Notes from a relatively low-key Knicks Media Day

Media Day isn’t always a walk in the park when it comes to the New York Knicks.

Who could forget just last year when a certain former Knicks center (may OAKAAK rules never ever apply to him, thank you basketball gods) turned things borderline PG-13 at the same event?

(Side note: I can count no fewer than about five guys in that article from last year that I’d be fine never having wear a Knick uniform again.)

This year was a lot different. There was basically no talk of playoffs whatsoever. Sure, this team wants to win more this year, but they’re not setting the bar exceedingly high for a second straight season.

Of course, free agency came up, and the Knicks were pretty steadfast in their assertion that things are just fine and went more or less exactly according to plan this offseason:

“We all know free agency is a very fluid process in the NBA,’’ Mills said. “One thing we know is what’s important is that for you to control the things that you can control. And guys make decisions about where they want to play, and those are things they come to on our own. What you have to do is be prepared and control the things that you can control. And what we’re most proud about is we put ourselves in a position and planned in a way that on the opening day of free agency we had six guys who were important to us, that we were lined up to meet with.”

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“There were a lot of max type players that we could have met with, that were interested in coming here,’’ Mills claimed. “We had a certain way that we wanted to build this team. This is how we chose to build it.”

I mean, I suppose it’s possible the Knicks could’ve swayed a Tobias Harris- or Khris Middleton-level free agent away from their incumbent teams, but it’s a little hard to believe at this stage that they simply chose not to use their cap space on max-level free agents this summer. Whatever, not worth harping on.

How about Julius Randle?

That’s the type of content I’m here for! Randle is legitimately a max-ish level player, and he very much wanted to come here in free agency. It’s the first time that can really be said since Amar’e Stoudemire (who possibly came here just because the Suns wouldn’t give him an uninsured contract with his knees, but that’s another story entirely).

Randle also had very nice things to say about Mitchell Robinson:

Marcus Morris was a fun quote, including the yearly tradition of Knicks calling themselves and their teammates dawgs:

He also kinda sorta shed some light on what led him to choose the Knicks over the Spurs after already making a commitment to San Antonio:

The point guard competition between Dennis Smith Jr., Elfrid Payton and Frank Ntilikina definitely seems like it’s going to be a thing:

And DSJ’s jumper? Apparently it’s coming along! Or DSJ is at least confident that it’s coming along, which is something.

Frank didn’t take the mic, but Knicks brass definitely took notice of his play during the FIBA World Cup for France:

RJ Barrett, surprisingly, gave kind of a mundane, player-speak interview compared to his usually more outspoken nature. But hey, we’ve got a whole season ahead for good quotes.

By the way, Kevin Knox is YOLKED, BABY:

And he and the rest of the Knicks are getting along great:

Mitchell Robinson didn’t take questions during the press conference, but he did continue his streak as the resident class clown for the Knicks:

And lastly, here’s a couple beautiful pics to use as wallpapers on your phone. Thanks, Knicks! Preseason can’t start soon enough.