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Landry Shamet returning to New York still possible
Who might the Knicks sign with that veteran’s minimum deal? They have continued to touch base with Ben Simmons during the free agency period. I’m sure they have touched base with other vets as well. Chris Paul and Russell Westbrook are among the lead guards still on the market. Teams are wondering if Washington will agree to a buyout with veteran guard Marcus Smart. For what it’s worth, the Knicks don’t seem to be exclusively focused on ball-handling guards with that last spot. New York still sees Landry Shamet as a possibility and Shamet remains open to returning to New York.
Kevin Durant on his stint with Nets: We had this conversation in Portland, I think, right before a game and I'm like, ‘who am I spending my next five years with?’ I had just signed that deal. You (Steve Nash) had just signed a deal. But I feel like we were secure, but everything else around us was going to shit. Not in a bad way. We got GMs going to other teams. We got coaches going to other teams. We got players forcing trades. We got bring in Ben Simmons. He's back. Like, it was just so much stuff going on. A lot of bullshit around us. I feel like we were locked in on the same page and understand like well we trying to do something special here but and I felt like your hands were tied a lot because you had to as a coach you got to deal with so much. You didn't get to coach as much as I wanted to. That's what it was.
Knicks checked in on Ben Simmons
The Knicks have also checked in on free agent Ben Simmons, per sources familiar with the matter. But people briefed on the matter say a decision on that roster spot isn’t expected until after the head coach is hired. Simmons has met with three other teams and is expected to make a decision soon, per people familiar with the matter.
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Ben Simmons and Amir Coffey not returning to Clippers?
Amir Coffey and Ben Simmons are incumbent free agents, and while both were rotation players entering the postseason, they were both out of the mix by the end of the Denver series. In Coffey's case, he didn't play a single minute in the playoffs. Coffey and Simmons are both expected to get better offers elsewhere than they will from the Clippers, with Simmons in particular looking at teams with exceptions; he's not looking for a minimum deal.
Another name that might be out there is Ben Simmons, the oft-injured former No.1 pick who cobbled together some interesting box-score totals (9.2 assists, 7.7 rebounds and 1.2 steals per 36 minutes) in a limited role over 51 games split between the Brooklyn Nets and Los Angeles Clippers. The Raptors had a meeting for their basketball staff Friday afternoon led by general manager Bobby Webster, right around the time Pelley was giving his guarded explanation for why Ujiri was let go and announcing that Webster would be interviewed as a potential successor to Ujiri as president.
Clippers expect Nicolas Batum to return, but Ben Simmons return not certain
Current backup center Drew Eubanks has a $4.75 million non-guaranteed contract for the 2024-25 season and is not expected to return. Eubanks could either be included as a salary filler in a trade or waived by the Clippers. The returns of Amir Coffey, depending on his free agent market, and Ben Simmons are also not certain. It’s worth noting the Clippers expect 36-year-old French forward Nicolas Batum to return next season. Batum has a $4.9 million player option for next season.
Malcolm Brogdon a primary offseason target for Clippers?
In a recent appearance on The Third Apron podcast with Yossi Gozlan, The Athletic's Law Murray talked about the LA Clippers offseason. Murray suggested that free agent guard Malcolm Brogdon could be a primary target for the Clippers this summer. "I would consider Brogdon a primary target for the Clippers," Murray said "They almost traded (for him previously). I think if Brogdon would have been a buyout guy, I think the Clippers would have considered him along with Ben Simmons."
When asked about his former coach’s thoughts on social media, Simmons doesn’t hold back. “It’s another world, it’s another world. It's an escape for people, you know?” Simmons expresses. “Like, half the time if somebody’s gonna say something crazy to me in person, I’ll probably punch him in the face, you know? So, it’s like, it’s a barrier in a fake world or the world they live in, but yeah, that’s what it is. There’s a wall right there, so you can either live in it or you can separate yourself. “If it was so positive, people would be like, ‘Yo, get on there!’” adds Simmons. “It’s not something, it’s not, it’s not a healthy thing. It’s not normal.”
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Simmons tells me that when the season ends, he’s usually on his boat most of the time. “I like to travel,” he says. “I like to be in the ocean and explore. I’d say that’s probably one of my hobbies: exploring.” The 28-year-old is a unique figure once you spend the time to talk to him, and you realize there’s a deeper person buried within that the rest of the world hasn’t been able to see, whether through his own doing or the fact that few have simply asked.
“I definitely know what I’m capable of,” Simmons discloses. “I think it’s a matter of just being able to have a summer where I can get my body to where it needs to be, and then having that experience on the court again, and getting those reps up. “It’s been a minute since I’ve been able to go full speed and actually rep things consistently, to get a feel for it and get my touch, but my thing is just, just continue to work and stay with it, and try to block out, you know, the nonsense that is around it.”
Law Murray: Clippers’ Scout team Jokic: - Ben Simmons - Patrick Baldwin Jr
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