Is DeMar DeRozan Or Dejounte Murray The Best Trade Option For The New York Knicks?

Is DeMar DeRozan Or Dejounte Murray The Best Trade Option For The New York Knicks?

Welcome in to locked on Knicks Alex Wolf and Gavin Shaw here and it is mailbag time again it’s about that time we did a little mini mailbag when ogan and Obi got trade but it was time for a proper January mailbag and we got guess what lots more trade questions we’re getting

Asked if Demar D rozan could sneakily be a good option for the Knicks should the Knicks go for him or Deonte Murray or perhaps Malcolm brogon and then we’re going to talk about Duce McBride whether the niick should stick with him or look for another option to help run that

Bench unit that’s coming up next on locked on Nicks you are locked on Nicks your daily New York Nick podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team every Day all right welcome in to locked on Nicks today’s episode is brought to you by FanDuel make every moment more right now new customers get $150 in bonus Bets with any winning $5 money line bet that’s 150 bucks if your team wins visit fanduel.com locked on to get started and

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That notification Bell on YouTube or the Auto download function on your podcast app so you never miss an episode because I think we’re on a we’re on a heater right now it’s like we’ve put out an episode well okay we put out Sunday episode or the Monday episode on Sunday

And then this episode’s coming out on Tuesday so that was like our first day that we’ve missed in like eight straight days so you know sometimes that happens and you want to have those notifications on just in case we’re on a heater and there’s lots of Nick stuff to talk about

Uh and uh who would be talking to you in that case I’m Alex Wolf I’m Eder in Chief and Nick site to Strickland which you can find strict. land and he’s Gavin Char your favorite play-by-play broadcaster favorite play-by-play broadcaster and you guys are favorite fans because you submitted some

Questions today so let’s get right into it Gavin we’ve got our first question from Ali sutan I believe that’s how it’s pronounced at Catbird alley uh wants to know hey clearly they’re playing better defense with OG they being the Knicks but I still worry about the lack of shot

Creation with the loss of RJ and IQ do you think D rozan would be a fit and what would the cost be it’s a shorter window but I would assume he’s more affordable than Donovan Mitchell or dejonte Murray uh Gavin Demar de R rozan what do you think yeah I I’ve like

Slowly but surely talked myself into this since we we both brought him up in the trade primer episode a few days ago I honestly like I’m I’m coming around on it like and I’ll I’ll give the caveat that I think he’s he’s pretty clearly on the decline a little bit like last three

Seasons went from 27 points per game to 24 points per game to this season just 22 points per game and that’s despite the fact that Zack LaVine has missed whatever like the last 20 or so games at this point um his rebounding is has gone

Down 5.2 to 4.6 to 3.7 his shooting from the field which is is to me the most concerning part out of all this Alex has gone from over 50% the last two seasons to just 46.5 this year granted that might be influenced by the fact that he

Doesn’t have lven and defenses are able to key in on him be Chicago outside of a Kobe white who who’s electric super electric this season out of nowhere um there’s not really anyone else to distract from DeMar and what he does um the good news is the three-point

Shooting is up a little bit he’s up to 34 point 5% on 2.7 attempts which by his standards is actually pretty good the biggest thing for me here is the maturity and I think um we’re gonna get into this a little bit in our next question but that kind of separates him

From a Deon Murray where I think at 34 and like given what happened with Toronto where he obviously got traded away in the deal that ultimately won them the championship and he never quite broke through with that team Chicago had the one year where they were looking

Really good but they they haven’t won a playoff series and they’ve won only a handful of playoff games in its time like I would assume that at this point a championship is the priority for him and I think maybe more so than some of the other guys we’re talking about um on top

Of providing like really nice positional size which is awesome um he’s gonna be inclined to just kind of fit in with Brunson and Randall and be sort of content being like a overqualified third option in the starting lineup and then getting to be the fulcrum of bench units

