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Knicks

Andrew Wiggins has endured years of criticism throughout the NBA world. Fans, social-media users and media pundits like Nick Wright of "First Thing's First" have all took turns bashing Wiggins, almost in an attempt to send him into the depths of NBA obscurity for the rest of his days.
On Feb. 6, 2020, the Golden State Warriors sent D&rsquo;Angelo Russell, along with Jacob Evans III and Omari Spellman, to Minnesota in exchange for Wiggins as well as a first-round pick (Jonathan Kuminga) and second-round pick (New York's Miles McBride) in the 2021 NBA Draft.
After the move, Wright publicly aired his opinion that Golden State made a mistake trading for Wiggins.&nbsp;
&ldquo;Andrew Wiggins is a bad basketball player,&rdquo; Wright said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s owed $95 million over the next three years, starting next year. It&rsquo;s unspeakable the Warriors did this... It&rsquo;s over for them now. We will never see Steph in another NBA Finals again. Ever.&rdquo;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
"Andrew Wiggins is a bad basketball player. He's owed $95M over the next 3 years, starting next year. It's unspeakable the Warriors did this. ... It's over for them now. We will never see Steph in another NBA Finals again. Ever." &mdash; <a href="https://twitter.com/getnickwright?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@getnickwright</a><a href="https://t.co/zTv0yR33Aq">pic.twitter.com/zTv0yR33Aq</a>&lt;
&mdash; FOX Sports (@FOXSports) <a href="https://twitter.com/FOXSports/status/1225824328203276288?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 7, 2020</a></blockquote>
But it wasn't just him. Plenty of media pundits have had to eat their words and recant their statements and give apologies as Wright has had to almost daily since the NBA Finals began.
Selected as the No. 1 overall pick in 2014, much of the criticism has come from the fact that Wiggins didn&rsquo;t immediately become a superstar. They criticized his shot selection, his intensity (or lack thereof) on the court and his defense. Most of all, they criticized the fact that Wiggins didn&rsquo;t lead the Timberwolves to the promised land.&nbsp;
There were actually some who even suggested that Minnesota cut Wiggins from the team and eat the rest of his rookie contract because, in their &ldquo;expert&rdquo; opinion, the Wolves would&rsquo;ve been better off without him. The term &ldquo;bust&rdquo; began to float around, as it so often does.
Andrew Wiggins publicly admitted that, as much as he hoped to ignore it, he heard the constant criticism.
&ldquo;You hear it &mdash; on social media, when you turn on the TV and watch sports &mdash; you always see certain stuff; certain people say certain things,&rdquo; said Wiggins, noting he did his best to remain positive and tune out the noise, according to <a href="https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2864501-is-andrew-wiggins-20-for-real" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Yaron Weitzman of Bleacher Report</a>. &ldquo;It never really got to me to the point where, you know, it messed up my lifestyle, my life. I love myself more than anyone loves me.&rdquo;
Wiggins expressed that there had in fact been times when the criticism got the best of him.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;d go through a slump, and then you can&rsquo;t help but hear it,'&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;You always want to shut the people up that doubt you.&rdquo;
But those days are far behind him now, as Wiggins has proven &mdash; especially in these NBA Finals &mdash; that he is indeed one of the best two-way players currently in the NBA.
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I caught up with Golden State Warriors legend Mitch Richmond to give his assessment of the player that Andrew Wiggins has grown into.
(Mitch was a part of Golden State&rsquo;s high-scoring trio dubbed "Run TMC," which consisted of Tim Hardaway and Chris Mullin. Each member of the trio was among the top-11 best scorers of the 1990-91 NBA season. Mullin finished eighth in scoring with 25.7 points per game, Richmond 10th with 23.9 points per game, and Hardaway finished 11th with 22.9 points per game. Combined, Run TMC averaged 72.5 points per game as the league's highest-scoring trio.)
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Etan Thomas: How impressed have you been with Andrew Wiggins especially after all the criticism he received early in his career?
Mitch Richmond: "When you&rsquo;re a young player, and you&rsquo;re really a guy that&rsquo;s kind of passive instead of the expected boisterous and big personality guys people are used to seeing, you have to go to the right team and be with the right type of players. Andrew Wiggins is now in the perfect situation, surrounded with the right type of guys who can blend with his personality.
"He has two guys in front of him in Steph [Curry] and Klay [Thompson] who are aggressive on the offensive end, and he has the ability to go about his business by getting rebounds, playing defense, shooting the open shot. And he is doing that very well. When you had him as the main scorer and the main guy, that&rsquo;s where he struggled a little bit because he wasn&rsquo;t that boisterous or that eager to talk and get his guys involved and just be the vocal leader. And add Draymond Green, who has such a big personality and is allowed to shoulder that burden so Andrew Wiggins can be himself without trying to be somebody he&rsquo;s not."
Etan: You mentioned Draymond Green, and a while ago I saw in an interview where he was talking to reporters and taking up for Andrew Wiggins on the subject of his past criticisms. He was saying that a lot of times, when a player is put in a situation where the team doesn&rsquo;t flourish or get to the promised land so to speak, the player is blamed, but not so much the organization. Do you think some of that occurred with Wiggins?&nbsp;
Richmond: "Most definitely. Sometimes, you have pretty good pieces as far as players, but everyone is not on the same page and not made to be on the same page by the organization. There is so much mismanagement of talent that goes on in the NBA. A winning team is often a reflection of a well-run organization. Many teams say they want to win, but they don&rsquo;t do what is necessary for their players to actually flourish, (and) they don&rsquo;t put together a system that will be successful. They don&rsquo;t run their organization correctly.
"Golden State has done a great job of putting the right pieces together, and creating a winning culture. I&rsquo;m down there all the time, going to the games, to practices; I see how the organization operates. They&rsquo;ve done a great job of creating a winning culture, and not all teams do that."
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Etan: Very true. You know I love when players make their critics eat their words and have to backtrack things they&rsquo;ve said the way Wiggins has. I love that. And watching him in these Finals, the Warriors don&rsquo;t win without him. Yeah, Steph has been phenomenal and had the 43-point night in Game 4. I wrote an article about Steph&rsquo;s phenomenal play and <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nick-van-exel-rod-strickland-steve-francis-on-steph-currys-greatness" target="_blank" rel="noopener">interviewed Nick Van Exel, Rod Strickland and Steve Francis to all weigh in on his overall greatness</a>.
But the Warriors don&rsquo;t win this series without Andrew Wiggins. The monster rebounds he had in Boston in Game 4 (from the guard spot), and especially Game 5 when Steph was off. Wiggins stepped right up. They don&rsquo;t win without him. So to see how far he has come from the constant barrage of criticism to now, the fact that you can make a case for him being the Finals MVP is really amazing to see.
Richmond: "Yeah, he has been steady and crucial the entire series. Everyone had judgement early, even me, but now he is in the right situation for him, and people really discount how much the right situation can dictate the success of a player in the NBA. Wiggins has been the backbone of the team. That&rsquo;s a fact. All of the attention isn&rsquo;t on him. You mentioned Steph being off in Game 5, but really, the entire Boston defense was geared toward him, and they did a great job of making sure he didn&rsquo;t explode for 43 or possibly 50 the very next game.
"So other players like Wiggins had the opportunity to be freed up, and he took advantage of that opportunity. But even without that, like I said, he has been stellar all season. Let's be clear: Steph Curry is the MVP. But yes, there can definitely be a very strong case to be made that Wiggins could be the Finals MVP, at least up until this point."
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"I'm just trying to do every little thing to win." &mdash;Andrew Wiggins after his career performance in Game 5 <a href="https://t.co/kOf7ShN3Jp">pic.twitter.com/kOf7ShN3Jp</a>
&mdash; ESPN (@espn) <a href="https://twitter.com/espn/status/1536555093352251392?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 14, 2022</a></blockquote>

