The Mismatch - State of the Knicks With CP "The Fanchise" | The Void

Episode Date: April 13, 2022

Hey it’s Kevin, thanks for listening to 'The Void.' Today’s guest is Casey Powell, or as he is better known: CP "The Fanchise." CP is die-hard Knicks fan and creator of the Knicks Fan TV, which covers the team with live shows streaming online. Here are today's time stamps: (04:43) - RJ Barrett’s progress (10:54) - What happened with Julius Randle? (14:10) - Getting called out by Randle’s wife (20:26) - Any optimism that a star could join the Knicks soon? (22:59) - On the Knicks young core (35:01) - On Leon Rose getting more aggressive (39:43) - Is James Dolan as bad as people make him out to be? (42:43) - On the Knicks future Host: Kevin O'Connor Guest: Casey Powell, a.k.a. CP "The Fanchise" Producer: Jessie Lopez Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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With new interviews, with the voices that made the promos, calls, and catchphrases into history. Listen now. Hey, thank you for listening to The Void. We get a great podcast today with CP the franchise from Nix Fan TV. We're doing like a little something different this week with Playing Week because on Tuesday night, I was on the Bill Simmons podcast. We reacted to the first night of the playing games and then we have the mismatch later this week. So today we're going to talk about the Knicks with kind of like an offseason exit interview, state of the team type of thing. And I had an amazing conversation. with CP about the Knicks.

We got into everything about this team, what they're going to be doing moving forward, what the implications of this seasons are, who the keepers are, and what to think about in the months to come as we approach the off season after everything we'll learn during this regular season. I appreciate you listening.

Like I said, if you want to hear my reaction to the first playing games, go listen to the Bill Simmons podcast, and otherwise I'll be back later this week with Chris Vernon. We'll be catching up on absolutely everything. Thank you again for listening. conversation with CP the franchise.

CP, what's going on, man? How you doing? Kevin, glad to be here, man. First time we're doing this, so I was looking forward to this one. Thanks again for having me on. I appreciate it, man. You guys absolutely crush it with Nix fan TV. It always amazes me how many, like, listeners you get and viewers you get immediately after games, especially during this, you know, disappointing season for the Nix.

Last year was a lot different. But what do you think about when you listen back to opening night, the Bing-Bong clip? what goes on through your mind as you hear the sounds of Nick's fans in the street well let me tell you I think from my perspective you know just

just hearing and capturing the pulse of the fans in the nightly basis the hysteria and the euphoria really started from Summer League straight through man because the fans they were excited about McBride and Grimes and Sims and then you go into the preseason and they're having their moments there

we had fans thinking this team was going to win 50, 60 games, you know, win the Eastern, you know, get to the Eastern Conference Finals. And then to have that game on opening night, we were in attendance there. It was electric, you know, 48 having his game. Julius playing the way that he did, Kemper having his moments. And then the whole Bing-Bong thing, take it on a whole life of its own. It was crazy, man.

But, you know, it's just a reflection of this fan base that's loyal to their team, excited about their team. and, you know, certainly didn't finish the way we would have liked it to, but nevertheless, that's the story of the Knicks. How close are the Knicks to getting back to having more moments like that outside of MSG? You know, we were there just, you know, open night. And last year, game two, game two, the first playoff win in eight years, they were there, I was out there recording and going live on the channel.

It was a parade on 7th Avenue. You know, I think that the bar, the bar is low. We can get there, but we got to make the playoffs first. And if we win a first, if we win one round, forget about it. It's going to be a zoo. So obviously this is a very underwhelming year for the Knicks, finishing below 500 a year after making the postseason and all the good vibes of last year with Julius Randall having a big season last year,

gets this big contract, rightfully made all NBA. I was against, you know, I knocked Randall pre-draft. I knocked him when he was a young player with the Lakers with the Pelicans. the guy we saw last year was rightfully on an all-N-Ba team. R.J. Barrett got better last year with the Knicks. This year, R.J. Barrett got even better. We saw him average about 25 points per game with six rebounds and four assists over his last 30 games, shot 34% from three. Getting to the line, eight freezers per game, looking like a more complete overall player.

Still inefficient as a score, still inconsistent. But C.P., what type of progress have we seen from R.J. Barrett over the course of this season with the Knicks, despite all the losing. Yeah, despite the losing and the inefficiency, I mean, I see a score, first and foremost. I mean, he's talking about 12 games where he scored over 30 plus. He's a guy that wants the ball in the big moments and wants to deliver for his team. I see a guy who's been a lot better on his drives, you know, really attacking the rim, using his physicality and his size to really impose his will out there.

