Post#2102 » by G_K_F » Mon Sep 30, 2024 2:25 am
Let's break this down.
Nobody cares that Randle was traded. He's not the reason people don't like the trade.
The Knicks lost iHart, their hustle rebounder and best passing big man and one of the core dog mentality guys on the team.
The Knicks also lost their best 3 point shooter in Donte Divicenzo. Not only is he their best shooter - he can shoot off the catch, something Bridges and Brunson aren't as comfortable doing. Donte could shoot the 3 any which way and had a quick release. He was lethal for us and we just gave the dude away like he was nothing. "Oh he wasn't going to get minutes". There's still plenty of minutes there. OG misses 50% of every season. Having Donte off the bench wasn't a good idea?
The bench is clearly weaker with the loss of DDV and there is no replacement for him at all. Shamet is a journeyman who sucks now, unless he regains his early Clippers form. I'm the biggest McBride fan - even before anyone wanted to draft him - but he's limited offensively. Cam Payne is a streaky clown who has become a journeyman. Precious is a solid depth piece but you can put the burden on him; he also has zero offensive skills. Jericho Sims has even worse offensive skills than Precious. Kolek is a real nice intangible guy but I'm iffy on Thibs actually giving him a real shot - plus having a small backcourt of Kolek and McBride would be abused defensively by bigger guards.
Now, onto Towns. The acquisition changes the entire chemistry of the team. It's not about Randle. It's about how they'll be playing. More of an outside-in team than a gritty inside-out team. You'll see a lot of settling for jumpers - especially from Towns, who is a finesse player. Towns also can't play drop coverage on defense, which is a Thibs staple. He gets cooked routinely. He's simply below average overall defensively. Nobody is scared of driving it in on Towns and nobody is definitely not scared of Towns defending a pick and roll. This is not even mentioning Towns softness on and off the court - particularly off the court with him whining about the fans being unfair to him, etc. People who think some soft ass dude is going to all of a sudden become a completely different person because he put on a Knicks jersey are delusional. You just acquired a dude who is the opposite of how we played on the court last year in terms of hustle, basketball IQ and chemistry. You destroyed all that for someone who doesn't even guarantee you a Conference Finals and you're locked into $50+ million a season for a non-superstar for a minimum of 3 years, probably 4 years.
You lost your best and most crafty 3 point shooter and got worse defensively but you gained a 3 point shooting big who can space the floor.
We emptied our entire clip on Mikal Bridges and Karl Anthony Towns.
We have a couple of middling 1sts and 10 2nd round picks to work with for the next 5 years. We're hardcapped in the 2nd apron after this move probably. No assets to acquire anyone worthwhile for the foreseeable future moving forward.
How does anyone look at this trade and think we are an NBA Finals contender? This is a typical "Knicks look formidable on paper" move that ends up a disaster.
The OG Greek Freak
RIP mags