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Etan: Let me ask you if you remember this. I&rsquo;mma take you back a little bit. I had first gotten traded to the Washington Wizards my rookie year in 2000 from Dallas, when half the team was traded for Juwan Howard, but I got there late because I had the surgery. And when I got there, it was during one of the last games and you were in the training room in the whirlpool.
You said to me: Young fella I&rsquo;ve watched you play at Syracuse, love how you play, you&rsquo;re gonna have a great career in the league, but let me offer you a piece of advice. Block out all the noise. Whether it&rsquo;s from the media, fans, your friends, family, other players, from wherever &mdash; just block it all out, stay focused, have tunnel vision and you&rsquo;ll be fine. You probably don&rsquo;t remember that, but that was some of the best advice I ever got in the league.&nbsp;
Richmond: "I do remember that, we were with the Wizards and the outside noise was tremendous. One thing I learned a long time ago in this sport: You have to have tunnel vision. You have to play the game with headphones on where nobody is entering or affecting your mental space. You wanna be clear and focused. It&rsquo;s easy to get distracted if you don&rsquo;t take on that type of mentality. When you came to the Wizards, we were losing, getting booed, the fans were tough. It makes me feel good that you remembered that because that was a long time ago (laughing). We gotta be going back 20-something years ago."
Etan: (Laughing) Yeah, we&rsquo;re getting up there. But it was such great advice, and going back to Andrew Wiggins, that&rsquo;s what he had to do &mdash; block out all the noise. I read an old article where he was talking about how it did in fact bother him hearing the criticism, but how couldn&rsquo;t it? I mean, Nick Wright literally called him a horrible player and said the Warriors wouldn&rsquo;t win because they traded for him.
(I hate that the media has become this hot takes, shock-jock show. And when one person like Nick Wright says something like that, other media jump on board like what he said was the Gospel. Then, you have social media who also runs with it.)
But Wiggins' success now is a great example of what you told me, how you have to block out the noise and stay focused, and you will be able to prove people wrong. That&rsquo;s why I reached out to you for this interview because Andrew Wiggins did exactly what you told me two decades ago.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Coming off 26 PTS and 13 REB in Game 5, run through Andrew Wiggins' best plays on both ends from the <a href="https://twitter.com/warriors?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@warriors</a> postseason run thus far! <a href="https://t.co/RUHyEaGH1z">pic.twitter.com/RUHyEaGH1z</a>
&mdash; NBA (@NBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1536861043317669888?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 15, 2022</a></blockquote>

