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00:13welcome back to another edition of new york got games your boy dexter henry the knicks as we know
00:19they've got their championship after 53 years of waiting and right now can't believe it we are just
00:24a few weeks away from the start of training camp but got a question which players still have the
00:30most to prove this coming season it's a very interesting question for knicks fans whether
00:35it could be earning a role it could be finding consistency which some players are trying to do
00:40or solidifying a future here in new york there's plenty to discuss as the knicks prepare to defend
00:46their title so to help me answer that question i'm joined by my good friend he is the host of
00:51the
00:51orange and blue bloods podcast you also hear him on wfan it's my guy ej stewart joining me back on
00:58new york got game ej what's going on man oh dex it's so good to be back so good to
01:03be back talking
01:03knicks especially as the defending champs that's a that's a different feeling but i like the feeling
01:08you know what it is it is a different feeling because all my returning guests like yourself
01:12it's nice now they can talk about the knicks as champions and we were talking about this before
01:16we started recording how different it feels this season to just create content around this team
01:20knowing that they've reached a mountaintop and now they're trying to defend it so just to let
01:25people know what we're going to do here today is we're going to look at our three knicks ej's got
01:31his three i have my three we don't know what it is that have the most to prove this season
01:36we're
01:37going to look at what's at stake what success looks like and we're also going to look at who we
01:41trust to
01:41answer that call and rise to the occasion to answer those questions so we're going to do that so
01:47ej before we get into our three do you have some questions for you because winning a championship
01:54it does answer the biggest question that anyone has about any team right it's the biggest question
01:58can they win this but when you look at the individual players heading into this season how
02:03much does that championship change what they still have to prove to maybe whether it's knicks fans
02:10whether it's ourselves whether it's the organization how much does the championship change all that
02:14it changes a lot i mean a lot of guys legacies on this team have been drastically altered by simply
02:21winning one championship i mean jalen brunson now goes down as uh one of the greatest point guards of
02:25all time carlton towns maybe a walking hall of famer now given his statistics given now that he's a
02:31champion given how well he played in the postseason uh guys like og and mikhail bridges um now once again
02:37kind of looked at some of the best you know superstar role players so to speak in the nba a
02:42lot of guys
02:43outlooks especially the guys that played a bunch and were key factors of this team their whole dynamic
02:48of how they're viewed not just within the context of this current nba but in the history of the nba
02:53has changed drastically which is why this is such a interesting conversation to be talking about
02:58players and pressure and stuff to prove because typically as you said the thing to prove always is
03:04can you win a championship so once you've done that it changes the whole dynamic of how the
03:08question gets framed which is why i'm i'm so looking forward to seeing your list because i had not
03:13trouble coming with mine but it was i had to really think when i had to think about three players
03:16but i
03:16do think that these three guys are guys coming in with a considerable amount of proof coming into this
03:20season so as we try to do that right as we try to examine which nick player has the most
03:26to prove
03:27because that is the question we're trying to ask here does most to prove right when you when you
03:34talk about most to prove does that mean for you securing a role showing greater consistency or is
03:42it about establishing your long-term future it could be all three but i'm just curious how do you look
03:46at it when you talk about most to prove for a next player yeah for me honestly it's going to
03:53be a case
03:54by case basis i think for some guys it's going to be an ability to show that they can stay
03:58in the league
03:59uh for some guys it's going to be maybe their last opportunity to win a championship i don't want to
04:03spoil my pig but in some ways that's maybe the case for some guys on this team some new players
04:07on this team and then for others it's going to be guys that are maybe looking for a long-term
04:12future
04:12whether it's with the knicks or some other team and some money be made so uh and but for many
04:16guys
04:17on this team when we think about what they had to prove this year they kind of all have like
04:20look almost individual side missions and individual goals that they're going to be looking for that you
04:25hope is going to end up uh cohesively uh connecting with the team goal of course which is to try
04:30to
04:30repeat that's always the thing right is you got a collection of individuals can what those guys are
04:35bringing to the table and what those guys are trying to accomplish in their careers in their
04:38seasons can that all culminate into the team uh achieving their ultimate goal which is to be
04:43back-to-back champions i love what you said there because there is always that individual especially
04:47in a basketball team right not a huge right it's not like football where you have a 53-man roster
04:52these individual side quests and how they then go into the team it matters right does it take away
04:57from the team does it hurt the team in any kind of way does it help the team there's all
05:01these
05:01things that can happen i agree with you that it's a case-by-case basis and i tried to do
05:06that
05:06with my list here so okay here's what we're going to do folks we're going to each rank and select
05:11our three knicks we're going to go from three to one that we believe has the most approved this coming
05:16season right and what we're going to try to do what we're going to try to establish
05:20is just ask the question what specifically does this player need to prove
05:23what are the stakes that this player has so why does it matter to the player and the team
05:29as ej's brought up and then the standard so like what would a successful answer to the question
05:34they have to prove actually look like if they get this done all right ej we are going to start
05:40with you at number three this i'm so intrigued this list if you have if we have overlap i'm not
05:49going to say until after you've done with it i will say if we do overlap so who's starting your
05:53list what do you need to see from him that you haven't seen consistently enough right now
05:59okay so third on my list is a newbie uh we got andre drummond coming in number three for me
06:04as a
06:05player with uh the most approved this year for the knicks and i say drummond because he's a guy that
06:10is coming in replacing one of the most important pieces on his team in mitchell robinson he's an older
06:14guy he's a guy that's bounced around the league and the knicks i think picked him up uh one because
06:20he was going to be cheap he was a guy they consigned to a veteran minimum not allow them to
06:23go into that
06:24second apron and two of all the guys that were available he's probably the guy that's that's that
06:30can bring some of the things that aren't that uh that mitchell robinson can bring to the table
06:34when it comes to the physicality and the paint when it comes to the offensive rebounding so he's got a
06:39lot to prove because this is kind of the end for andre drummond right like i don't think this is
