Kemba
- Thread starter the Blades
- Start date
There is a salary cap in the NBA and unless Kemba decides he wants to forfeit 90% of his salary, any kind of move to the LA Lakers is not happening. Dallas might have room to acquire him but they are supposed to be signing Luka Doncic to a max extension ,and if that happens they will have a "too many eggs in a few baskets" situation on their hands:
More interesting is that Andre Drummond is a free agent and who might sign him. The 3 rumored teams are Phoenix, Washington and the NY Knicks, the latter of which has a need at center and tons of cap space.
More interesting is that Andre Drummond is a free agent and who might sign him. The 3 rumored teams are Phoenix, Washington and the NY Knicks, the latter of which has a need at center and tons of cap space.
There is a report that indicates the relationship between Kemba and Brad Stevens soured this past season, and created tension in the lockerroom, so it's not a surprise that Stevens's first big trade was to get rid of Kemba.
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Here is the Sports Illustrated report, which suggests Stevens was very hard on Kemba for defensive mistakes:
I had not thought of this possibility, but it makes a lot of sense. The Knicks needed back court help. They also signed some experienced Argentinian pro kid who is very very good but has not played in NBA yet, more of a pure point guard than Kemba. So the big question is whether Kemba is healthy. He never really was last year and seemed unable to play back to back games. If he is healthy, the Knicks could be a lot better, but the Bucks, Nets and Heat look like the teams to beat in the Eastern conference, followed by the Hawks. And the 76ers signed Drummond and still have Embiid and Ben Simmons even though Simmons FT shooting in the playoffs was an embarrassment. The conference is very very good. The Knicks look like a playoff team but it will be a fight even to get to the 5 or 6 seed.
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Great comments by McGee, especially his last one:
“It didn’t turn out how I would have liked but still not a lot of basketball players can say they got to play there. Infamy and fame are in the same family, either way you get remembered when you leave.”
“It didn’t turn out how I would have liked but still not a lot of basketball players can say they got to play there. Infamy and fame are in the same family, either way you get remembered when you leave.”
Looks like Kemba lost about $4 mil total in the OKC buyout:
" This is nice business by Walker, who will recoup most of that money in New York. He’s reportedly signing a two-year contract paying about $8 million per year with the Knicks. "
" This is nice business by Walker, who will recoup most of that money in New York. He’s reportedly signing a two-year contract paying about $8 million per year with the Knicks. "
You take that as a "hometown discount." The concept of the hometown discount is much more common in baseball, but it applies here. Part of the rationale behind any hometown discount is you make up the discount and then some on the hometown endorsement opportunities. Kemba will have plenty more than $4 million in endorsements playing in NYC and much more than he would have had in OKC, so I don't see this as a net loss in the Kemba wallet. He is a marketable NYC born and bred athlete. Just needs to be healthy and productive to fully cash in on this part of it.
On a related note, the concept of the hometown discount is more common in New York City than elsewhere. In recent years, the New York Yankees signed a couple of their existing players, Aaron Hicks and Louis Severino, to long term but heavily discounted annual rate contracts as compared with what they could have gotten in free agency. There are two reasons why these two athletes did this. One was the Security of the long term deal, the other is that they have the opportunity to develop endorsement income that is greater than it would be in other cities where they might sign. Unfortunately, although those two contracts looked like good deals for the Yankees when they were signed, they now look like terrible deals, as neither of these players has been able to stay healthy. In recent years the Yankees have gotten crushed by extended injuries to players they have under longer term contracts and this is a big risk of those contracts. A lot of teams are smartening up and not giving longer term deals out like candy until a player proves he is durable.
Hicks, in particular, is a player whose whole career has been undermined by injuries. In recent years, it's become obvious that he is a talented switch hitter with power and an excellent defensive outfielder capable of playing multiple positions but also equally capable of sustaining multiple injuries. He has continually gotten injured, and it seems like whenever he gets off the IL with an injury and shakes off the rust and then finally starts to get on a roll offensively, he gets hurt again. It's enormously frustrating to watch as I totally understand why the Yankees wanted him, the talent is there, the dude just can't stay on the field for whatever reason. And he has underachieved in his career as a result.