For what I mean whatever 12 to 14 minutes per night where he can just cook and do his Demar D rozan thing um I have some more thoughts on on it Alex third over to you but again the more I think about this the more I like Demar D rozan on the

Knicks um I’m going to go opposite way the more I think about it the more I’m out on it if I’m being completely honest that breaks my heart Al we’re always we’re always lock what give me the case so there’s there’s a few different reasons one is the age thing and as you

Said he seems to be in decline in many ways I just looked this up because I was curious uh his shooting this year has not just gotten worse like in terms of the overall percentages but where he’s shooting and the things that he’s still not learning at this

Point in his career really stand out more I feel like uh if you look at his shot profile this year and I looked up Julius Rands just out of curiosity and I I I didn’t have time to write the numbers down so I don’t have like the full written comparison but Julius

Randle’s shot composition essentially breaks down to something like like 300 attempts from inside of six feet uh and then like 180 attempts from three and then he’s got it down to like a 100 attempts in between those two you know things there where it’s like a 100 attempts now from mid-range basically

Demar Rosen at this point in his career is and this is the case I looked at last year’s shot log as well and it’s it was the case last year he actually shoots pretty well at The Rim he shoots 74% there but he’s only taken 98 attempts at

The Rim this year so far and he’s only taken 97 attempts from 3 to 10 feet uh or three to less than 10 feet then from 10 feet to the three-point line and particularly in that long three uh long mid-range range there right before the three-point line he’s taken almost 300

Attempts this year and then only 93 three-pointers so even though he’s shooting better from three at 34% this year he’s not taking a lot of them so it’s not a shot that he’s really looking for which again you know feeds into the I said the other day like I wonder if he

Was trying to try out for the Knicks by taking a lot more threes and being like look my shot profile can be better uh but the worst part is is that the shot that he takes the most which is from six 15 fet to uh just inside the three-point

Line he’s taking 149 attempts and he’s only shooting 36% on those this year so I just feel like there has not been you know we see certain players where like uh Vince Carter’s a great example of this or Jason kid for example guys that grow older in the league and gradually

Learn new skill sets learn how to be a different player as they get older and D rozan unfortunately just seems to be leaning further into who he always has been which is a mid-range shooter that doesn’t really shoot a lot of Threes And now is also

Not getting to the rim very much either uh not that he’s ever like made that a huge part of his diet but this year and last year at least in the numbers that I looked at he’s been extremely focused on just shooting in the mid-range for the

Most part and last year was more excusable because much like Randall in like 20 to 21 he was shooting like 46% in the mid-range last year which like you can live with if the stuff is at least pretty much up to Snuff you know from three and from in close you

Can live with that if that’s kind of what his bread and butter is but that worries me a lot the other thing is that I don’t want to be in charge if I’m the Knicks of dealing out his next contract uh which is what’s going to happen if

They get him this year they’re gonna have to figure out well what’s this guy worth it going into next year’s age 35 season how how much longer do we want to pay him for how much do we want to pay him you don’t want to end up with like

An albatross on your books and so if he’s going to again Ask for like 35 million which is about what he’s making now which also makes it a little harder to to salary match them I might add because you have Evan fornier salaries your base building block there I just

Feel like it’s a really messy situation I would not I would not really go after him to be completely honest the shot profile scares me and might take away some of brunson’s sweet spot in that mid-range area and then on top of it I just don’t I I don’t really want to be

In charge of paying him so I’m I’m kind of out on the rozan at this point yeah I I I hear you and I think there’s some valid arguments and I I’d be lying if I if I said didn’t pee down my leg a little when you when you gave some of

Those mid-range numbers that being said um I do think it’s a it might be a little bit of a case of him just being depressed about being in Chicago right cold City crummy situation like I I think it’s I’ve heard it argued and I would maybe agree with it like they’re

In the mix like you got to give the Wizards and the Pistons one and two right now but they’re in the mix Alex are one of the most depressing n ba situations at at this point there there’s just there’s very obviously no future there um not just for him but