06:44a
06:44guy because of just the nature of his game and how he plays that he's going to have a lot
06:48more
06:48opportunities and a lot more cracks at being a rotation player on a championship caliber team
06:53this is probably the last bit it took a team that was super desperate to find a backup center
06:58that was willing to give him this kind of role so for him i think there's a lot of personal
07:02um
07:03personal things to prove one he's playing uh kind of back home he's from this area uh two he has
07:09an
07:09opportunity to win a championship as a vet who's been around this league and hasn't really been all that
07:13close to winning a title um and then three you know if he does not do any of those things
07:18we
07:18can be looking at andre drummond coming into next season we see other bigs having to sign over in
07:22europe having to sign over in other countries like could andre drummond be one of those guys that's
07:26playing in greece or spain next year so uh from a practical standpoint he's gonna have lots proven
07:30for me in terms of what he has to bring to the table he's got to be able to be
07:34that offensive
07:35rebounding presence that mitchell robinson was i think that the expectation is even though he's not a
07:39great free throw shooter he will be able to actually hit some free throws and that will be
07:43something that the knicks won't have to be concerned about in terms of having to take him
07:45off the floor but the big thing is mitchell robinson is such a great defensive anchor uh drummond has
07:51fallen off considerably in terms of what he used to be as a defender can he find a way to
07:56still be a
07:57shot blocking presence can he be a presence in the middle and can he be somebody that the knicks
08:00don't have to hide or other teams won't have to attack on pick and roll because mr robinson as big
08:05as
08:05he was he was not somebody that teams went after because of how great he was so while drummond can
08:09bring the rebound and bring the physicality can he match uh robinson's defensive impact that's going
08:14to be a huge thing to follow so that's why i have him in number three wow can't believe we
08:18started
08:18this off well we started off in alignment my number three okay also andre drummond and for me it's so
08:25much of what you said and i actually thought i really thought about this ej i thought about putting
08:30him at number one and i think people who watch the show will understand why i might have said
08:35that we talked so much this off season about the signing of andre drummond the letting go of
08:40mitchell robinson because james dolan did not want to exceed the second apron and i think a lot of us
08:46i think you're kind of noting this too there's going to be a void that has to be filled with
08:51mitchell robinson gone because of what he gave you with the offensive rebounding because of what he gave
08:55you with the defense and the defense is the specific thing for me the defense is the number one thing
09:00for me because if you look at andre drummond the last three seasons when it comes to percentage
09:04that opponent shot at the rim when he was on the floor 66 mitchell robinson the last three seasons
09:11granted sometimes not as healthy 60 right that just shows you right there now you might not think a six
09:16percent difference is a lot it matters in terms of shooting yeah you're gonna see it when you watch
09:21some play yeah yes it's a big difference when you watch it you will absolutely see that and you will
09:26see why it matters and so for me when you look at that you're you also are right about i
09:31don't want
09:32to say this is bargain basement hunting with andre drummond i don't want to disrespect him like that
09:36because he still is a good rebounder his defensive rebounding rate was close to mitchell robinson's
09:40last season mitch had 21.4 percent uh andre drum was a little bit over 20 percent now here's where
09:46you get the drop off mitchell robinson was an elite with a capital e offensive rebounder you know that
09:54the game showed you that we saw what joe missoula would do to get him off the floor because of
09:58how
09:59elite he was in terms of offensive rebounding right 20 20 almost 20 of offensive rebounds when he was on
10:05the floor was grabbed by him that mitch uh excuse me andre drummond only just over 14 percent right
10:10again six percent difference you might not think that's a lot and it's just six percent trust me
10:15when you watch it you will see it i think one of the big questions for the knicks ej this
10:20season
10:20is going to be how can andre drummond defend is he able to hold down the backup center position
10:26and is he a backup center you can have on the floor in the postseason if cat gets in foul
10:33trouble
10:33because if you remember the series against philadelphia it wasn't just joellen bead that was
10:37getting cooked in pick and rolls andre drummond got some of it too by jalen brunson so is he going
10:43to
10:43be able to hold up against shifty or quicker guards especially if cat gets in a foul trouble
10:47which we've seen him do at times we've seen that happen so for me also my thing is because of
10:52the
10:53pressure i don't know if andre drummond is going to last the season as the backup center for the knicks
10:58the knicks very well could look at their team in december january and say okay we've got to upgrade here
11:04and that'll tie into another one of my picks but i think that he absolutely is pressure i wouldn't be
11:10i wouldn't be mad if somebody put him at number one because i really really really thought about
11:16putting him at number one just because of the position and i think you look at the center position
11:20right now and you could say the knicks are a little bit thin in how you feel about them at
11:24center it was
11:25a luxury for the knicks yeah to have cat and have mitchell robinson and you felt really good about it
11:30now i don't know how you're feeling ej but it sounds to me like you're kind of like
11:36i might be feeling good i don't know yeah i mean i i thought the mitchell robinson loss was a
11:42massive
11:43one like it's one of the one things this off season that still bothers me like i look at and
11:48i understand the second apron things and why the knicks and why owner james dolan wouldn't want to go
11:53into the second apron i thought mitchell robinson was the kind of player that was worth it simply
11:57because the knicks illustrated how important he was by keeping him in bubble wrap for two years this
12:03was a guy that was essentially allowed to be a part-time basketball player in part because
12:07they felt like the only shot they had at winning a title was ensuring that he was healthy ensuring
12:13that he was available now his actual postseason performance this year was actually a little spotty
12:17um you know he's kind of up and down i know he was doing stuff off the court that didn't
12:21help as
12:21well he broke his pinky so it wasn't a perfect postseason but just his presence out there alone
12:26makes the knicks an entirely different team so when they lost him and then you're talking about
12:30replacing him um with a guy who you're gonna you're gonna be signed to a vet minimum you just
12:34know there's gonna be a drop-off so that's why i also like the point you made towards the end
12:38there
12:38too which is forget about just the pressure of like living up to playing like the way mitch
12:43robinson plays something close to it like this pressure just to stay in the rotation or stay on
12:47the team because you're right like he's not somebody that's that is guaranteed to be the backup
12:51center because of the nature of his deal there's no reason why they can't cut bait with him
12:54or as you said if things don't look like they're going the right direction they could