As a healthy and productive NY Knick, I would think Kemba should be able to easily make up the salary forebearance with endorsement income.
Hicks, in particular, is a player whose whole career has been undermined by injuries. In recent years, it's become obvious that he is a talented switch hitter with power and an excellent defensive outfielder capable of playing multiple positions but also equally capable of sustaining multiple injuries. He has continually gotten injured, and it seems like whenever he gets off the IL with an injury and shakes off the rust and then finally starts to get on a roll offensively, he gets hurt again. It's enormously frustrating to watch as I totally understand why the Yankees wanted him, the talent is there, the dude just can't stay on the field for whatever reason. And he has underachieved in his career as a result.
As a healthy and productive NY Knick, I would think Kemba should be able to easily make up the salary forebearance with endorsement income.
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True and it's not like he's playing for chump change after the buy out:
It looks like he will get : $53.6 Mil from OKC. With the $20 Mil buyout. But when NY adds their $16 mil, Kemba is still getting roughly $69.6 Mil total, for his next 2 years with the Knicks , to play in his home town.
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Just saw Kemba's salary #'s.... looks like the Knicks will be giving him closer to $9 mil a year. So he gets to play in his home town, for almost the same $ amount as his original 4 year deal. Roughly $71.5 mil on his 2 remaining years.
If Kemba was obtained to play in his hometown for no discount that's pretty good for him. It would appear that the Knicks have a much better team on paper than the OKC Thunder. The Knicks actually look like they could be decent or better. We will see how good the Argentinian point guard they picked up actually is, but they made some very positive moves to shore up weaknesses with scoring and at point guard. If they can also get the 7'1 center Robinson back and keep him healthy they will be an easy playoff team and maybe something of a threat once they get there, which they weren't this year. They also have a really good coach.
Here is a little more about the young Argentinian guard the Knicks signed, Luca Vildoza, who was the MVP of the Spanish league finals last year and will get paired with Kemba frequently:
The Knicks will likely not need any scoring from him and just ask him to pass first and stick some 3s when left open. He shot around 36% from 3 in the Spanish league last year although it seems like he finished the season strong.
The Knicks will likely not need any scoring from him and just ask him to pass first and stick some 3s when left open. He shot around 36% from 3 in the Spanish league last year although it seems like he finished the season strong.
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Nice to see Kemba going home to a team on an upward trend, rather being stuck in purgatory with OKC.
Always kind of thought that they would flip him during their rebuild. Now he's got a chance to make great money and what a storyline it would be to make more magic @ MSG, if he could help bring a struggling franchise into the conversation for the promise land, if everything was to fall into place.
I saw all of the Knicks's 112-99 win over Philly on Tuesday. Kemba played extremely well. He made 5 3 pointers, passed the ball well, and generally made good decisions. However, I have noticed, in the last few games I have watched (seen him in around 3 games this year so far), that his drives have been less effective. Kemba can go by almost anyone any time he wants, as in college when he was at UConn, and he frequently drew oohs and ahs from the MSG crowd when he did so. But it is what happens after he gets by his initial defender that has been the problem. When he beats his man and the shot blocker rotates over to block the lane, Kemba has been tossing up quick floaters and they have been way off. It looks like he needs to drive a little further into the D and get fouled, even if that means getting some of his shots blocked, but that is also tough to do coming off an injury when your body cannot take contact as well. So I understand why he is playing that way but he needs to start making the driving floaters at a higher clip. Other than that, he is playing well.
By the way Drummond is coming in off the bench for Philadelphia and played well. He had 6 points and 9 boards in just 14 minutes, in a game in which Joel Embiid played horribly. I feel like teams should be playing Drummond as a classic rebounding power forward, but teams are obsessed with stretch 4s so Tobias Harris, who can do a few more things on offense, gets to start over Drummond. I think Drummond might be on the wrong team........he is on the team to provide a serviceable backup to Embiid because Dwight Howard signed with LA, and Drummond can do that, but that role serves the 76ers team more than it serves Drummond.........
