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We are a little more than a month away from the 2024-25 NBA season. It’s right around the corner, which means the rumor mill is starting to pick back up.
Front offices are busy at work, finalizing rosters and looking ahead to what is sure to be an eventful and transformative campaign. There are trades brewing and contracts in need of signing. Here is the latest scuttlebutt from around the association as training camp nears.
The offseason for the New York Knicks was extraordinary. Reuniting four former Villanova colleagues in the basketball Mecca, Mikal Bridges arrived via trade. All indications point to the Knicks fighting tooth and nail for a position in the Eastern Conference Finals the following spring after a promising playoffs was cut short by injuries.
If the Knicks’ summer was marred by anything, it was their frontcourt rotation. With the Oklahoma City Thunder, Isaiah Hartenstein found better (financial) pastures, leaving New York without its greatest defensive anchor and a quick attacking link. The injury-prone Mitchell Robinson is anticipated to start in his place, with Precious Achiuwa filling in as the team’s full-time backup.
New York is one injury away from serious issues at the five spot, though, and Robinson’s health status is already in question as he recovers from ankle surgery. Achiuwa isn’t much of a rim protector and New York’s other 7-footers — Jericho Sims or rookie Ariel Hukporti — are woefully unproven. The Knicks could use a bit of reinforcements in the frontcourt. ESPN’s Brian Windhorst happens to have a potential target on his radar: Portland Trail Blazers big man Robert Williams III. “I would say any team looking for a center is going to watch Robert Williams closely this year,” Windhorst said on NBA Today. “After the Blazers drafted Donovan Clingan and they’ve got DeAndre Ayton, who’s probably not very tradable on their roster, I don’t know where Robert Williams fits. I think the Knicks will be among the teams monitoring him.”
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