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For most of their history, the Knicks and Rangers have been cozy bedfellows, with a shared owner, arena, training facility, and the same balance sheet. Now James Dolan is making moves to break them up.

On Friday, Madison Square Garden Sports publicly filed paperwork with the Securities and Exchange Commission outlining its proposed separation of the Knicks and Rangers businesses. From Financial Times:

MSG Sports currently expects to complete the spin-off by the end of October 2026. There can be no assurance that the proposed transaction will be completed in the manner described above, or at all. Completion of the transaction remains subject to various conditions, including any required league approval, receipt of a tax opinion from counsel and Company board approval.

MSG Sports first announced in February that it was exploring a separation. The new filing lays out how the businesses would actually be divided, with the company targeting completion by the end of October. If completed, MSG Sports would become MSG Knickerbockers Corp., containing the New York Knicks and Westchester Knicks. A new publicly traded MSG Rangers Corp. would contain the Rangers, Hartford Wolf Pack, and MSG Training Center in Greenburgh.

Dolan is expected to remain executive chairman and CEO of both companies. Existing MSG Sports shareholders would receive proportional shares in the new Rangers company, leaving investors with stakes in two separate businesses instead of one containing both teams. The key difference is that investors could value and invest in the Knicks and Rangers independently. The timing of this is no surprise: the proposed separation comes on the heels of the Knicks winning their first championship in 53 years and producing record business results.

In July, Dolan’s 32-year-old son, Quentin Dolan, stepped into day-to-day operational control of the New York Rangers as the team’s new President, Chief Operating Officer, and Alternate Governor. Under the new hierarchy, Rangers General Manager Chris Drury continues to oversee hockey operations while reporting directly to Quentin, who will also retain his role heading the organization’s sports science and analytics department. The move allows Dolan to step back from hands-on oversight of the Rangers while maintaining direct control over the Knicks, aligning with the corporate effort to divide the two franchises into distinct business entities.

MSG Sports reported $278.7 million in fiscal fourth-quarter revenue, up 37% from a year earlier, and nearly $1.154 billion for the full fiscal year. The Knicks generated approximately $182 million in playoff-related revenue during their championship run, compared with $115.2 million the previous postseason, despite playing nine home playoff games in both years. Average playoff revenue reached a company-record $20.2 million per home game, with record playoff ticket and merchandise sales. Even the MTA got a boost! The Knicks’ historic championship run drove staggering transit surges across their network, setting multi-year post-pandemic ridership records at 34th St–Penn Station and pushing single-day subway travel past 4.3 million trips. Expanded subway and commuter rail services accommodated over one million fans during the June 18 ticker-tape parade.

The $12.5 billion sale of the Lakers last week was just another reminder of how valuable NBA franchises have become. MSG Sports shares have also roughly doubled over the past year. Separating the teams gives the Knicks their own corporate identity and stock price, while investors would no longer have to determine how much of MSG Sports’ value comes from basketball and how much comes from hockey.

As noted above, the MSG Training Center in Greenburgh, which the Knicks and Rangers both use, would belong to MSG Rangers Corp. That doesn’t necessarily mean the Knicks would need a new practice facility; the Rangers company could play landlord while the ‘Bockers continued using it through some sort of agreement. There is a similar arrangement at Madison Square Garden already. MSG Sports owns the teams, while the arena is operated by the separately traded Madison Square Garden Entertainment.

Management says the split will give each business more strategic and financial flexibility, and it leaves the door open to selling a minority stake in either team down the road.

In a nutshell, the split gives investors the ability to evaluate the Knicks as a standalone business right when the ‘Bocker business is booming. If everything goes according to plan, by the end of October the Knicks will have their own, publicly traded corporate home: MSG Knickerbockers Corp. Try putting that on a jersey.

Knicks in five.

The Cleveland Cavaliers are still keen on shedding salary to gain more financial flexibility even after recently trading away Denis Schroder. As reported by Marc Stein, “Cleveland remains in active search of a trade to send out Max Strus as Strus enters the final year of his current contract.”

Strus is entering the final year of his current deal with the Cavaliers earning $16.7 million in 2026-27. Strus spent the bulk of this past season on the shelf due to a Jones fracture he suffered before training camp.

Strus suited up for 12 regular season games, including his debut, where he went 7-9 shooting (6-7 from three), ending with 24 points and eight rebounds in 23 minutes.

