Knicks’ Options for this Season

Last season, the Knicks had a very disappointing season, missing the playoffs after making it the year before. The team was not very good last year, and improvements needed to be made. So, during the offseason, the front office went out and made those moves. The only major signing they made was bringing in Jalen Brunson to play point guard, who now seems like he’s the player that pushed the Knicks passed .500 again. The other moves they made were to not re-sign the old players on the team and focus on the youth. 

So, what’s working so well this year? Well, first off, they have a pretty competitive big three of Brunson, Julius Randle, and RJ Barrett. All three of them are capable ball handlers which have shown they can lead the Knicks offense. Finally, Barrett blossomed into a really good option for the Knicks, he’s shown that he can score this season and last season, even like a few games ago, where he dropped 44 and averaging 20+. Although, even though he’s been doing so well, he’s only the third-leading scorer for the Knicks. The Knicks haven’t had a competent point guard since 2017 when Derrick Rose ran the one and averaged 18 and 4. Well, Brunson is alr
eady averaging 21 and 6.5 and dropped 38 two games ago. Finally, the unlikely #1 option, Julius Randle, who is really succeeding in New York is getting a lot of hate from most fans. Randle led the team to the playoffs in 2021 and played great last year too. He’s averaging a double-double right now and has six of them in a row. Now I know that six double-doubles in a row aren’t amazing when Luka Doncic is getting five triple-doubles in a row but for the player, Randle is, it’s impressive. The shooting numbers have been really good so far. Eleven players are shooting above 40% from the field this season, including Jericho Sims and Mitchell Robinson above 70%. The rebounding has been amazing as well this season, as the Knicks as a whole are top 3 in total rebounding and offensive rebounding. 

Would the Knicks need to make a move at the deadline? Well, first let’s see the missing pieces on the team. Well, Mitchell Robinson, in my opinion, is an indispensable option for the Knicks at the center, so I don’t see a hole at center for the Knicks. Obviously, I would prefer Nikola Jokic instead of Robinson, but realistically, the Knicks aren’t trading for Jokic. I would even prefer someone like Clint Capela, but looking at the past, the Knicks haven’t been too aggressive at the deadline so realistically, Capela isn’t even an option. Now, the small forward position is currently filled by a smaller guard, Quentin Grimes, so upgrading at small forward is most definitely an option. Luckily, the Knicks have options: Harrison Barnes, Gary Trent Jr, Caris LeVert, Malik Beasley and Kelly Oubre Jr. just to name a few. Once the Knicks would trade for one of these guys, then Grimes would be moved to the bench, adding to an already decent bench unit. 

Will the Knicks continue this performance? I think they will and could possibly go deep into the playoffs this year.