And this year, you've seen a little bit more wiggle as he gets to the basket. He's finishing with both hands and looking good. good at it. I took a look at this stat just last month, B-ball index, had him at an A rating across these four categories, drives per 75 possessions, fouls drawn off of his drives, that percentage, unassisted rim field goal attempts per 75 percentage, and overall finishing talent, all a grade. And you saw it on the film when you watch an R.J. Barrett, I also thought his playmaking is continuing to take a bit of an uptick. You know, we saw those flashes from his rookie year, We saw a little bit more last year, but when he's coming off that, that pistol action, which

Tom Tibbittal likes to run for him, similar to the place that he ran for Jimmy Butler in Minnesota, really, you know, bringing R.J. off, you know, those side pick and rolls with Mitchell Robinson, so on and so forth. He's catching Mitch for those alley-Ups, we call him the Gotham Lob. He's finding guys in the corners for threes. And so his decision-making offer those screens has been better. And I think his assist percentage has gone up as a result. Absolutely. I mean, you described it. The drives. the ability to playmate on those drives and to score or draw fouls on those drives. It seems like R.J. Barrett right now, still, like he's such a young player at this point.

And he's only 21 years old. He'll be 22 next season, only his fourth with the Knicks. I think sometimes when it comes to the amount of great young players in the NBA, the expectation is almost set so high for them to be an all-NBA guy to lead the team deep in the playoffs because we see it across the NBA. But the truth is, is more often than not, it's more like the Devin Booker path, where Devin Booker for years is putting up numbers, getting better progressively with the Sons. And then they're in a position where other young guys get better and they add veterans, Chris Ball, Jay Crowder, and do what they did to go over the top. And it doesn't always work the way it did for the sons to make a run all the way to the NBA finals and they have the great season that they have. But that's typically the actual path, not you're in the Eastern Conference finals right away like Jason Tatum and Jalen Brown and Boston.

So with RJ Barrett, the progress, averaging over 20 points for the season, getting better in these ways. I still wonder, though, what is his actual upside, though? Because at 21 years old this year, do you see him as somebody who can become like an all-NBA guy? You mentioned Jimmy Butler, you know, Tibido using some of those types of actions that he used with Butler now with Barrett. Does he have the upside to be Butler-esque, all-NBA quality player? or is he more like one of those kind of co-stars who's playing off of the main guy, the main creator? Like, what's the best, I guess, role for R.J. Barrett? I think he can reach that Butler level if he does two things.

Number one, the mid-range. That was one area where I wanted to see him improve on this year. Still hasn't gotten there. You know, shooting 33% on pull-up Js. You know, still hasn't gotten there. And it's, you know, what happens when the defense cuts you off on those drives? What happens if they go into is an effect? zone. What happens if they meet you at your spots and now they're forcing, you know,

some junk at the rim, is there an intermediate shot that he can go to that he can rely on and knock it down and be effective? And that way, you know, add another weapon in his arsenal. He was working on that last year and this year, you know, coming around those curls and really pulling up at the free throw line extended, but it hasn't really been knocking it, knocking down for this year. So I want to see him continue to improve on that. I think Butler is a guy who you can look at and say, you know, that's, that's really there in terms of his game. On the other hand, if he wants to reach that Butler level, his defense. His defense is taking a little bit of a regression this year.

You know, he's always susceptible to the backdoor cuts. Hasn't been as crisp on his rotations this year. And so, you know, that part of his game, he certainly has to work on. I don't think he'll necessarily be that efficient score, but can he be a timely score? Can he be an effective score? Can he be a clutch score? And I think that is what Jimmy Butler has shown over his career. It may not always be efficient, but when the rubber meets the road and, you know, the game is on the line, he delivers.

And then lastly, free throws. You know, he's at 72% this year, finished at 75 last year, continuing to hit those free throws. And I think he can get there. I think he can, you know, maybe make a couple of all-star teams, maybe an all-MBA second team or so. But I think Archie's on his way. So, you know, with RJ Barrett, I think he gave the Knicks what, they needed this year, you know, in terms of the development. That's what you want to see is progress from your young guys. With Julius Randall, he signs that massive extension with the

Nix. Then he dips down to prior levels after what we saw last year. Last year, he's 24 points per game, 10 rebounds, six assists. This year was 20 points, 10 rebounds, five. So it's not far off in terms of the raw numbers, but the scoring efficiency just fell off a cliff for Julius Randall. I looked at the second spectrum numbers this year. He had the most isolations in the NBA with nearly 800 total. But of the 30 most frequent isolation users, he's scoring the least points per isolation.

And it's the same thing with post-ups. Out of the 30 players to post-up over 300 times, he was the least efficient scoring on the post out of all of those players. And the thing is, is what other options are there? You know, like RJ Barrett isn't quite that guy yet.

Quickly is still so young. Randall isolated over 10 times per game. Barrett did just three times quickly did just two times. 48 just 1.4. Berks just 1.3. Randall, by far, was the guy isoing and posting up.

It's no wonder why their offense was not the same level than it was last season when your main source of scoring just wasn't bringing it in the same way. No, no question, man. And unfortunately, you know, I wasn't trying to see it this way,

but it just seems like he benefited from the empty gyms. You know, when you look at defective field goal for a 70, you know, 46% this year versus 52 last year, 36 from the mid-range this year, 43 last year, 31% from 3.41 last year, man. It just seems like once the fans got back in, you know, from the playoffs on through, he just hasn't been that guy. And as you mentioned, extremely inefficient, especially out of isolation. And, you know, when I look at him, I see him settling for those tough jumpers. I see him, you know, getting the mismatch on smaller cards,

and instead of taking them to the rack, settling for a fadeaway mid-range jump shots. And so it just hasn't been there. But I think overall, that is also brought down the overall offense for the Knicks. Just his shot diet, the plays that they're running. And then, as you said, his supporting cast just hasn't been there to really help him. That's where D. Rose came into play last year. Once D. Rose was acquired in the trade last year,

you had a guy who could get his own in isolation, who was coming in against second unit players and really propelling that second unit, but a guy that could also take some pressure off of Julius Randall to deliver in crunch time situations. With Randall, what is the path forward with him? You mentioned the fact that he probably benefited from having empty arenas.

