. Expectations were high entering the 2021-22 season since that one postseason appearance came in 2020-21, but the Knicks floundered on their way to a 37-45 record.

The front office made the decision to not fire head coach Tom Thibodeau, so the improvements will need to come on the player personnel side.

Trading up in the draft is one way to help ensure that happens, although Bleacher Report's Jonathan Wasserman projected the Knicks to take Ohio State's Malaki Branham with the No. 11 pick in his latest mock draft.

Branham was someone who took significant strides during his only season with the Buckeyes, and he was recognized as the Big Ten Rookie of the Year and a third team All-Conference selection. He can score at all levels and could take advantage of the spacing created by the defensive attention Julius Randle and RJ Barrett draw.

However, New York may believe some of the players projected to go ahead of Branham would be worth trading up for and adding to its young core. That could send reverberations throughout the rest of the first round as teams scramble to react to such a move in the top 10 of the draft.

The possibility is reportedly at least on the table as the Knicks look for ways to improve their club this offseason.

The Detroit Pistons are looking to improve their center situation this summer, and it appears they have a backup plan if they can't land coveted prospect Chet Holmgren in the 2022 NBA draft.

The Pistons are expected to pursue New York Knicks big man Mitchell Robinson if they miss out on Holmgren, according to Marc Berman of the New York Post. The Pistons hold the fifth overall pick in this year's draft.

In his freshman season at Gonzaga, Holmgren averaged 14.1 points, 9.9 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 3.7 blocks per game while shooting 60.7 percent from the floor and 39.0 percent from deep. He was a consensus All-American and was named the WCC Rookie of the Year.

The 20-year-old is widely expected to be selected within the first three picks of the 2022 draft and could go as high as first overall to the Orlando Magic, which means the Pistons will almost certainly miss out on him.

The Athletic's Sam Vecenie and John Hollinger also reported this week that the Magic "are leaning toward" drafting Holmgren first overall, so Detroit shifting focus to Robinson makes a lot of sense.

The Pistons already expressed interest in the 2018 second-round pick at the 2022 trade deadline in February, but a deal was never reached because the Knicks wanted Isaiah Stewart in return and the franchise wasn't willing to part with him, Berman reported at the time.

Robinson, who is set to be an unrestricted free agent, has spent the first four seasons of his career in New York and impressed as the Knicks' starting center during the 2021-22 campaign. He averaged 8.5 points, 8.6 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game while shooting 76.1 percent from the floor.

The 24-year-old would also be a more athletic upgrade over Stewart, who started at center for the Pistons this season. Stewart averaged 8.3 points, 8.7 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 1.1 blocks per game while shooting 51.0 percent from the floor.

That said, the Pistons could use both players interchangeably, which would make both their first and second units difficult to play against in the paint.

It's unclear what the Pistons plan to do with the No. 5 pick, but Holmgren, Paolo Banchero and Jabari Smith Jr. are expected to be off the board by the time they're on the clock. AJ Griffin, Keegan Murray and Jaden Ivey should be available. 

The New York Knicks finished this season outside of the playoffs, but not quite low enough to snag a top-five draft pick. Instead, making their selection at No. 11, the team's options will be at the mercy of those who are higher in the order.

While—presuming the top prospects are all picked early—New York's options may feel limited, there are a number of directions the team can take from the 11th spot. This draft is fairly top-heavy, but the first two tiers open up to an interesting range of players from around No. 7 to No. 13.

Among those prospects, the most buzz seems to surround Memphis center Jalen Duren, Arizona guard Bennedict Mathurin, Wisconsin guard Johnny Davis and G-League Ignite guard Dyson Daniels. 

New York, then, has a lot of candidates to consider. As far as needs, practically everything is on the table—opening things up even further.

Of the squad's five starters, 21-year-old RJ Barrett is the only player likely fixed into the organization's future. The starting backcourt, Alec Burks and Evan Fournier, are both older than 29, and the starting frontcourt, Julius Randle and Mitchell Robinson, are shakily regarded and an unrestricted free agent, respectively.