By the way Drummond is coming in off the bench for Philadelphia and played well. He had 6 points and 9 boards in just 14 minutes, in a game in which Joel Embiid played horribly. I feel like teams should be playing Drummond as a classic rebounding power forward, but teams are obsessed with stretch 4s so Tobias Harris, who can do a few more things on offense, gets to start over Drummond. I think Drummond might be on the wrong team........he is on the team to provide a serviceable backup to Embiid because Dwight Howard signed with LA, and Drummond can do that, but that role serves the 76ers team more than it serves Drummond.........
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Big time agree.....When I saw that Drummond signed with Philly, I thought it was a punk'ish move to play behind a guy that's done nothing but talk smack to him, from what I've read. You face your demons by being his ***** ?....You mean there wasn't another team out there that he could sign with to still compete against him ???
No I'm sorry," homie don't play that" ..... that's soft as butter, in my way of thinking !
Another strong performance by Kemba last night- an efficient 21 points (led team), 7-12 FGs, 5-6 on 3s in a 104-103 win over a much improved Bulls team in Chicago, which was the Bulls' first loss. The Knicks are noticeably improved as a team. The two areas of improvement that are obvious are 3 point shooting, and having Mitchell Robinson as a shot blocker/lane clogger in the middle, although I feel like they could get a little more out of him in terms of rebounding the ball:
The stats again show only 3 FTs by Kemba so he is not drawing a lot of fouls and he is doing most of his damage on the perimeter. The additions of him and Fournier and the improved stroke of Barrett have really bolstered the Knicks 3 point attack. I am also very impressed with the athleticism of Barrett on his drives. The Knicks also have a solid, although not overly impressive bench. They do not really have an explosive scorer coming off that bench who is good for double figures every night. Derrick Rose is their best player off the bench and comes closest to filling that role. He has played and looked great, and shows great leadership qualities, but he is more of a distributor and less a pure scorer at this stage of his career, and is good in the role he plays.
The stats again show only 3 FTs by Kemba so he is not drawing a lot of fouls and he is doing most of his damage on the perimeter. The additions of him and Fournier and the improved stroke of Barrett have really bolstered the Knicks 3 point attack. I am also very impressed with the athleticism of Barrett on his drives. The Knicks also have a solid, although not overly impressive bench. They do not really have an explosive scorer coming off that bench who is good for double figures every night. Derrick Rose is their best player off the bench and comes closest to filling that role. He has played and looked great, and shows great leadership qualities, but he is more of a distributor and less a pure scorer at this stage of his career, and is good in the role he plays.
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Another effective performance by Kemba last night in 123-117 road win over the Pelicans. Kemba had 19 points and 5 assists, was 4-7 on 3s and with Fournier dropping 5 of 8 and Barrett 6 of 8, the Knicks were 19 for 33 on 3s!!!!!!! This is a stunning improvement from last year and is the reason why the Knicks are 5-1. Meanwhile Barrett had 35 points, 8 boards, 6 assists as he continues to mature and show strong improvement. A lot of people forgot that he was rated the #1 recruit in the nation ahead of Zion Williamson when both signed with Duke, and he is showing why. Barrett, aka the Maple Mamba, Kemba and Fournier are all giving the Knicks some tremendous juice on the perimeter.
I caught the 2nd half of the Knicks game after I came back from the MBB Open practice at Gampel, guess the Knicks had one of those old Knicks nights. Toronto got all over them defensively and turned a big defecit into an as win. NY couldn't hit a thing from 3, so back to reality. Still think Kemba, Barrett, Randle and Co. could do some damage.
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Knicks beat Philly tonight, but a weak performance by Kemba who is coming off a couple weak games and a health related DNP, so he may be hurting again.
On the other side, Drummond had 25 rebounds starting for the Covid stricken Joel Embiid. Embiid reportedly has symptoms and may be out for a while, giving Drummond a chance to play.
On the other side, Drummond had 25 rebounds starting for the Covid stricken Joel Embiid. Embiid reportedly has symptoms and may be out for a while, giving Drummond a chance to play.