Ross
New York Knicks, if you don't talk about the ball market, I am afraid that the fans have already faded out of perspective. Last season, the Knicks made the playoffs again after seven years. In the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs against the Hawks, the Knicks sold 18,000 tickets (20,000 full seats) in their first home game. The rate reached 90%, which is still when there is only one former All-Star player in Rose. The Nets, on the other hand, sold 15,000 tickets even if they had the Big Three. The lowest fare for the Knicks is US$1,001 and the highest fare is nearly US$13,200. This may also be the capital that the Knicks have been able to so capriciously in the past, and this is one of the reasons why the Knicks took the "superstar route".
Kobe, James
Superstar strategy failure
NBA The team used to have two operating modes. The first is the small city teams like the Bucks and the Thunder. Their cities are unattractive and the team's investment is relatively small. Therefore, it is difficult for this part of the team to attract superstars to join. Therefore, they usually choose to rely on the draft to start, but this does not rule out the superstar embryos that they cultivated to leave the team after the expiration of the contract. Therefore, when the Antetokounmpo contract expired, many executives in the league speculated that Antetokounmpo would leave Milwaukee . The second is a giant team like the Lakers. The Lakers have a long history and are located in a big city like Los Angeles, so both the team and the city's popularity are conducive to the team's recruitment of superstars. A typical example in the history of the Lakers is West recruiting O'Neal to join the team. The Knicks are similar to the Lakers, and their city reputation and team history are enough to attract superstars. Therefore, the Knicks and the Lakers have taken the "superstar route" in the past.
Dolan
Why did the "Superstar Strategy" fail? The failure of the superstar strategy has been affected in many ways.
First, the big city teams are not doing well. Both the Lakers and the Knicks have fallen into darkness. The Lakers failed to recruit star players in the post-Kobe era. Therefore, the Lakers in the post-Kobe era basically rely on Kobe to support attendance. After Kobe retired, the Lakers lacked signature players, and the spotlight in Los Angeles and Kobe's halo also made many star players discourage the Lakers. Needless to say, the Knicks, in addition to the lack of signature players, they gave a series of bad contracts, resulting in the team has no salary space to sign superstars, and those bad contracts lack transaction value, so these teams have to deal with them first. With a bad contract in his hands, then there is room to recruit star players. The same is true for the Lakers. A typical example is that they spent $64 million for Mozkov for four years and $72 million for Luer Deng for four years. The Lakers are still paying for Deng's contract, and this has also resulted in the team not having enough salary space to sign role players in recent years.
Bucks renews the three main forces
Second, the injection of big capital. In recent years, in addition to the "not bad" teams such as the Lakers and Knicks, the NBA has also injected a lot of large capital, which allows other teams to compete with the Lakers and Knicks in salary. Among them, the more typical is the Los Angeles Clippers. The Clippers were always crushed by the Lakers before the introduction of Paul . Even if the team has a good record, it is difficult for the Clippers to win the competition with the Lakers. The former owner of the Clippers Sterling is known for his stingy. Once there were fans who won a shooting game organized by the Clippers, but Sterling refused to pay the $1,000 prize; what is even more ridiculous is that Sterling once asked the head coach to tie the bandages to the players himself, just to save hiring. The cost of the trainer. However, he only paid $12.5 million when he bought the Clippers in 1981, but he got $2 billion when he sold the Clippers in 2014. The current owner of the Clippers Ballmer was once one of the partners of Microsoft. Ballmer's investment is unambiguous, which also makes the Clippers' signings and achievements in the past few years have been obvious. Improve and upgrade.
NBA Draft
Third, the draft has become the most economical mode. There are not many big city teams in the NBA, and most teams do not have the city blessings of Los Angeles and New York, so if they want to stay competitive in this game, the best way is to draft. The Thunder relied on the draft to get Westbrook , Durant and Harden three MVP-level athletes. Except for Durant's departure in free, Harden and Westbrook's departure both gave the Thunder back some chips. Of course, even if you don’t get good players in the draft, you don’t have to worry. After all, rookies have relatively small contracts. Even if there is no transaction value, a buyout or no renewal will not have much impact. The Lakers also rebuilt in the post-Kobe era. They acquired , Ball, , Ingram and other players. They used these players to trade for and Anthony Davis. This time, the assets were replaced. allowed the Lakers to win the championship again. I have to say, Jenny Buss only took a short time to get the Lakers back on top. Even for a big team like the Lakers, it is no longer an easy task to find superstars to join directly, and the draft has become the lowest cost and highest fault-tolerant reconstruction plan.
