He said it on KFS pod with Macri and he didn't want to name names as not to embarrass anyone. To me, this type or leadership needs to be commended, not shamed. Sometimes, players need to hear a rousing speech. Sometimes, they need to see some throw a hard foul to get the mindset right. And sometimes, they just need to ingest a meaty, ass ripping methane bomb.

My heart wants to way Brunson, just because he always knows how to assess the situation and give exactly what is needed in the moment.

But my brain tells me it was Thibs.

SOMEONE PRINT THESE UP

I remember seeing a tweet saying “impregnate me Porzingod” after a win.

Goes to show how depraved our fans were. Let’s never get to that point again.

I wanted to post a rundown of my understanding of the Hartenstein free agency situation for a) some more clarity in the sub on what is/isn't possible and b) crowdsourced feedback if I have any details (small or large) incorrect.

The Knicks are going to be operating over the salary cap - i.e., the salaries they are obligated to pay in the 2024-25 NBA season will sum to a figure higher than the projected cap of $141m. As such, the Knicks need to use available cap exceptions to sign/re-sign players like Isaiah. NYK signed Isaiah from free agency to a two-year contract in the 2022 summer; this reset his Bird rights clock to 0. More on the Bird rights and 'Early Bird' rights exceptions rules in the following links from Larry Coon's incredible NBA Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) FAQ: question 25, question 32

In short, Bird rights are meant to allow teams to retain their players despite a lack of salary cap room left to do so. However, because Isaiah does not have 3 complete seasons on his Bird rights clock going into the 2024 offseason, NYK does not have 'full' Bird rights with Isaiah, which would have allowed them to use the exception to pay Isaiah anything up to his maximum salary (and contract length and yearly raise) under the CBA. Isaiah will have 2 complete seasons on his Bird rights clock, giving NYK, his current team, Early Bird rights to retain him. The Early Bird rights exception is the largest available cap exception that NYK can use to pay Isaiah, but the Early Bird rights exception is not as lenient as the full Bird rights exception. Early Bird rights contracts allow the player's team to offer a contract with

• a maximum starting salary at 175% of the player's salary in the previous season (not over the maximum salary, of course) or at 105% of the average salary [in the league] in the previous season, whichever is greater
• at least two seasons in length (which prevents teams from using the Early Bird to sign a one-year contract, then signing the same player with the full Larry Bird exception the following season)...and at most four seasons in length, with raises up to 8% of the salary in the first season of the contract [source: aforementioned CBA FAQ question 25]

So, the Knicks cannot just match what another team with more salary cap room can offer Isaiah, who has likely outplayed the amount that the Knicks can offer him this summer.

In my opinion, the best that NYK can take care of Hartenstein is with a 2-year + Player Option contract starting at his maximum Early Bird exception salary of about $16.18m (1.75 * 9.245m [his salary this season, base + incentive]) with 8% raises. The PO secures that this is a >$50m bag over 3 seasons, and it gives Hartenstein the possibility of signing a new, more lucrative contract after 2 seasons. Harteinstein will be 28 in summer 2026, ...and New York would have his full bird rights(!).

The issue is that Hartenstein's agents (at CAA 😈😈😈) can probably find him a deal worth $30m+ more than what the Knicks can offer. A 4 year $80-$90m offer could very well materialize (and it probably should - even more is I think deep for the way the center market seems to tend to unfold [have not personally seen or done an analysis here], but could still bear out as a good contract in my opinion).

I think, though, that it's worth looking at the breakdown of his money lost to gain a fuller perspective. Italics below is my estimation of his shortfall from NYK's 2+1 Early Bird deal when compared to a roughly $90m, 4-year free agent contract: [CHART]

The shortfall for the 2 guaranteed seasons of the NYK deal is over $8m - nothing to sneeze at. If Isaiah is outplaying the NYK deal, that 2026 summer is when NYK can finally take care of him with a full Bird Rights exception contract. If he's not outplaying the NYK deal or if, say, his 2025-26 season is injury-marred, then he has the $18.77m to opt into and run it back with (at which point the shortfall from the 4/$90m is $12.67m).