We saw all the drama this year with him with Nick's fans. Does he have the ability to play, it may be a more minimized role where the scoring is secondary rather than primary, or are the Knicks in a spot where they should be looking to move him and try to reshuffle this roster with R.J. Barrett? Number one, I think that's an excellent question. And in his three years here, we haven't seen that yet, whether it's based on how they run the offense right now

or based on the acquisitions that they made. You know, bringing in Kemper Walker, bringing in Evan Forney, was supposed to make things easier for him. They were supposed to be two guys who can be shot creators and playmakers that can take some pressure off of him. It didn't work out that way, whether it was, you know, Kemba in and out of lineup, injuries, ineffective play, 48, ineffective play. It just didn't work out for him. So we still haven't answered that question of do that, can they bring in a guy that can really allow Julius Randall be a secondary option and still have him perform at an optimal level? Because what we've seen is thus far this season or as the season wraps up, what we've seen is.

is that when his offense is impacted, his defense has been impacted, his effort has been impacted as a result. That's the last thing you want. You never want that. That's the last thing you want. And so as a result of that, combined with the max contract,

the pressures of building on last year's success, I think it's impacted him mentally, as much as it has on the court. And as a result, the fans have been, you know, frustrated with them. The fans have booed him at home. The fans have booed them in the lineups.

his wife has, you know, come at me as, as the face of all this venom, as the ringmaster of the puppet, you know, the, the puppeteer, which I pushed back on that a little bit, but I did not know that. She came at you. I knew about the stuff like with them, you know, bringing your family to games and everybody's booing. I'm like, really pinning on you? Just. Yeah. Yeah. It did happen. Not on the fact that he's shooting 30%. It's like the Westbrook stuff. Yeah. And with Randall. So what happened there? Yeah, so just on a quick side note, it was the Westbrook stuff that kind of started it because I was responding to a Twitter article where I was saying that Westbrook's wife was complaining that the family was receiving death wishes, I guess on social media. And I responded saying that, you know, my saying to the fans is always when we have our discourse and our debates, keep it within the fans.

You never want to at these players and send DMs of players. I never condone that. I don't like that when fans do that. because to me, you're crossing the boundaries and disrespecting. You don't want to put negativity into their feet. It's like, I'm sure you've been tagged in stuff before that's negative comments about you. I've been tagged in stuff before where it's negative comments about me. And it's like, well, first of all, if I see criticism of me, I don't really care.

It's whatever. I mean, sometimes you see criticism. You can learn from it, actually. Yeah. That's what I found over the years. I've learned a lot from criticism of me. Absolutely. But, yeah, for the most part, though, when it's really personal, I just don't

care. It's like whatever, man. Right. Right. So anyway. Yeah. So like we all get that in players. You don't want to tag people. Don't do that. So, so it my comment was retweeted a bunch of times and ultimately I see a notification from Joyce's wife basically in a sarcastic tone. Um, kind of questioning the sincerity of my tweets. And so me kind of being confused at what you was saying, you know, I responded to say, look, I personally don't at you or him on, on his play at all. And she basically said, well, it's it's you and people like you who create these narratives that tear him down and paint the players against each other and so on and so forth. So spare me all the sympathy.

And, you know, it just came. What's all there? And I just said, you know, listen, this is not a winnable argument for me or her. So I kind of dig out of that. I did you dip out of that. I said, look, man. I wish you guys well. Nevertheless, you know, good luck to you. but it caused a huge uproar.

And again, you know, the whole thumbs down situation. He spoke with the media about his relationship with the fans. It's strained, man. And I'm just not sure he can bounce back from that. So to answer your question, what happens with Julie's is the number one question that this front office has to address this summer? They have to figure out, is he going to be a guy that they can continue to build with or is a change of scenery the best for both parties?

Is it an addition by subtraction sort of deal? Because right now, I don't see them getting value from a Randall deal. I feel them having to sell low, maybe even having to attach a draft pick to offload that contract. So I think it's a huge gamble for them this office. It's a tough spot to be in for the Knicks because I think the answer of what you want to do is obvious. You want to trade them.

You want to get rid of Julius Randall. It's like so obvious. You want to get rid of them. That relationship is broken. But that doesn't mean that you can trade Julius Randall to for an offer that makes sense for you to do. Because you look around the league, you know, the teams he played for drafted by the Lakers, spent years there, one year in the Pelicans, and then with the Knicks. Which team in the NBA right now would actually want him? Like you look at bad teams that might want to get good quick.

The Kings already have some bonus. Not quite sure that's a situation that makes sense for them. the Blazers currently have Nurkich. They can end up with a top draft pick. There's a lot of bigs in this year's draft. Not quite sure you want, Randall. The Magic have a ton of bigs. The Pistons?

