Which Knicks Addition Is Most Likely To Make An Impact? | NY Got Game

What's up everybody? Welcome back to another edition of New York Got Game. Dexter Henry with my guy, Brian Fonseca. Brian, how you doing? Doing alright. Hey. Doing alright. Nicks? We had a totally different idea for this episode. Totally different idea. Until a few hours ago. Then scrapped it. And then the Nicks did basically what y'all all want them to do, which is video game style. Just, hey, sign everybody. Sign a bunch of the guys that we've been talking about to non-guaranteed deals. Invite them into camp. But now, they're going to have a ridiculously interesting training camp roster. Yeah, so we're going to talk about that today. We're going to talk about the Exhibit 9 guys the Nicks signed to non-guaranteed deals. There's five guys we're going to talk about. It's very interesting. Brian and I are going to break all that down. But to help us break it down, the best is going to be our own Nicks Beat Reporter for the New York Post. He's going to join us. It's my guy, Stephan Bondi, joining me now. Stephan, what's going on, man? How you doing? What's up, man? I'm good. Thank you for that kind intro. I appreciate it. Well, I should also add championship writer covering the Nicks, Stephan Bondi. I forgot to do that. It was all me. I got to put that on Steph. We have to do that because we respect the work, obviously. Steph, let's get into it here because the Nicks, they brought in five veterans on Exhibit 9 deals. And just to let the people know, it was Bruce Brown, Drew Eubanks, John Conchar, Ochi Obagi, and James Wiseman. Those are the five they brought in on the Exhibit 9 deals. The way you look at the roster right now, as it's currently constructed, it looks like everybody's just battling for one standard spot here. Why did the Nicks, this is the second offseason we've seen them do this, why did they choose this open competition between these guys again, choosing that approach again, and what do you think the front office is going to be measuring most closely when they look at this open competition? Yeah, so, I mean, here's the deal. They have 13 players under contract. They can have as many as 15. So, technically, they have two roster spots open, but they can only sign one while staying under the second apron. And it doesn't make sense to go above the second apron to sign the 15th man on the roster. So, they're currently, for all intents and purposes, have one spot to fill. Positionally, if you look up and down the roster, the biggest need is for another big man, another center. Right now, they only have Carl Anthony Towns and Andre Drummond as their only centers. But if I look at the guys they brought in, the best players, in my mind, are the two guards, Bruce Brown and John Conchar. Agreed. So, you know, bringing in these caliber players for this one roster spot doesn't make a lot of sense unless there's a trade on the horizon where you could either create another spot, another roster spot, or you get rid of the logjam at guard and you're able to bring in another guard. So, that's kind of where I stand. I was told that the philosophy was much like last season. They're going to bring in guys, make it a competitive camp. And, you know, I like that. You know, it was good last season. If we go back a year, they were in a similar situation. They were looking at, we have to make a trade because we want to bring in two of the guys, Malcolm Brogdon and Landry Schammett. And then out of nowhere, Malcolm Brogdon retired. So that kind of like, you know, eased that little problem. Now, you know, I see something similar, you know, brewing in this training camp. So, it's interesting, right? Because it's not, I think fans will look at this and they'll think it's maybe just one competition or two. But like you said, they're not going to sign two guys to guarantee deals. You're not going to exceed the second apron to sign the 15th man in the roster. Do you think there's an inside track for the guards slash wings here? Bruce Brown, John Conchar? Or is this going to be more all eyes on a big man competition between James Wiseman and Drew Eubanks? Well, I mean, I know that John Conchar's representatives are telling people that, you know, they had multiple options and they signed here to the Knicks because they were told and they feel like they have a really good shot at making the roster. I can also report, I think it's been reported before, but Gabe Vincent, a veteran point guard, I saw he was, you know, reporting he was working out with the Knicks. He wasn't working out with the Knicks. He, you know, got up some shots. He met with the team and it's still unclear whether he's going to sign, but he's another point guard. So, you know, I forgot your question, but if you give it to me again, I'll circle back because I was all over the place there. Yeah, no, I was kind of asking more about the, what would the preference be for the Knicks? Because in terms of position and getting this last guaranteed deal, would it be them looking more at the guard