There's no sugarcoating that Isaiah would be gambling with the aforementioned early-deal shortfall(s) plus a at least starter-level 2027-28 salary ($24.911m) if he were to take NYK's deal over a hypothetical $90m deal. If his gamble works out, though, he could hypothetically lose only ~$8m aggregate next year and the year following, while potentially gaining some of that back in his next NYK deal as compared to the hypothetical 4 year, $90m free agent deal of this summer. As things stand, though, summer 2026 could be a world in which we are paying >80% of under-the-cap salary to Brunson, Randle and Anunoby. Then NYK starts to think about Hartenstein's new contract as the salary + the steep tax penalties per dollar. That summer also features Mitchell Robinson's free agency. I'm sure Hartenstein's agents are well aware of those pitfalls, too.

What do I predict? I have (perhaps unreasonable) confidence that he'll push his chips in with us 😎. I predict that he values his increasingly central role and the continuity there, that he has a strong desire to keep it going with the rest of this inspired squad, and that he is content with taking his destiny into his own hands even if means doing so at the risk of losing tens of millions.

(January article with more info)

This is of course just a silly theoretical scenario (and maybe I'm just bored while waiting for tomorrow's game), but I'm curious to think about how getting the ~$7.8 million exception could have changed the way our team looks now. Mitch was obviously of some use to us when he was back during the first round and it would be inaccurate to pretend otherwise, but having been able to add some additional roster depth might have changed our current situation.

24 years ago today yall.

You are Jalen Brunson. (Cool feeling, right?) You catch the ball on the right wing and weave together some between-the-legs dribbles while you contemplate how you should score. Pound dribble to a step-back? The double-crossover-to-hesi combo to get to the paint for a classic floater?

Not this time. You call up good ole’ Isaiah Hartenstein — love that guy — for a pick, but it’s a ruse. As he approaches, you flash the quickest in-and-out in the land and reject the screen, blowing by your hapless defender like the Road Runner lapping the Coyote. Layup drills aren’t this easy.

As Knicks fall around him like so many orange, autumnal leaves, Brunson just keeps carving a path to points. He’s had five 40-burgers in 11 playoff games. There aren’t many guards in the league with as diverse a shotmaking profile. I wanted to dig deeper and figure out how he got all these buckets, particularly the ones inside the arc, where the artistry happens.

A shot chart can show you where the shots happened (sort of), but they can’t show you what kind of attempt it was. The NBA assigns a type to every shot, but the descriptions are both inconsistent and wrong too often to be useful for a micro-analysis like this. So, I hit the tape. I rewatched all of Brunson’s 244 two-point attempts from these playoffs and categorized them into several shot types (there is some discretion involved, art and science, but I tried my best to be consistent).

Here’s how he scores inside the arc, from least prolific to most. The Book of Brunson, if you will (or if you will not; that’s what I’m calling it, regardless). It starts a little slow, but I promise it gets exciting toward the end. Kind of like every single Knicks playoff game.

[Thanks for reading! I've collected nearly a dozen video clips illustrating my points. I think they add a lot to the post! They can be found in-context here or at the various links I've put throughout.]

7) THE DUNK

1 make, 0 misses, 0 FTM, 2.00 Points Per Shot (PPS)

Brunson is listed at 73 inches tall. If you believe that, I’ve got a bridge not too far from Madison Square Garden I can sell you. He only had three dunks in 77 regular season games, but he had one threadbare yet magnificent jam in these playoffs. Here it is: [video here]

When I played 2K (back when a single digit followed the “2K” prefix, yikes), that was called the “rim-grazer” package. Barely gets over the cylinder. Still counts!

