The Knicks have found their SECRET WEAPON…

The Knicks have found their SECRET WEAPON…

The New York Knicks have found their secret weapon going into the 2025 2026 NBA season as Mike Brown is going to be using one of the most underrated Knicks on the team. He’s also one of the most underrated NBA players in the league. While also we have another update on the man who has been involved in the most New York Knicks trade talks over the past couple of weeks. We have a lot to go over on the Knicks right now as always guys and we’re going to jump right into things as usual. But guys, real quick, look, if you’re anything like me and you grew up really trying to figure out what you want to do with your life and the only thing you ever really want to do was have those sort of lunch table conversations about sports, if you want to break into the sports media world, Digest Media is the exact place to try to do that. That is how I got my job here at Digest. I randomly applied on LinkedIn and my life literally changed forever for so many reasons that I could make a whole video going over that alone. So, if you are interested in bringing to the sports media worlds and talking about many, many different sports teams that have openings. If you want to be a writer for Nick’s Digest, work alongside me. Be one of the writers for some articles for Nick’s Digest. On top of that, we have openings with the Brooklyn Nets Digest, both onscreen and with writing. And for the New York Giants right now, who are exciting the world with Jackson Dart and Cam and Cam Scataboo, there is a lot to go over on these two New York sports teams that we have openings for. So, make sure to apply if you think that it’s time for you to officially break into sports media. Guys, I’ll say it once, I’ll say it again. At the end of the day, my life changed a whole lot because I ended up joining Digest Media. I made friends that I have to this day who I’m super super close with, some of the people I’m closest with in the entire world. For instance, Ben Rogers of Raptors Digest. One of my closest friends on the planet. Mark Pi of multiple different hockey teams digest including the Blues and the Canucks. One of my closest friends who I trust like nobody’s business. Guys who I met through this job, I’m telling you right now, it is a wonderful opportunity. Now, Nick’s Digest does not have on-screen positions, so stop asking. It’s my job. No, but in all seriousness, we do have openings for writing jobs. And also, if you do want to cover the Brooklyn Nets as well, you will work alongside me, who will likely be covering the Brooklyn Nets. Also, there’s a lot of fun opportunities. But guys, let’s jump into the video. That’s what we’re here for. I just want to give a quick shout out because at the end of the day, we do want to keep hiring the best possible people. But look, looking at everything the Knicks, they have found their perfect secret weapon, and that is right here in Ariel Hawkporty. Huck has been nothing short of phenomenal since he since he joined the Knicks. Look, he was drafted and didn’t really get a ton of opportunities to shine. And every single time Hooki has gotten on the court for the Knicks, he’s shown one thing. He is a lot better than what people give him credit for. And it’s understandable why he’s not getting a ton of credit. being the 58th overall pick in the 2024 NBA draft where in fairness that was the last pick in the draft. There were some forfeited picks because of salary cap situation specifically regarding the second apron that Hook Porty was the last pick in the 2024 NBA draft. But he has proven the man who was in 2021 ranked as a first round draft pick before rupturing his Achilles has proven that he has everything that you want him to be. The man is a super athlete. The man scores the ball well in the post. He’s got excellent post playmaking abilities. rebounds the ball really, really well, especially on the defensive end, and has basically answered every question that has led to fans doubting him up to this point. Ariel Hookport is the Knicks secret weapon that nobody is talking about, but they’re going to because at the end of the day, we are going to see Ariel Huckporty play a whole lot. For instance, when we look at Mike Brown and every that’s not Mike Brown. When we look at Mike Brown and understand what he’s going to do, he’s made it very clear that every single Nick throughout the preseason is going to touch the MSG floor. So the front office has a good vision of who to add, who to cut to the team. On top of that, Mike Brown wants to play all 15 guys that he’s using on his roster. For the Knicks, for the most part, it will be 14 for a while. So he’s going to use all 14 of those guys at different points. Hooky is no different, and he actually has a clear path of playing time. Obviously, Carl Anthony Towns and Mitchell Robinson are going to dominate the center position, the only position that Hucky can play. But Mitchell Robinson will likely not be playing any backto-backs. Meaning that in those moments instead of Mitch starting alongside Cat, Carl Anthony Towns will be the center with the Knicks starting one of Duce McBride, Josh Hart or Gershon Yabusale at that spot at that other spot. So when you consider that we do see a world where the Knicks backup center is going to be Ariel Hookporty and because of that there is a lot to think about with this situation including the fact that when we look at Hookporty and the numbers he’s put up in 11 minutes to help drive the Knicks to a comeback win over the Minnesota Timberwolves where a bunch of Timberwolves fans were talking a whole lot of trash about the Knicks before we came back and beat them. Which in fairness I do get it. The Timberwolves fans, they’re not going to like the Knicks considering that the Knicks are going to end up beating the Minnesota Timberwolves in the NBA finals. And if they don’t beat the Timberwolves