Like for the team in general like they don’t have a lot of assets they don’t have a lot of young exciting pieces outside of Kobe White NOW Patrick Williams has kind of failed which which sucks because I loved him as a prospect Zack LaVine situation is is like a crap

Hole like that is not going well at all and similar to how we saw Anan noi’s like numbers inexplicably go way way way way down this year um I think that could be what’s going on with DeMar obviously a 34 it is possible that he’s just

Getting old but the guy’s been like a incredible mid-range artist his whole career and I think like Chris Paul I don’t really see any reason like that aspect of his game shouldn’t age pretty well obviously like it’s plausible that he’s just getting less separation getting less clean shots and therefore

For like harder shots and they’re going in less like we’d have to do a deeper dive on the film to be sure about that but I kind of have a feeling he’d be reinvigorated being in a winning context with the Knicks like being in a better

Culture and again just being asked to do a whole lot at less as like the clear-cut third option and um as as the guy who leads the bench I I do agree the contract matching is is a pretty big issue and one I should probably pay more

Heat to and something the Knicks would have to figure out I’m not super concerned about his next contract I I kind of think he’s only G to get something like maybe like 22 23 million a year because the only teams that are gonna want to pay him are contending

Teams that all don’t have a lot of money so unless someone like the Sixers wants to go crazy I think you get him at a reasonable number and then I’m going to I’ll make the same argument for Malcolm Brogden later on in the Pod like I think

You can do something similar to what the Celtics did um with Brogden um where where you can trade him plus some picks for a more talented player and and maybe you even are able to do that a little bit easier than someone like to De Jon Murray who’s a longer commitment for

Another team so maybe maybe I’m off the base on that but I don’t know my instinct is that it would it would just work he’s a really good passer like over five assists per game this year good free throw shooter and just a confident playoff scorer to me that’s the biggest

Thing like like he is someone who’s taken and made big shots his career in the playoffs I don’t think he’s going to be scared of the moment and I think if the Nick’s goal is to win now like he is very much ready for that yeah I don’t

Know I I can’t help but remember all the times with Toronto where they weren’t able to really accomplish anything until they got rid of him in the playoffs which but that was because they got Kawai and they were going against LeBron I don’t know I think it was yeah I guess

I don’t know he scares me a bit it you’d have you have to go all the way back to San Antonio uh on his career ledger so three full years ago to get to the point where he took more shots inside of 10 feet than he did from the mid-range in

His career it it scares if that efficiency is dropping with his age like maybe he’s getting less lift on his jumper or whatever I haven’t really watched him enough to know for sure but like if that’s the case like his efficiency is is is going

To harm this team I feel like and he’s starting to slip back at that point back into being more like the guy that Nick just got rid of in RJ Barrett that we said you know like getting rid of what he was offering uh was has proven to be

Pretty beneficial to the Knicks in that starting unit so I guess we’ll see but we got more time to talk about Demar D rozan because we got asked if we would rather have him or dejonte Murray at the deadline and then also I think we’re just gonna turn this into one Mega

Question also if Malcolm Brogden or Deonte Murray would be preferable so we’ll probably talk about all three of those guys in the next segment but first Gavin would you like to let everybody know about our friends over a better help yeah Alex I I I love better help and

This show is sponsored by better help so around New Years and this always always happens to me you inevitably get obsessed with how to change yourself instead of just expanding on what you’re already doing right I know personally like I I definitely have a propensity for setting like unrealistic goals and

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That um and therapy can also help you find your strength so you ditch your extreme resolutions and make changes that actually stick which at the end of the day isn’t isn’t it what we’re all trying to do when we make a resolution so if you’re thinking about starting

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Month that’s betterhelp hp.com lockon MBA Al righty Alex you prefaced it we are continuing ing dear D rozan deante Murray we got the first question was for Matt Kaplan I remember he used to he used to um be in those live chats we used to do so shout out to Matt Kaplan