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Richmond: "Yeah, and in this day and age, it&rsquo;s even more difficult than when we played because of the advent of social media, and everyone has an opinion that they have the power to express through Twitter or Instagram or whatnot. And there are a million Nick Wrights, like you said, because that type of commentating is popular, and it wasn&rsquo;t like that when we were playing. You have 25 shows every morning after a game who are all doing the same thing on every channel.
"The perfect example of blocking out all the noise is Kawhi Leonard. He blocks out everything. He doesn&rsquo;t listen or look at any of that stuff. A lot of young players who came up in this social-media-buzz era, this is all they know. A million people telling you that you suck after you have a bad game. That&rsquo;s not how we came up.
Etan: Not at all. I&rsquo;m glad they didn&rsquo;t have social media back in the day when we played.
Richmond: "Oh, me too. But I always tell young players, while this is the norm in your era, it&rsquo;s not the best for everyone. Some of y&rsquo;all need to turn all that off and hire someone to manage your social media &mdash; because I understand marketing-wise the positives of it, but you don&rsquo;t look at it at all. And don&rsquo;t listen to the talking heads either. Just keep that tunnel vision like a horse with blinders on, and keep pushing."
Etan: I agree 100%. So, last question. How proud are you of the Warriors and what they have accomplished this year?
Richmond: "You gotta tip your hat to them. They have been so exciting to watch since Klay and Curry touched down in Oakland. In our day and age, we always heard, 'You live by the three, you die by the three.' And we never would&rsquo;ve thought that a team that shot this many threes would have chance to win a championship."
Etan: Thus, the reason Charles Barkley hates the Warriors so much. (Laughing)
Richmond: (Laughing) "And he&rsquo;s never going to let that go either, but it&rsquo;s here. They are winning by the three. They&rsquo;ve dispelled that notion. But when you have the best shooters in the game &mdash; and that&rsquo;s what they do best is shoot threes &mdash; they&rsquo;ve created new basketball reality, whether anyone likes it or not. But I&rsquo;m extremely proud of them. I know the Bay Area is proud of them.
"We had some great fans, even back when we played there, and me and Tim and Chris were Run TMC &mdash; the Oakland fans were always wonderful. Even when the team is struggling, they are there supporting the team with all the positive energy they can possibly give. So it&rsquo;s great to see the fans be rewarded as well. You have to take your hat off to the whole Bay Area, you have to take your hat of to the organization and to the team. They have showed you how you properly run an organization, support the players, allow them to be individuals &mdash; not what you want them to be, but who they are and support them in what they do best, bringing it back to Wiggins, and that&rsquo;s why they are having the success they are having."
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Etan Thomas chats with Mitch Ritchmond about Andrew Wiggins breaking out with the Warriors and his impact on the NBA Finals.