12:59look to get an upgrade and he could be out of the rotation so so for for that reason you
13:03know he
13:03does again i think have a lot to prove this year um again if he wants to end his career
13:08with a
13:09championship he's not ancient i think he's like 33 or 32 something like that he's one of those guys
13:12that's a young player he came into the league as a young player so he's been around for a long
13:15time
13:16he's not as old as you think but the nba they put those bigs out the pasture a lot quicker
13:20than some
13:20of these other positions so even though he's been a a valuable player that doesn't mean that if this
13:25thing doesn't go right that maybe this could be his last real shot at winning a championship so a
13:30lot for a lot on the line roger drummond this year yeah there's a not just stay on the team
13:34pressure
13:34there's a stay in the league pressure as you noted too and i don't think you're wrong about that and
13:39maybe this is where pressure can work positively we're not just saying this maybe he's motivated by
13:44that i think there could be an awareness from andre drummond that hey okay i know this is one of
13:50my
13:50last shots as you just mentioned to win a championship to stay in the league to be an impact player
13:54and i have to be better defensively now one may say to me hey dex did you watch andre drummond
13:59defensively last year what makes you think that he's going to be better this year and i would say
14:03that's fair i would say it's a fair more than fair question i've said it all off season i feel
14:10like
14:10he's a placeholder warmer on this next team right now they're eventually going to realize they need
14:15to upgrade at that but maybe he proves us wrong maybe he proves us wrong so we'll see all right
14:19we
14:19both had andre drummond at number three yeah let's see if we're aligned here at number two who'd you
14:23have at number two ej okay so number two i went with a muhammad dor second year player for the
14:30knicks guy who was of course uh drafted last year and came onto the scene and kind of uh took
14:35a lot
14:36of knicks fans by storm with how he performed i think this was a guy that people had a very
14:40very
14:40low expectations for last season mike brown identified him very quickly and early as a guy
14:46that he had trust in that he believes could be an impactful player on the team and he was during
14:50the
14:51regular season uh this year of course uh he's coming in as a guy who i'll be honest not that
14:56summer league matters but i was extremely underwhelmed by how he played in the summer league and kind of
15:00surprised how poorly he played i i didn't know why he played so poorly but summer league is weird
15:05uh some guys who played terrible there end up being great nba players guys play great there be terrible so
15:09you know i don't want to put too much uh weight into that but i think mom do i do
15:13i do i has actually a
15:14lot to prove this year because he is somebody the knicks that they they didn't you know they didn't let
15:19him you know walk in free agency they did uh you know you know put some investment in him in
15:23his
15:23future and i don't think unlike last year where the knicks you know in part because i believe they
15:28kind of wanted to hide him they didn't really play him in the playoffs i don't think this is going
15:32to
15:32be a year where he's not part of playoff rotation i think that he's the kind of player especially with
15:37some of the teams that we're talking about that could take steps up like philly who's now took
15:41taking a massive step up with their wings uh indiana bringing tyrese halliburton back uh the of course the
15:48you know the heat uh bringing in janice on the scoop but there are a lot of teams that have
15:51gotten
15:52a lot more athletic in the front court which means that there are some maximum knicks are going to
15:55have well i don't think they could just live with og and arnubi and only michael bridges as the size
16:01in the front court uh in terms of the eyes on the wings i think they're going to need somebody
16:05else
16:05to be a factor there and mo dewar with his length with his athleticism with his quickness he's
16:10absolutely the kind of player that would be needed for those uh needed in that role for those kind of
16:15games which means there's going to be a ton of pressure on this young man this guy i think is
16:18going to be playing in games where he's playing massive playoff games games that he didn't he
16:23wasn't exposed to last year so for the knicks in terms of him having to prove that that investment in
16:28him their belief in him was correct and they made the right assessment and holding on to him he's
16:33going to have to step up in a major way so i got mo dewar here i think that might
16:37be i don't know
16:37where you went next i kind of feel like it might be off the reservation pick for some people because
16:41he's such a young player and he did come in with zero expectations but i actually think that he's
16:45a very important player to this team because he he will be a part of the mix when we get
16:50to play
16:50off time in my opinion so a couple things i like that you went with a young player here because
16:54i went
16:55with one too um mo dewar i considered strongly he did not make the list for me but i like
17:02that you put
17:02him on and i you know i did a video essay last year for the show on mo dewar the
17:08knicks are very high
17:08mo dewar i was very impressed in talking to him one-on-one a couple of times last year his
17:14focus
17:14where he is i too like you i even had talked at the end of the year would he have
17:19gotten rotation
17:20minutes because he mike brown loves him i will say that here mike brown loves this kid and you could
17:25tell by the way he played him i do think the knicks tried to hide him and they didn't want
17:28to
17:28have to maybe over totally agree so i do think that some of that happened there right they were they
17:33were being uh strategic with their funds yeah as we've seen in other areas but they were doing that
17:38and so i think that is a huge thing but you're right it's different going to be different for
17:44him this year because now you could say he should have more confidence in year two but if we're
17:51really keeping it a buck and we're talking about it with the knicks we're really thinking about okay
17:55is he going to be ready for the playoffs and can he contribute to playoff minutes like we just
17:59talked about with andre drummond when you look at this next roster as i know you have ej this next
18:05team
18:05you still feel like size wise they're a little bit light on the wings in terms of length and height
18:12strength as well too so having a guy like diawaru who's six eight who was able to stretch and shoot
18:18thirty six percent from thirty seven percent from downtown um and play good defense that mike ground
18:23trusted and looked like he belonged on the court but now you need to see what that looks like in
18:27playoff minutes so i love your pick here because i do think there's pressure on him and you gave him
18:32some guaranteed money granted not a lot it's a great value deal for the knicks but you kind of
18:37need him to hit with that being said and i also will add summer league and i know you weren't
18:44completely saying this i was a little underwhelmed with his performance in summer league as well too i
18:48was underwhelmed by that too but then i found out he ended up uh breaking his pinky after a couple
18:53of
18:53games and i kind of was like okay maybe that's why the shooting was and he was yeah yeah maybe
18:57a little
18:57bit tentative but you brought up a young player so i went with another young player you went with a
19:01second year player i went with a third year player and for me that's pacom daddier now oh wow okay