I don't know about the fit there. The Pacers. I don't love the fit with Miles Turner. I think they're going to play with five there. Like I'll be talking about with Caitlin Cooper, about the Pacers, the Wizards, maybe with Chris Tavs Porzingis. The exiled Nix.

Is that the spot? You know? And we just stumble into it? It's the wizards. That would be a story, you know. For Beal. Yes. For Beal.

I'm telling you, man, it's a tricky, tricky trade. And my fear is that, you know, as you say, the relationship is strained. But once you deal him, you know, Leon Rose was brought in here to bring in a star. Dolan wants that star. Ultimately, you know, what they've been doing so far and building on. the margins and not taking too much risk, that's been okay. You know, they've had some missteps in the contracts that they've doled out, some of them, Noel in particular, but overall, they haven't gambled yet. Eventually, they're going to need to make that move. And to me, it's like once you take

Randall off, you don't want to trade RJ necessarily, then what are you really left with to go out and go get that star? Because when that star does ask for that trade, that team on the other side wants a player of, you know, comparable stature or somebody that can come in and help them, you know, when some games are performed at a high level, you know, us just with role players and draft capital, I'm not sure that's going to get it done. A couple years ago, after the Nets beat out the mix to get Katie and Kyrie, someone with New York said to me, hey, maybe we're just not ready for these stars here. We have this young team that's still getting better.

It's going to be, you know, three, four years by the time these young guys are in a position to really lure a star. Obviously, you'd love to have Kevin Durant and Carrie Irving leading a championship contender, but as we see with the Nets, that's no guarantee. With the Nix, though, do you feel like they are kind of entering a

phase here where they could accommodate a star? Is there any optimism about that finally, actually happening in New York? Or are you just too scarred? I mean, I'm scarred. I definitely am scarred, but

You know, you never know with the Zion sweepstakes, what's going to end up happening there in this offseason with Zion and the Pelicans. Obviously, I'm always going to leave the light on for Donovan Mitchell. But I think for the Knicks right now to get to that step, number one, they have to continue to prioritize player development. But they also have to find that right mix of veterans because I'm not of the belief that a strictly young team can win enough games. I think it has to be a proper balance of youth and veterans that can, you know, help you win games. And then you can be an attractive candidate to guys out there that are looking for a situation where they can win. You know, you look at a guy like Adonovan Mitchell who Utah is going to continue to kind of hit that ceiling where they can't really get good enough to help him contend. He's going to want to go to a team where he can, you know, pick up where he left off and continue on a winning trajectory.

I don't think these stars want to come here and continue with the rebuilding team. So it's up to the Knicks right now to continue to one draft well, to have Walt Perrin who came from Utah and he's been finding a lot of value later on in the first round and second round. We look at the guys that they picked. But again, they also have to prioritize the playing time for these guys and bringing the right veterans that can help them become better plays. Tom Tibido said multiple times throughout the season, that we play young guys more than anybody else in the NBA,

which isn't true. That's not true tips, but I'm sorry. But the next two have a lot of young guys. They trade for Cam Reddish mid-season, all the weird stuff with him not getting a lot of minutes. Had some okay stretches. He's been up and down throughout his career. Quentin Grimes, really good 3-&E guy.

A manual quickly, been underwhelming development this year, still kind of a spark plug up the bench. McBride didn't play a lot after him. his great Summer League, unfortunately. I saw McBride. I had that tweet, O'Darine Summer League, when I saw him at the, the Momo Fuku, Dave Chang's restaurant.

That's right. That's right. Yeah. It's so cool, man. He just strolled right in. We were little, the tape people I was with, we were literally just talking about the night he had, because we didn't see it live. We were at the restaurant. And then, boom, there he is. Like 20 minutes later, walking in. I remember seeing that.

Yeah, it's too bad that he didn't play a lot this season. But with the Knicks, though, what is your sense or your evaluation of their of their current youth young core how many of these guys are really keepers going forward i didn't even mention obi topping yeah i you know i like these guys man you know you mentioned quickly and even though his shooting numbers have come back i i think he's making leaps as a playmaker and that was really his number one area of focus both he and the organization if you watch them from summer league and you know him running the point for that summer league team and after every day he's game, Tibado's in his year and the coach atoll is in his year to help him get better. He started off the season slow, but this season, as the season is finished, quickly, he's really been coming on strong. He had his first triple double against the magic, 2010 and 10. I think over his last 21 games, he's averaging 15 points, five rebounds or five times four

rebounds on a 45, 40, 86 slash line, 1.2 turnovers. I think he's really been making leaps as a playmaker. He's finished a lot of games in the fourth. quarter for this team, really being a versatile player for us. Does it seem sustainable into next season? Because a lot of young guys, they have a big stretch end of the year. Jordan Poole did that last year for the Warriors. Then he carried it over.

Then he got better again trying to carry it into the postseason. Do you see that quickly that it can be sustainable going forward? You know, I think ideally he still, while he has, you know, improved as a playman, I still think his impact on this team is going to be in more of an off-ball position, which is why he was so impactful. when Derek Rose was on this team. But I do think it is sustainable because it just seems like the game is really slowing down for him.