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With the trade of Schroder on Friday, the Cavaliers were able to shave $6.8 million off their books for next season. Finding a buyer for Strus could require attaching draft capital, given the amount owed to him next season.

While it is a one-year rental, deals like this are harder to accomplish in the NBA’s apron era. Teams are more hesitant to take on any form of sizeable salary as each apron offers less roster flexibility and prevents an ability to be liquid with their current assets.

While Strus is far from a player teams would view solely as a salary hold, the salary size is notable enough to give certain teams pause. Strus is still a very capable scorer in the league and a great locker-room presence. Cleveland would definitely feel the absence of Strus’s presence on and off the court. However, according to Stein, the Cavs are looking to create the flexibility to acquire either Jonathan Kuminga or Peyton Watson.

The active search would imply the Cavaliers are still proceeding with this approach. The question now is how much the Cavaliers will have to attach or take back from a potential trade partner to clear up the necessary space to pursue a starting small forward.

For the majority of Joel Embiid’s tenure with the Philadelphia 76ers, the power forward spot has, among other factors, served as a nagging hindrance against their title aspirations. 

Ben Simmons was averse to embracing the position and its typical physicality-oriented duties. Tobias Harris could not provide ancillary contributions like keen decision-making and defensive versatility while his supposed foremost trait of scoring proved mercurial in the postseason. Paul George’s health woes and on-court inconsistencies often left Philadelphia in a bind; his finest stretch as a Sixer was headlined by malleable defense, silky shot-making and grease-the-wheels passing to upset the second-seeded Boston Celtics in the first round last spring. 

Over the past five years, all three players have exited the City of Brotherly Love, two via trade, one via free agency. In their stead is LeBron James, who signed a two-year, $8 million deal with the Sixers after spending his past eight seasons as a member of the Los Angeles Lakers. 

Despite nearing his 42nd birthday*, James remains a very good NBA player who can address weak points for the Sixers since they reshaped their roster by swapping George for Jaylen Brown earlier this offseason. 

*This will be the one time I acknowledge James’ age when discussing his skill-set. It is incredibly impressive he persists as such an impactful player this deep into his career. But I am projecting how he fits onto a team carrying championship hopes, not simply celebrating the staggering accomplishment. Through that prism, his game must be assessed without any age caveat. 

Most prevalently, James seriously invigorates Philadelphia’s passing attack and broadens the possibilities of the playbook offensively. Prior to his signing, a Brown-Embiid-Tyrese Maxey-V.J. Edgecombe quartet was severely lacking in the playmaking department. I worried how that group could decode stingy, ingenious playoff defenses to optimize their individual scoring talents together. 

Now, James helps shore up that once-glaring deficiency, even if he’s not the ethereal offensive engine of five years ago, let alone a decade ago. He is still one of the league’s premier facilitators fueled by his size, manipulation, vision, and processing speed. Given the amount of strain Maxey, Brown, Embiid and Edgecombe can impose upon defenses as scoring threats, James should be equipped to capitalize on whatever concessions opponents allow. 

At this stage of his career, his passing comfortably transcends his scoring. Conversely, Maxey, Brown, Embiid and Edgecombe are all score-first options who own varying levels of passing limitations. James is perhaps the ideal solvent to unlock them and won’t be asked to fill too large of a scoring role. Theoretically, it’s about as perfect a partnership as he and Philadelphia could’ve found. 

Last season, the majority of his half-court work occurred in the post, against switches following a screen he set or operating around the wings with an empty corner alignment. I anticipate much of that deployment translating to Philadelphia since it’s not too dissimilar from how head coach Nick Nurse utilized George.

Where those two veterans differentiate is in the pressure they inflict from the elbows and mid-post. Most of George’s touches there resulted in jumpers, so teams were content to play single coverage against him, narrowing the scope of his scoring gravity. 

James, though, brandishes considerably more lower body strength to chisel himself into deep position at or near the rim. George just shoots over the top of defenders — mismatches or otherwise. James bowls through them to finish inside or elicits multiple bodies to table-set cutters, shooters and big men for rhythmic scores. 

According to Cleaning the Glass, 40 percent of his shots were at the rim in 2025-26 (77th percentile among forwards) and he converted 75 percent of them (92nd percentile). That’s a stark upgrade from George’s 15 percent frequency (15th percentile among wings) and 55 percent success rate (ninth percentile), which dramatically alters how the Sixers can leverage James as a stationary hub inside the arc. 

