If you had to pick one of them to play in this era?

I'm talking about prime, young Ewing before the injuries.

Question inspired by an actual argument over plates of chicken and rice watching this playoff game*


*also it's fucking wild to watch sports with a room full of friends again. Maybe not weird to people outside NYC or whatever, but damn, missed this ngl.

Ewing was a generational talent. But how valuable would he be as is in this era? That said - his game would be different today because he was just that skilled. Given that, and the fact that Randle is a tremendous player but is really just a few time all star in today’s game and Ewing was an MVP candidate in his, I go him

The game isn’t the same. Doesn’t mean he’d be the same player. But if he was? It’s less impactful than it used to be.

Yes


Not talking about if Ewing grew up in this era and spent all his teen years launching 3's and working on his handle.

Talking about a 26 year old Ewing falls into a time-space portal and appears in present day.

This is so egregious


>If you had to pick one of them to play in this era?
>
>I'm talking about prime, young Ewing before the injuries.
>
>Question inspired by an actual argument over plates of chicken
>and rice watching this playoff game*
>
>
>*also it's fucking wild to watch sports with a room full of
>friends again. Maybe not weird to people outside NYC or
>whatever, but damn, missed this ngl.
>
>
>

*skatin' the rings of saturn*


..and miles to go before i sleep...

.

*skatin' the rings of saturn*


..and miles to go before i sleep...

*skatin' the rings of saturn*


..and miles to go before i sleep...

..you can't be serious.



*skatin' the rings of saturn*


..and miles to go before i sleep...

For the record, I think I would pick Patrick!


But I think there is a legitimate debate to be had about what the value of old-school centers would be in the league today.

A guy like Olajuwon or David Robinson, sure


What about Robert Parish, Rik Smits, Alonzo Mourning? I like to think they would still be dominant players but maybe that's because I'm failing to recognize how much the game has changed.


Who would you rather start a team with; Trae Young or Rik Smits?

Are you in a pickle, mate?

Trae Young compare to Rik Smits? Those are two different positions, two different
body types, and two different playing styles.

Julius Randle and Bernard King would be a more reasonable debate,
and Bernard King would still win.

Trae and maybe Afernee Hardaway or Chris Mullins ....or Baron Davis...some shit like that.


Mate, lay of the meat pies and black tans, as the British would say.

Once upon a time, you would pick Smits no question.

He was 2nd pick (if I remember correctly) in his draft

Now…how early does Rik Smits get drafted?

Well, if Smits existed in this era, he would have the same skillset
as players of this era. And I imagine Young would be similar to that
of AI if he existed during the 90s.

That’s how it would work.

>Well, if Smits existed in this era, he would have the same
>skillset
>as players of this era.

No, I am talking about Rik Smits just appears here now with his same skillset, size and knowledge of the game.

Obviously, unrealistic, but that is baked into the premise.

If Rik Smits grew up now, yes he would have a very different game, so that's a whole different conversation

And I imagine Young would be similar
>to that
>of AI if he existed during the 90s.
>
>That’s how it would work.
>
>
>

He didn’t shoot 3s, just an inside/mid range man. He would probably be a late
first/ second rounder in today’s NBA....

And Young would be a specialist in the 80s and 90s
and so would Steph.

So we agree at least in this small way, Rik Smits would be picked much, much later than he was.

And if You'd was drafted then he would be a mid-to-late first rounder, perhaps later if some tall bums were still on the board

the NBA hasn't stopped picking 7 foot centers at the top of the draft.


>So we agree at least in this small way, Rik Smits would be
>picked much, much later than he was.

maybe, maybe not - depends on the draft class really.


>And if You'd was drafted then he would be a mid-to-late first
>rounder, perhaps later if some tall bums were still on the
>board

Udoka Azubuike was a late first rounder last year. You really think Smits would've gone after him, maybe even into the 2nd round?

Juls has been amazing, but he is at the start of his journey.

with the deep, hearty laugh I just had reading this post.

That was meant to be a joke, correct?

**edit**

This silly post reminds me of when a co-worker was listening to Screaming A's radio show after Amare Stoudamire first season on the Knicks. Trolling ass Screaming A actually said Stoudamire was a better big man for the Knicks than Patrick Ewing. That was the moment I learned not to take anything this dude says seriously since he obviously will say anything for attention.

>Question inspired by an actual argument over plates of chicken
>and rice watching this playoff game*

>
>I'm talking about prime, young Ewing before the injuries.
>

I know what you meant. Young and prime Ewing was athletic enough to still be a star in this current style of play, IMO.

Older, stiff kneed, 15 foot jumper Ewing(who was still 22 and 10 back then)? That’s a different story.

Yes…but those stiff knees are also what led Ewing to develop a better jumper.

Not that he was brick city before, but he became a deadly midrange shooter.

Young Ewing doesn't have that in the arsenal.

Young Ewing would be a force on both ends.

it just became his only real go-to offensive weapon once his knees were shot. but young Pat already had that shot in his arsenal.

So now that this is posted Randle is just complete garbage…


you guys are right, delete this

Ol' jinxing-ass, Eddie Mush mugfugger!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

in that he won't get a maximum max contract because the Knicks aren't Randle's original team just like the Pelican's aren't Ingram's original team, correct?

If that is the case, Randle getting a max contract won't hurt too badly since even if he fizzles out, he should be tradable.

Ultimately, it'll be up to what long term vision Leon Rose has for the team overall.