He's in much more command of the offense and what Tibbs is looking for. He's very aggressive on his drives. And I think he's also adjusting, you know, when the new free throw rules came into effect early in the season, I think he was impacted by that. But it seems like later on in the season,

whether I don't know if it's the refs giving him those calls now but it also seems like he's adjusting. in the way that he's operating in the paint and drawing that contact, shooting foul draw rate at the top of the league in terms of this position. So I do think it's sustainable. Obie coming on strong as a starter in Julius Randall's absence. But again, what do they do there with Randall to make sure that OB maintains that same consistency because Tibido has shown he doesn't want to play these two guys together for lengthy stretches,

for fear of lack of room protection and so on. Lack of shooting, too, with those guys, too. Right. Cam Reddish, I thought Cam, you know, from a front office standpoint, it was a low-risk move. They had Kevin Knox, who you figured they weren't going to bring back anyway, and the conditional draft pick from the Hornets, they had a bevy a draft capital already. I think it was a low-risk move to roll the dice, but then they brought him in here for a guy who is very stubborn and very locked into his rotations. And so they've got basically all of next year to make a decision on Cam Reddish before they decide whether or not they're going to sign him to a rookie extension,

which he's eligible for, you know, five years, $181 million. You've seen Jericho Sims. I think he's been looking pretty solid. You know, I think after the trade deadline, they've been giving him some more playing time. And Sims just looks solid. He's so athletic, dude. Sims just explodes out of the gym. man. It's funny of him, Mitchell Robinson,

Noel last year, granted he was injured a lot this year, but so many lot threats. Yeah, and Sims is showing that, again, they're going to have to make some decisions next offseason where can they get it, can they trade Noel? I didn't like that Noel contract to begin with. What happens with Mitchell Robinson, who's going to be a free agent? Do they look for sign and trade opportunities or, you know, keep Mitch and Sims? So they have some decisions to make there. I think Grimes is a good player. You know,

definitely three and D as a floor. But you also saw Grimes pre-injury being able to put the ball in the floor just a little bit. So we'll see if he can build on that in the next season. So overall, I think I like where they are with their young talent. As I said, I think they've drafted for good value. But the question is, will this coach be able to integrate these guys in terms of getting them minutes and allowing them to develop? You know, I look at a Steve Kerr. I just heard of Steve Kerr sound bites.

just a couple of days ago. And this warrior team also be set by injuries, just like the Knicks were. Steve Kerr said, you know, we're going to continue to experiment with rotations and lineups because we also have to prioritize

Jonathan Kaminka's development, Moses Moody's development, and make sure that we're getting the proper mix of youth and vets. Now, this is a guy who has his team in the third seed in the West, still tinkering with lineups. Tibbs, on the other hand,

there's a guy who says, well, if I got to bring this guy in the rotation, who do I take out? You know, he's a guy that wants, he wants his rotations, you're coming in for this set of time, you're coming out of this set of time, that's it. I want this rotation locked in, 9, 8, 9, 10 deep. I want chemistry. Now, who's right? I think you could make a debate for both, but, you know, for Tibbs, he's got to show that these young guys can get really into the mix and not just conditionally.

my belief based off of conversations of people around the league and just my hunch here is that one of the reasons why the Knicks got Fournier and got Berks and sign these deals this pass-off season is because in order to get a star player you have to have a salary to match

in a deal. So I view these short-term decisions as placeholders for long-term bets. And it doesn't mean that'll work out. It doesn't mean Mitchell is going to demand a trade from the jazz. It doesn't mean Zion is going to demand a trade from the Pelicans. But in order to, I remember many years ago, I probably said this quote on pause before. I remember I heard an executive, I think it was Rich Gotham, president for the Celtics, and a press conference publicly said, you want to be ready to react to opportunities that may

present themselves with trades. You've got to be ready with salaries, draft picks, assets, whatever it may be to pounce on opportunities. With the Knicks, I think, they're trying to be ready to pounce on those opportunities that may present themselves. Is there a player that you would want to target most? That's realistic. I'm not talking to now. You know, Kevin Durant's changing from Nets to Nix. Like, is a Mitchell type of guy?

Who would you like to see them target the most? Oh, it's no question. Is it really Mitchell, number one? No question. No question. The whole Zion thing, I can't trust that he's going to stay healthy. I can't, you know, with the way. So you want Mitchell over.

Zion, because of the health concerns. Absolutely, absolutely. Isn't it a basic where at that point already? Isn't that something else? But it's like, you know, the Zion concerns were there before he even got drafted. You know, how is the weight going to impact his joints and this and the third? And, you know, he's already missed time with a knee. Now it's the, to me, I say caution all over the place.

Yeah. And you got to go pay him. You got to go pay him his rookie max extension and trade these guys. now I'm sure there's nothing the guard will want more than to promote on their next season. Take it brochure. The Duke Big Three is now the next big three pony up.