in the finals, it’s because they beat the Denver Nuggets. I know a lot of you are probably screaming right now, well, what about the Thunder? The Thunder are going to actually lose to the Nuggets in the second round. It’s going to be a reverse of last year. The Nuggets are going to win in seven against the Thunder, not the other way around. So, just be ready for that. No shade towards the Thunder. No shade towards Gabe and Bryson over at Thunder Digest. Two great friends of mine. Me and Bryson go way back. You know him from this channel from our happy hour shows. But going in on Ariel Hookport, the man is phenomenal. Had a plus 15, which was the game best. had five rebounds, three offensive rebounds, and one block as well. Going one for one from the field. The man took one jump shot and made his presence felt. That is a sign of someone who does everything you want out of a teammate, especially out of a big man in the modern NBA. On top of that, he’s an excellent high post playmaker. And fans are loving it, saying with holy moly saying that he might be better than Mitch if given a real chance. Well, honestly, he’s great. I’m not saying he’s better than Mitch. He’s not, but he he’s great. Thank you, Leon. and the Don Rose for the way that you only draft exceptional players from King De La Hose and uh oh, I see what that says now. And on top of that, Yuki saying that I was mad all game because Ariel Huckporty wasn’t getting any run with the rotation players. So fans are responding positively to Hucky who had one of the better stat lines across the game. When we look at everybody, we see the points scored. Yeah, Hucky only had two points, but at the end of the day, what he did outside of that really was the big key. That’s what we saw out of him. He made his presence known. He got a blocked shot. One of the few Knicks to get a block shot along with, funny enough, Landry Shamat and Duce McBride. Deuce is an elite defender. We understand that. And then of course Mitch and Carl Anthony Towns. Two sevenfooters there. Hucki showed that in that limited time he still is the rim protector that the Knicks drafted while grabbing five rebounds, three of them being on the offensive end, having an excellent ability to kick it out, having a team best plus 15, and also playing aggressive defense where he only tallied up one foul in total, which is really impressive work. Huck every time he gets out there, if we’re being honest. And I mean, if you disagree with me, let me know in the comments. But what I see every time Hucky steps onto the court is a guy who very clearly like looks like he’s been here before. He the good old phrase that there is act like you’ve been here before, play like you’ve been here before when it comes to professional athletes. Ariel Huckport embodies all that. There’s no sense of nervousness on this man at all. And that probably comes from three, four years of professional basketball playing over in Austral playing all over the world really. But um when we look at Huckporty and everything that he’s been able to do, anytime he gets anyone on his back when he’s trying to post up, he’s calling for the ball. He’s sticking his arm out and go and like calling for it trying to get like he’s got the arm, the placement is perfectly right. He’s got his dominant hand reaching for the ball at all times. And you do see it’s like, oh, this man knows what he’s doing. Like this man is very adept. He’s very aware of how he’s trying to play his game. He just wants the opportunity to play his game. If he does that, he knows he could score in that post area. Postc scoring is still a thing in basketball. The best player in the NBA is the best post scorer in the NBA, Nicole Joic. So, we do see the fact that it still is a dominant thing, the closest area to get baskets, the oldtimely way of doing things. Shots in the post are always still going to be there. And Huck is willing to do that while also playing high post basketball, having zero fear of putting the ball on the floor. He just looks absolutely excellent. This is everything and more we could have asked for him. And as Tommy Beer mentioned, highest plus minus on the Knicks were the first three postseason games. Ariel Hookport is a plus 24 in 27 minutes. OG is second at plus 23. And Malcolm Brogden is third at plus 19. This Knicks team, frankly, I mean OG is one of the starters and the third best player on the team. But um when we look at the other two, these are bench guys. These are guys that aren’t guaranteed massive minutes between Malcolm Brockton who will definitely play as the team’s backup point guard and Ariel Huckporty who will play at least in the games where Mitchell Robinson is not available. Unlike others in a job availabilities at Dodgers media you saw the little taker come up I know you saw it but when we look at everything it just it’s a perfect situation the Knicks depth chart it carries obviously JB male Bridges OG on an Obi Carl Anthony Towns are going to start we see one of Josh Hart Mitchell Robinson start I don’t like this this hoops type um projected depth chart because they have OG at the two OG’s never ever playing the two with the Knicks in all seriousness it really is Josh Hart even though he doesn’t play like that but positions outside of point guard and center aren’t even real anymore so that’s a completely different story whatsoever. But we do see I mean just the best guard depth in basketball between Malcolm Brogen, Jordan Clarkson and Deuce McBride behind Jaylen Brunson. That’s absolutely insane. On top of that, we’ll see one of Lry Sher, Garrison Matthews on the team next to Brogden and we have Gerson Yusalei, Mitchell Robinson, Carl Anthony Towns, the three guys who will play center most primarily with the Knicks. But at the same time, Hook Porty is there. He’s on an actual contract. He’s not on a two-way deal. He’s not on a non-G guaranteed deal. Hooky is guaranteed for this