Further, it remains unclear whether any of the team's other young players (Immanuel Quickley, Quentin Grimes, Miles McBride and Cam Reddish) are considered long-term starters by coach Tom Thibodeau. 

So, will the front office let Robinson walk and hope to fill his void with Duren, or will they look to one of the intriguing guards or wings? According to the New York Post's Marc Berman, the latter seems most likely.

Duren, a 6'11" 18-year-old, certainly fits the Robinson mold. He averaged 12.0 points, 8.1 rebounds and 2.1 blocks as a Memphis freshman—delivering some serious flashes of explosiveness along the way. His downsides are similar to Robinson, too, though, as he took zero three-pointers and shot an uninspiring 62.5 percent from the line.

Bouncy, strong big men with rim-running and paint-protecting potential are valuable, but the modern NBA leans toward shooting versatility. None of the remaining four playoff teams start a center taller than 6'10", coincidentally exemplifying this shift away from pure size at the position.

As part of his dive into New York's drafting interests, Berman reported that Knicks sources think Duren is "too much of a project for Thibodeau to sign off on." That may be because the teenager is simply too raw or, in part, because he wants a shooting big or to re-sign Robinson.

Whatever the case may be, the Knicks seem to have different aspirations at No. 11. So far, they have interviewed Mathurin and Davis, per Berman, and Daniels, according to The Athletic's Mike Vorkunov.

As playmakers with shooting potential, the fits next to Barrett are obvious. Of course, the fit is even more obvious for Mathurin—who has already played with Barrett in Canadian National Team camps.

A more polished prospect, the 19-year-old Mathurin is 6'7" and shot 36.9 percent from three this past season. Daniels is also 19 and similarly sized at 6'6", but he showed a streaky jumper this past year, hitting just 25.5 percent of his threes in the G-League Ignite Showcase. Davis was somewhere in the middle, shooting 30.6 percent from deep but averaging 19.7 points with glorious, bucket-filled tape.

Mathurin and Davis are widely projected to be selected somewhere in the No. 5 to No. 13 range, putting the Knicks right in the mix. There's a real chance that both are gone by New York's time on the clock, though. 

If so, Thibodeau may need to reconsider replacing Robinson with the Duren project, as the 19-year-old Daniels may not be pro-ready yet, either.

The New York Knicks have been searching for a playmaking point guard for years, and it appears that they're willing to pursue a trade for a veteran.

According to Marc Berman of the New York Post, the Knicks are interested in acquiring Indiana Pacers floor general Malcolm Brogdon. The Pacers brought in young point guard Tyrese Haliburton at this season's trade deadline, potentially making Brogdon expendable.

"Haliburton's addition has made the Pacers evaluate the future of their incumbent point guard, Malcolm Brogdon, whom the Knicks have some interest in as he’s a better defender and with more size than free agent Jalen Brunson," Berman wrote. "Brogdon is 6-foot-5 but comes with a heavy contract."

Brogdon will make $22.6 million during the 2022-23 season, per Spotrac. After that, the two-year, $45 million extension he signed last year will kick in, keeping him under contract until 2025.

The 29-year-old Brogdon has had an injury-riddled run in Indiana, never playing more than 56 games in any of his three seasons with the team. He was limited to 36 games this past year while dealing with an Achilles injury.

When healthy, Brogdon is a consistently productive point guard who can run an offense for a playoff contender. In limited action in 2021-22, he averaged 19.1 points, 5.1 rebounds and 5.9 assists.

A trade for Brogdon is likely to cost a substantial amount. New York has multiple players that it would be willing to part ways with such as Alec Burks and Kemba Walker, but that might not be enough to entice the Pacers to part ways with Brogdon.

The Knicks finished 37-45 this season and fell short of the playoffs. New York has the No. 11 pick in the 2022 NBA draft and could look to address the point guard position. Promising prospects expected to be available include Kentucky's TyTy Washington and G League Ignite's Dyson Daniels.