19:07yeah and the reason i want pacom daddier is because pacom daddier i think a lot of knicks fans are
19:13looking and saying well what have we seen what what what what have you shown me now if i if
19:20we just
19:20acknowledge and we just agree that the knicks could still use a little bit more size and i should
19:25add another thing even shooting at the wing position you have landry shaman who's an undersized wing
19:30great granted very good point of attack defender hit great shots not really good at creating off
19:35the dribble but fine pacom daddier has got a little bit more size six eight guy too right you think
19:41you
19:41have him and you have dor who's actually closer to 610 you would be happy with that but daddier
19:47hasn't shown you anything in terms of what he could do even in summer league not that that's the end
19:52all be all anything you'd like to see more out of a third year player and he only shot 36
19:56from the
19:56field and 16 from downtown daddier everything you hear from the knicks who were high on him i'm not
20:04saying that they aren't high on him but what he initially was taken they like the shooting
20:07mechanics that isn't translated that isn't translated to nba level it hasn't translated in
20:12westchester you haven't seen it and here's why the pressure exists he's got an option coming up the
20:16knicks have an option on him his fourth year option to pick up by halloween for 5.4 million dollars
20:22right now today of us recording this in early september if you're the knicks do you want to
20:26give pacom daddier 5.4 million dollars for next year when you're up against the second apron no
20:33but what i'm if we just talked about this with andre drummond this is really now or never for
20:38pacom daddier ej yeah he's got to prove it now or never so to me training camp is huge for
20:43this young
20:43man right how he does in the preseason is huge for this young man and if there's any way his
20:49shooting
20:49and the shooting stroke looks good and all that stuff but you got to hit the shots if he hits
20:53the
20:53shots and becomes a bigger wing that the knicks can actually play god forbid there is a injury to
21:01oj ananobi or mikhail bridges who never gets hurt you might be forced to play a pacom daddier but is
21:06he ready so i think there's a lot of pressure on him not just for his knicks career but for
21:10his nba
21:11career which we know can be really quick for guys if you don't see that they can perform so the
21:15knicks need to see something out of this guy now if the guy you mentioned mohammedia war is
21:21performing you might be like i don't really need to see that but i really think this is just now
21:27or
21:27never for this guy and i know this is probably a name people didn't expect me to say in pacom
21:31daddier
21:32but the knicks when you're looking at the way their team is because this isn't just about this year
21:37for me it's about yeah they need to prove it this year but it's also about the roster construction
21:41going forward they they're going to need to hit on young players that are cost effective right so if
21:47you have a mohammedia war you hit on you have pacom daddier or tyler coleck you can add there too
21:52it matters for the way you're able to build your roster especially if you're trying to
21:56be up against the second apron your thoughts on pacom daddy no i'll be honest i i i like i
22:02like short
22:03for a short time i considered daddier but if i'm being honest and this is i've said this a bunch
22:08i think the kid might just think like i i think he just might not be that good and i
22:14almost felt
22:15like at this point from a knicks perspective i just don't know with how much pressure is on a guy
22:21that i don't think the knicks even believe in him anymore right like i like in theory yes there
22:26may be his pressure internally for him like you know i agree in terms of staying in the league and
22:30getting another opportunity but considering the or kind of came in and immediately you know replaced
22:36him in the rotation remember the first pre-season game last season uh i think there was i don't
22:42know somebody was hurt i've got who it was i think it was og maybe somebody didn't play but like
22:46i think
22:46he started he did he was in abu dhabi against sixers he started yeah he started and and and i
22:53was like
22:53oh this actually got me excited it's okay maybe they're seeing some from daddy in training camp that
22:57maybe they think he can play a little bit then the word was oh no they they probably played him
23:02because they were hoping somebody would trade for him right and i was like yeah and he watched
23:09him play and i'm like oh well we definitely gonna be trading him based off of this game so just
23:13every
23:14time i've seen him out there and it's one of those things and you know it's one of these old
23:19you know
23:19terms and you know we say they should say in football you know that looks like tarzan plays like
23:24you know whatever i don't want to say jane but like he has all the physical tools size uh you
23:30know he
23:31has some handle like he's got he looks like the kind of prototype you would want from a swing guy
23:36who can shoot and defend he just has not put it together he's not put together at all and the
23:41knicks seem like terrified of after you having to put him in games that matter and it's been now three
23:47years as you mentioned so that was the only reason why i considered him because i said internally yes he
23:51has a lot of pressure but i didn't mean to put him on only because from a knicks perspective i
23:58just
23:58that they figured they figured it out what i think i figured out which i i just don't know
24:04if he's that good i wonder if the the figuring out of it you made good points about that and
24:09i was
24:09hearing uh the same thing about him basically being showcased um at last year during the preseason
24:17once you and maybe for me i don't say the nail on the coffin that's a little too harsh maybe
24:23for me
24:24the most glaring thing that we saw last year is what you mentioned when mike brown was consistently
24:30going to mohammediawara off the bench yeah sometimes in some games making him the first guy
24:35off the bench i remember plenty of games where he did that and i said oh man if kong dadi
24:40can't even
24:41sniff the court oh that's not good that's not that's not good at all whatsoever so yes a lot of
24:48it for
24:48me i hear your points i think they're great points a lot of it for me is i'm looking at
24:52internal
24:53pressure to stay for in within him and i hope the young man can rise to the occasion and also
25:00just stay within the league yeah we're not wishing any ills on anybody no um but you you do make
25:07a
25:08good point is the pressure there from the knicks right right i don't know listen i'm sure the
25:15coaching the development staff is like hey man we want you to be in the gym they want to see
25:19you get
25:19it right they'd love i'll say this i think it matters that he does play well if not just for
25:26himself if i want to talk about from the knicks from a team building standpoint forget the future
25:30stuff and the aprons and all this stuff you also should want someone to push mohammediawara at the
25:36least yeah you should want that right if you're a fan i think you should want to see that happen
25:40and
25:40if he can push mohammediawara so mohammediawara is not comfortable it's just like yeah man i got the
25:45backup wing spot all locked down no right it'd be nice if he had a little pressure and being like
25:50oh somebody could come take this from me and absolutely we're gonna know but listen it hasn't
25:55looked good and you're right he hasn't i agree with you he hasn't looked the part that part i agree
26:02with you on every every time he shoots the ball i'm like man the form looks great like it looks
