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The Knicks' 2016 Summer League squad was certain to underwhelm following the trade of Jerian Grant. The team acquired no players through the draft, and Kristaps Porzingis was likely to sit out after such an intense rookie season, so there aren't many (any) prospects to look forward to.
That being said, the front office did a good job of assembling a motley, Bad New Bears-esque crew to head to Orlando:
Knicks' entry at the 2016 Orlando Pro Summer League pic.twitter.com/6hkpegzY4m
— NY_KnicksPR (@NY_KnicksPR) June 27, 2016
Some thoughts:
- No Willy Hernangomez. Not sure what that means exactly. His Real Madrid club was still playing as recently as last week, though he rarely made it off the bench. Perhaps he is training for the Olympics? Perhaps he will show up unannounced before tip-off? That Willy is a mysterious dude.
- Welcome back, Cleanthony Early. He has a $1.1 million cap hold the team would probably rather spend elsewhere, so it'll be interesting to watch him in Orlando.
- WE HAVE A PLUMLEE! This is very good news for Jeff Hornacek, historically-speaking:
Jeff Hornacek is 77-59 as a head coach w/ a Plumlee on his roster & 24-53 w/o a Plumlee on a his roster. Savvy move https://t.co/IlGXdDIgSf
— Scott Howard (@ScottHoward42) June 24, 2016
- Oh, by the way, Jeff Hornacek is coaching this team. This provides him a nice opportunity to try out some new schemes. Hopefully we see some good stuff.
- J.P. Tokoto is athletic as hell and couldn't shoot the ball into the ocean. That should be interesting!
- Will Souleyman Diabate start at point guard? We can only hope!
- The most promising prospect on this list might be shooting guard Ron Baker. We'll have a scouting report on him shortly.
- ... no, he's not that Devin Booker.
The SummerKnicks will kick off Summer League action on July 2, so there's plenty of time to order a "Diabate" shirsey.