James’ effective, audacious passing should behoove Maxey, who’s been overextended as an on-ball engine since James Harden’s departure and flourishes as an off-ball scorer. Look at the discrepancy in his efficiency between creation (pick-and-rolls, isolations, post-ups) and spacing play-types (spot-ups, handoffs, off-screens) last season, per databallr:

I’d love to see screen-the-screener actions for Maxey — who’s a contact-oriented screener — in which he primes Embiid for deep catches inside before zipping around a pick himself. Sets like those spotlight two divergent, high-level scorers but have been hard to embed with the lack of creation and ball-handling around Maxey in recent seasons.

The Sixers should also implement Split actions for Maxey with Embiid — who doled out the sturdiest picks of his career last year — as his screener. Heck, they can even tab Brown or Edgecombe to screen for Maxey, as both are capable of vibrantly diving to the rim if defenses swarm Maxey. Split actions were a staple of the Golden State Warriors’ dynastic run and unfold like this:

Maxey isn’t a Stephen Curry or Klay Thompson-level marksman but has drilled 41.9 percent of his career catch-and-shoot triples. Among his shooting credentials, speed and instinctive off-ball movement, he can certainly tilt the defense to let everyone thrive in Split actions, particularly with a decision-maker like James at the helm. 

High-low actions between James and Embiid should feature heavily into the chemistry those two aim to establish together. Embiid’s never played alongside a passer of James’ ilk, the closest being James Harden from 2022-24. During that stretch, he averaged 36.0 points per 75 possessions on 65.5 percent true shooting with Harden on the floor, according to databallr. James’ contemporary playmaking panache is built less around pick-and-rolls than Harden’s but could nonetheless be a nightly stream of easy points for Embiid

With James most comfortable at the elbows and in the mid-post, I do wonder how he meshes alongside Brown, who considers those spots his home as well. The Sixers’ offense is better served treating James as their foundational mid-post player yet such a hierarchy may stunt Brown’s impact. 

Brown is likely a superior scorer to James but a much lesser passer and a fairly stationary off-ball cog. He does not routinely cut or move and has only made 34.8 percent of his catch-and-shoot long balls the past three seasons. 

The degree to which they harmonize could determine Philadelphia’s offensive ceiling and be contingent on how well each performs as spot-up shooters, where they’ve both oscillated over the years. Although, I do think their collective propensity for physicality and paint scoring are major boons to potentially paper over incongruency elsewhere.

Tossing Embiid, a face-up and low-block player, into the mix could further complicate matters, too. But his size, pick-and-roll scoring, midrange touch, dribble handoff talents and advantage passing make me more optimistic about how he’ll fit with James. 

While still a useful half-court technician because of his virtuoso playmaking, James is not much of a dribble-drive creator these days. He can burp up unnecessary, ill-advised jumpers and lacks the explosion/ball-handling to punish defenders off the bounce as he did in his heyday. Perimeter creation attempts sometimes grow stagnant or unfruitful and lead to wasted trips down the court.

Yet in the open floor, he is mesmerizing and devastating, seemingly eager to maximize those opportunities and avoid the constraints of the half-court. Per Cleaning the Glass, with James out there, the Lakers’ transition frequency was 2.4 points higher and their transition offensive rating was 1.6 points higher per 100 possessions last season. 

Since the Sixers traded away Simmons — they ranked among the top eight in transition rate during three of his four seasons — they’ve dialed down the tempo. They’ve finished 19th or lower three times and never eclipsed the league’s 11th-highest transition frequency over the past five years. 

James, Brown, Maxey and Edgecombe are likely to change that; according to Synergy, the initial three were among the top four in transition possessions per game last season while Edgecombe was 48th overall (409 eligible players). All of them can ignite and punctuate fast breaks, especially James. He’s a bullet train with the ball who loves arcing outlet passes for quick buckets. 

In semi-transition, inverted actions including James as the ball-handler and Maxey, Brown or Edgecombe as the roller will lather up this offense. James and Austin Reaves wielded these connections to team up for plenty of snappy scores during their years together. His new running mates should do the same.