wings? Because you were saying, we all agree here that the priority should be, should be, that they should add a third center. You think that's the best need for the roster? I feel that way. At least that would be the best need for them. I do too. The better players available are not centers. It's kind of the problem. Yeah, but I guess what I'm asking Steph is, Steph, what are you, what are you looking at in terms of, what do you think the team is looking at? I should say, are they focused more on adding the best player they can and give me if it is another wing or is that saying they should add another big man here? What do you think the team is zeroing in on here? Well, you know, I don't, I don't, I don't want to speak for the team. I'll speak for myself right now. Bruce Brown, to me, is the best player that they signed. I mean, you know, he, he's just a few years removed from being a important piece on a championship team, from signing a, the Knicks were actually interested in signing him right after that, at Denver season. And, you know, he went to Indiana instead on a pretty good contract. He's only a few years removed from that. His career kind of got derailed when he was part of that Pascal Siakam trade and went to Toronto. But he played 82 games last season for a good team. I'm surprised that he, the best he can do is a non-guaranteed deal. I understand that he's not the best three-point shooter, but he gets after it defensively. He's only 30 years old. He can score in transition. I liked him ever going back to, you know, his time in Brooklyn when Kevin Durant, for whatever reason, didn't like him. But he, to me, he's the best player that, that they brought in. So that's, you know, some, you got to decide. They don't need another guard though. Like they, they, if they keep miles McBride, like, and they have Jordan Clarkson, they have Landry Shamit. Like, I don't know where you would fit Bruce Brown into the rotation. So these are, these are questions that are going to be settled later. I wish I could tell you, Hey, this guy is the inside track and they're going to trade this guy or they're not going to trade that guy. I don't know the answer to that stuff. I agree with you that Bruce Brown is the best player. I absolutely agree with you on that. I guess we, look. They don't fit the best though. No, but let's talk about this. Do you think that it's likely the Knicks look to upgrade the backup center position and possibly move a miles McBride? Because when you're bringing in this many guards, it makes me think about that. You know, one would speculate on trades, but is it possible, more likely that they could move a miles McBride or somebody else? Because they're bringing in all right. If I look at two people who they would move quickly, it would number one, the most obvious and the easiest to do is become daddy. Yes, he's got a, he's got a player option or team option for next year that they need to pick up by Halloween. Yeah. And it's like, it's 5 million. There'd be crazy to pick that up. So he's kind of, you know, on his last legs here. He's going to be a free agent after the year. He has not shown that he can, you know, be part of a rotation of a playoff rotation or anything like that. The problem with trading him is he doesn't, he has no value. So you would be giving up an asset to create space to sign two players. The other person is like you said, miles McBride, because he is, you know, unlikely, I would say unlikely to get an extension and he will become a free agent after the season. And, you know, the Knicks risk losing him for nothing. With that said, miles McBride is still a very, an excellent player. He, the Knicks are in a win now window. So giving him up, I would want something back that can help the team. And that will be difficult because his salary is so low. I don't know what kind of player you can get back. That is of the caliber of miles McBride. It would be very difficult trade to make. Is someone like Bruce Brown that could, could he fill that role? I mean, they're similar players, but miles McBride is better. He's younger. He shoots better. I would rather have miles McBride than Bruce Brown. I'd agree. I think Bruce Brown, Steph, if I may bring something else to your attention, I think he may fit a different role because one direction I looked at when they brought up or brought in rather Bruce Brown and John conchar was who we talked about last week. And that was Josh Hart because he has a weird contract situation moving forward and they don't have a long-term commitment right now. Is there a world where we're focusing on the wrong thing temporarily? And we should be looking at, Hey, this is a little bit of a Josh Hart emergency plan since they just kind of signed two giant diet, Josh Hart players in the wings right now. If you're suggesting that they're going to trade Josh Hart, no, no, but that they're not, that they may not resign him or they may be further apart in extension talks. I'll say this confidently. As long as Jalen Brunson is on the Knicks, Josh Hart will be on the