Mitch Richmond: Andrew Wiggins proved all of his doubters wrong

Previously, <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/new-york-knicks-202021-report-card-guards-and-wings-" target="_blank" rel="noopener">I handed out grades for the New York Knicks' guards and wings</a> based on their performance this past season. In this final installment of the Knicks' 2020-21 report card, let's focus on the forwards and centers.
Julius Randle
Although his struggles against the Atlanta Hawks in the first round may have left a sour taste, it's important to remember that the Knicks would not have earned the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference and secured home-court advantage in the postseason if it wasn't for Randle's awe-inspiring play during the regular season.
Randle, named the NBA's Most Improved Player for the 2020-21 season, averaged 24.1 points, 10.2 rebounds and 6.0 assists per game, ranking in the top-20 in all three categories. He also led the NBA in minutes. (The only other players to average at least 24 points, 10 rebounds and 6.0 assists over an entire season are Wilt Chamberlain, Nikola Jokić, Oscar Robertson, Larry Bird and Russell Westbrook.)
Randle also averaged 2.3 made three-pointers and 0.9 steals while shooting 45.6% from the floor, 41.1% from downtown and 81.1% from the free-throw line. He became just the second player in NBA history to average at least 20/10/6 as well as two made treys per game, joining Westbrook, who matched those numbers during his 2016-17 MVP campaign.&nbsp;
<a href="https://stathead.com/basketball/pgl_finder.cgi" target="_blank" rel="noopener">According to Basketball-Reference</a>, Randle is also just the second player ever to average more than 10 rebounds and five assists while shooting over 40% from three-point territory and over 80% from the charity stripe. The only other player in this exclusive club is Bird, who posted those numbers in 1984-85 on his way to winning the MVP.&nbsp;
Earlier this week, Randle was named to the All-NBA Second Team, alongside Chris Paul, Damian Lillard, Joel Embiid and LeBron James.
Grade: A
Nerlens Noel
New York's performance on the defensive end was a critical factor in their success this past season. (The 2020-21 Knicks became just the second team in NBA history to lead the league in opponents&rsquo; points per game, opponents&rsquo; field-goal percentage and opponents&rsquo; three-point percentage.) And Noel was a crucial contributor to the team's surprisingly stout defense.&nbsp;
New York signed Noel to a one-year, $5 million deal last summer, and it turned out to be one of the team's best-value contracts. With Mitchell Robinson sidelined by a pair of significant injuries and available for only four of the team's final 44 games, Noel was asked to shoulder more responsibility than he or the team anticipated heading into the season. However, he significantly exceeded expectations.
Noel was the only player in the league to average more than two swats and one swipe this season, finishing the campaign with per-game averages of 2.2 blocks and 1.1 steals. Over the past decade, the only other players to average at least two blocks and a steal over a full season were Anthony Davis, Dwight Howard and Joakim Noah. Noel is the first player in NBA history to post those averages while logging fewer than 25 minutes a night. Considering his contributions to one of the best defensive teams in the NBA, it was surprising that he received only one vote for the All-Defensive Second Team.
Noel also grabbed 6.4 rebounds per game and shot over 61% of the floor. The Knicks could not have asked for much more.&nbsp;
Grade: B
Obi Toppin
It was assumed that one of the reasons the Knicks selected Toppin with the eighth overall pick in the 2020 draft was because of his NBA-ready game.&nbsp;
Toppin was named the NCAA National Player of the Year in 2020 due to his dominant play at Dayton, where he averaged 20.0 points per game to go along with 7.5 rebounds and 2.2 assists. He shot a scorching 63.3% percent from the field and 39% from behind the arc. Per Basketball-Reference, he was just the sixth underclassman in the last 25 years to average at least 20 points and shoot over 60% from the floor.
