00:00Alright, the Knicks, they made some news this week, adding a new voice to their coaching staff.
00:04Billy Lang is coming in to run player development, a role that will have a direct impact on the team's younger talent and their long-term growth.
00:12So, what does this hire really mean for the Knicks, both in the short term and for the future?
00:17To help break it all down, I'm joined by our Knicks beat reporter, Stephan Bondi, who's with me now.
00:21Steph, what's going on, man?
00:22What's up, man?
00:23Not much. I am doing well.
00:25And Steph, let's get into it right here.
00:27For those who may not be familiar with Billy Lang's work, what qualities did he bring to the table that convinced the Knicks that he was the right fit for their player development role?
00:36Well, I mean, listen, he has a connection, the Villanova connection.
00:40I think that's important.
00:41So, a lot of this is about relationships.
00:43But, if you look at his career, he spent much of his NBA assistant career at Philadelphia with the Sixers during their process era,
00:54where basically the whole thing was, for years, player development, player development.
00:59And I'm looking at a text message right now for players he specifically worked with the most.
01:04Ben Simmons early on, Robert Covington, Jeremy Grant, Jaleel Okafor, and Michael Carter-Williams.
01:10Michael Carter-Williams, obviously, was Rookie of the Year.
01:13Jeremy Grant exceeded expectations.
01:15And Ben Simmons early on certainly looked good.
01:17So, I heard he has the Villanova connection.
01:22He is very much Kyle Lowry's guy.
01:24He was at Villanova and Kyle Lowry was there.
01:27He recruited Josh Hart to Villanova.
01:30He's a South Jersey-Philly guy.
01:32And that's what the Knicks kind of culture is right now.
01:34South Philly-Philly.
01:35I mean, South Jersey and Philly.
01:36And, listen, I think an important aspect of this was player development was an emphasis when they fired Tom Thibodeau and decided to go for a new coach.
01:46With the coaches that they interviewed, they made it very clear that player development was a big aspect of this hiring.
01:55They wanted all the coaches to be on board with that.
01:57So, to hire a guy that's now in charge of that with the history that Billy Lang has, having coached in many different spots, including at St. Joe's, most recently, you know, I think that underscores that, how important it is to the organization.
02:12Yeah, it's very important to the organization right now.
02:14How do you see Lang's previous coaching or development experience that you just talked all about translating into improved growth for the Knicks' younger roster pieces, say, somebody like Pakom Dadie or Tyler Kolek?
02:26How do you see that helping those guys and the younger players on the roster?
02:30Well, you know, I think, I can't go into specifically how Billy Lang is going to do that, but I think when you emphasize player development and you look at it from that view where this is now something that's going to be important because we're going to give these guys more of an opportunity.
02:47We want to make sure that they're developing in order to help us not only now, but in the long term and become trade assets and all those things.
02:58I think that's going to help them, certainly.
03:01They're going to be more of an emphasis on developing the guys that are not in the rotation, that are not playing as much.
03:09So, you know, as far as what Billy is going to do, I don't know, but I think the emphasis on it is certainly going to help guys like that you mentioned.
03:17Yes, hopefully it can help those younger players.
03:20Steph, are there any particular skill areas with Lang, like shooting, decision-making, defense, et cetera, like that, where he's shown strength in pass roles that you believe the Knicks are hoping that he can help tighten up with this team?
03:31Well, in Philly, I just got off the phone with somebody from there.
03:37My understanding is that, you know, one season he was running the offense and then Lloyd Pierce left and he was running the defense.
03:45And so he has that kind of schematic experience coaching in the NBA.
03:52And, you know, I heard he's a big relationship guy and communication guy.
03:57And I think that's important when you're in this role of player development, because you have to have people believe in what you're doing.
04:04I heard Jimmy Butler gave him a hard time.
04:07So him and Carl Anthony Towns can kind of bond over their Jimmy Butler trauma.
04:13But, you know, I don't know.
04:16You know, I've heard very good things about him.
04:20And obviously, you know, connections help and he has those as well.
04:24Yeah, no, it definitely helps in the communication, all the stuff you talked about.
04:27Last thing for me here, Steph, is, and you touched on this just a little bit before, but what is this higher signal about the Knicks' priorities for the upcoming season,
04:35especially regarding their investment in youth alongside trying to win now?
04:39Because that's the thing that they're trying to do here, right?
04:41It's clearly they're a championship team.
04:43We've talked about championship robust with the Knicks this offseason, but they're also at the same time trying to develop the young players.
04:49So does this higher signal that, hey, we're really trying to do more of that while trying to win now?
04:55Yeah, I mean, you know, just like I said, but they've talked about this in the past.
04:58I mean, a big hallmark of the Steve Mills era was Craig Robertson coming in, Michelle Obama's brother,
05:06and being this, like, player development guru.
05:08And that didn't really work.
05:10You know, they emphasize the G League and all this stuff, but you need talent.
05:13And the big question with the guys that we're talking about, the second-round picks and Pacom Dottier, is do they have the talent?
05:21And we don't know yet.
05:23And so I think that's the biggest question because you can develop guys all the time, but you do need talent.
05:30And we don't know yet about a lot of these guys.
05:32I think Tyler Kolick, you know, had shown some moments in the regular season, but he didn't really impress in Summer League.
05:39So, you know, I think that that's the biggest aspect to all this is how talented are these young players.
05:45And I do want to add one thing because I know we've talked a lot about who's going to get that final roster spot, that veteran spot.
05:51And, you know, one thing that I don't think is talked about enough and I do believe is a real possibility
05:57is the idea is that they don't give anybody a guaranteed contract heading into training camp.
06:02That, you know, they somehow work it so that a Landry Schammett comes in on a non-guaranteed deal
06:08and they bring in other guys on non-guaranteed deals and they let them fight it out in training camp to see who gets that spot.
06:14I think that still remains a possibility.
06:17Steph, just to follow up on that, because I think fans would love to know this too,
06:20when you bring that up and not giving a guaranteed deal and going with a non-guaranteed deal,
06:25one of the reasons they'd want to do that, I'm assuming, is it allows them to have a little bit more flexibility
06:29throughout the season, correct?
06:30That's why they would want to do that.
06:32They would.
06:33And it also, you know, Mike Brown could come in and say, you know, I don't really love anybody.
06:39I want you to see you guys go after it and who emerges on top.
06:43I think, you know, having a competitive training camp in that aspect could help.
06:47I don't know the timeline on when they definitely want somebody guaranteed.
06:52And, you know, Brock Aller has that all figured out in terms of when they have to,
06:55because they have to have a certain number of players roster.
06:58Right now they have 12 guys guaranteed, but I do think it's a possibility that you're going into training camp
07:05without a guy guaranteed for that spot.
07:08Now, a guy, if they bring in Malcolm Brogdon, he's going to want a guaranteed deal.
07:12Or, you know, Malik Beasley, he's going to have a guaranteed deal.
07:15But, you know, if they're not getting any of those guys, I could see a situation where you have, you know,
07:21two or three guys battling it out for that last roster spot.
07:24All right, something to absolutely keep an eye on, as well as keep an eye on the Knicks' young players
07:28as we approach training camp.
07:30Steph and I have talked.
07:31Media Day is coming up soon for the Knicks.
07:33September 23rd is right around the corner, and the Knicks take a trip to Abu Dhabi for some preseason games.
07:39That is Stephan Bondi.
07:40Check him out on nypost.com.
07:42He has a new article up about the Knicks' hiring of Billy Lang.
07:45Steph, always a pleasure.
07:47Tip-off is coming soon, and we will talk soon.
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