At Kaplan matain M NE if you want to throw him a follow on Twitter he wanted to know if you had to choose between going after dear or deante the deadline which one are you going with and if we’re g to combine the questions let’s throw in one from the YouTube side of

Things shout out to at Jackson Fire 2949 I always wonder how people come up with those numbers and he wanted to know who would be a better fit for this Knicks team Brogden or Murray so Alex we got we got the triple comp here um who who are

You going with out of that Trio and it it’s fascinating in the sense that Brockton is obviously a different tier than those guys but maybe that’s just the direction that you want to go in and you think it’s better for the Knicks to make a smaller move on the margins yeah

I guess it would all come down to cost right like at the same cost for all three guys I would probably consider Deon Murray to be the highest upside swing so it’s like I don’t know like fornier and whatever pieces you have to make salary work and you know like

Assuming just end of bench guys di Archie diako and you know guys like that uh plus like two first round picks or something like that like if that’s the set price for any one of these guys then I would probably go Deonte Murray so I think that’s my that’s my like upside

Swing that’s the Home Run swing that’s the like you’re hoping that he combine the best parts of both of his stops in his career so far the the defense and uh the playmaking from San Antonio and just the overall driving of of competent basketball I mean he he basically upon

His exit that team went from a consistent like playin Contender to like the worst team in the league or one of them you know like they were it was it was bad I mean he was he was a significant floor Razer there uh but then we’ve seen since he’s gone to

Atlanta you know he was expected to be a ceiling Razer there and unfortunately that combo with Trey young really hasn’t worked out that said you know it’s mostly because it seems like he’s not giving them the extra things they need on defense which was part of why they

Brought him in was to be sort of that defensive presence next to Trey young so you can continue having Trey young out there on the floor as your high minute starting point guard and he hasn’t really provided that much which you know again is that scheme is that him not

Playing as well I’m not totally sure what the deal is there as far as why that part hasn’t worked out but he has become a much more efficient scorer and he’s now shooting like 37% on like almost eight attempts per game from three this year which is crazy

Considering he’s only shot like 33 34% at any other year in his career so if he’s actually turned a corner in that regard and then can reclaim some of his defensive prowess on the Knicks I mean that would potentially be a really high upside swing and also give you a guy

With a flexible salary going forward to potentially include in a deal for like Joel embiid or something and if he like really balls out this year you can use him as a centerpiece of that deal both for salary and play purposes to kind of

Sell the Sixers on a a a a retooled but not torn down version of their team which would probably be appealing to to Daryl Mory uh if I was going the other way where I’m saying it’s all cost dependent uh I might go Malcolm Brogden instead you know if it’s if it’s going

To cost more for dejonte Murray then I think just getting a guy like brog that can that can score efficiently and essentially do what Emanuel quickly was doing you had that exact note in our in our notes Here of like if you want to just be Emanuel quickly that’s pretty

Solid uh then I I’d maybe go brogen’s way and if Brogden ultimately just cost like a first round pick and Evan fornier then cool even if it’s like the Knicks unprotected first round pick this year much like what they did with Josh Hart last year I think that’s a solid

Investment and gives your team kind of exactly what it needs when it they’ve been playing as well as they have these last few games since getting OG anyway so maybe you don’t need to reinvent the wheel here or reinvent the starting lineup as it were uh so yeah I think I

Think that’s my my main thing and then I I would put D rozan honestly at a distant third behind those three just because of all the things outlined in the first segment yeah I I hear you um I I I’ll start off I’ll do kind of like a

A challenger style thing so we could start off comparing um bro or sorry D rozan and dejon just because I think I think Brogden is like as I was alluding to when ask you the question is just almost in his own category a little bit like it’s it’s a different type of

Acquisition dear and dejonte you’re kind of going halfway down like all right let’s get a certifiable third star Road well not going all the way down that road with brogon there’s no ambiguity right like like that’s a move to be better this year and someone like maybe

If it works out like you could keep heading into a future season though he does make enough money to the point that like it gets a little complicated if you’re trying to keep him Randall Brunson OG and and then add another star in fact like I’m I’ll rephrase that like

