Chad Ford from his Podcast this morning: "If the Knicks don't get the #1 pick, I think they are going to make a major major effort to get there and get LaMelo" - @chadfordinsider on Rejecting the Screen.
Posted May 21, 2020, 12:10 PM UTC
40137
I know he just started this week but have confidence in whatever Walt Perrin thinks. It’s looking like the Disney nba thing will happen and I’d imagine we’ll eventually get a proper round of pre draft workouts in person. If they feel like he’s the guy after workouts and analysis I’m for it
37
This. Although he likely wasn't looking too much at the high end of the lotto, he's probably doing it now.
9
Yea I’d be more worried if they didn’t want to finish the season but now I’d fully expect a more typical pre draft process to interview and workout players
6
Chad ford? The guy that would edit his mock drafts to make him look right after the draft? Yeah he’s got not sources
25
Definitely not a Chad.
4
Damn how insecure do you have to be to do that. Take pride in your opinions smh
2
There is no one in this draft that to me makes enough sense to go up and get. Moreover, you don’t know what the next year or two is going to look like in the world, let alone the NBA, and developing young guys may not be a very easy thing to do for the teams that are actually good at doing it, let alone us. We have a collection of young, under developed guys and potentially a lot of flexibility on the cap that other teams may not have. I would be very happy to sit back and let things come to us as opposed to making a bold move for a guy that could be a gigantic question mark, especially if that question mark is attached to a loudmouth father who would undoubtedly bring a ton of drama to a team that doesn’t need any more of it.
18
100%. This draft is 100% a crap shoot. Why should we give up assets for a guy that no one even knows how good he actually is because of the question marks. This isn't Ja or Zion over there.
9
To counter, Ball has a better combination of size/handle/vision/passing than any other guard but because it’s a weak draft at the top another team might feel like it can drop 5 spots and still get their guy. In some drafts you’d need an extra lotto pick to move up 2 spots. If we are convinced he’ll be good and can get it done with a late first it’s easily worth it
3
I couldn't agree more. Draft Lamelo.... if he is available, if not draft Haliburton or Hayes, or even think about trading down and get a couple of projects.
This is not a draft with generational players. It's not worth to trade up and sacrifice future assets.
2
I have conflicted feelings on LaMelo, he definitely has star potential but idk my gut says this isn’t a good idea. I don’t think he would coexist with RJ that well. Might be wrong, let’s see.
15
I understand these concerns, I personally think they’d have very high upside as a duo but some don’t feel that way. I say if he’s their guy, do what you can to get him. Don’t overthink it, get the talent
14
You’re absolutely right, more talent the better.
8
The thing is both are players that need the ball in their hands to do something. Both have terrible shooting percentages from mid to 3 point range. Hopefully RJ has been taking a lot of time to improve that jumper.
8
Yea, ideally I’d like to get RJ going more in transition while letting him & Lamelo run a ton of PNR with Mitchell Robinson
6
Yeah RJ can be a beast in transition with his size. I also see him as a pretty reliable is player, but we need a proper point guard to be a primary ball handler.
6
Lamelo fits that criteria
8
If you have 3pt shooting at the 4 and wing, it helps. Not everyone is going to be the Warriors.
2
Instead we have Randle
2
I’m also worried abt the lack of shooting, but I think lamelos passing will work very well with rjs off ball cutting ability, which is one of least heralded but most polished abilities. Moreover, I think lamelo is the best talent in the draft, and I’d take talent over fit any day
2
Depends on where we land, if it’s top 5 it probably won’t take the same amount of assets as if we fell to like 8-9
12
In a draft like this, it’s likely more teams would be willing to trade down a few spots
15
I mean we're in the "draft best talent available" territory, if he gets a good opinion from our revamped scouting team it's fine by me
8
Im all for it, but I don’t buy it...i still think people are just throwing shit at a wall. All these FO moves happen without a leak, but somehow there’s a leak that we would trade up for melo?
Either way, I hope the lamelo Jersey I eventually buy, is a Knicks one.
8
Remember when everybody was convinced Durant and Kyrie we're coming to the Knicks? Peppridge farm remembers
6
Good. If there's a guy we want, go and get him. Picks are not an issue for us and we can rent out the cap for more if need be.
5†
this really isn't the draft to "go get him" lol. SOmeone MIGHT excel but the reality is that this draft is full of people with deep question marks.
No one is close to even RJ Barrett's output...and we all saw how RJ was still inferior to Morant and Zion.
You "make a move" if you know someone is going to a JR Morant or Zion Williamson. But No one in this draft is even at RJ Barrett levels or certainty.
10
You make a move if you think the player you move up for can make an impact on the team. By your logic, if teams only moved up for really good or generational prospects, there'd be no mid-round trading.
