It's another edition of Knicks' Mailbag with SNY NBA Insider Ian Begley ready to answer your questions surrounding the Knicks. Let's get started.
What are the plans at backup point guard when Brunson sits? Will it be by committee with McBride, Hart, and Clarkson handling the ball? Do you think Kolek is ready for a consistent role off the bench, or is he going to ride the pine again this year? – @ctorres04
Based on the moves they’ve made so far, it looks like Tyler Kolek will be outside of the Knicks’ rotation to start the season.
New York already has a nine-man rotation: Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges, OG Anunoby, Karl-Anthony Towns, Mitchell Robinson, Josh Hart, Jordan Clarkson, Guerschon Yabusele, Miles McBride.
Unless head coach Mike Brown wants to play 10 every night, there doesn’t seem to be a rotation spot for Kolek at the moment.
Also, the Knicks have enough money for one veteran minimum contract and one rookie contract before they reach the second apron. They have been in touch with players who can fill a backup guard role in free agency. So if they add a backup guard with that final roster spot, it would potentially clog a pathway for Kolek.
Who might the Knicks sign with that veteran’s minimum deal? They have continued to touch base with Ben Simmons during the free agency period. I’m sure they have touched base with other vets as well. Chris Paul and Russell Westbrook are among the lead guards still on the market. Teams are wondering if Washington will agree to a buyout with veteran guard Marcus Smart. For what it’s worth, the Knicks don’t seem to be exclusively focused on ball-handling guards with that last spot. New York still sees Landry Shamet as a possibility and Shamet remains open to returning to New York.
What’s Brown’s plan to have Brunson do less without sacrificing offensive efficiency? – @ShemiRock
A great question. Brown didn’t delve into specifics during his introductory press conference this week. But we know that Brown viewed James Borrego as a target for the top assistant spot on his staff. Borrego isn’t available (he will remain in New Orleans), but Brown’s interest in Borrego suggests he is open to an offense that’s well-spaced and features a high level of ball and player movement.
If the Knicks go this way on offense, it’s logical to think that Brunson will have the ball in isolation a little less often. It’s worth noting that Hart, Bridges and others handled the ball at times last season when Brunson was on the floor. Maybe you see Brunson off the ball more regularly under Brown. Or maybe the ball/player movement organically leads to less of a workload for Brunson. Either way, it’s an interesting topic to monitor early in Brown’s Knick tenure.
Presumably, Mike Brown has his "guys". Assistants he coached with when he was an assistant and his assistants when he was a HC. I know 2 of his Sac assistants are now HCs but, whether it's the lead assistant or otherwise, isn't it very common to have your guys on your staff? – @CAPTAINPEARLNYK
It is common to have your ‘guys’ on your coaching staff. Brown will make at least one significant addition to his staff when he adds an associate head coach. I still expect that there will be holdovers from last year on Brown’s staff (Rick Brunson, Mark Bryant, Maurice Cheeks and Darren Erman). But Brown was told during the interview process that he’d have full autonomy to hire his own staff. Of course, it’s naïve to think that he would include all four coaches if he had a blank slate to work with.
But if the coaches mentioned above are on his staff, it will be because he ultimately chose to keep them.
A few quick hitters
With the Knicks' current roster and recent moves, do you think they're building a true championship contender or just aiming to stay competitive in the East? – @KNICKSFAN4REAL
It’s the former, not the latter. When you fire a head coach who led you to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time in 25 years, you’re intentions are clear: We want to win a title, and the coach we have can’t get us there.
Considering the roster as presently constructed, do you have an idea who Coach Brown would be more likely to start? – @nelliextine
Great question. Based on Brown’s lineups last season in Sacramento, you’d think that he plays Towns at center and brings Robinson off the bench. His two most-used lineups last season in Sacramento featured Domantas Sabonis at center alongside the 6-6 Keegan Murray. But it’s worth noting that, during the free-agency process, the Knicks valued Yabusele’s versatility off the bench behind a starting lineup featuring Towns and Robinson. Yabusele was signed before Brown was hired, and, obviously, the new head coach will ultimately decide the starting lineup/rotation for New York. But the fact that the Knicks factored in Yabusele’s role behind a starting lineup featuring Towns and Robinson tells you that there is some internal support for that starting five.
Yeah, what the hell are the Knicks thinking? – @ehhhpick
I assume this is about the coaching situation, and I think it’s a fair question. The Knicks reached the Eastern Conference Finals and fired Tom Thibodeau. Was it the right move? The wrong move? In my view, we’ll know the answer to that question in early June of next year. If Brown and the Knicks advance to the NBA Finals, the coaching change will look like a great move. If not, it won’t. Maybe that’s overly reductive, but that’s how I see it. Brown is under contract for four seasons. Obviously, if Brown wins an NBA championship with the Knicks, the move to hire him in place of Thibodeau will look like a great call.
Brown Knows the Rucker
Speaking of Brown, he’s no stranger to New York. As an assistant coach with the Washington Wizards, Brown would attend the famed ABCD Camp at Farleigh Dickinson University. The camp was founded by Sonny Vaccaro and featured the top high school players in the country. Brown was there with a handful of NBA assistants who worked the camp with top high school coaches. It was there, that Brown struck up a friendship with legendary Cardozo High School coach Ron Naclerio.
Naclerio, the all-time leader in PSAL wins (961), knew early on that Brown would be a good coach.
“He was a sponge. Other coaches who were doing things at their stations (for individual drills), he was learning,” Naclerio said. “I saw him soaking it up, and that’s when I knew he was going to be very good.”
Naclerio and Brown were among a group of coaches who worked the camp for multiple years. The NBA coaches and local high school coaches would work players out during the day and tell stories over dinners at night.
One evening, Naclerio brought Brown to watch a game at the famed Rucker Park one summer. The park was packed for an Entertainer’s Basketball Classic game. The new Knicks head coach was blown away by the venue and the energy at the park. “Mike loved the ambiance of New York City basketball,” Naclerio says.
Brown and Naclerio have stayed in touch over the years. Twenty-plus years after working ABCD camps together, Naclerio is getting ready to coach another season at Cardozo with a goal of eclipsing the 1,000-win mark, and Brown is back in New York, taking on the biggest challenge of his coaching career.
“I think he’s going to do great,” Naclerio says. “I’m rooting for him.”
