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The Knicks introduced Joakim Noah, Courtney Lee, and Brandon Jennings

And officially signed Hernangomez and Plumlee.

By Seth
via @nyknicks

Phil Jackson, Steve Mills, and Jeff Hornacek introduced Joakim Noah, Courtney Lee, and Brandon Jennings today. I'll post video when it's up, but here are some notes for now:

- Jackson and Mills made it clear that Lance Thomas expressed from the outset that he wanted to return to the Knicks, and Phil mentioned that he'd been eyeing Joakim Noah for a while.

- Phil referred to Guillermo Hernangomez as "Willy Billy." As far as I can tell, everyone spells it "Willy," but because he is of partial German descent, it's pronounced closer to "Villy," which in Spanish is pretty close to "Billy." I uhhhh don't know quite what to do with that.

- After a summer full of Kyle O'Quinn rumors, Phil made it clear that the Knicks will rely on O'Quinn to be a "veteran" presence off the bench, and kinda spoke of his heft as an asset.

- Phil mentioned the Derrick Rose trade precipitating from a conversation he had with Carmelo Anthony about needing a point guard and wanting to make the playoffs soon, then Steve Mills chimed in to offer that's not all a "win-now" sentiment -- that having good players and a winning environment around Kristaps Porzingis is also important for his development and the future.

- When Chris Herring pressed Phil about the "variance" inherent in a group of additions who have some recent injury history, Phil acknowledged the risk, but pointed out that both Rose and Noah had suffered acute upper body injuries in the last season, not chronic lower-body ones. He insisted the Knicks were optimistic enough about the potential reward to make the risk worthwhile, emphasizing that none of these guys are old.

- Phil can't pronounce Mindaugas Kuzminskas. They're gonna call him "Kuzia," which is his nickname, although Phil definitely said "Mindy" a couple times.

- Steve Mills suggested that if Kevin Durant had been looking for a 1 + 1 deal, the Knicks would have gotten a meeting, but because he was looking to sign long-term with an insta-contender, the Knicks knew they were out of it.

- Phil insisted that Stefan Bondy ask a question because apparently Daily News reporters had given him shit before for not taking they're questions. Bondy didn't have one ready.

- Brandon Jennings sounds excited to be backing up Derrick Rose, and said he wants to win Sixth Man of the Year.

- Joakim: "I'm ready to be an ANIMAL for this city."

- Joakim on Phil's story about him offering to do a pull-up on the president's arm: "I was just trying to cut some side deals, you know?" I think he realized mid-question that he was basically tampering during that interaction.

- When Phil first called Courtney Lee, Lee was watching Game of Thrones and asked his agent to deal with everything until his show was over.

- Hernangomez and Plumlee signed today as well at normal-sized tables (Willy with Kristaps over his shoulder!):

- And:

Remember that Kuzminskas will officially be signed with an exception, so the Knicks might get some other stuff done before they make that one official.

Again, video when it's up. Welcome, newcomers!

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