I think it’s pretty much impossible to keep all those guys um but but but but um between Demar and Deonte like almost essentially even stats this year they’re really like the only separator there is the fact that de shooting way better from three-point range which worries me

Because that tells you who also he’s shooting even worse than Demar is from two-point range um so that 47% Mark is great but when you take into account that he’s shooting 39% from three tells you the two-point finishing hasn’t been all that good this year for dejon and

Like I was looking at his at The Rim numbers Alex like he’s low volume and he’s like he’s just not that efficient at the basket and like maybe some of that is is kind of the same issue that Nicks have had with Mitchell Robinson for years where Clint capella or Ono

Conu are kind of parked right at the rim and that kind of messes with his finishing but also that Atlanta team has I mean outside of Jaylen Johnson being back in the lineup also has a lot of spacing so I I I think maybe maybe we’ll

Have our buddy Brad from locked on Hawks on at some point to tell us a little bit more about him but that would be a point of concern for me I think um and I’m not saying that Deonte isn’t a winner because to your point he he did in in

San Antonio was like the best player in some decent teams I don’t think you can attribute their drop off though like entirely to him leaving just because they also had Derek white on those teams and they also had yakob purle on those teams and even Demar de rozan Once Upon

A Time was a key piece on one of those teams so that was further back I think it’s more Trey young than him but I just I can’t get it out of my head the idea that it would sort of be Dueling Banjos very similar to how it is in Atlanta in

Like a little your turn my turn between him and Brunson which you could argue the same for Demar de rozan but I I just kind of think at this point in his career Demar would be a little bit more content being the third option while Deonte would come to New York and be

Like this is great I have a bigger platform for myself I’m not playing with Trey young who’s like a a more consistent I guess like 30 point scorer like high volume shooter than even someone like Brunson is like like this is my time to shine I could be the best

Dude on this team and that would be a little worrying and to me like it’s on the Knicks to do some serious Intel Gathering and figure out like all right would Deonte be okay leaning into defense leaning into off ball shooting leaning into leading the bench unit

While Malcolm brogon like you don’t even have to think about any of that stuff because that’s just who he’s been his entire career like last year on the Celtics like he was probably the fourth option or the fifth option at times and he was awesome at that he shot 44% from

Three so out of the three of them like if the question is about fit like Brockton is the cleanest fit like lowest ceiling but maybe the highest floor out of all three of these guys yeah I could definitely see that I mean I I think that he has the least opportunity to

Mess up a good thing let’s put it that way like and that was what I was alluding to like if you don’t want to reinvent the wheel your team your team just blew out the Sixers by 30 and then you know just handily dispatched the Wizards by you know 16 points the other

Night you know you’ve had a bunch of statement wins in the last week a four- game win streak right now possibly turn into a five-game win streak streak on Tuesday I mean it’s just like at this point you know do you want to mess this up like do you want to potentially get

Divon chenzo out of the starting lineup and you know throw either D rozan or or dejonte Murray in there and potentially you know gum up this offense a little bit I don’t know you know that’s maybe where Brogden becomes a cleaner fit where you could say then well Brogden

Can come off the bench no matter what and then if he is hot then play him instead of Devan chenzo nobody’s gonna be offended in that situation clearly Devon chenzo isn’t uh you know maybe it caps Quinton grimes’s opportunities to potentially close games a little more but all in all

I think it would be a you know that would definitely be the cleanest and like you said I maybe the highest floor you know almost the most sure thing that you could do is get Malcolm Brogden versus the other two guys but if you

Want to take more of a home run swing I mean my thought with dejonte versus a d rozan as well would have a lot to do with running the bench unit and being the guy that stays out there through the end of the first quarter sort of

Shepherds that bench unit if he got more opportunities to create with them you know to go out there and like then it can be his show for a few minutes a game you know he could play with that bench unit drive and kick and you know do all