By the way, the prices have just gone up. Coach K, out of retirement. Coach K. They can take him to his job too. He's now the special advisor, consultant to the president, to the owner. Can you imagine that if that actually happened, if Tim's got fired and Coach K got hired? I would never

put it past anybody. You can't rule anything. If we've learned anything in the NBA, you can't rule out anything. Can't rule out anything. So, you know, the Utah thing is just very, very peculiar to me. I just saw a stat that said, like, you know, Donovan Mitchell only average about two passes to Rudy Gobert again. Not assist.

Two passes. And then, you know, the rumors of the friction in that locker room. And like I said, Utah, where Utah is in the West right now, they don't have enough to compete and truly win a title. In my opinion, I think there are better teams ahead. of them. And I don't see for the foreseeable future how they shape that roster to be true contenders in the West. It's far too tough. You have Memphis now that's making a case. Golden State. You have Phoenix. You have Dallas who's looking really good. So I think it's going to be tough for

Utah. And ultimately, you know, the smoke is starting to billow. The smoke is starting to come out. How much longer is he going to stay there? And we know Mitchell's ties to New York. That's the guy who I would be looking for. No question. I think there's a window open for Mitchell to jump through if he wants to take it. If he wants to take it. He might want to stay in Utah and try to build that thing out. But I think for him, the jazz are going to be entering an offseason here where, so I grew up rooting for the Celtics.

And I remember the first big move Danny Age ever made as GM of the Celtics was trading Antoine Walker, who was a fan favorite, you know, him and Paul Pierce. They had some playoff runs of the Celtics. really good players, all stars, and it happened 10 days before the regular season began. Antoine was gone, and that was the first of so many big moves

Danny Age made that pissed off the fans. Like even trading Al Jefferson in the deal for KG. Al Jefferson. A lot of people were like, we got to keep Big Al, the young guy, trading Kendrick Perkins for Jeff Green. It didn't work out but took the risk. Breaking up the big three, trading Pierce,

trading Garnett, get, dude, like getting all these picks. And over the years trading down from number one Markell Fultz to number three to take Tatum. Drafting Jalen Brown instead of trading for Jimmy Butler. Danny Aange always did stuff. He just didn't give a damn what

fans thought and he had the supportive ownership to do that. Now with Utah, Ainge has this fancy title. He's like CEO of basketball operations, alternate governor. In other words, Danny Aange is like a head honcho there. One of the key decisions. Yeah, he's running the show. He's running the show.

Run underneath Ryan Smith. They're on. Young owner, he's putting it in his hands. By the way, Smith and Ains have been friends for like 20 years. So, like, there's trust there. Like, ever since Smith was even younger as a young owner already. So Aange is the deal maker, the risk taker that I grew up with, I've covered, you know, with the Celtics for years. Now in Utah, I think they're in a position here where what do you do, like you said?

If it's trading Gobert, maybe. Is it trading Mitchell? Maybe. my gut would tell me that Aange would probably prefer to keep Mitchell, but Mitchell is also the greater flight risk than Gobert. Gobert is also probably the safer guy to keep, because he keeps your defense in a top 10 level. He gives you a centerpiece on offense.

So point being, it would not be totally unrealistic if over the next couple of months we're getting Donovan Mitchell trade rumors because of Danny Aange's nature as a GM, he himself has said nobody is ever untouchable, and because of the window that, is open for a guy like Mitchell to jump through it. That's where I'm coming from with the situation when we look ahead to the offseason. Yeah, no question.

But like you said in your earlier point about the salaries, I could definitely agree with that. I think I can agree. That's why the Knicks did bring in some of these guys adding in the team-friendly deals on the last year of those deals to give themselves some sort of wiggle room there. All options. All options. All options.

And that's why I also think, you know, again, with the Julius factor, that's the That's why I'm not so sure they will be ready to just sell low on him, you know, without getting something comparable or using him in a framework to get something better. I'm not sure that they'll go there just yet. Yeah, I think your sense is right there with what they can do. And, I mean, ultimately, do you feel like should they try to accelerate things with a Mitchell? Or would you, is there a part of you that would like to see you see them build through the draft? Like that one great year, would you like to see them kind of, you know, play it slow? You got to pick up the phone and see.

You know, you have to, you have to see what they would want. Of course, you have to. I like where they're at. I like where they're building through the draft. They haven't mortgaged the futures yet. But, you know, look at this season, you're likely looking at anywhere between the 10 to 12 pick in the draft. I mean, yeah, you can, you can, maybe you can come out with a butler type or the next Greek freak or the next year. Maybe.

But, again, we're just not in that, you know, premium draft slots at, you know, the, top five of the early lottery where you can truly pull a difference maker out of here. And are we going to be with another guy who's, you know, we'll fill a nice, solid role with Quentin Grimes type of McBride type, but is that guy going to help really nudge this thing forward? And so I think it's time for Leon Rose in year three to really start thinking about getting aggressive here and making some phone calls, see what's out there. You mentioned the Knicks not having a top pick with the draft lottery right around the corner. Well, let's just say they get lucky on draft night, and they move into the top four.