Knicks. So I think those two are tied together. I don't think that it would be smart of the Knicks to trade who to say, all right, bye-bye Josh Hart, because we have Bruce Brown waiting in the wings. That's just not a, you know, I do not expect Josh Hart this to be a Josh Hart emergency plan, but we have to get you on record just to make sure. Yeah, no. And listen, I know we're talking about extension with Josh Hart, you know, they own, they, it's not as big of a, you know, emergency with him as it is with, certainly with Deuce and also with Carl Anthony Towns because they can, the Knicks can just pick up Josh Hart's team option. And then we're now talking about an extension negotiation next summer with Josh Hart. So they can just kick the can down the road and then you can get, you know, I wrote this and I could see it, you know, a Josh Hart Jalen Brunson dual signing announced on the roommates podcast in the summer of 2027. So like, you know, so like, you know, something like that. I don't, I don't see Josh Hart going anywhere with this thing. Okay. I'm sure people will be glad to hear that. The other thing is in the more obvious one, which we've already touched on, but it feels like they may want to sign two of these guys. And in order to do that, you're going to have to make a trade. You did not bring up and you Dex did not bring up the name Tyler Kolek. I wonder if he fixes into all of this too, especially since you also mentioned Gabe Vincent, who is a veteran point guard who has played off ball also, but is he another trade piece for this team? Seeing that he probably has more value than Paco Dottier because he's shown more at the NBA level and he's going to cost less even next year. If his fourth year option is accepted. Yeah. I think he's more valuable around the league than Paco Dottier. So you wouldn't have to, you know, give up a, you know, something drastic to get rid of a salary. I had, I didn't look at this, but I have to look at the salary matchups and how that would fit. Like if they're able to dump Tyler Kolek or Paco Dottier to a team that can just absorb him with cap space or whatever, would that free up enough space for the next to then sign two guys? I have to look at what I haven't done this yet. I have to look at what Tyler Kolek is making. I have to look at what Paco Dottier is making and see if any of that stuff, you know, how that all math works out. But that, that obviously would be a priority is you have, if you're going to do a trade like that, you have to do it to create enough space to sign two guys. Would you, do you think that's a realistic option here, Steph? Or if you were, if you were Leon Rose, would you want to sign two of the guys from this group? Is that a prudent thing for the Knicks to do here? Are two guys here worthy of being signed? I think that I'm going to say the same exact thing I said last year. If you're going to trade Paco Dottier, fine. Paco Dottier, you know, it's not realistic that he's going to be a big part of the rotation next year. It's not realistic that he's going to be a big part of the future. And you're able to get off the books by giving up a second round pick and become Dottier to sign a second guy. I like that move. Deuce is a little, is way different. And then Tyler Kolick, I still think has a future with this team. I think he's going to get better. I know he has some fans in the organization in powerful places. So I see to me, that's, that would be less realistic. Okay. So let me ask this. If let's say, let's just, we don't get into all the details of the trade, but let's say they do trade somebody and they're able to sign two guys here. We are all in agreement that Bruce Brown is the best player of this exhibit nine group of guys that they signed. So he's not guaranteed deals. Who's the other player you would want them to sign? Would it be a big, and would you go Wiseman or Eubanks here? Um, I don't really like you. I mean, Steph was like, no, I'm good. I, you know, I, you know, I don't know. Um, I, well, Wiseman was he cut last year by the Pacers and didn't even play most of the season. Yeah. He's been hurt. That's part of the problem too. But when he's been healthy, he hasn't been awesome either. Eubanks. He's not a good rebounder. I just don't, um, you know, I'm not a huge fan of either of them. Um, now listen, I'm not going to sit here and say I've scouted these guys. I've watched their tapes endlessly and I've watched, you know, their, their games a lot. I haven't. Um, so maybe I'm missing something, but to me, um, I'm not a fan of either of them. That is, that is absolutely. So, so Steph are the best two players here in order, perhaps Bruce Brown and then John Conchar. And if that's the case, aren't they probably only going to sign one of those guys? Yeah, it would make sense to only sign one of them. And like I said, you know, Um, there has been messaging from John Karchar side that they have a very good chance of making the roster. So, you know, I don't know what smoke and mirrors with that, but, um, if you follow the path, that path