If I'm not mistaken, Leon Rose tried to cater this current Knicks team to what Randle thought were problems he initially had two seasons ago, so I suppose that could point to Leon Rose being a believe in Randle long term. Randle making improvements this season certainly will help in the Knicks giving him a long term contract.


I would hope getting an above average point guard would be a more pressing matter than Randle getting a long term contract because as much as he's improved as a ball handler, it was frustrating watching Randle have to orchestrate the offense in the half court. Having a capable starting point guard than can penetrate and find open players will make Randle's game flourish that much more.

Or they could agree to 4 yr 105m extension now. Knicks are in a good position that they would 100% sign randle to that extension now or if randle wants tohold out for big money, knicks can sit back and watch how he performs next year.

Randle season was so impressive, its quite possible he doesn't repeat it....he made so many jumps.

Because (a) if he gets hurt next year, he's already got the money locked in, and (b) the extra money can be used to get a star guard to New York around him and Barrett. Gambling on yourself is fine, but after easily your best season to date? A little regression is a very reasonable potential outcome. Leverage yourself into the secure big money deal today, imo.

I'm more interested to see what happens with Derrick Rose.

>Because (a) if he gets hurt next year, he's already got the
>money locked in, and (b) the extra money can be used to get a
>star guard to New York around him and Barrett. Gambling on
>yourself is fine, but after easily your best season to date? A
>little regression is a very reasonable potential outcome.
>Leverage yourself into the secure big money deal today, imo.


Given that he's not even making 20 million per on his current contract, he'd be hurting his pockets to sign the four year extension now. As much as I'd want to keep him on the cheap to help the Knicks remain flexible to sign other players, I wouldn't get mad at him at all for wanting to get the bag. This opportunity is probably his best chance to get a big contract and locking in a four year contract averaging under 30 million in this day and age wouldn't help in that regard.

I'd have to imagine Leon Rose's plans with Randle will heavily depend on who else they chose to surround him with since Randle's deal should be focused on long term goals for the Knicks.

It’s not in the Knicks’ best interest, but it’s probably in his. That’s why the Knicks should have a long list of players who were hurt badly in the final year of their deal ready, lol.

but I don't think the Knicks at the moment are in any position to make any long term contract extensions for anything over $30 million per year. The offense needs major work in terms of getting a starting facilitator to help whoever will be the primary and secondary scorers for the team.

Signing a large four or five year deal without figuring that aspect of the team out first is a gamble at best and will languish the team with an untradable contract at worst. Leon Rose and company definitely have their work cutout for them this year.

Hindsight is 20/20 and all, and I'm sure he's a nice enough kid, but it's looking like drafting Obie Toppin was a terrible move since getting a serviceable starting point guard will prove to be a challenge this offseason. Would have been nice to have used that pick on young distributing point guard. Looks like that's a mistake the team will have to correct for going forward.

... and to be fair to the Knicks, most mocks have Toppin going 4 or 5, so I imagine they were pretty delighted to have him slip all the way to 8.

Now, I had Haliburton above Toppin on my board-- I thought the Hawks should've taken him at 6, tbh, though I had Okongwu in my Top 4, so I can't blame them either-- but hindsight is 20/20 and it's a one-year sample size. That said... yeah, considering the Knicks' pretty drastic PG need, it'd definitely be nice for them to have Haliburton instead of Toppin in the next 1-2 years.

Quite interesting. Quite quite interesting.

Hopefully him hooking the Knicks up will prove wise and prudent.

...Pat and Hakeem would be even better ...far better than Randle

And Randle is 8 years in the league.

cmon. Been on these boards for 20 years, this post is up there. Good grief.

https://board.okayplayer.com/okp.php?az=show_topic&forum=8&topic_id=2239836&mesg_id=2239836&listing_type=search

If you put it in a vacuum - Patrick’s offensive game doesn’t exist in the NBA anymore for a starting center. Even Olajuwons hasn’t aged well, but he was always more versatile and I’d trust him to stretch and rim run way more. He can also guard 4-5 positions.

>If you put it in a vacuum - Patrick’s offensive game
>doesn’t exist in the NBA anymore for a starting center. Even
>Olajuwons hasn’t aged well, but he was always more versatile
>and I’d trust him to stretch and rim run way more. He can
>also guard 4-5 positions.

I don't know if I agree with that, Ewing was the better offensive player earlier in their careers, Hakeem didn't develop his offensive game until later. And people used the criticize Ewing for shooting to much away from the basket but that's what centers are praised for now. Hakeem was always the better defender at the pro level but I don't know about him guarding 4 or 5 positions either.

>>If you put it in a vacuum - Patrick’s offensive game
>>doesn’t exist in the NBA anymore for a starting center.
>Even
>>Olajuwons hasn’t aged well, but he was always more
>versatile
>>and I’d trust him to stretch and rim run way more. He can
>>also guard 4-5 positions.
>
>I don't know if I agree with that, Ewing was the better
>offensive player earlier in their careers, Hakeem didn't
>develop his offensive game until later. And people used the
>criticize Ewing for shooting to much away from the basket but
>that's what centers are praised for now. Hakeem was always the
>better defender at the pro level but I don't know about him
>guarding 4 or 5 positions either.


I think both changed drastically throughout their careers so I sometimes do conflate the best of all worlds.

This “how you like me now” Olajuwon

https://youtu.be/olVaIZjfTx0

Could definitely guard 4-5 positions but when he was an mvp and champ, he wasn’t this mobile and athletic. This version of Akeem would’ve been reduced to a pick and roll rim runner in today’s NBA