26:08like
26:08it should go in and then the results are ugly it's i don't know i don't know what it is
26:14it's it's it's the pick when they made the pick was kind of weird you know i think a lot
26:18of it was
26:19the ability to kind of offer him a lower deal and they allowed him to you know you know draft
26:23cold
26:23in the second round and give him a lot more of a bigger deal so there might be some money
26:26involved
26:27but then you know again you saw the the physical frame you saw the size you saw some of the
26:31ability
26:31you said okay there's something to work with there and the knicks have typically i know you know he
26:36started with tib nice with mike ground but the next development staff their young players has been
26:40quietly excellent like guys that have come here have all improved and all become very good players
26:46even the guys that have then been traded now they may not have developed a superstar here but i mean
26:51going back to emmanuel quickly rj barrett uh you know queen grimes like guys have come here and
26:56gotten here played immediately and got got better and improved like so it was actually jarring to see
27:03like calling davie he drafted and just go nowhere it's feels like in three years and the other thing about
27:10it too that i think does make him important it in this sense if if he were to play well
27:14if he were
27:15to show them something that would be big because this is a team that had extremely high injury luck
27:21last year which is part of the reason why they won a championship is why any team wins a championship
27:26is to have that kind of injury luck you cannot bank on having that same injury look every year
27:30especially with a team that i won't say he's aging but is older than some of these other teams
27:35which means that if you have a the ability to have not just the ur but someone like becoming
27:41daddy who can play in some games who can spell ji newbies spell michael bridges if you know bridges
27:47don't ever want to take a day off but if og does need some time off or even cat needs
27:50some time off
27:51like those guys they can go out there and they can play and they can perform and the knicks don't
27:54have this huge drop off where we're just you know penciling in l's because og or cats not playing in
27:59the game that would be huge so if if deal if uh if the comb becoming daddy a could become
28:05a real
28:05factor on his team it would be a big development i i guess a lot of my commentary i guess
28:10sounds and
28:11it sounds so pessimistic i just don't i don't see it happening i just i i just have not seen
28:16him put
28:16it together yet it's gonna be crazy if like this preseason i'm texting you and i'm like oh man
28:21daddy's killing it i hope so or i wish he would i really thought this summer league i was hoping
28:27this
28:27summer league i was like all right hopefully we call me daddy he got to he wasn't playing but he
28:30got to see you know a lot of these the great performances from bridges and og we know those
28:35are guys he's obviously working with in practice and things like that hopefully you know working
28:39with those guys for the course of a year would show up in summer league and again it was the
28:44same
28:44thing and it'll be different for him with dor i've seen him play well in the regular season so
28:47i know he can play in nba games even didn't play well in the summer league for him to look
28:51the
28:52way he did in summer league i took more credence than that i said all right this is year three
28:55and this is how you look in the summer league after you've been working out with og and bridges
28:59and who were postseason heroes like what were you doing this whole time so yeah it's just i just feel
29:05so down on him right now i'm hoping he can turn it around and make something of it because if
29:09he
29:09could that would be a big thing for the next it would it would be it would be huge it
29:12would be huge
29:13okay here we go we are down to number one so for you who has the most to prove this
29:19season
29:19and why does his situation belong above everybody else that we just mentioned
29:26yeah i think he's maybe the player to watch on the knicks this season and i the only reason why
29:31paul isn't even putting him on his list is i am still not sold that he's even going to be
29:36on the
29:36team by the time we roll to uh night one but i put deuce mcbride number one uh i think
29:41he's the guy
29:42that absolutely has the most to prove he has uh a contract uh that's that's up right now and the
29:48knicks have an opportunity to extend him right now there's been no movement right now towards
29:52really an extension which means he could become a free agent and deuce mcbride is a valuable role
29:59player a guy who is certainly unlike you know going daddy like he's got one of those young guys that
30:04have come in and really developed and improved their games and has become an important piece
30:08on the knicks and if he wants to remain a part of this nucleus he's gonna have to perform really
30:14well
30:14but then at the same time there's a little bit of conundrum where he could perform really well and
30:19that could maybe price himself out of staying with the knicks because the knicks do have to consider
30:24what they're going to do with re-signing cat to an extension uh oji newbie coming up on an extension
30:30so they have decisions to make other way other places where of course guys like towns and i newbie
30:35would be higher priorities but deuce mcbride is important piece to this team i think he's one of
30:40those regular season risers in terms of like w's over the course of regular season because
30:44he does put apply great broad pull pressure he's become one of the best jump shooters in the nba
30:49and i actually thought you know when the knicks were kind of struggling not the first time when
30:54they had that two and nine stretch in january but they kind of started sputtering again kind of around
30:58march i really thought you really started to see the lack of deuce mcbride shot making like showing
31:03itself during that stretch when they didn't have that like you know avarado wasn't making shots they
31:08didn't have that backcourt guy off the bench that can come in and be a microwave guy so i think
31:13he's
31:13an important piece of the team i know there have been folks talking about should you trade him for
31:16a big like i've really been kind of against that i'd rather see if drumming can do the job before
31:20i trade deuce because um to have a guy that can apply that kind of broad pressure guard both one
31:25and two and shoot the way he does which faces the floor allows you to play more five out lineups
31:30deuce is an important piece of this team but if he wants to get paid he's got to play well
31:34if he wants to play with stay with the knicks he's got of course play well and even if he
31:38does play
31:38really well that could also mean he doesn't return to the knicks but maybe that means he prices he
31:43gets priced out here so he's the guy that i think has a ton of pressure on him he's the
31:48guy that i think
31:49if you're looking for any kind of uh contention or any kind of conflict within the team and regarding
31:55to how they're coming into this championship uh defense it's all about deuce mcbride in my opinion
32:00so he's the number one guy to me uh that has the most proof man ej we were in we
32:05were in very much
32:06similar alignment on this list we we did not we did not talk about this before folks at all
32:11whatsoever did not told ej the assignment ej made his list i made it we did not talk about it
32:17but just
32:17the way we went drummond young player different young players is where we differed and then yeah
32:22well frenchmen there was some commonality there you're right yeah good point good yeah good