and Bruce Brown, it doesn't make sense to keep Bruce Brown, both Bruce Brown and John Contra. Yeah. It will be, it's going to be very interesting. It is a interesting, I can't believe they all have non-guaranteed. Yeah. I think that was a shock for me. Maybe more so to what Steph's point was on Bruce Brown. Yeah. I am a bit shocked that he signed an exhibit nine deal. That was shocking to me. Um, cause I like Steph think that he still has something to get. Granted this kind of an archetype thing too. Cause he's, he's six, four, but you know, he plays up and he can't like his shot is not like the most reliable. I know people will say he shot 38% from three, but the volume wasn't, wasn't there. Yeah. It wasn't insane. Contra shot like 28% less. Yeah. I know he's 35 for his career, but he shot 28%. He's a, he's a, he's another like really good six foot five rebounder also for whatever that's worth. So again, he's kind of like really die, like really diet Josh Hart, but really diet. All right, Steph, we will see what the Knicks do and how they round out their roster for training camp. Uh, I will see you later this week and then I'll see you at media day in a couple of weeks. Thanks Steph. Appreciate it. I'll see you. Okay. We heard from Steph, but now we're going to talk a little bit and try to break down some things with these players. And again, very interesting group, very interesting move by the Knicks. I would say to have five of these guys on non-guaranteed deals. I like Steph, like the competition. I do like that. Probably would like it a little bit more if there are some better options for bigs, but we just did that a couple of weeks ago where we showed you guys what the options were for bigs. And some of you out there were commenting on IG on X telling us, they should go for James Wiseman. And we did see that. We saw, we saw this. No, I just made a face. Cause you said X, whatever X, Twitter, whatever. I'm trying to, I'm trying to be accurate as a journalist. Don't be accurate. So it is called X, whatever. Um, Elon don't need your respect. It's fine. He does not, but somebody looks, speaking of looking for respect, Bruce round. Might be looking for some respect because here he is getting an exhibit nine contract. I agree with Steph. That is a little bit shocking. I guess the question I want to ask you, let me, let me toss it with this. Sure. Cause this kind of could frame to boost Brown, but for me, it can also, let's look at everybody. Who do you think out of this group has the best chance of impacting the mixed roster this season? Bruce Brown. But are you saying that, are you saying that with the assumption that there would be a trade? Yeah, because I think so. Here, here's how I'm looking at this. You have, we have not talked about, we have not talked about. Really enough at all. all due respect, think that he's third amongst these wings that we're talking about. Great. He's definitely number three. Um, but you could make a ceiling argument for him just because of his age. Comparatively. He's 26 years old. Whereas John conchar is already 30 and Bruce Brown, who's also been in a league eight years. Just turned 30 last month. Um, I don't know how much left is there for all of these different guys, but clearly they were decent enough to get these contracts. Again, surprised that they all are on non-guaranteed deals, but in terms of who make the best impact, I just would lean Bruce Brown because he's the best player just in terms of credentials. The reason why I think he's in this position in his career. It's kind of like what Steph told us. It's been wonky for him since the Pascal Siakam trade. And on top of that, you have somebody in Bruce Brown who, if you look at his archetype, he's about six foot four, maybe really six foot three, depending on, you know, what you're looking at. And he kind of plays the guard position, like a power forward would, which is why I call them like a junior Josh Hart, like a real junior Josh Hart. Except you love this. This is a Brian Fonseca special. For me, but some front offices, and this is not the Knicks because he signed them, but some front offices may look at that and be like, well, I'd rather get a guard with more length. I'd rather get a guard with more reliable shooting. Because while he's not been a terrible shooter in his career, he's an inconsistent one. And he's not the most willing shooter, which is coincidentally a problem that some Knicks fans have had with Josh Hart throughout his career. Like he can rebound above his position a little bit. He's not a Josh Hart level rebounder, but is an industry, a very good rebounder for a guard. He is. He can score a little bit. He's played on championship roster before, and he's also played on multiple playoff rosters before, not to mention, you know, Denver last year, and obviously his previous run with Denver, but even earlier in his career, he did make it to the playoffs with the Brooklyn Nets. And that was a Brooklyn Nets team in 2020, 2021, that people think could have won the title if they had their ---- together, for