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Omer Yurtseven #77, formerly of the Utah Jazz, pressures Jonas Valanciunas #17, formerly of the New Orleans Pelicans.
THE The New York Knicks‘ To research Isaiah HartensteinThe replacement has resulted in several trials with free agent big men.
One of them was Omer Yurtseven but that didn’t lead to an NBA contract, according to Substack NBA insider Marc Stein.
“The Knicks recently auditioned free agent power forward Omer Yurtseven, among others, but did not choose to sign him. Panathinaikos of Greece has publicly stated its interest in bringing Yurtseven to the Euroleague,” Stein wrote on August 18.
The Knicks instead brought back the big man combo Precious Achiuwa on a one-year, $6 million contractafter Hartenstein left for the Oklahoma City Thunder in a three-year, $87 million contract.
Yursteven, who is 6-foot-11, played for the Miami Heat He last played for the Utah Jazz last season, where he appeared in 48 games, including 12 starts. He averaged 4.6 points on 53.6 percent shooting and 4.3 rebounds.
Yurtseven had 11 points and 18 rebounds in his final game with the Jazz in a 123-116 loss to the Golden State Warriors as Walker Kessler and John Collins sat out the season finale.
The Jazz waived Yursteven on July 1 after drafting Duke star big man Kyle Filipowski in June’s NBA draft.
Yurtseven has 17 playoff games under his belt, all with the Heat.
Walker Kessler trade cost doubled
The Knicks were also interested in Kessler, the Jazz center Yurtseven backed.
However, despite Kessler being on a cheaper contract for a rookie, the trade price was too high for the Knicks.
“All the information coming out of Utah has been that Walker Kessler is going to be expensive. They’ve asked for a couple of first-round picks,” Jovan Buha of The Athletic said on his podcast “Buha’s Block” on August 9.
The Jazz’s price appears to have doubled after SNY’s Ian Begley reported on July 9 that they were asking for at least a first-round pick in previous discussions with teams.
“The Knicks have shown interest in Kessler,” Begley said. “I was told later that teams had offered two first-round picks to Utah in the last two weeks, but had been turned down.
“Obviously, we don’t know the value of the first-round picks that are being offered. Not all first-round picks are created equal,” he said. “There are protections on those picks, but it gives you a little bit of an idea of how much the Jazz value Kessler and what it would take to get him out of Utah.”
Kessler has more upside and is a much better player than Yurtseven. The Jazz’s 23-year-old starting center finished last season as the league’s second-best shot blocker with 2.4 per game, behind San Antonio Spurs Rookie of the year Victor Wembanyama (3.6).
Knicks tried to recruit French Olympic sixth man
The Knicks also tried to bring French Olympic star Mathias Lessort to the NBA, by Begley.
“New York inquired about Lessort’s interest in signing, but the player and team were unable to find common ground,” Begley wrote in his SNY mailbag on Aug. 8 ahead of Team USA’s gold medal game against France.
Lessort, who stands 2.05m tall, played a key role in France’s run to the gold medal. He had 13 points, 5 rebounds and 1 block against Canada in the quarter-finals. Then, he had 10 points, 4 rebounds, 1 steal and 1 block against Germany in the semi-finals.
Lessort, 28, averaged 7.2 points, 3.3 rebounds and 1.2 assists in just 13.6 minutes as France’s sixth man.
Before his breakout performance with the Blues, Lessort had just won a title and been selected to the Euroleague first team.
Yurtseven and Lessort could team up with Panathinaikos next season.
Alder Almo is a basketball journalist who covers the NBA for Heavy.com. He has over 15 years of experience in local and international media, including broadcast, print and digital. He previously covered the Knicks for Empire Sports Media and the NBA for Off the Glass. Alder is originally from the Philippines and is now based in Jersey City, New Jersey. Learn more about Alder Almo