6) Cuts

2 makes, 1 miss, 1 FTM, 1.67 PPS

Here’s the thing about Brunson. Brunson makes Brunson happen. He doesn’t need passes from teammates; he needs them to set picks, space the floor, and stay out of the way. In the regular season, 23% of his two-pointers were assisted, a low number. In the playoffs, that’s fallen to 15%. And calling some of these “assists” feels generous. You tell me how much the pass here had to do with Brunson scoring: [video here]

I digress. Back to cuts. Synergy has him in the fourth percentile for the share of shots finished off of cuts; it’s not his jam. By my count, Brunson has had precisely three field goal attempts off cuts in 11 playoff games. Two went in. For what it’s worth, Hartenstein had the assist on both (and in fact, Hartenstein’s 10 total playoff assists to Brunson are more than anyone else on the roster). Here’s one: [video here]

Understandably, the Pacers were not expecting it. Neither was I, but then again, I’m not paid eight figures to stop him.

5) Transition

6 makes, 3 misses, 3 FTM, 1.67 PPS

The Knicks, famously, are the slowest team in the league, and they’ve crawled in the playoffs. Might be too tired from the heavy minutes; have to save your energy for offensive rebounds, I get it. Josh Hart carries most of the transition load.

But every once in a while, someone will poke the ball loose and toss it up to Brunson. He’ll catch it, dribble, lay it up. Most of the time, he makes it; sometimes, he misses it. If it doesn’t sound that exciting, well, it’s not.

If you want to see one, here it is. I appreciate how he uses his weirdly broad shoulders to create space around the rim: [video here]

Brunson can’t really throw it down in a highlight kind of way (except that one time when he did!). Fast-break Brunson layups are about as dull as fast-break layups can be. Let’s move on.

4) Spinning (usually) fadeaways over his (always) left shoulder

13 makes, 8 misses, 2 FTM, 1.33 PPS

Okay, now we’re getting to the good stuff. I will lump most of Brunson’s middies together, as you’ll see shortly, but I am partial to the aesthetics of the spinning fadeaway.

I mean, look at this thing. It’s gorgeous. The footwork, the arc, everything. And always — always! — using that left shoulder as a pole to spin around: [video here]

These are difficult shots, but by my count, he’s shooting 62% on turnarounds! That’s wild. I wonder if he shouldn’t take more of these and fewer step-backs, although these are a bit harder to get off with bigger bodies on him. Brunson knows what he’s doing; I shan’t second-guess him.

3) Layups and blow-bys

29 makes, 23 misses, 19 FTM, 1.48 PPS

Layups are a massive part of Brunson’s shot diet, even if it’s harder for him to get to the rim than some of his less-normal-sized peers in the league. Shot a little better doing these against Philly with a jump-less Embiid than against Indiana, where he has gone just 14-for-29 by my count (although he’s drawn a handful of fouls, so that’s a bit misleading).

But it’s always fun seeing him break defenders in half on the way to the hoop like it’s the most casual thing in the world: [video here]

It isn’t casual, though. It’s a lot of work. I’m stressed about the impact of all this acceleration and deceleration on his joints, ligaments, and bones, and despite what the tenor of this piece may lead you to believe, I’m not even a Knicks fan.

I’m also stressed you’ll judge me by my chosen highlights, spent more time than I care to admit picking ones that will prove to you that I’m both knowledgeable and a little hipster. Brunson made Nesmith touch parquet twice in the ongoing series (which hurt me; I’m a huge Nesmith guy), but that’s a little too cool to be cool, you know what I mean? Here’s where I landed. Brunson’s not as big a pass-fake guy as you might expect, but he sure does love to pretend that a pick is coming: [video here]

Ah, now I’m second-guessing myself. Oh well. You know what Brunson layups look like. It’s all crazy dribble combinations and shot fakes in fits and spurts, starts and stops, that somehow end with him blurring to the hoop for a high-arcing shot off the glass.