lack of a better way of putting it. They never have their ---- together. They never do. John Conchar is also very interesting to me. He's the second most interesting player of this list to me in terms of, I think I know what I'm going to get, which is another guard who is a very good rebounder who can guard up a little bit, who's tough, who's jumpers kind of inconsistent throughout his career. And even last year on limited volume, albeit 25% from the field, but even for his career on limited volume, about 18 minutes a game shoots, shoots about two threes a game and about 35%. The 35% is not the issue there. That's fine. But it's a two attempts and it doesn't shoot much. And that's still with half of his shots coming from three. He just doesn't take a lot of shots at all. So it's kind of one of these old school type of guards that you're putting out there primarily for defense and rebounding. Yeah. He's, I like, I like that you said that there he's that old school kind of guard for that. He's, yeah, he's, again, he's a good cutter, not a bad passer. Bruce Brown too, by the way, right. Those, but that's why it's like low usage connectors is what I like to call. That's what you are. Low, are you low usage? It's like, it's like, it's like if Josh Hart has had a sore knee in two K and then his overall were to drop several points, you get Bruce Brown or John Contra. That's basically what it is. Here's the thing. Fans are going to see this. And I already saw this and doing the video reaction to Contra signing Andrew Eubanks and fans were like, what are we doing? Why are we going out and getting a bigger way? You know, that is six, eight, six, nine. And my thing is those guys, everybody wants an OG and an OB, not saying they have to be OG and an OB. Everybody wants those bigger wings. Those guys don't just grow on trees. They're just not readily out there. You know what the thing with those guys? And you can wind up with a Cam Reddish. If you get a big wing, right? Just because you've got a wing. That's six, eight. Doesn't mean anything. If you want size and you want people that could play like size would be ideal. And this is where somebody's development, like a Muhammadia war this season comes in. But those guys aren't just out there. Six, eight, six, nine guys who could actually shoot and defend. Especially not in September. No, not in September. Those options are slim. So to be mad, I just want to clear that up to say that they should have gone out and got somebody with more size. First, I'd be like, cool. Right. That you think is good. That will be signed at this point in September. All these guys signed you to the point that Brian made are for a reason that they have been signed here at this point in September. I agree with, look, I agree. Bruce Brownson. He's the best player. Yes. Now, if he's making the team and where I'm with step on this, it doesn't feel like it makes sense because it doesn't feel like they need another guard. That's the thing. He's the best player here. And you mentioned impact, but that's why, but that's why you, when you add the follow-up question, are you assuming a trade? Because if you just, if I'm just like, okay, you put Bruce Brown on this team, where does he play? Like, where does he play right now? That's the problem. Because coming off the bench, you already have Jose. You have deuce. You have Landry Shamit. You still have Jordan Clarkson on the roster. You still have Tyler Kolek on the roster. Where does Bruce Brown play? Which tells me there could be a trade. unless this is all for show and they wind up just signing Wiseman or Drew Eubanks. And then it's like, I don't think Bruce Brown and John Contra are just here for show. I think they're going to get a real opportunity to make this team. I don't know if they will. Are you saying that you don't like Drew Eubanks and James Wiseman are going to get a real opportunity to make this? No, but I, I look at these names and I'm like, okay, how could you not sign two of them? One wing and one big, because all due respect to Tyler Kolek, I don't know where he's going to play this year. We just mentioned all these other guards. It's like, okay, I have Jose deuce and Landry Shamit coming off the bench. I'm already small. And I still have Jordan Clarkson who played more of a role than Tyler Kolek last year. And it's like, Tyler Kolek to me feels more like, as we mentioned with Stefan Bondi, a trade piece just because I agree contractually where he is in his career with two years left. Cause that's how you have to think about it. You have to look at the contracts, right? Deuce McBride is still playing for a contract, but they're not, I don't think they're going to trade them tomorrow. Maybe they do. Maybe he just walks. I don't know what that's going to look like. Maybe they trade him and Tyler Kolek gets to play. But then it's like, you have Tyler Kolek and Jose Alvarado Landry Shamit. Is that, is that something that makes a lot of sense to you? Defensively? No, like something has to give with this roster is the point. And you