Their chances are slim, but we've seen teams with the ninth best odds, the 11th best odds, move up in past years. So let's say the Knicks move up. Is there a guy in that top four that you'd most want the Knicks to target? Yeah. It's got to start with Ivy. You know, hard not to like Ivy. You know, you see in that tantalizing NBA type of talent the way he can score at will from basically all three levels, you know,

the athleticism on this. play now. He didn't look so good against your St. Peter's Peacock's. I'll tell you that, man. He did look so good in that final appearance in the NCAA tournament, but no, nevertheless, the talent is there from an NBA perspective.

Now, is he a true? Can he play the point? Can you run at the point? Will he most likely be a two? If you get him, you probably move an RJ to the three. Some fans argue they'd rather see RJ play at the two, but a talent like that, I would take him and then figure it out. Those two can share a little bit too. Like, you know, sometimes

it's Ivy playmaking. Sometimes it's RJ playmaking. Those guys could share the wall. Do you prefer Ivy over some of the other bigger names that people have heard, Paulo Bencaro from Duke, Chad Holmgren from Gonzaga, Jabari Smith from Auburn. Holmgren's interesting, man.

I'm just not sure. You got KP flashbacks. Yeah, I'm getting forward. How can you not? Seven foot one skinny, lanky, tall, goofy looking white dude.

Like, of course. I'm not so sure. I'm not so sure with Hombon. Here's the thing, though. K.P. got hurt overseas. Before he was in the NBA, KAP, he was always getting hurt. That's not always getting hurt. He looks like a guy who's going to get hurt, who does get hurt, but he doesn't get

hurt. So that's where I'm like, hmm, I look forward to hearing about all this pre-draft medical as he goes through the combine. Is there any concerns? Is he have a bad knee? Or does he just look like somebody who gets hurt? Yeah, it's just the potential durability issues that that really bothers me, you know? I think, I think Benedict Math are in stock maybe as for in a little bit based on his tournament play. He's a guy strong finish at the rim. Another guy that can get it done for you, fairly efficient at three.

I think he finished around 37% from three athletic season. Yeah, that energy. Nick's needed to get more. I like him around that late lot of range. That'd be pretty good for that. Nick's need to get more athletic, man. There's no doubt about it. So Mathrim would be a guy I have my eye on.

And then, you know, depending on if they do trade, Randall or not, is a Keegan Murray, a guy that, you know, fits in their sights. Again, depending on where they want to go with Julie's, but a high IQ two way big can stress the floor for you as well. I like Hegan Murray as well, between that, say, seven to 10 range. Is there anybody we didn't hit on the Knicks roster

that you feel like is worth discussing? Like a Taj Gibson and Alex first. No, no. No, no. No, no. I actually, I think we were all at Nick's station quite perplexing. to see Alec Berks finishing the season as your starting point guard. You can't make it up.

You just can't make it up, man. Injuries are not. You just cannot make it up with nothing to play for mathematically eliminated. And I'm a Burke's guy. Don't get me wrong. I'm a Burke's guy. I like his game. But I'm realistic in terms of where he is with the team.

He's a journeyman utility guy, not the starting point card of the team going nowhere. I have a last question for you here, CP. Is James Dolan as bad as everybody makes him out to be? That's a great question. You know, it's a great question. I think to the Oakley fans, yes. I think to the Oakley fans. And the people who listen to his music, too.

That's right. That's right. But look, I think he's a guy who tries to put this thing in the hands of people who he trusts. I think over time some of those people, whether it's Isaiah, Phil, didn't deliver. In those situations, he went for the big name, he went for the splash. But he's also a guy that listens to the fans. And when the fans starts to, you know, groan and moan, whether it's fire the coach or we need to go in another direction and get a new president, he acts.

He does act. Now the question is that he bring in the right guy. Now it's Leon's turn. And we won't know until he makes that splash. We won't know until he makes that splash. And so I think, you know, some players will go to back. for Dolan. You see a lot of former Knicks with jobs at MSG right now,

whether it's Starks or Spreewell or, you know, Marcus Camby's in there, all the Pearl does things. So I think he's a complex guy that I don't think, you know, fans may say that, well, he's making money so he doesn't want to win. I don't think so. I think he's just hired the wrong people over the years to make the decisions for this team. And it's set us back years.

What you just said kind of sums it up there because he hired the wrong people. And that's partially his fault. But also, can you fault anybody for hiring Isaiah Thomas or Phil Jackson? These guys are legends. They are great basketball minds. Who could have expected it to fail the way it did with Phil Jackson? Phil Jackson. I don't think when those moves were made and I was younger then, but I don't remember, you know,

listening to sports radio, anyone knocking it. I know people wanted to see Phil coaching, but I didn't think people were really knocking it. I didn't hear anybody knocking them hiring Larry Brown as the coach. And he turned out to be one of the worst coaches in Nick's history. You know, go talk to Channing Fry about those years. It was ridiculous. But, you know, some of those moves on paper looked okay. And then it just turned into an absolute circus.

It's a mixed bag with Dolan, a complicated guy, like you said. And ultimately now it's at the point that hopefully, if there's any meddling, it's something that actually makes sense to meddling. But with Leon Rose and all his agent connections, C8, former CAA guy. I'm not quite sure him in World Wide West and that Knicks front office are going to need much meddling from James Dolan to try to make something happen. Right, right.