Considering he was already 22 years old on draft day, Knicks fans expected Toppin to make an immediate impact. However, the youngster got off to a disappointingly slow start. After shooting 3-for-12 in the season opener, Toppin suffered a right calf injury that sidelined him for the team's next 10 games. After returning to the lineup, he showed flashes of his impressive combination of size and athleticism but never fully found his rhythm. He scored in double-figures just three times over the entire regular season, never topping 12 points.&nbsp;
Yet, it's worth noting that Randle's breakout season undoubtedly impacted how the Knicks deployed Toppin. The rookie logged 24 minutes in the first game of the season, but by the time he returned from his injury, Randle was proving himself indispensable, and coach Tom Thibodeau wanted his All-Star on the floor as often as possible (hence, Randle leading the league in minutes). Thus, Toppin usually only played the first six minutes of the second and fourth quarters, making it challenging for him to contribute consistently.&nbsp;
Toppin finished the season averaging just 4.1 points and 2.2 rebounds, shooting below 50% from the floor and 31% from downtown.&nbsp;
However, Toppin encouragingly closed the season on a high note, providing the Knicks with a much-needed spark in their first-round matchup with the Hawks. He was aggressive throughout the series, scoring eight points in Game 2 and then poured in a season-high 13 points in 18 minutes in Game 4, becoming just the fourth Knick rookie to score more than 12 points in a playoff game over the last 35 years. Game 4 was the first time all year Toppin attempted at least four free throws and multiple three-pointers in the same contest. We'll see if he can build on that momentum heading into 2021-22.&nbsp;
Grade: C-
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Taj Gibson
After New York waived Gibson last offseason to clear cap space, they invited him to training camp but decided to keep Omari Spellman on the regular-season roster. However, by early January, Gibson was re-signed and reunited with Thibs. Taj saw only sporadic minutes early on, but became an important rotation player over the second half of the season.&nbsp;
By the time the playoffs arrived, the veteran was shockingly one of the Knicks' most consistent and reliable contributors. Thibodeau inserted Gibson into the starting lineup in Game 3 vs. Atlanta, and he ended up averaging nearly 28 minutes per game in the postseason.&nbsp;
At 36 years of age, Gibson has proven he can still hold his own, especially on the defensive end, due to his high-basketball IQ and veteran savvy. Fully expect New York to bring back Gibson next season, as he is also one of the team's leaders in the locker room.&nbsp;&nbsp;
Grade: B-
<img src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/usatsi_16065595_lg.jpg" alt="" width="746" height="579" /> Mitchell Robinson
Drafted with the 36th overall pick in the 2018 draft, Robinson emerged as an absolute steal for the Knicks. During his first pro season, he led all rookies in blocks (2.4) and field goal percentage (69.4%) to go along with 7.3 points and 6.4 rebounds in just 20.6 minutes. His 2.4 blocks per game ranked second in the NBA and was the highest average by a rookie since Shaquille O'Neal in the 1992-93 season.
Robinson also led all rookies in PER and Win Shares, besting Deandre Ayton, Luka Doncic and Trae Young, who finished second, third and fifth, respectively. Robinson also ranked first in VORP and Box Plus/Minus, just ahead of Doncic in both categories.
As a sophomore in 2019-20, Robinson made 74.2% of all field goals he attempted, setting the all-time NBA record for the highest single-season field goal percentage ever, passing Wilt Chamberlain. Over his first two years in the league, Robinson had more blocks (280) than missed field goal attempts (177) and turnovers (72) combined.&nbsp;
Thus, Knicks fans had high hopes that he'd establish himself as a star in 2020-21. They would end up bitterly disappointed.
In February, Robinson underwent surgery after breaking his right hand. After returning to action in late March, he lasted just four games before fracturing the fifth metatarsal in his right foot and would remain sidelined the rest of the season.&nbsp;
Yet, not only did Robinson's durability issues cause consternation, but his regression on the court was also distressing.&nbsp;