The things that he did in San Antonio and have a grand old time uh but it’s it as you said require some form of commitment to more defense more off ball movement and stuff when Jaylen Brunson Julius Randall are on the floor which is something he hasn’t been super

Comfortable with to this point in his career uh but Gavin I think real quick before we get into our our last segment and talking a little more about uh some of these guys although we’re going to bring up some new names uh about guys to potentially help in the dece McBride

Role right now uh but or if we should just let Deuce keep cooking uh since we’ve seen some improvement over these last few games before that I want to let everybody know about our good friends over at FanDuel so the NFL regular season is wrapping up we’re literally as we’re

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First real mailbag of of 2024 we uh did the the little you know asked a couple mailbag questions for the OG trade episode but this is our first proper one uh and we’ll have some more questions coming up for later in this week pending the next making some seismic shift that

Blows everything out of the water and makes all the questions not relevant anymore uh but we have a question from one of our faves Jordan buub buub Jordan on Twitter uh wants to know so what’s the perfect piece for the bench right now or do we let Duce lead the bench

Unit alongside one of Jaylen Brunson or Julius Randall we already sorted talked about Brogden Gavin so I I don’t know if we have to go too much more in depth but he made our list but we we cooked up a couple other names that could potentially be good for the Knicks to

Look at as well yeah the only issue with with Brogden and I hinted at this last segment is is is the amount of money he makes I mean the 22 and a half million this year and next year like that un unless you’re looking to include Randall in that star trade because presumably

You’re not including Brunson or you’re not including OG like that that makes things very very tough on the Knicks unless like maybe if they trade Mitchell Robinson and maybe if they make the star move also at the deadline like we we we got to get uh jery Cohen on here at some

Point to to break down all the mechanics of it but even even as a cap admitted cap novice I know that uh 22 and a half million is is not is not good for the books even even if there is a big jump um heading into 2025 in in terms of how

Much money teams are able to spend with the new TV deal so um this question kind of inspired me like some names more on the margin and margins and Alex we went over some of them in our big primer last week but I just want to throw a couple

New ones out there and I I I’ll do some quick hitters and you could maybe let me know who you like most out of the list uh T.J mcot who you told me very specifically before the show you don’t you don’t really like but you would you

Maybe like on the Knicks um of course he’s he’s annoying but he could be annoying for us um really talented passer like pretty efficient scorer just doesn’t take anything off the table and and can just do like all the basic point guard stuff at a pretty high level that

Duce McBride for everything he’s bringing right now as a shooter and as a insane putback dunker apparently um you don’t really get just like the pure point guard setup stuff that I think honestly would do wonders for the second unit the elevated version of that is

Tyus Jones who is a free agent this summer so that’s a little bit concerning but as you noted to me Alex before we start the show is having a absolute career year in what’s somehow like his eighth or ninth season in the league I didn’t realize he’s he’s been around

That long already already 27 years old but 12 and a half points per game five and a half assists per game uh three rebounds per game and and what stands out is the shooting 52% from the field heed by 43% from three on on just under

Just over three and a half attempts per game only shoot 75% the line but that’s mostly a product of just very few attempts like he’s pretty good in the past when he gets there 81% for his career like tus Jones like might like like brogon is sort of the upper tier

Version of this guy Jones is the middle tier McConnell is the lower tier like maybe going with tus Jones would would would make a whole lot of sense for the Knicks the only issue again is resigning him and and the implications um down the road for how you’re gonna handle getting

That big big monster Mega star contract in there that the Knicks presumably want to get yeah I I I’m so I think in terms of the in terms of the financials I think if the Knicks make another move and it’s for a guy with a lot of money

Still left on his deal like Brogden for example I think the idea there and this the same with dejonte Murray which is why like he’s actually his salary is jumping quite a bit after this year he’s going from like 20 20 million or whatever it is he’s making right now up

To like 30 million almost and that’s sort of appealing in a way because I think that the Nick’s plan would be then okay if Joel andb becomes available this coming off season or whatever then you that’s your salary building block for making that trade uh so so in in that

