Miami Heat

Dwane Casey reveals New York Knicks was Derrick Rose’s top choice

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New York Knicks, Derrick Rose

Derrick Rose badly wanted to be a Knick again.

That’s what Detroit Pistons coach Dwane Casey revealed during his recent guest appearance on Sirius XM NBA Radio.

“The last couple of days before the trade went down, we had a great conversation,” Casey said. “He was upfront and honest. ‘Coach, I’ve only got so many miles left in my legs. I just want to make sure I go to a situation where I may have a chance to make the playoffs this year. I know where you guys are—you’re rebuilding, you’re retooling.”

Casey, though, was perplexed at first with his destination of choice—the New York Knicks. But he understood the player-coach bond between Rose and Tom Thibodeau.

“And I said to Derrick, ‘you may have a chance here just as you may have in New York,'” Casey recalled with a chuckle.

“But I understand his relationship with Thibs. Thibs started him out as a rookie. That’s special. You never gonna change that. So, I’m happy for Derrick. I was glad we were able to accommodate him and find him a place where he could go and a place he wanted to go to play with Thibs,” Casey quickly added.

Several playoff contenders with the Milwaukee Bucks, Miami Heat, and the Los Angeles Clippers reportedly targeted Rose. But the former NBA MVP ultimately chose familiarity and opportunity.

The Knicks have been a pleasant surprise in Thibodeau’s first year with the team. They currently sit at ninth place in the Eastern Conference with their 11-15 start.

Rose feels he can come in and help the Knicks reach the playoffs.

He wanted to be reunited with Thibodeau for the third time. But on top of that, he also desires to rewrite a bad chapter in his storied career.

His first stint with the Knicks in 2016 started on the wrong foot with off-court troubles stemming from rape allegations. Then it spiraled into his now-infamous AWOL. His short-lived stay in New York ended with his fourth knee surgery.

Rose went through hell but rose and fought his way back.

“I’m happy for him because he came here, again, a guy that we got from Minnesota. I gave him a couple of years to re-establish himself in the league as one of the top off-the-bench scorers and fit in like a glove and worked with me, accepting my coaching here with the guys. He’s been an MVP in the league. And his body went in a different way, but he continues to work and get his body in the right place,” Casey said.

With those knees keep on betraying him, Rose reinvented himself. He morphed into one of the productive NBA players off the bench.

In his first game back with the Knicks, Rose collected 14 points, one rebound, three assists, one steal, and a block in just 20 minutes off the bench. The Knicks lost a nail-biter, 98-96, to the Heat, but they hung with the reigning Eastern Conference champions, and they outscored them by six when Rose was on the floor.

“He’s gonna be a big plus for New York as they go forward and get to where they want to go like he did to us, and I’m happy for him,” Casey said.

Rose made an interesting choice. He shunned the odds-on favorites to make the playoffs and bet on himself and the Knicks.

Will the third time be the charm for Rose and Thibodeau? Will the Rose-Knicks love affair be sweeter the second time around?

Follow this writer on Twitter: @alderalmo

Sources: New York Knicks interested in Heat’s Goran Dragic

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Goran Dragic, New York Knicks

In 2015, Goran Dragic had the New York Knicks as one of his preferred destinations along with the Miami Heat and the Los Angeles Lakers.

Pat Riley beat Phil Jackson in the trade deadline acquiring the Slovenian point guard and his brother Zoran from the Phoenix Suns. Dragic went on to stay long term with the Heat and was rewarded with a Finals trip this season.

Five years later, Dragic could find himself crossing paths with the Knicks again as multiple sources believe that the Heat point guard is among their free-agent targets.

The Knicks have also been linked to trade rumors involving Oklahoma City Thunder’s Chris Paul and another free-agent-to-be Fred Van Vleet of the Toronto Raptors. But the price of acquiring either of those two backcourt generals could be too high for the Knicks who want to maintain their cap flexibility for the next summer’s loaded free agency class.

One NBA agent views Dragic as a cheaper alternative that would make more a lot of sense from a financial standpoint and as a culture-builder.

“He’s one year younger than Chris (Paul) and has more years of experience than Fred (Van Vleet). He could be the ideal leader of this Knicks rebuild just like what he did with the Heat and be a mentor to their young guards at a relatively cheaper contract,” the agent told Empire Sports Media.

Another source said that the Knicks will have the cap space to lure Dragic with more money on a long-term deal, but the Heat will be motivated to keep Dragic after their successful run this season.

“I believe the Heat will try to keep him and run it back next season but it’s going to be tough for them to offer a long-term deal as Pat Riley has his eyes on the 2021 free agency,” the source told Empire Sports Media.

Grammy-nominated guitarist Robert Randolph, who is one of the Knicks’ owner James Dolan’s close friends in the music industry, has tweeted that Dragic is the Knicks’ top target in the free agency.