Despite logging a career-high 27.5 minutes in his 31 appearances, his production dipped. Robinson averaged 14 points, 11.1 rebounds and 3.6 blocks per-36 minutes over his first two NBA seasons. (Only <a href="https://stathead.com/basketball/psl_finder.cgi?request=1&amp;match=combined&amp;order_by_asc=0&amp;order_by=ws&amp;type=totals&amp;per_minute_base=36&amp;per_poss_base=100&amp;is_playoffs=N&amp;ccomp%5B1%5D=gt&amp;cval%5B1%5D=13.9&amp;cstat%5B1%5D=pts_per_mp&amp;ccomp%5B2%5D=gt&amp;cval%5B2%5D=3&amp;cstat%5B2%5D=blk_per_mp&amp;ccomp%5B3%5D=gt&amp;cval%5B3%5D=11&amp;cstat%5B3%5D=trb_per_mp&amp;lg_id=NBA&amp;birth_country_is=Y&amp;age_min=0&amp;age_max=99&amp;height_min=0&amp;height_max=99&amp;season_start=1&amp;season_end=2&amp;as_comp=gt&amp;as_val=0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">three other players</a> posted 14/11/3 per-36-minute averages over their first two seasons: David Robinson, ‪Dikembe Mutombo, ‪and ‪Hakeem Olajuwon.)
Yet, Robinson's numbers dropped to 10.8 points, 10.6 rebounds and just 1.9 blocks per-36 in 2020-21. And after vowing to expand his range, Robinson has shown no signs of a mid-range jumper, let alone a three-point stroke. Worse yet, after shooting 60% from the charity stripe as a rookie, he converted an embarrassingly low 49% of his free throws this past season.
New York has a team option to retain Robinson next season at just $1.8 million. Yet, if they exercise that option instead of signing him to a long-term extension this summer, Robinson would become an unrestricted free agent in 2022. It will be fascinating to see how negotiations are handled by both parties this summer.&nbsp;
Grade: D+
Kevin Knox
Like Robinson, Knox's Knicks career got off to a great start. In December of his debut season, Knox was named NBA Rookie of the Month after averaging 17.1 points, 6.0 rebounds and 2.4 made three-pointers in 34.9 minutes a night. On Dec. 9, he joined LeBron James as the second-youngest player in NBA history to record at least 25 points and 15 rebounds in a game.&nbsp;
He finished the season averaging 12.8 points and 4.5 boards, but shot just 37% from the floor. As a sophomore, he was somehow even more inefficient. His scoring average dropped to 6.4 points per game, as he shot below 36% from the field, 33% from downtown and 65% from the free-throw line.&nbsp;
After starting 57 games as a rookie, Knox found himself out of the rotation for much of the 2020-21 campaign. Over the final three months of the season, Knox appeared in just 22 of the team's last 52 contests and averaged fewer than five minutes (mostly checking in during garbage time). Thus, it's probably unfair to give him a failing grade, considering he didn't have a chance to prove himself.&nbsp;
For fans looking for a sliver of optimism, Knox is still just 21 years old and shot a career-high 39.3% from behind the arc (35-for-89) and 80% from the charity stripe this past season. He also was effective camped out in the corner, converting 60.9% of his corner three-point attempts over the first month of the season while he was a regular part of the rotation.
Knox has only one more year of guaranteed money left on his rookie contract, so 2021-22 could be a make-or-break season, despite the fact he'll be just 22 years of age.&nbsp;
Grade: Incomplete
---
Although the 2020-21 season ended on a sour note for the Knicks, there were some positives, and contributions from their frontcourt were among them.
The NBA&rsquo;s Coach of the Year will now hope that his club takes another step forward in 2021-22.

Julius Randle admirably led the Knicks last season, and they got contributions from the other members of their frontcourt, as well.

New York Knicks 2020-21 Report Card: Forwards and Centers

Ethan Fuller breaks down the state of each NBA franchise and ranks the most frustrating teams ahead of the 2020-21 NBA season.

NBA 'Sour' Rankings: Preseason Prelude

Minnesota is trading Omari Spellman and Jacob Evans and a future second-round pick to New York for F Ed Davis, sources tell ESPN.
Source: <a href="https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/1330661781283483651?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN</a>
ANALYSIS: Spellman had most of his opportunity last season with the Golden State Warriors before he was moved to the Minnesota, where he didn't make a single appearance. Similarly, Evans only suited up for two games for the Wolves. Both players could have a chance to make their case for a rotational spot in Tom Thibodeau's rotation in New York.
Davis has been dealt twice this offseason already, but if he sticks around in Minnesota, he'll make for a solid backup big that grabs rebounds and scores in the paint for Ryan Saunders and company.

New York adds two young players to its roster, and Minnesota brings in a veteran big man.