Perspective like the brogen deal doesn’t worry me too much uh the Rosier deal actually looks pretty solid because he’s making like 27 million which is you know a really good starting point and for an attractive player who scores a lot of points really efficiently I just wonder

How much like Charlotte would ask for him like I don’t know what charlott’s motivations are at this point like clearly they came into this year I think thinking that they maybe had something to play for for and it doesn’t look like they’re there yet um you know it’s maybe

Karma’s a a you know what in terms of the guy that they decided to bring back this year and feature in a large role um but you know it’s I don’t know what their motivations would be in a trade how much they’d be looking to get back

For roier like how much they view him as part of the future or do they want to just look at their roster and be like pretty much everybody here is younger like roier is on the upper end of his career at this point at like 27 years

Old I think he is or 28 something like that 29 29 even older yeah so I mean he’s sort of reaching the point where you might want to say h maybe now’s the time to sell High uh but what high is I don’t know is that is that one

Unprotected first round pick is that like would they want like a unprotected and a protected or something for him I don’t know what the market would be and honestly what brogen’s market ends up settling in on if he’s the first guy to go out of the two would probably dictate

What they might be willing to accept for roier just because you you run into the size concerns with him and stuff like that where you’re like H like how much can we really trust this guy to be like a starting two guard but is he a good

Enough distributor to be a one you know whatever um but tus Jones I think if I was gonna look at this new list I mean there’s nothing against TJ McConnell in terms of what he does on a basketball court I I often describe him as a gat he

Annoys the crap out of me whenever the Knicks play him he’s just all over the place he’s up in everybody’s face the whole time type of guy you hate to have on the other team but we would probably grow to love him if he was a Nick let’s

Be real but you know he’s not much of a three-point shooter he would probably be pretty much what he is on Indiana from what it looks like this year about a 15minute per game guy can go out there can you know feed the hungry mouths in the second unit and then that’s pretty

Much it like he’s not much of a shooter himself uh he’s just like a really good distributor and a ped on defense tyus Jones I think could give you a little bit of everything though and like his best role in his career has been being like an All-Star backup uh at point

Guard and you know Clyde alluded to it on the broadcast the other day like even though he’s having a career year shooting obviously Washington has not turned out as good as everybody thought and some of that at least is being placed on like oh maybe tyus Jones wasn’t the lead guard that everybody

Thought he was going to be like you didn’t see his huge uptick in his production that everybody was thinking even though he’s shooting better percentages he’s not being like necessarily more aggressive or whatever he’s still sort of playing like more of a backup point guard I guess uh so if

He’s willing to come and play that role again doesn’t make a ton of money so from that salary future salary matching perspective not quite as appealing and I think he’s actually expiring this year he is tus Jones yeah yeah so I mean that’s not super appealing but from a

Fit perspective this year and then potentially a guy you would want to extend going forward and keep as like brunson’s long-term backup who can spot start if should anything ever happen to Brunson I I think he would be a really good fit from that perspective yeah I

Hear you I think just circling back back on the salary Point like it’s it’s and I I don’t I don’t know if I have a strong take on what the right answer here it’s like an interesting philosophical question like is it worth getting a bit better now if you know your your ceiling

Is still probably short of legitimate Championship Contender I don’t know about you I don’t think dejonte Murray makes the Knicks a championship Contender that being said like like I keep we keep saying versions of the same thing like if you got the three-point shooting defense playmaking version of

Him like the the defender he was in San Antonio where he was like all all defense team like him OG and hartenstein together like that is about as good as you can do around um Brunson and Randall without trading for Kawhi Leonard and throwing him in the starting lineup

Right that would be awesome like there’s enough spacing there that it makes sense offensively like again the the very best version of that like you could talk to yourself like the Knicks being like an injury or two away from being in the Eastern Conference Finals or maybe not