have a lot of smalls and you don't have a lot of bigs, right? Okay. And we'll get into all this. And sure. Are there players among this five, the scientists that could impact this next roster? I think what we're both saying is yes, but some other things have to happen in order for that to happen. I would, who would you put after Bruce Brown as the next player that you think could impact the roster the most contract? Yes, but I'm more intrigued by Wiseman. I w I could argue that I'm the most intrigued by Wiseman. I just don't know. I don't know if, I don't know if I trust him. I gotta be honest. He's number five on the list to me of these guys. Wow. Really? Yeah. The, the intrigue in his like skillset is not enough to bump him above. He's five right now. He'd have to have a really good camp and a really good preseason for him. He, and the health, the health, that intrigue could move up, but I can't rank him high. How am I going to put it? I can't, how am I going to put him over Ochaibaji right now? Like I, I trust more of what I've seen from him. Ochaibaji. Yeah. In his limited time on the, as a six foot five wing and what I think he could contribute to roster. Then I do Wiseman right now. Wiseman, I got to see it. He's got the most to prove on this list. Yeah. Definitely. Easily. Like he's got the most to prove. Right. So that's why I'm at five. It's not off a talent. Yeah. Cause I think what you're saying is I'm intrigued by the talent. If that comes together, there is a world just to be clear to everybody. There's a world that in the middle of training camp, middle of the preseason, Brian and I sitting here, we're like, yo, James Wiseman is looking all right. And the Knicks could have something and he could push Andre Drummond. But to your point, I still trust, I trust Bruce Brown the most in terms of like, who I think is going to be, who I think could be a contributor right away. Bruce Brown. Then Conchar. Then Eubanks. Maybe. But I don't, I mean, Ocha, like he wasn't, the problem with Ochaibaji is no one watched him in Toronto. Toronto, excuse me. People from Toronto will kick your ass. yeah, yeah. But like people, people didn't watch him. Like he's been fine. Yeah. But two years ago, he shot the ball really well. You and I have actually talked about him off. We talked about looking at options. He shot the ball really well. His shot is very inconsistent. And his shot is inconsistent. Last year, he didn't shoot the ball very well. Yeah. So you don't know what you're getting with him. But that's also why I put him over. I've seen a year of him where it's looked good. I've seen that. Toronto, Toronto two years ago. Yeah, two years ago. And honestly, and honestly in Brooklyn last year, from what I saw, it wasn't too bad, but it's like these games don't mean anything. Right. I need to see when you're playing good level competition, which I've seen with Bruce Brown. Right. The most out of everybody, which is why you trust him. You've seen John Contra be a part of some decent Grizzlies team. Yeah. He's been in the playoffs. He hasn't gone too far. I mean, not to, not his fault. Not that he's played a ton, but he's been there. But what we say contribute is that, can you be, can you contribute to the regular season rotation, and give yourself a chance to maybe contribute in the postseason? Now, I'm going to say this, for all of this, all these guys we're talking about on this list, particularly the wing, the guard wings we're talking about here. Yeah. I don't think it'll be a good season, Knicks fans. If this person is playing more than Mohamed Diawara, that is not something you should want to see. That is not what you should want. You should, you need something out of Diawara. We talked about this on the last episode with EJ Stewart. You should need that and want that if you're a Knicks fan. Now, I just want to go back to trades real quick before we get about it. Because what I find interesting is, if there is a trade, if there is a consolidation trade, are the Knicks making this consolidation trade where they don't believe in one of these bigs? That's interesting. And they are trying to go upgrade and get themselves a big, because that is the move that you think could be around. That'd be a worrisome sign to me. No, no, no. The bigs are so not up to par, where you have to package a couple guys now to try to get one. But we just went through the options a couple of weeks ago. And what I'm saying is, what if early in camp, you're looking at, and I know there's already been some people in the comments. Oh, Andre Drummond is going to have it. He's motivated. You guys are bringing him down. Whatever that means. Stupid. What if? We're just preparing for every scenario possible. Yes, that's what I'm doing. But what if, to prepare for a scenario, the Knicks look at this through training camp. They're like, we don't like what we're seeing here. Now, I had said, I think they'd give it more time during the regular season. Maybe you get to a point of December and we'll see. They'll reassess and reevaluate. But with these