James’ passing flair ensures he’ll see plenty of time on the ball. But there will also be many stretches when Maxey, Brown and Embiid commandeer possessions. During those periods, James’ feel and athleticism can shine. He and the Sixers would be shrewd to minimize his half-court creation volume — containing most of it to transition chances — and funnel the majority of his field goals in that context to play-finishing responsibilities. 

Cuts, drives off the catch, deep seals, off-ball screens into hard dives and on-ball screens into spacious rolls should be the emphasis. Of course, it is unrealistic to fully separate one’s scoring and playmaking usage like this. He will take shots via his elbow/mid-post touches and snug pick-and-rolls. Being diligent about not letting those scenarios overlap too much, though, is imperative for fostering his ideal offensive environment.

Beyond Maxey, the Sixers’ starting five is quite light on shooting. Reserves Anfernee Simons (career 38.1 percent from deep) and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (36.5 percent) are pivotal in alleviating some of those concerns. Regardless of what those three do, Philadelphia, to reach the lofty offensive heights it seeks, must ply its trade inside and rely heavily on James to do so.

His individual interior exploits have been outlined above. But he is also one of the NBA’s foremost playmakers around the basket — an area Maxey, Philadelphia’s primary playmaker last year, has long struggled — tossing lobs, whizzing feeds to cutters and fitting drop-offs or wraparounds through keyholes. 

Note his at-rim assists per 100 possessions from the past four seasons (smaller number is percentile ranking):

Or how much higher the Lakers’ rim frequency was with him on the court each of the last four years, per Cleaning the Glass (a consistent trend throughout his illustrious career):

An interior-inclined offense short on long-range shooting is not a new phenomenon for the Sixers. They’ve been among the top 10 in rim frequency the last three seasons. But they’ve dawdled as a bottom-15 group offensively partly by virtue of never placing higher than 24th in rim efficiency. James (and Brown) should help remedy that.

For as monumental an offensive upgrade James represents over George for Philadelphia, his latest seasons defensively indicate a notable defensive decline from his Sixers predecessor. 

James is a fairly inactive defender, content to switch out of most actions and avoid being thrust into screen navigation requirements or on-ball duties. Once a ferocious help-side rim protector, his flame has dimmed. Vigorous rotations at the basket or pick-six steals are highlights rather than an accurate snapshot of his signature off the ball.

Philadelphia will miss George’s point-of-attack aptitude, swirling limbs of chaos and interior imprint. The gulf between his and James’ rim protection over the past three years is vast, per databallr (top is George, bottom is James):

Similarly, the gulf between their playmaking is substantial. Last season, George averaged 2.7 steals (98th percentile) and 6.5 deflections (98th) per 100 possessions. His STOP rate (steals, blocks recovered by the defense, offensive fouls drawn per 100) was 3.5 (94th). 

James’ production in those categories? 1.8 (64th percentile), 2.7 (30th) and 2.4 (60th). 

Illuminating this reality does not mean the indirect George-for-James swap at the 4 is a negative for Philadelphia. In essence, the Sixers opted for Brown and James over George. That’s an easy decision that makes them much better entering 2026-27, led by the offensive dominion those two acquisitions will instill.

Yet they are demanding lots from Embiid as the lone interior force (commonplace for him, we’ll see what he looks like another year removed from the tumult of 2023-24); hoping for a bounce-back year on the ball for Brown (while still carrying a hefty load offensively, albeit smaller than 2025-26); asking Edgecombe to expand upon the defensive intrigue of last season, and banking on Dean Wade to continue excelling at the point of attack. 

None of those are unreasonable expectations. They’re merely many dominoes needed to fall for Philadelphia’s presumably potent offense to be flanked by a serviceable defense in a post-George existence (again, George out, James and Brown in is a smash hit). 

More than anything, envisioning what an overhauled roster uniting so much talent and starpower may resemble is a guessing game of the highest order. I have an idea of what James brings and how he fits. I could be off-base in my assessment. 

At worst, I know his passing sorcery is an element Brown has never experienced, nor has the All-NBA version of Maxey or the still-very-good-yet-below-MVP-caliber era of Embiid. That should benefit all of them and render the Sixers an improved team in 2026-27. I’m fascinated to watch it shake out.

Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the NBA. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Bucks fans and fans across the country.

