The Knicks took two experienced, veteran college guards in the second round of the NBA Draft Thursday, and talk about your all-time premonition moments: literally minutes before the Knicks traded up for Tyler Kolek, Evan had an interesting hypothetical for Knicks superfan Tommy Lugauer.
“Would you rather let Deuce McBride go, potentially to Brooklyn (in the Mikal Bridges deal), and allow yourself to keep Isaiah Hartenstein, or are you like, ‘I gotta keep Deuce, I’ll find a cheap big somewhere else, sorry I-Hart?’” Evan asked. “It’s not as simplistic as that, but for the sake of this conversation, let's make it that simplistic.”
Well, first, Tiki weighed in:
“To me, it feels like you need three-point shooting, and I-Hart doesn't give you that necessarily – but the rapport he developed with Jalen Brunson, and their ability to play those games at the top of the key, it was amazing, right?” Tiki said. “His mid-range runner or the little bunny shot he perfected as the season went on, you're gonna miss that, and if you don't replace him with another big and just depend on these young guys or Mitch (Robinson), it could get dicey, especially defensively. So honestly, I'd say yes, you gotta send Deuce.”
Loogy’s definitely non-emotional response?
“Well first of all Evan, you said the Nets have to help out the Knicks and we know the Nets are now in the business of actually doing that and helping us win a championship, so I'm sure the nets will oblige to whatever the Knicks want in this spot,” he said, “so it’s tricky, but I have bad news unfortunately for my fellow Knicks fans: it appears we have a surplus in dudes and dogs, and we have to get rid of one of them. It’s tough, like picking your children here, but I lean Deuce in the spot because I feel like with Mitch and Precious (Achiuwa) and (Jericho) Sims, they have a little bit more depth in the front court. I love both, but we have a surplus in dudes and dogs, and when the music stops, I know I-Hart wants to stay here. They’re going to have to get rid of somebody, and I think ultimately that’ll be Deuce.”
So they’re in agreement, but when Evan taunted the guys about him being a Net who haunts the Knicks, well, don’t go there just yet.
“Don’t inflate what Deuce was though: he was great in spot up spots when he was off the ball, but when he had to try to create with that second unit, he struggled,” Tiki said.
“Here’s the other part of this, and I promise you this is not a cop out: we’ve seen this, that everybody that the Knicks have brought in, they've developed and become better, so they could find another Deuce McBride,” Tommy said. “I'm not suggesting Shake Milton or someone like that, but…”
That’s when Shaun announced the Kolek pick, which made Evan immediately say ‘there’s your Deuce replacement.’
“So Deuce is gone, based on that selection?” Evan said. “Now, there are two ways this can go, because I'm also deeply confused, so I can only speak for my opinion: if I'm the Nets, I would take Deuce McBride back, but I’ve also read that the Knicks could flip him to another team to start recouping the picks they traded to Brooklyn. But to me, I would want Deuce McBride, and if you’re the Knicks, all jokes aside, you have a trust in this front office and coaching staff that you can draft someone like Kolek at 34 and develop him. So when you have that kind of confidence and you can use a Deuce McBride trade from a salary perspective to give yourself more room to re-sign a guy like I-Hart, then to me, you’ve got to make that.”