moves and the amount of wings that they brought in, makes me think, will they be willing to reevaluate a bit sooner than one might think? I mean, if everyone plays bad, yeah. But if Andre Drummond looks great, then you're good. As long as he's helping. I'm rooting for Andre Drummond to look good. I hope he looks good. I hope that happens for him. But you don't know. Are you confident in him holding up in the playoffs? There's a long way to go between now and then. But you would rather get somebody to play in and get minutes. And I will still say, I will still say this, because the Knicks gave that offer sheet to Moussa Sisse, which was a good one, and a smart move, that told me a lot about how they really feel about the backup center. And made calls for Yves Messi as well, as we've talked about. Now, glad you brought up his name. I'm sure you are. The calls could still be there. Yep. And you might. Still got all second round picks. I don't know. The Pelicans might be willing to take Deuce. And they would also have to be willing to extend him. Would they take him with a Dottie or a Kolek? And then say, hey, well, we have an option on another young player that we could pick up. Although I don't think they would pick up that option. I don't think the Knicks are either. Or would you be willing to extend Deuce and give him the money? Somebody will. I think Deuce. I'm confident in saying Deuce will get money. I just don't know if it's going to be here. I don't think it is, unfortunately. Oh, wow. Now you're at, I don't think it is. I don't think so. When you just look at the, when you read the tea leaves, I don't have any information on this. I think when you look at the tea leaves, and you look at all the extension stuff, we talked about Alvarado. Right. And we talked about, we talked about Kat and Josh Hart. We've talked about that this summer. And how those extensions look, it just feels like he could be the odd man out. McHale's paid. Obviously, Jalen's going to get paid. Obviously, OG's going to get paid. Right. Somebody's going to be the odd man out. You can't keep everybody. Right. You can't keep everybody. The band is not going to be here together forever. It actually makes sense on the Pelicans. Now that I'm looking at the roster again. That's what I'm saying. Play him next to Jeremiah Fears. I don't know how long Jordan Poole and Dejounte Murray are going to be there. I also would add, remember the Knicks got themselves six second round picks. At this draft, you can attach some of that. If they really feel like they want to get that more athletic dig in here, there are pathways to it. Would it shock me if this front office did that this preseason? No. Yeah. Especially, especially because the whole point of us bringing up Eve Meesey before, last trade deadline, before they got Jose Alvarado, and we were outlining ways to get both of them. They ended up just getting Jose and obviously it worked out. But part of it is he has a similar contractual situation. I don't know why I said that like that. Contractual situation to become Dottie, where he has 3.5 million this year and a team option for 5.6, just about for next year. But feasible that you would take that option because he's actually proven to be a nice player. And in New Orleans, he's probably not going to play that much all the time because you still have Zion Williamson. You still have their queen that you're building around. You know what I mean? So, like he, he feels like, he feels like odd guy out. Deuce could be an odd guy out. So this is a, my issue for your issue. Not that the player is an issue, but like my financial issue for your financial issue, type of trade. And then New Orleans could be like, well, and there would probably be picks involved maybe, but to just keep it with these two guys at this point, because they make close to the same money. New Orleans could be like, all right, well, Deuce can play next to Jeremiah Fears, can be complimentary to somebody. We're trying to develop that point guard. We don't know what we're going to do with the John T Murray yet. We don't know what we're going to do with Jordan pool yet. We still have Herb Jones for the time being. We just got Ben Mather in, you know, Sadiq based on the roster. So it's like, okay, Deuce actually makes sense with all those players that I just mentioned. And they don't have the issue that the Knicks can potentially run into where they have too many guys that are like under six foot five, under six foot four. And they just can't play all of them. Like you can't play four of those dudes in a lineup at one time. No, just can't. No, it's because of the problem. We talked about the Knicks, Adam Wings, but if, if you, let's say the Knicks, and we may don't make a trade like that. The point we're making here is then, if you bring in a Bruce Brown to sort of be the Deuce McBride replacement, although I agree with Bondi very different on this, a very different kind of player. Yeah. I would rather have McBride. I think he's a better player to get you through the regular season. As our