Oklahoma City draft picks
Let's look at the Thunder. After losing three minors, they ate a lot of other teams and other teams' junk contracts. But at this price, the Thunder also received a generous draft pick in return. The value of these draft picks varies, and the Thunder can wait for the right opportunity to be used or traded. At present, many teams in the league have a direct or indirect exchange of draft picks with the Thunder. To be honest, I think Oklahoma City, as a small team, with such a wealth of assets, within five years, they will be able to return to the ranks of the Western Conference playoffs.Therefore, the Knicks also understand that if the team wants to rise, it is not enough to have money. Try to avoid creating negative assets, replace assets at the right time, and then use the advantages of the big market to find superstars to join. After Anthony left the team, the Knicks no longer gave a long-term contract. In recent years, we have seen the Knicks give high salaries, but basically did not see the Knicks give a high salary and long-term contract. This is a major change and improvement in the team's business strategy.
Thibodoo
Choosing Thibodoo to play steadily
If Thibodoo is a successful coach, it would be a bit far-fetched. After all, Thibodoo is not dominant in terms of seniority or the number of championships. However, Thibodeau is indeed a coach who can bring qualitative changes to the team. Why do you say that? There are two arguments to prove this view.
First, Thibodeau led the Bulls, Timberwolves and the Knicks to the playoffs. If the Bulls have a strong lineup and the playoffs in the weak Eastern Conference are not enough to explain the problem, then the Timberwolves and the Knicks, who have not made the playoffs for many years, can show that Thibodeau’s rules are indeed worthwhile. .
Thibodeau and Rose
Second, Thibodeau is a very strict coach for players. Jimmy Butler was so tired that he gave up participating in the All-Star Game under Thibodeau. Players such as Rose also suffered injuries due to overuse. In addition, Thibodeau’s team has always been known for defense, and the facts have proved that a team that started on defense is still very competitive in the small ball era. Throughout the league's winning teams over the years, defense is still the commonality of these teams. Whether it's the Cavaliers, Warriors, Lakers or Bucks, no championship team lacks defensive genes.
Thibodeau and Butler
So,It is indeed a wise choice for the Knicks to choose Thibodeau as the head coach. Last season, after the Lakers lost to the Knicks in an away game, Pope stated in an interview that he thinks the Knicks' defense is very aggressive and will encounter steals as long as they are not paying attention. This shows that the Knicks have established a good defensive prototype in the past year, and this team is back on the right path.
RJ Barrett
The salary is reasonable and there is still room to run
The New York Knicks did not easily smash a bad contract this time. The Knicks currently have three major contract players, namely Randall, Fournier and Rose, all of whom have contracts greater than $10 million. Among them, Randall was 63 million in three years and expired in 2022; Fournier and Ross signed for 73 million in four years and 43 million in three years, respectively. The Knicks have a team option for Fournier and Rose's last-year contract, which allows the team to choose flexibly.
Toppin
The remaining players of the Knicks have an annual salary of less than $10 million. When the contract between Toppin and Barrett expires, the Knicks have enough salary space to complete the renewal with them. In addition, the Knicks' salary space is enough to allow them to introduce another top-paid player. Of course, there is no object on the market that meets the requirements. However, during the offseason, the Knicks communicated to season ticket holders the team's plan to introduce a star player this season. Now, Simmons and the Philadelphia 76ers are in trouble, and the Knicks are not without the opportunity to participate in this transaction. Simmons' defense is also quite good, which may be one of Thibodeau's considerations.
Simmons
In terms of draft picks, although the Knicks' first-round picks are subject to many restrictions, if these picks fall in the lottery zone , the Knicks can basically stay. This means that in addition to these draft picks, the Knicks can use them by themselves,It also has a certain transaction value. Therefore, the Knicks' team limit is one or two star players to take off. Even if they can't get star players, the Knicks can rely on this team to have a certain degree of competitiveness in the East.
Knicks
The Knicks are on the right path for the first time in more than a decade. The Knicks in the new season will still have a chance to make a breakthrough in the playoffs as long as they maintain a steady and steady situation. . Although it is too early to talk about the championship, for the Knicks, at least they have found the right direction. This is more important than anything else!
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