32:27some commonality and swing and swingmen too yeah so there's a lot of common yeah there was a lot of
32:31commonality there very good good that's a good catch i didn't even catch that there but i had to
32:34go do some bright too for what you said there's and i'm glad you brought up the contract stuff
32:40i also agree with you i'm not saying he won't get traded i would not trade him right now at
32:49the time
32:50of his recordings before training camp i would let the backup center stuff play out and i would even let
32:55and i'm going to say this too i'd even let how dottie plays and stuff plays out because and even
33:00colec i'm going to throw him into the mix too because those are names you could then aggregate
33:05together because the knicks can still aggregate salaries because they're below the second apron
33:08to go get a backup center along with the drumming if you need to upgrade it there's a way you
33:12can do
33:12that without even trading deuce mcbride there's a chance you could and may have to trade deuce mcbride
33:18to get a center upgrade but let's put a pin in that for a second and go back to some
33:22things you said
33:23you're 100 right he is a regular season razor right for for a lot of teams he's got to space
33:31the floor is he the best at running the team playing a backup point on the ball no his playmaking
33:37can still be a little bit better right he definitely can and this is the whole reason the knicks went
33:41out last you saw it and when got jose alvarado no doubt about that who's much better suited in that
33:46role for him and i know deuce did not shoot well in the finals i get that but we've seen
33:50the guy make
33:51big shots not be afraid to take shots and still play good defensively in the postseason i think
33:57that matters a ton because we've seen that from this guy and i think that matters a ton he loves
34:03being in new york um but do i think and i don't think he wants to leave he also deserves
34:09to get
34:09credit you talked about the development earlier ej as a guy he's one of the next best developmental
34:14stories one of the best second round pick developmental stories as well too for a guy who the thing about
34:19him coming out of west virginia was what's the shot gonna look like and you have a guy last year
34:25who averaged 12 points for you off the bench shot over 41 from three during the regular season and you
34:32a lot of times you saw mike brown not a lot of times but a good amount i would say
34:36you saw him close
34:37with deuce mcbride on live you saw him lean into that in the postseason with some of his best lineups
34:42including deuce mcbride a guy who could defend guard up and still give you that physicality and hit the
34:47three so for me it's that i wonder how much all of the noise that we're talking about around all
34:53this
34:54affects his play on the court knowing as you said i gotta play well if he's him because he's trying
34:59to
34:59secure the bag and get himself a long-term contract he also would like to stay i'm sure stay with
35:04this
35:04next team that's a championship team but he also still wants to get his money he also knows like we
35:09also know and all the fans know the knicks have a lot of extension decisions to come we've talked about
35:15josh hart on the show we've talked about carl anthony towns as well you can't pay everybody
35:20and nicks fans are going to find this out in the next year or two you're not going to be
35:24able to
35:24keep everyone mitchell robinson might have been the first i don't know if deuce mcbride will be the next
35:29maybe he is right then you have extensions coming up for ojan and obi and jalen brunson who they
35:33absolutely will extend and have to give the money so there's a lot of things going on with deuce
35:38does it affect them does he still play well do the knicks look at the center situation as i said
35:45in december january and say hey we got to go get an upgrade and use him as a piece because
35:48he's
35:50easily one of their most tradesable tradable if not their most tradable asset that they have he's got
35:54one of the best contracts in the nba for what he's making um right now right with that three-year
35:59deal
36:00that he signed for about 13 13 million dollars or so there i think he's got the most pressure
36:08because it's not just looking at how he'll perform and i don't think that deuce will perform badly
36:14it's just how will he perform with all the pressure on him was like people like oh well you want
36:17to get
36:17your bread you got to play well now right like you have to you have to do this now or
36:23you might be out
36:23the door that's a lot of pressure so absolutely yeah and with him like and with him it will be
36:31interesting to do all this in the guise of a team again that's coming into a title defense right
36:37because you know does that take away some of the like hoopla and storyline around it because so much of
36:44the story of this next season is going to end up being just the fact that they're defending champions
36:49like that's going to be still be the main story even though something like this is hanging around
36:53the background um does that help like does that make it not as as much in the front for it
36:58forefront
36:58and therefore he can go out there and play or does that somehow maybe upset the apple cart where you
37:03have a team that maybe has again i talk about people with different goals not to say that deuce is
37:07a
37:07selfish player because he's never been that but no a team with looking at this title defense and maybe
37:12deuce looking at trying to stay on the team and get money like and how that conflicts like it creates
37:18a
37:18different uh an interesting dynamic to the team that i do think is important i'm glad you brought up
37:23the the poor shooting in the finals because i think that that's a another layer to this if you're
37:28talking about the knicks making a decision on him moving forward we know what he did defensively
37:32because the whole team played excellent defense during the nba finals but i i think the fact that
37:37he shot so poorly absolutely is going to come into the conversation about whether or not they feel
37:42like they need to pay him when they know they have other extension um opportunities coming up and they
37:46have tough decisions to make so for him coming out the gate i think you want to nip any kind
37:51of
37:52concerns about whether or not he's the kind of player that maybe shoots well in the regular season
37:55but postseason has struggled he has shot well in the postseason in previous years but you don't
37:59want to have anything in terms of like you know got a in the project but did no work on
38:04it to be kind
38:04of something that's lingering coming into this year especially if he comes out maybe shooting
38:07the ball not so well so i think for him he's got to come out and assuming he's on the
38:12teams i
38:12agree i don't think they would trade him i feel like if that trade was available in terms of
38:18trading him before the season would start i think it would have happened already i don't think a team
38:21is done before training and say you know what we'll give you this guy or that guy i don't i
38:25don't
38:25see that happening but i i do think for him in order to kind of quiet a lot of that
38:29noise and maybe get a
38:31lot of the sentiment maybe around him being indispensable he's gonna have to have a good start
38:35to the season because uh nicks fans don't forget right they they remember the championship
38:40but they remember what everyone did and there will be nicks fans if he struggles that will say hey
38:44this is a guy that also struggled in the in the finals do we really need him yeah and and
38:49i think
38:49you and i were being pretty nuanced about it and not trying to in any way shape or form devalue