good friend of the show, EJ Stewart said that he's a regular season razor. I would agree with that. Yeah. In terms of what he can do for you in the regular season, but I could see the next, the key here. And this is why I want to stress it with the way the Knicks have brought this in for guys under these exhibit nine deals, what the Knicks are trying to do, whether they make a trade or don't make a trade, right? The, the key thing to really understand here is they're trying to keep as much flexibility as they can while staying under the second apron and keeping this hopeful championship window open. That is what they're trying to do. If they could just sign two guys that they liked here without going over the second apron, they would do that, but they can't do that. So they may need a little bit more flexibility. And that's where to Bondi's point that he was making. That's where possibly moving on from a daddy, a, or a Colec could free up some room where you could sign both of these, one of these guys, these five, two of these five here and round out your roster. There's still some other options you could do. Could it be a two-way cotton of the two-way contract for somebody else? There's still some other ways you can do things with the final roster spot, but the key word is flexibility. That's what the Knicks are going to be about. That's what they're going to be focused about, whether they make another trade or not. But I think they want the flexibility that even if it's not here in the preseason or through training camp, that during the season, if they look at a need and need to upgrade, they will have the flexibility to do so. That's what they want to keep during this championship window. And I think that's the most important thing to watch. Look, if I had to, I'm not saying I'm betting on who will make this roster because so much of it has to do with wilderness, make another move. I really can't call this until I know if they make another move or not. If they trade, if they trade Dottie, if they trade Kolek, if they trade, like if they trade anybody, basically, the world will have some answers. Then we'll have more answers. The picture will be clearer for us on what the Knicks do. I think if they trade one of those young players from the draft a couple years, one of those third-year players, then I think it's likely you see like a Bruce Brown and, or a pick to one of the centers. Now, if James Wiseman outplays Drew Eubanks, sure. I can see the Knicks saying, let's go with somebody with a higher upside, a little more athleticism, especially if you trust Andre Drummond to be at least a regular season innings either, if not more than that. But if you, if you trust Andre Drummond, this is the key. Really, if you trust him to play 15 minutes at night during the regular season, 12 to 18 minutes a night, whatever it is, then you're like, yeah, we'll take a flyer on James Wiseman and have him develop and sit for a while. And you know, he's going to get his opportunity. Cause that's just the nature of the NBA now. Like everybody, everybody gets dinged up at some point, right. He'll get a shot and then we'll see what happens from there. But yeah. It's also worth noting before we close out that, uh, Landry Shaman and John Kanchar share an agent. So, uh, I would not sleep on John Kanchar's chances potentially to make this roster. Yep. John Kanchar's chances, which friend of the show, Ian Begley, uh, said that his representation feels very good, that he has a very good shot to make the team. So we'll see how that goes. It just said the same, the same thing. We're talking to the same people. I've heard all, all this stuff. Very interesting that Nick signed five of these guys to exhibit nine contracts. We will see who makes the team unbelievably media day is under two weeks away, training camp, uh, under two weeks away as also it is. Can't believe we are back here. Slow down. Season is coming back. Jesus. We will be ready. We'll have more on your guy game. Let us know in the comments, who you think word should make the team. Should the mix make the trade? What should they do? What kind of transaction would you like to see? How would you like to see them keep their flexibility? Let us know what you think about all of that. That's going to do it for this edition of New York game. That's my guy, Brian Fonseca. We'll have more for you next week with the idea we were supposed to do this week. We had to flip around because it's news, but we have a good idea unless they do something else. Yeah. And by the way, signing all these dudes, it's a, it's a good problem to have. If you're the next, yeah, it's a good, you brought in some like the dudes with legitimate MBA back. So this, this training camp is actually going to be worth following on a day-to-day basis. And I have something to watch. Tell me some position battles to watch too. Should be pretty fun. All right. We'll be back with more next week for you on your guy game. Until then, everybody be safe. Peace. And thanks for watching New York. God game. Boom. Shark. A locker.