Dragic has accepted an off-the-bench role in the regular season and served as one of the catalysts in the development of the Heat’s young players such as Kendrick Nunn, Duncan Robinson, and Tyler Herro.  The veteran guard averaged 16.2 points and 5.1 assists for the Heat while shooting 37 percent from deep this season.

A consummate pro, Dragic is viewed around the league as the embodiment of the Heat culture in the post-LeBron James and Dwyane Wade era.

Former Brooklyn Nets’ assistant general manager-turned ESPN Front Office Insider Bobby Marks has broken down Dragic’s potential value in the free-agent market.

“I think his range is 2 years $10M per with another team. 1 year at $16-18 with Miami. It’s hard to see him getting 3 years at his age. It’s also very hard seeing him going to a rebuild like in New York,” Marks told Empire Sports Media.

A three-year deal in the range of $30 to $35 million or a 2 plus 1 deal similar to Julius Randle’s contract structure could lure Dragic to ride the sunset in New York.

The Heat, on the other hand, could use their Bird rights to retain Dragic and offer a one-year bloated contract to maintain their 2021 cap space. But Dragic was non-committal last March, according to a Miami Herald report, although he maintained that he was happy at Miami.

“We’ll see,” Dragic said about signing the one-year deal. “A lot of different factors, my family, myself. I would say it’s too soon to talk about it. I’m not thinking about my next contract. I’ve always been a guy in the present.”

A lot of things have changed since then, with Dragic carving out a bigger role as the Heat went deeper in the playoffs. But it has also caused too much stress on his foot that kept him out of the NBA Finals since Game One — a factor that may keep Dragic from accepting a one-year deal.

Dragic, 34, may have played his final game with the Heat this season after tearing his plantar fascia on his left foot in the Finals opener.

According to a medical expert, Dragic could be sidelined by at least six weeks up to more than nine weeks.

“To better understand Goran’s foot injury, a brief run-through of the anatomy & function of the Plantar Fascia and its importance in a player like Goran is appropriate. The plantar fascia refers to the long thick fibrous tissue at the bottom of the foot that runs from the heel to the toes,” Dr. Ernest Eusebio, a New York City-based Performance Physical Therapist & High-Performance Consultant, told Empire Sports Media.

“It functions to absorb high tension forces, maintains the structure of the foot when weight bearing, and creates a strong, stable platform upon which propulsion occurs.”

The Filipino-American doctor continued that “a guard like Dragic who relies on powerful push-offs, cuts, and changes of pace — a tear to the plantar fascia is a devastating structural injury that dramatically changes the function of his foot, and ultimately his chances of seeing the court again this series.”

Dr. Eusebio, whose experience includes affiliations with major sporting brands & companies, athlete & personnel affiliations in the NBA, NFL, MLB, domestic, and international Olympic Sport, as well as figures in Entertainment & Media, has also noted that the injury was caused by the accumulation of stress on the foot.

“The injury itself doesn’t happen overnight — it’s a repetitive stress injury, where consistent overload to the tissue leads to degenerative changes of the fascia itself. Goran, at 34, with 12 years of NBA experience, has likely had his fair share of load to his plantar fascia,” Dr. Eusebio said.

“Combined with the intensity of this year’s NBA Playoff Basketball and the amount of minutes required from him to help the Heat reach the Finals (33.4 mins avg per playoff game, via basketball-reference.com), it’s the highest amount of game-specific load he’s had to tolerate since his 2015-16 season.”

It’s the same injury that kept Malcolm Brogdon out for a significant time during the Bucks’ playoff run last year before he was traded to the Indiana Pacers. Brogdon has since bounced back with a career year.

Dr. Eusebio, who is also an awarded clinician (American Health Council “Best in Patient Care”), is the founder of the Wolves Performance & Lifestyle Collective, an all-encompassing high-performance consultancy providing solutions in Professional Sport, Entertainment, & Fortune 500. He explained that treating Dragic’s injury will involve receiving physical therapy & medical management that includes specialized stretching, strengthening, soft tissue, and joint mobilization, and interventions like PRP (Platelet Rich Plasma) injections to help facilitate and optimize tissue healing and recovery windows. He also added that custom foot orthoses are usually instituted immediately as tolerated as well to assist with structural support, and then the athlete can return to sport-specific strengthening.

“The estimated total timeline for an elite athlete to return to play is about 9.1 weeks +/- 6 weeks pending the severity of the injury, the success of the rehabilitation, and player preparedness,” Dr. Eusebio concluded.

By Dr. Eusebio’s estimation, Dragic should be ready for next season, which could begin as early as January next year. But whether Dragic will still be in Miami or New York or anywhere else, we will find out when the free agency frenzy begins in the first week of December.

‘We have great teachers’: How the Knicks are laying the foundation of a rebuild

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New York Knicks, Tom Thibodeau

The New York Knicks are back in the gym. But it feels more like they’re back to school.

After a week of individual workouts, the Knicks have advanced to voluntary team sessions that consist of drills, team practice, and intra-squad scrimmages sprinkled with sitdown, class-style sessions in between.