38:55what he's meant to this team and i'm glad you brought up the fact that he's had other good
39:00shooting performances in the past season i mean the philly the philly game in game four i mean he was
39:06the guy that he he's the guy put philly away i mean react we really think about it was a
39:09team effort but
39:10he came off the bench and could not miss and philly it was it was a knockout punch yep so
39:17i love deuce i think he has the bill i was surprised how poorly he played in the finals um
39:22sometimes it happens it happens all good players you know um and the fact he was still able to at
39:26least
39:26defend will you know always gives him some value so he's a guy i think can still be a factor
39:32um with
39:33the knicks in postseason kind of play but i think in order to kind of get a lot of any
39:37kind of memories
39:38of how he shot in the finals out of a lot of people's minds he needs to have a good
39:41start to
39:42this upcoming season he's going to be one of those players you definitely look at with the start to
39:45the season i also think it's going to be very interesting to see as these talks come about we
39:50move through the season how the knicks value him what do they value all the discussions you made is
39:54it just the defense is it the shooting that they saw in the finals does that concern them i mean
39:58the knicks have always they've invested in him but the question now is how much more do they
40:02want to invest in him and or how much more would they want to invest in another area like the
40:06center position to back that up it's going to be very interesting to see what they do now some of
40:11that could be made easier if another shooter emerges on team become daddy could be you that could change
40:18things right it this is where all this stuff could go but we will see a couple more things before
40:23we
40:23get out of here ej so crazy yeah we had the same number one that's good we're in good alignment
40:27here
40:27that's good yeah exactly out of everyone we discussed who you most confident will answer the questions
40:35that are out here about them who's who do you think is going to rise to the equation to answer
40:40the questions or rise to the pressure that is around them it's a great question if i had to pick
40:46one guy i probably would say i probably would say deuce because i i he's the best player i think
40:52of the
40:53three players we mentioned so i'm always going to lean towards just raw talent i think he's the best player
40:57um i think he's somebody that has now he's been raised in this championship um vibes that this
41:07team has created in the championship culture that's what i was looking for that the team has created
41:11right i mean coming dotty got here and you know and he was here i guess in theory and you
41:16know um and
41:17dora just got here but you know deuce was here towards the beginning of tibbs and throughout the
41:23tibbs run and then the twist to mike brown so he's seen the knicks make those incremental steps to
41:28becoming a champion so just like we saw so many on this next team have to rise to the occasion
41:35this
41:36past co-season to become champions uh he's been raised in that same culture that they've established so
41:41i've had to say the guy i had the most confident in and displaying that he is deserving of that
41:45money
41:46whether it's here in new york or somewhere else i would say it would be deuce me bribe because
41:50um i i've again i've just been very impressed for a guy who he came out uh for somebody who
41:55shot the
41:56ball well west virginia he shot the ball so poorly in the nba it was someone and i remember i
42:01evaluated
42:02him coming out of the draft i was doing a lot of draft content at that time i was a
42:05little surprised
42:06at how badly he was shooting in the nba i don't know if it was nerves i don't know what
42:08was going on
42:09but uh and he would shoot so well in g-league it was really weird to see him become this
42:15kind of
42:15jump shooter and when i say like a best jump shooter i mean he takes almost exclusively contested
42:20jump shots like he is somebody that takes he does not drive all the way to the basket he's kind
42:25of
42:25on their side so he can't finish always at the rim so he is somebody that if he's not making
42:30jump
42:30shots his offensive game is to score in terms of scoring is someone limited and really his overall
42:35offensive game because he's like you said he's not really uh a floor general type of point guard so he's
42:40got to come in and make shots so it's a high degree of difficulty that he always has to clear
42:45in
42:45order to be effective and he finds ways to do it still so i i still got a lot of
42:49the confidence in
42:50the world in duceney pride i really hope he can remain a part of this team um but you know
42:55the
42:55knicks do have tough decisions to make and if they are going to keep themselves constrained to
42:59never going into the second apron that could absolutely make him a potential casualty of having
43:05to be one of the guys that they move on from despite being an important part of a championship nucleus
43:10i'm inclined to agree with you if i was a betting man on this situation i would bet on him
43:14to rise to the occasion here the other person i would not put out of here is muhammad diawar i
43:19just
43:19think very high of the young man's mentality and i think he is somebody's going to be very aware of
43:26some
43:27of the things you said about he probably didn't like himself how he played in summer league and is
43:31going to understand there's going to be more opportunities for him this season and that he has to seize these
43:36opportunities so i think he could answer some questions now i also think there's going to be
43:41adjustment in the league to him and that's why i would take deuce we've seen deuce answer questions
43:46before and i think deuce can answer the question of oh i didn't shoot well in the finals i think
43:51the
43:51next time he's in the finals if the knicks can get back there i and he's with the knicks i
43:55think he'll
43:56rise to that too but yeah i wouldn't be shocked if muhammad diawar also answered some of these
44:00questions okay last thing what's one thing that you're going to watch early in the season that
44:05might change your mind and you might have you say you know what i don't think there's as much pressure
44:11on this guy i i think he immediately is rising occasion is it something like deuce mcbride getting
44:16off to a good start and shooting is it andre drummond playing really good defense what's what's
44:21the one thing that you think could change your mind early in the season i think because to be honest
44:27when i think of it i think what the reality of some of these guys are is it's it's not
44:31necessarily
44:31going to be a question that can be answered immediately like i think with deuce uh i think
44:35maybe short term yes he can come in and play well but if if he's still on the team and
44:38there's not
44:39any immediate plans to trade him early in the year then he's going to be having he's going to be
44:42an
44:42improved situation throughout the entire season including the playoffs where he's trying to get paid
44:47by again the knicks or somebody drummond it's kind of the same deal um dor same deal i actually was
44:52thinking of it from a flip side and i kind of wonder is there somebody that uh
44:57maybe i didn't think of that could end up being somebody that is proving something that then
45:02changed the nucleus of the team and that's where i started thinking about tyler kolik
45:05um because as you mentioned with deuce mcbride being somebody that uh could be on the outs
45:10if there's a scenario where there are injuries or there's a scenario where somebody's