Even an injury away from being in the Eastern Conference Finals and then who knows what happens when you get there so like there’s a case for that my fear is that you’re you’re giving up assets to just to go maybe around further in the playoffs and then that’s great right you

Have that contractual building block in a star trade but is that worth it versus just like having to Cobble together smaller salaries or having to figure out something else and like being able to retain those extra like if it’s jonay Murr those extra two first round picks

If you’re in a bidding war for someone like a Joel embiid like like who knows if Luka dich somehow becomes available and granted like at the end of the day you’re never out bitting Oklahoma City or or even Utah or even Houston so maybe that stuff matters like a little bit

Less and it’s just about those guys wanting to come to New York and not wanting to go anywhere else but that that that’s sort of rattling around the back of my head like are are you willing to spill assets that can push you over the edge um and I guess that the

Counterargument to that is like Deonte Murray if he’s worth two first round picks to the Knicks why wouldn’t he be worth two first round picks in one of those trades down the road and you have a Portland Malcolm Brockton scenario where they can just redirect him to a

Third team later on in this season so so maybe i’ I’ve talked out my own argument but I just think that’s something to think about in these discussions yeah all interesting points and all ones we probably be getting into more I did just want to I want to Circle back real quick

Onto the sort of the the Nexus of this question from Jordan of the of dece leading the bench unit forgot about that sorry yeah and and as far as that I think it’s just you continue seeing what you have induce you have a month to if

You so choose you know which the Nicks as we’re recording this on Sunday night a few hours ago just released Taj Gibson which maybe is you know sort of a uh a little bit of a a precursive war yeah warning sign you know that another move

Is coming soon uh we’re not totally sure it was apparently had something to do with his guarantee date on his deal so they were just trying to like be like well all right we don’t want this to go fully guaranteed and have to pay you like $2 million or what whatever so

Sorry Taj but we’re letting you go uh which tough break for Taj there but I mean I think if you so choose you could take another month get a look at dece he’s showing some progress but I feel like a lot of what what we’re gonna need

To see out of him would come from offseason work uh like he’s gonna need to just take an entire offseason and work on his handle more he’s gonna need to take an entire offseason and try to work a floater into his game have good training behind him and stuff like that

I don’t know if there’s I don’t know how much he can really figure out and on the job training to actually like Elevate this team as much this year um but I guess we’ll see I don’t know I mean we had someone in our YouTube comments being like how are you like

Underestimating he’s only had four games it’s like that would be that would be you know a legitimate argument if he was like a rookie but we have two years prior to this and he had every opportunity to crack the rotation and stay in the rotation for years and just

Hasn’t quite figured it out yet I don’t think he’s a bad player but you know I think he’s got a lot of things to figure out still at this point now in his is third year in the NBA so um yeah I don’t know I if the Knicks get an opportunity

For not too much to upgrade this year they could be a Darkhorse ECF team could be a Darkhorse finals team for all we know if things break the right way if they pick up like a Malcolm Brogden I don’t think they should hold them themselves back from doing that if it

Costs a first round pick or two um but you know going forward we’ll see we’ll see but I I hope this is able to carve out a roll because I really like him and I like his game yeah I’m I’m I’m with you and I I don’t to anything else I

Think this is as good of a note as any to end on but we’ll be back with more pods this week special guest coming on this week I won’t spoil it but it’s a name I mentioned in recent episodes if you’ve been listening closely um and

We’ll have plenty of game recaps for you but until then he’s Alex I’m Gavin enjoy your week we’ll talk to you very very soon on lock on Nicks

The New York Knicks have been playing incredibly well since the OG Anunoby trade, but that doesn’t mean that they can’t still get substantially better.

They clearly need one more guy who can create his own shot and create for others, is DeMar DeRozan the man for the job? Is the younger, better shooting and better defending Dejounte Murray the superior option?

Or should the Knicks shake up their team less and go for someone like Malcolm Brogdon or Tyus Jones?

Gavin Schall and Alex Wolfe break down the Knicks myriad of options while answering your questions on this episode of Locked On Knicks!

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