Yeah, I would agree with that. And, you know, what Scott Perry's role here? I think he's in the last year of his deal. Where did they go from there with the general manager? So no doubt the Nix front office has a lot of work to do this all season. C.P. last question here. How are you feeling overall about the Knicks right now? I mean, are you happy?

Are you excited about the future? future? How are you feeling? Nervous, man. I'm definitely nervous. And this year, it's been a complete 180 from last year. You know, last year, we were all taken by surprise. We wanted this roller coaster ride, a 41 wins, fourth seed in the east. You know, I'm going on ESPN. I'm going at Max Kellerman, you know, for eight weeks straight and rep at the Knicks who deserved to be repped.

And now it's just been a, it's been an absolute nightmare. air. And this question's about. Again, what happens with Julius? What veterans are going to be brought back? Is Tibbs going to be brought back? And can he adapt? Will he adapt? You know, who are the right? Right. That's a no. You know, who are the guys that they plan to bring in to help make this team better? The acquisitions of last offseason, whether it's Canber 4.8. I still think 4A has a role here, maybe off the bench. And I never think you can't do with enough shooting. So I do like four-nees-old as a bench guy. But, you know, Kemmer didn't work.

The Noel deal wasn't good. What do you do with Derek Rose? You know, do you take that crutch away from Tibbs and try to look more at the young guys? How do they prioritize the younger players? Will they prioritize R.J. Barrett's contract? Where does Cam Reddy stand? Where does Obie stand? There's so many questions that this front office has to answer.

You know, I'm nervous. I'm nervous about the direction of this team. I can't lie. CP, one last question with NextFan TV. Did you create Next Fan TV? Did you start it? How many years ago did you start that up? We started June of 2017.

I took a camera phone and a tripod and went out to MSG and interviewed fans. That was when the rumors were going around that Phil wanted to trade Borges. The Phoenix rumors of Boston rumors were going around. And then we pulled out Frank from the draft. So I was interviewing fan reactions that day at MSG. I threw it up on YouTube just to see what happened. But ultimately it evolved into. what I wanted it to be, which is a post-game show,

to hear from the fans on a nightly basis, get their reactions, get their opinions on the news, the rumors, and the post-games of the team. Did you start it expecting that it would turn into a nightly show post-game, or was it like a man-on-the-street type of thing you kind of were planning? So it started off as that, but I wanted it to be, because Mike and the Mad Dog was like my thing as a kid.

So sports radio as a New Yorker and a New York sports fan, That's what I came up on. That's what I grew up on. So I wanted it to be like that, but more fitted towards the digital age. And I just knew that New York fans and Nix fans in particular are so passionate and so loyal and diehard that it would make for engaging content. It would make for a great community to build around because I just felt like the mainstream was more about the hot takes and the rumors.

But there's diehards, there's a diehard out there in North Dakota or in, you know, Arkansas all that wants to know about Miles McBride, where he came from, how he fits, you know, the two-way players, how they fit. So it's been a wild ride so far, but the fan base has really embraced it. No, you're 100% right about that, man. Not everybody lives near where their team actually plays. And like, if you watch the Knicks on League Pass, you know, it cuts out before post-game. You know, I love a good post-game, you know, talk if I'm watching a team, you know,

especially growing up, I always wanted to watch Celtics post-game. So to have Nix fan TV to turn to is pretty damn cool. And you have different shows on it with Nix fan TV as well throughout the week. It's not just you at this point right now, right? No, we have multiple hosts. Shout out to my guys, J.D. Sports Talk, Alex Rotaro. So we have multiple hosts. We do different types of shows.

So we do have our post-game show. We had a great player interview segment that we did primarily during the pandemic, but we're still doing it throughout the season now. We do draft content as well. obviously a lot to talk about during the draft. We also do our live on location. So when I'm at MSG or at Summer League, I'll do my live streams from there.

So we kind of bring people closer into the action. And then we also do film breakdowns as well. Do you get recognized at MSG? All the time. All the time, yeah. What's that like? It's great. It's great, man, because, you know,

when you're doing your show and you're behind the camera every night, you have no idea who's watching. So when you go to MSG and the fans are coming up and showing love and want to take pictures and whatnot. It's great to be recognized for your hard work and the fans really valuing what you do and seeing the importance of it. It's a beautiful thing. It really is a beautiful thing. I love getting recognized at games and whatnot. It's always nice. It always is a great interaction. Sometimes it can be a little back and forth like, you had a bad take about this.

It's like fun, though. It's like you immediately meet a new friend. That's the way friends talk. And that's what I really like about what you guys do with Nix fan TV. It's friends talking at a high level about the team that they care and love about and invest so much time into. But yeah, dude, you guys are crushing it at X-Fand TV. It's really cool to see CP. Thanks a lot, man. I definitely appreciate it.

And thanks for having you on, man. I would love to do some more of these discussions. Hell yeah, man. Thanks again. We'll have to do it again next season. Thank you, CP. Appreciate it, man. All right.

Take care. Thank you so much for listening to the void. Please do us a favor and give this podcast a rating and review wherever you're listening to. And if you did like it, passing along to a friend who you think might enjoy it, thank you to Jesse Lopez for producing today's episode and thank you to you as well for listening. I hope you have a good one.