Shams: Thibs FIRED (lol)

[Mr Funk]

Weird, but maybe a good move considering Thibs will run his players to the ground.

This is one of the dumbest and most annoying myths in the NBA. When Thibs coached the Bulls, he actually had a bench he could play and he played them a lot:

Omer Asik
Taj Gibson
Kyle Korver
Ronnie Brewer
C.J. Watson

The original bench mob. Meanwhile, the reality is that the Knicks have a major roster construction problem: two massive holes on defence with KAT and Brunson, with one weak ass bench.

If you want to win in the modern NBA and ultimately compete for a championship, you need depth, period. Boston, OKC, Indiana: super deep teams with either/or both great offence and defence, with very holes, especially on defence.

New York's front office built a flawed roster with way too much of an emphasis on the starting line-up, trading a ridiculous amount of picks for Mikal Bridges, while trading some of their depth for OG and signing him to that massive contract.

This is such a Dolan move. Wonder how long until they're irrelevant again.

[Prestige]

They have too much redundancy. They don’t need both Bridges and OG. Trade one of them in a package for KD or another perimeter scorer. That woule balance the team out. There’s too much Brunson iso ball and KAT is not reliable. They should also improve their depth.

[TimeForChange]

Kat got Thibs fired for the second time

I am not a fan of Thibs and his archaic philosophy of coaching so I think the Knicks made the smart move here.

[brownbobcat]

They have too much redundancy. They don’t need both Bridges and OG. Trade one of them in a package for KD or another perimeter scorer. That woule balance the team out. There’s too much Brunson iso ball and KAT is not reliable. They should also improve their depth.

Sometimes, you just lose. They got past Boston, which nobody really expected and getting to the ECF without a superstar is pretty good - not like they choked or anything.

They shouldn't have traded that much for Bridges, but that ain't his fault. KAT's defence stinks, but that's why they lean heavily on their perimeter guys. If they had Hartenstein instead of Robinson, that would've made a big difference.

[Tofubeque]

I heard on a podcast how few PNRs Brunson and Towns were running and figured he was probably gone. You can only go so long in the NBA not running a modern offense.

Now if they didn't like his rotations and replace him with Malone, that will be funny. Malone just got fired for not using his bench enough.

[GIZMO]

Watch on YouTube

guess we know what he really thought lol

[Merit]

He’s their Mark Jackson

Don’t expect a dynasty coming but they should take a jump next year

He seems to be the guy that installs the tenacity and someone else takes over at the end to get them over the hump so to speak.

[UnderdogRaptors]

Knicks are terrible all around

[UnderdogRaptors]

This i always the move when your team loses and you don't make a big roster change...First to go is always the coach...If they lose after running it back against next year thats when players get shipped...

The Knicks had their best playoff run since 1999 and were the 3rd seed.

Brunson, KAT, Bridges, OG, Hart etc. are all under 30 years old and have only played together for 1 year basically.

Firing the coach usually happens when a team is a contender but flame out in the playoffs for multiple years in a row or have a big upset earlier in the playoffs.

This is a bit more unexpected since the Knicks hadn't made it past the 2nd round in 26 years and have only been in the 2nd three times in 26 years.

It was a lucky year they should have lost to det. They are a first round exist this upcoming year

[Badonkadonk]

Ruthless, but I think Mike Malone is a straight upgrade and even Taylor Jenkins would be too.

[TorontoBarneys]

I don't like Thibs' coaching style but I do think he unlocked another gear with that squad by playing them so hard. Knicks are not deep so I think many replacement coaches will be a downgrade.

[OakleyDokely]

The Knicks had a wealth of picks/young players and used them all to acquire 2nd/3rd/4th option guys. They really needed to stay patient until a legit #1 option became available.

Towns is making 50+
OG is making 40+
Bridges is in the last year of his deal and he will looking for max or near max.

None of these guys are great assets anymore because of their high salaries.

Brunson and Hart are their best value guys, but Brunson is going nowhere and Hart is worth more to them than he'd bring in a trade.

The team is good enough and the east is weak enough to sneak a finals appearance, but I can't see them winning a title unless they land a legit #1 guy somehow.

[MiamiSPX]

The Knicks had a wealth of picks/young players and used them all to acquire 2nd/3rd/4th option guys. They really needed to stay patient until a legit #1 option became available.

Towns is making 50+
OG is making 40+
Bridges is in the last year of his deal and he will looking for max or near max.

None of these guys are great assets anymore because of their high salaries.

Brunson and Hart are their best value guys, but Brunson is going nowhere and Hart is worth more to them than he'd bring in a trade.

The team is good enough and the east is weak enough to sneak a finals appearance, but I can't see them winning a title unless they land a legit #1 guy somehow.

I feel like a few of us have been saying, for a while now, that you can't win a title with an iso-heavy, undersized guard as your best player.

As for firing Thibs, I didn't think they had it in them. He walks away owed 30M in guaranteed money, so I guess he can't be that upset.

[Pointgod]

Watch them just promote Rick

Lmao. It will be like the episode in Fresh Prince when every play was pass it to Will

[dafan590]

Knicks are the NBA version of the Leafs, so it ain't Thibs fault, but 5 years is more than enough for Thibs.
Once it hits the ceiling, it's time to move on.

[Pointgod]

Good move by the Knicks. Championship teams needs coaches that are flexible and innovative. Thibs was a dinosaur in that respect.

[WaltFrazier]

Didn't they just extend him last year?

Yeah and he's owed $30 mill now.

But coach Bud is owed $40M by PHX, for comparison

[WaltFrazier]

OG just extended his career by at least 2 years because of this.

He played 74 games this season, with heavy minutes

[Pointgod]

Ruthless, but I think Mike Malone is a straight upgrade and even Taylor Jenkins would be too.

I really like Taylor Jenkins for this team. Malone offers the same problems as Thibs.

[djsunyc]

OG just extended his career by at least 2 years because of this.

He played 74 games this season, with heavy minutes

they had og and mitch healthy the entire playoffs. they got lucky.