Knicks team. He’s going to play minutes, especially when Mitch isn’t playing back tobacks, giving him a real window of time to go out there and shine with this team. And yeah, Trey Gson’s also there. Trey Gson’s available, a man who has had a solid NBA career up to this point for his career, averaging 4.2 points per game. And on top of that, getting four rebounds a game. He’s been good, specifically in his time with the Memphis Grizzlies. He was quite good, putting up 7.4 points per game on a team that he started 14 of his 23 appearances in. Lakers fans loved what they saw of Trey Gemson. Bellicans fans liked what they saw out of Trey Gemson. Everyone has enjoyed the presence of Tur Gemson there who’s available for 50 games this season with his two-way contract. But the Knicks understand, the Knicks know the guy who’s long-term for this team over Gemson is Ariel Huckporty, who’s also a little bit younger. And when you consider that, it does make sense why the Knicks are going out there, why the Knicks are trying to do this or that or the other thing using Hucky over Trey Gon. It makes perfect sense. Now, on top of that, over Huckport’s three games thus far in preseason, the man’s been very good. good. He only played eight minutes against Philadelphia in the second game in Abu Dhabi, but the entire time he’s played quite well. He didn’t shoot too well the first game around, but he’s looked very good. He’s looked adept. He’s looked ready. He’s looked really, really prepared for these situations, and it’s something that you do want to see. The man acts like a veteran, and it’s something that is going to be really important to the Knicks going forward. Now, on top of that, there also is Pomeiera, who’s the one of the other Knicks rookies on this team. And frankly, there’s a lot to like about Pome’s game, and a lot of teams see that and do want to trade for Pakome. And that’s something that we have to consider because Pakome has looked solid as well throughout these Knicks, throughout these Knicks games in the preseason. I mean, even just taking a look into what he was able to do in the last game, put up five points, shot well, and hit the go-ahead three in this game against the Timberwolves. So do you consider that you do see a guy in Dier who is very very very very very very very talented and I do want the Knicks to keep and it makes no sense to try to trade Pakome over Tyler Kolick. I understand that you get to add a 15th player in March but how many teams need a 15th guy in the NBA playoffs? I really see a future with Pakome. The man does it all. He’s an excellent defender who’s not afraid to dribble the ball and he’s had his shot confidence only grow since his time in basketball which has been a big thing about him. At the end of the day, as we’ve seen before, as James Edwards mentioned, talking to people in the league as of late, the only name or the name I keep hearing the most is 20 20-year-old Pakome. I’ve gathered that the Knicks are entering camp with the idea of keeping Malcolm Brockton and Landry Shamat, both of whom are on non-G guaranteed deals for the regular season roster. That could change depending on how they perform, but that’s the vibe I’ve gotten. to keep both the Knicks would have to make a trade given Doier’s age, size being 68 210 and projected profile and his development shakes out. He has more value around the league than the likes of youngsters Tyler Kolick or Ariel Huckporty according to people who I’ve spoken with. That is why if the Knicks want to make room for the two veterans, trading makes the most sense. I can’t imagine what it would be for if it’s more than a second round pick. I can’t imagine it would be more than a second round pick, but some league executives I’ve spoken to think his value is higher than that of Kolic and Huckporty. And of course it is. That makes perfect sense. And we also know as Fred Catz mentioned, I talked to people with the Knicks and they tell me in practice settings, internal metrics, pomed. Shooting percentages are insanely good. Might mean nothing, but Deuce McBride when he was shooting 30% from three the exact metrics they were some of the best on the team. So we consider that about Pakome Doier, who I’ve said multiple times, I don’t want the Knicks to trade Pakome. fully in the Become zone under the PCOME dome. So, I do want to see Pakome Doier stick around with the Knicks. I do have a 35 number 35 jersey for PCOM back when he was in summer league. I’m a big fan of his game and I do think he’s going to pan out well for the Knicks. So, I do want to keep him around. I think he’s going to be good sooner rather than later as well. I would like to see the Knicks trade Tyler Kick and a second round pick for cash considerations to the Brooklyn Nets because frankly, I’m willing to give him a second round pick to keep a com.A because effectively we’re trading Tyler Kick and a second round pick for Malcolm Brockton. deal that a team that’s trying to win the NBA finals in 2026 and that is going to win the finals in 2026 should be making and I have no qualms about it. He is 24 years old. Tyler Kol like that is I don’t really see a big future in the NBA but I do see the Knicks winning the NBA finals but I do really believe Malcolm Bro is an an X factor for that. Holy canoli. This has been a long video guys. Hope you enjoyed. Thank you so much for watching. As always, if you guys enjoyed the content and want daily New York Knicks updates, make sure to like this video, subscribe, turn on post notifications. Saturday night, hope you’re having a great time. Tomorrow’s also a weekend day. It’s like a second Saturday because we got off Monday, but not me. You’re going to be getting these videos every single day, guys. Appreciate it. Subscribe, post notifications, all that good stuff. Have a great day. Go Nicks. Not making a video this long again. I I’d rather do something else. I’m going to go play 2K with my