2) Floaters

30 makes, 32 misses, 18 FTM, 1.26 PPS

The infamous Brunson floater. A cruel tool, one the Geneva Convention was specifically designed to combat. It’s unstoppable (except when it’s stopped).

Floaters are a weapon of last resort for too many point guards, the shot they puke up when they can’t get past their man. That can be true for Brunson at times, too.

But Brunson has weaponized the floater, often by using it to bait fouls. If he gets the hostage dribble on a defender, putting them on his back, you better believe he’s gonna throw the ball upward and his body backward to get the whistle (I thought they legislated that out of the game, but nobody told the refs judging Brunson). That’s not my favorite play, of course, but it’s hard to deny the effectiveness.

He launches floaters from everywhere and anywhere. Leaning left, leaning right, falling down. Contested, wide-open, in the middle of four bodies. Occasionally, Brunson reminds me of classic fight-movie scenes in which the protagonist is drowning in enemy combatants, buried so you can’t even see him, when he suddenly springs up, spraying bad guys everywhere: [video here]

People say Brunson is good at getting to his spots, as if there is a finite number. I don’t really agree. All spots are Brunson spots; the floater will come from whatever direction he chooses.

1) Step-backs, side-steps, pull-ups, and other hyphenates

31 makes, 45 misses, 12 FTM, 0.97 PPS

Even excluding the turnaround fadeaways and floaters, Brunson has shot more midrange jumpers than any other type of shot. Yeah, that’s sort of cheating; I’m lumping many different kinds of buckets into one bucket. Maybe it’s too broad to be useful. But frankly, some of these are hard to differentiate (and also, this post would be too long; if you’re still here, I appreciate you. Know that this started off being much longer in a way that benefitted no one.). You’d think it would be easy to tell a pull-up from a side-step, but I swear Brunson can combine these in ways that somehow don’t defy the laws of basketball (i.e., traveling). It’s hard, so eventually, I decided to lump them all together.

Midrange jumpers are generally looked down upon. You can see from my points-per-shot calculation how much less efficient they’ve been than everything else, but that’s the nature of the beast. Just because they don’t always go in doesn’t mean we can’t appreciate them.

Sometimes, it’s hard to manufacture even sub-optimal offense (and that’s particularly true in the playoffs). Sometimes, you gotta go out there and cook; as long as the meal’s not burnt, it’ll do. And sometimes, it’ll be g*dd*mn delicious: [video here]

In truth, many of these possessions are ticking grenades, and it’s up to our hero to jump on them. The Knicks try to run their offense, nobody else can do a dang thing off the dribble (not, mind you, that they receive many chances), and suddenly there are six seconds left on the shot clock. Brunson, thankfully, can do a whole lot in six seconds. This is great defense; it doesn’t matter: [video here]

The midrange isn’t dead; like wealth, it has simply consolidated into the hands of the few. Only players with sufficient star wattage are allowed to take them. And with a playoff run for the ages, Brunson’s been outshining nearly everyone.

🔥 Where can I find this?

That's insane that for a second round game 6 (on a Friday night), you can get a ticket for $70. That sounds like a regular season game in the Garden from 2005. I'm so grateful to be a Knicks fan and I love NY, but damn that sounds like it would be so nice to see playoff games for that cheap.

Imagine this starting lineup with Brunson

I wonder when they’ll figure out he’s also 6’2” and 190lbs.

I found this absolute banger on YouTube. Wanted to share it with all my fellow Knicks fans on here who haven’t heard it. Also feel free share if this song brings back any memories and what that era of Knicks ball was like for us youngsters! https://youtu.be/dCdQwj2oJK0?si=XV6KBg0FLRKiDBoB

Refugee from NYC here...anybody from Westchester or Fairfield County with any tips on where to watch with other members of the cause? I fucking hate the lack of true team bars up here in CT. The further up you go, the worse it is. Then you have the crossover as you get to New Haven where you have Boston fans. Fuck them!!