45:14you know is traded or whatever he's he's somebody that may have been number four for me if i had
45:20to
45:20put a number four guy in there because we know alvarado how well he played and he's entrenched in that
45:25you know no point backup point guard spot i believe for now but i i don't know if it's
45:31it's quite as ironclad as maybe we think i mean we remember when brogson went down um
45:37you know mike brown said that tyler kolik was gonna play and tyler was gonna then be thrust
45:42into the rotation and to me he just spoke to just how how you know how my how thin the
45:48team is like
45:48you know the reality is that you're tired you're one injury away from like tyler kolik having a big role
45:53and he had a massive role on his team during the 2025 portion of last season prior to new year's
45:59day
45:59he was in the rotation he won them huge games i watched the new year's eve game in the lead
46:06up to
46:06the nba finals that they played against the spurs where uh he had massive minutes and he closed the
46:12game they lost that game of course they beat them and he closed the game in the nba cup so
46:17i i think in
46:18terms of thinking about players that you know what they have to prove i'm wondering if they're guys
46:23maybe i kind of like short-sighted but because of circumstances that may happen this year may end up
46:29having a lot to prove if tyler kolik comes out and plays really well again it may be a lot
46:33harder for
46:33mike brown to put him to the side because he showed last year that when he's playing right with his
46:38passing his playmaking ability and if he's making his jump shots and he's on a sieve defensively he is
46:43somebody that has value to the team too so um he's gonna be one of those guys i'm also looking
46:48at
46:48and wondering what happens um if somebody goes down or you know if these other guys end up being you
46:55know relatively okay well who's somebody else that may end up being having a lot to prove because of
47:01other circumstances tyler kolik someone i'm kind of paying attention to yeah i'm kind of in the same
47:05vein of wondering is it something else that happens some with someone else on the roster that changes
47:11the situation for me i think for me the thing i'm going to watch early in the season particularly
47:15in before we even get to the season to be honest with everybody it's really going to be in training
47:20camp who do the knicks sign to push andre drummond or is there another center they sign for that 14th
47:28spot that pushes andre drummond or another couple guys they maybe sign you know that's like hey andre
47:34drummond that backup spot isn't just yours you're gonna have to battle for it can that person
47:39take over that spot do they look like the better option that you just trust we know the big tell
47:45for me ej and how you knew the knicks i'm gonna not try to be harsher didn't necessarily believe
47:52all the way and andre drummond was when we saw this summer the musa sisse offer sheet that told me
47:58everything i needed to know that's when i was they were like yeah we're not confident in this we still
48:02need to upgrade and i think that's the kind of center they were looking for somebody young athletic
48:06with some upside that could kind of fit into that mitchell robinson mold not be exactly mitchell
48:11robinson yeah so for me if there is a young center they signed or even a veteran center that's maybe
48:17a
48:17little bit better defensively and that person's pushing uh andre drummond in the preseason that and
48:25i see early in the season that mike brown's maybe a little bit more willing to go to that person
48:29for
48:29certain minutes that would then change my mind and maybe say okay maybe the pressure isn't there the
48:36pressure the pressure's already come for rj drummond right like the pressure's come early
48:40here in the season yeah and it's here now it's here maybe quicker than i thought because where i do
48:46agree with you ej is a lot of these questions are likely the pressure will exist but the answers
48:53won't come early it's going to take some time and knicks fans are going to have to be patient with
48:57that
48:57and we'll see now is there pressure on the knicks in the way it was before no this might be
49:02the most
49:03this is the time i'm on your show you come back on here we yeah we might be like damn
49:07remember when
49:07we used to have to talk about well how they're going to win a championship will they ever win i
49:11know we don't have to do that anymore those days before i let you go i gotta ask because you
49:16hear
49:16people people who are watching this are going to see this they see that you're out here wearing the
49:20jets t-shirt you know you're mr oh yeah ts jets jets jets uh jets get a win in week
49:26one of the
49:26season i didn't get to talk to you about this before how many wins you think the jets gonna get
49:30this season oh i've kind of had them pegged around six or seven okay um i've had them around six
49:37or
49:37seven i think they'll be a much improved team um i don't think they'll be one of the worst teams
49:41in
49:41the nfl it you can see watching them on sunday the difference when you have a quarterback that
49:47actually can push the ball down the field just just the threat of the forward pass uh it means
49:52wonders for an entire office it's surprising it's surprising to say things like that but
49:58that was what they just were facing with justin fields last year and you know the the kind of
50:03the shadow that was tyrod taylor with this point his career and being banged up not being the same
50:07player anymore because uh geno smith just he he gives them a different dynamic and all of a sudden
50:12garrett wilson is all of a sudden activated all of a sudden the running game now you're seeing
50:17uh them be able to stay ahead of the sticks and and and move the ball with breece hall and
50:22brayland
50:22hall brayland allen like i don't want to say i'm excited but i i started to see a competent
50:29football team finally which that would be great because like i love being invested in nicks i'm
50:34invested in nicks all 82 games but sometimes it's almost felt like i've had to be too invested in
50:40november and october basketball because the jets football season had already been over so it'd be nice
50:46if that if the nicks could be an addendum to the sports calendar not uh the center of my world
50:52because the jet season is already off to a two and nine star something like that i i'm hoping i'm
50:56not
50:57having to deal with that again all right i'm hoping for good things for you with the jets um i
51:01had to
51:01ask because people are going to see you're out here rocking the jet yes on your first football sunday
51:05of 2026 that is my guy ej stewart check him out orange and blue bloods podcast fantastic nicks
51:13podcast for everybody check out also check him out on wfan and also 40 days 40 nights as his other
51:19podcast videos all the time you got to check that out as well too it is a fantastic one i've
51:22been a
51:23guest on it several times you should enjoy that let us know in the comments what you think who do
51:28you
51:28think are the three nicks that are facing the most pressure heading into this season do you agree with
51:34me and ej is number one for you deuce mcbride is it somebody else do you have a completely different
51:38three let us know you know there's gonna be somebody out there that says jalen brunson that's
51:42gonna happen somebody will somebody will say that you know it's gonna be somebody somebody in the
51:47comments will say but let us know we'd love to hear what you have to say for my guy ej
51:51stewart i'm
51:52dexter henry we'll catch you next time on another edition of new york got game peace
51:59and thanks for watching new york got game
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