Chris Gallagher breaks down the Knicks finding their secret weapon amongst other news as well regarding the team.

—

Knicks Digest is a YouTube channel dedicated to covering all the latest news, trades, reports, and rumors surrounding the New York Knicks. We provide in-depth coverage on game highlights, player performances, and expert analysis of team strategies. Our channel features discussions on key players like Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns, Mikal Bridges, and Mitchell Robinson, as well as insights from Head Coach Tom Thibodeau and the Knicks’ front office. Stay tuned for all the latest updates and engaging content on everything Knicks!

Have you ever wanted to break into sports media as a write or content creator? Apply to join the Digest Media team today here: https://digestmedia.ca/join-us/

Join our Discord: https://discord.gg/MeVay9egPx

MORE FROM DIGEST MEDIA:
Raptors Digest: https://www.youtube.com/c/RaptorsDigest
Leafs Digest: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_EUKCfhWZLk0dX4XxQaZIA
Jays Digest: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUTv…
Knicks Digest: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8cYEIxnSZp9Mo93nQ_52Rg
Habs Digest: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvUG…
Courtside Digest: https://www.youtube.com/c/CourtsideDi…

for_digest_redistribution

—

Unchanged

—

NBA Trade Rumors, NBA Free Agency, NBA Draft, NBA Finals Preview, Fantasy Basketball Advice, NBA Betting Odds, NBA Jersey Review, Player Performance Breakdown, Sports Analytics, NBA Highlights, NBA News Update, NBA Stats, NBA Roster Moves, NBA Predictions