With the season inching closer and the preseason and regular season schedules released, it’s time to start thinking about the realities of the Milwaukee Bucks’ roster. And while there are moves yet to be made—the Bucks still have 17 rostered players and thus must trim that to 15 to begin the season—what better way to start than by considering, well, who starts?

Over the next week or so, we’ll break down the options at each position—and, of course, seek your insight too. But to set the scene, let’s first consider the Bucks’ (relatively) newly acquired talent, courtesy of Giannis, Bobby Portis, and the Miami Heat: Tyler Herro, Kel’el Ware, Jaime Jaquez Jr., and Kasparas Jakučionis. 

We’ve already profiled each of these players individually, detailing Herro’s homecoming, dissecting Jaquez’s old-school game, examining why Ware is primed to break out, and explaining why Jakučionis was a must-have acquisition. But considering their games and whether they start are two very different things.

Thus, we pose the question: how many of these Miami expats should Taylor Jenkins start?

For reference, the Heat went 43-39 last season, finishing 10th in the Eastern Conference standings. During the regular season, only Herro was a near-lock for the starting lineup, racking up 28 starts in 33 games. Ware was next, but he was part-time at best—34 out of 77. Of course, Jaquez was runner-up in the Sixth Man of the Year award, so he seldom started in his 77 appearances (just once, in fact). As for Jakučionis, he played 53 games, starting 12.

In the postseason, things mostly stayed the same. The Heat played just one game, losing an epic overtime Play-In battle to the Charlotte Hornets, 127-126, and Herro continued to start, putting up 23 points, three rebounds, and six assists. In somewhat of a surprise, Ware joined him, going for 12 points, 19 rebounds, four assists, and five blocks, while Jaquez did his usual thing off the bench (13 points, six rebounds, eight assists, a steal and a block). Jakučionis, on the other hand, collected a DNP-CD.

Context considered, how do you envision the ex-Heat quartet fitting in with the Bucks? Four players. Five starting spots. How many should Taylor Jenkins actually trust with a starting role?

While Kawhi Leonard was the driving force behind the Toronto Raptors’ first-ever NBA title in 2019, there was an entire operation behind him, constantly scheming to put the superstar in a position to succeed.

Vice President of Player Health and Performance, Alex McKechnie, became a household name among casual basketball fans when he coined and implemented the term “load management”. The season-long strategy was designed to keep Leonard healthy enough for an eventual post-season run. This meant devaluing certain stretches in the regular-season, often games falling in a back-to-back.

Despite not having their captain on the court, Toronto ultimately finished 2nd in the Eastern Conference with a 58-24 record. The Raptors’ home court was a tremendous advantage in the playoffs, particularly during the seven-game series against the Philadelphia 76ers. The 76ers finished as the third seed that year. It’s tough to envision Leonard’s bouncing game-winner anywhere but at Scotiabank Arena.

During that season, Toronto played in 12 back-to-back sets. This year, the Raptors have 15 on the schedule. The 2018-19 Raptors were an impressive 17-7 in back-to-back games. They were also 11-3 from October to December, an astonishing feat considering the roster was still trying to sort out its chemistry at the time.

By comparison, the Raptors finished 12-16 in back-to-back games last year.

When Leonard missed one of these contests, his team still produced, with Toronto accumulating a 12-3 record. Additionally, it seemingly didn’t matter which game of the back-to-back Leonard missed:

• Missed the first game: 4-1
• Missed the second game: 8-2

Leonard also sat in three entire sets of back-to-back games, with one a month from November to January.

Subsequently, Toronto often leaned on players like Norman Powell (earlier in the season) or Fred VanVleet as fill-in starters whenever Leonard sat. Factor in other options like Serge Ibaka, OG Anunoby and Jeremy Lin, and it’s easy to understand why that team was so successful without Leonard.

Does this year’s iteration of the team have the same luxury?

As it stands, it depends on what’s measured. Defensively, the Raptors are ready to support Leonard at an elite level. The combination of Jamal Shead, Ja’Kobe Walter, Collin Murray-Boyles, and Allen Graves is a relentless group. Offensively, it’s unfair to compare this year’s bench to the firepower that the championship team had. If Walter can make another significant jump in his development, that’ll certainly go a long way.

Toronto could also still make additions this off-season or make a trade-deadline move similar in value to when the team acquired Marc Gasol.

Regardless, the Raptors must improve their back-to-back record, especially in an Eastern Conference that is forecast to be a gauntlet.