7
If he's there or can be had for a reasonable price then sure, that's fine and dandy. There's a difference between making a controversial pick like Daniel Jones when you already have the pick versus trading assets for a guy like Mitch Trubisky. Especially in a draft like this where there is no clear cut guy and especially in a prospect like Ball who has very real red flags.
3
I'm not saying trade everything but we have avenues to get draft assets and we can use them to grab him.
3
U can’t make a move for a Zion tho no one would ever trade a box office sure thing, some teams might not want Lamelo for artificial reasons when in fact he’s ridiculously talented, which is the perfect type of player to trade up for
2
To be fair, game theory, arbitrage, Econ whatever would say that this would be a good time to trade up at a greatly reduced cost
If everyone is anxious to move down and you’re convinced you nailed the player eval
Go for it...
I don’t get that vibe from Lamelo at this juncture of the process
Workouts will affect guys more than ever
And give insight into what they did when left to there own auspices (searching their makeup a bit)
2
Lonzo felt like a much better prospect coming into the NBA. Everyone is in love with LaMelo’s upside but I think his floor is also much lower than his brother. I’m not sold he is the type of prospect you trade up to get.
5
[deleted]
0
I won’t begrudge our new front office if that is their evaluation. I just personally don’t see it. In 2018, the only guy I would’ve traded up for was Luka. In 2019, Zion or Ja felt like the 2 guys worth moving up for. I don’t feel like that about any of the guys in this year’s class tbh.
1
I would take Edwards over Lamelo.
4
Lonzo being drafted again? 🤔
3
I updated it. 😏
2
I don’t understand how anyone would not. I swear Anthony Edwards Looks like Michael Jordan as a freshman.
0
I don't necessarily doubt this, but I do doubt Chad Ford knows anything real about this.
3
Link to full podcast https://cms.megaphone.fm/channel/rejecting-the-screen-podcast?selected=LKN6960779922
2
Nice I’d be willing to offer a Dallas pick and a second rounder to move up.
2
Are you mad
Why tf foes anyone want to trade up in this draft
8
Oh idk maybe because there’s a 6’8 PG with sick passing skills that could be a superstar 🤷🏽
4†
Oh gtfo he has so far shown nothing that would indicate he is worth the first pick or even trading up to the first pick
Out of all the lottery players that played he had one of the worst seasons last year in all regards
If we draft him without trading up at 5 i'm happy - if we give up two prime assets to get him at 1 i'm angry
Just because of his size and highlight reel on instagram i don't want to draft him - he hasn't shown to be better than haliburton, hayes, anthony, maledon,... And all the not pg talent
How do you classify "could be a superstar"?
-2†
This is an awful take man I’m sorry
0
Had one of the worst season??? 😂😂😂 Based on what Bro he averaged 17 7 & 7 in the NBL which is better all around stats then any other prospect. Mike Smhidt of ESPN has said that Ball is the most talented guy in the draft several times. Please do some research before sounding uninformed.
-1†
Insert the NPCs that don’t want him because his dad says mean things on tv.
2†
His dad is a moron who says stupid things and shouldn't be allowed on tv, that will only be magnified by the NY market....having said that, that should not be a reason to avoid him if the FO is sold on him being the guy. You draft him and work the rest out.
11
That's superficial. The real reasons to be wary are the lack of defense, awful shooting, and motor concerns. But for whatever reason those get hand-waved away as being immaterial.
2
Lamelo has concerns outside of his dad, but if you are blind to them can't help you
1
When did I say he didn’t have issues? You can pick apart any prospect’s game.
If you’re blind to the fact that knicks fans are overly insecure about media trolling then I can’t help you.
1
"Insert the NPCs that don’t want him because his dad says mean things on tv."
This implies that he has no issues, and we just dislike him cause his dad. This does not take into account the legit red flags he has, that are often hand waived by his fans for no reason.
3
I wish I could like this twice
-2
😂😂😂
-5
I was trying to figure out how to bet on the Knicks drafting Lamelo like a week after the Leon Rose hire but couldn't easily find an online bookie taking that bet.
2
I actually trust Walter on this. I don’t trust Chad Ford though man. Like a previous poster said, he changed his mocks to what actually happened. Didn’t he get fired from that too ? Lmao. He’s just a clown then.
2
Melo has star quality. That is clear.
But his shot is such trash
I just wish he either had awful shooting percentages, or a jump shot that looked like a broken catapult. But both, just worries me.
The playmaking is great, he looks like a tall curry. But that shot really worries me. Not an excellent driver either despite the good handles.
2
I wish he was just average in shooting or defending. I would be all over him then
1
Anybody on here that's mad at a RJ/Melo backcourt is high on shrooms or something.
2
If you think LaMelo is a star caliber franchise PG, go get him.
I want Perrin's take on this. He just started. I'm not sure Ford has the inside scoop on this...
If Perrin wants us to trade up for LaMelo, depending on the package, it could be worth it. The guy knows his shit. Drafts are important and trying to be cute like the Lakers with Mitch can be a big mistake.