Tom Thibodeau, a basketball lifer, doesn’t look like the gruff taskmaster, which every naysayer depicted him to be.  The photos on the Knicks’ social media accounts project him more of a teacher, just like how he wanted it.

During his zoom call with reporters earlier this week, Thibodeau expressed how pleased he is to have been surrounded by a “group of teachers.”

Thibodeau regaled the media with a story on how he came away left impressed with associate head coach Johnnie Bryant during his visit to Utah. He also noted his close relationship with Kentucky Wildcats coach John Calipari that led him to get to know Kenny Payne.

“For us to have the opportunity to hire both of those guys (Bryant and Payne) I think adds a lot to the staff,” Thibodeau said.

While he doesn’t have a prior working relationship with the returning Mike Woodson (Knicks coach in 2012-14), he’s heard a lot from their circle.

“I’ve known Woody for a long time,” Thibodeau said. We have a lot of mutual friends. Getting a chance to be around him on a day to day basis has been great and I love the experience that he’s bringing to our staff. Having Woody and Andy Greer, I’m very pleased. I think we have great teachers on our staff.”

This is how Thibodeau has envisioned it.

In the months leading to his appointment as the Knicks head coach, Thibodeau had a revealing interview in The Platform podcast. He talked about how critical is the coaching staff to help him build a winning culture.

For the first time in so many years, the Knicks have synergy from top to bottom.  From Leon Rose and William Wesley down to Thibodeau and his staff, they share the vision of culture setting and player development.

“The best leaders bring out the best in everyone they’re around. That’s what you want, a team of leaders. It’s like a team when you put a staff together. You have to have chemistry. You don’t want to be all the same,” Thibodeau said in the podcast.

Bryant, Payne, and Woodson fit Thibodeau’s criteria.

“Also, who they have been around. It’s different for different people like when you played in the league, you are a great player so let’s start there: have you been around with great coaches? Who is your high school coach? Who is your college coach? What pro coaches have you played for? If you are currently an assistant coach, what great coaches have you been around, and have you won at a high level? At least these things factor into it.”

Bryant is the young up-and-coming coach who has been associated with a perennial playoff team in Utah. Payne has been Calipari’s right-hand man and the acknowledged best assistant coach in college before he came aboard. Woodson has led his past teams to the playoffs and has won an NBA championship with Larry Brown in Detroit.

Thibodeau wants his staff to mirror his team — full of diversity and versatility.

“Just like in a team, you wouldn’t want all older veterans…You’re trying to get different opinions in guys who see things like maybe you want the experience of a long-time assistant, you want the experience of a guy who played in the league maybe in the last three to four years, you want to get a lot of different thoughts.”

With such a young roster and no star in the foreseeable future, the Knicks have finally figured out. The past regime was right when they started to build through the Draft.  But what they seemingly forgot is that it’s only half of the equation.  Player development was neglected.  So when they started to pivot to star-chasing, their empty chest of talent couldn’t draw the stars to come to New York.

It feels like ages ago since the Knicks were relevant, having a playoff team built around stars Carmelo Anthony and Amare Stoudemire. But it was also around that time when their long-time conference rival Miami Heat were entering the peak of the Heatles (LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh).

The Knicks were never the same again after Anthony and Stoudemire left. In contrast, the Heat are now in the last phase of their rebuild.

How have the Heat done it? By having a culture that has been as steady as a rock, and through player development.

The steadying influence of former Knicks coach-turned executive Pat Riley has empowered Erik Spoelstra to stay afloat during the rebuilding years.

It was that culture that led them to attract a proven star in Jimmy Butler.  It was that solid scouting and player development that enabled them: to have late lottery pick Bam Adebayo rise as an emerging NBA star; to have pushed last year’s 13th pick Tyler Herro to perform like a veteran and to unearth undrafted players Duncan Robinson, and Kendrick Nunn.

The Heat found luck in finding players. But certainly, their stunning development wasn’t out of pure luck.  They have adapted to the cards they’ve been dealt with, and now they are on the cusp of reaping the reward — a return trip to the NBA Finals.

The Knicks, on the other hand, are currently back to the drawing board. They have long ways to go before having a playoff team like the Heat. But if it’s any consolation, they are now laying the foundation of what looks like a real culture.

“I think that’s a big challenge in the NBA — how quickly can you adapt? — because things always change in the league, whether it’s trade, free agency, an injury,” Thibodeau said during the zoom call. “You have to adapt quickly. So for us, the focus has to be on the guys who are here. And that’s what we’re doing.

“So everyday we’re thinking about how we can improve as a team and how we can improve individually. And we want that to be our focus. We want to stack days together. We know it starts with fundamentals. We have to build that base and then we’ll take it from there.”

Going back to school is what the Knicks should have done a long time ago.  But it’s better late than never.  Just ask their two-way player Kenny Wooten, Jr.