are the Knicks LEGIT contenders?!

[3toheadmelo]

Which Knick other than Brunson is a bad defender? Anunoby's awesome. Robinson is awesome. McBride is awesome. Bridges is pretty awesome. Achiuwa is pretty awesome. Hart is really damn good. Payne is good. And KAT has been a positive (neutral at worst) over the past few years.

KAT has been pretty terrible at the 5. He's ok at the 4 though.

He's been solid the past 2-3 years that they've stopped asking him to protect the rim. Mitch, Precious, OG, and Jericho should be able to protect the rim for us, which means we should be able to use KAT the way Minny has the past 2-3 years.

I been posting the numbers on the Knicks board, but the numbers show when he plays the 5, they were a terrible defensive team.

We need a true C next to KAT. Hopefully it's Mitch or someone we trade for.

[Quattro]

Worried about their depth when the inevitable injuries hit. Love their starting 5 though.

[cgf]

KAT has been pretty terrible at the 5. He's ok at the 4 though.

He's been solid the past 2-3 years that they've stopped asking him to protect the rim. Mitch, Precious, OG, and Jericho should be able to protect the rim for us, which means we should be able to use KAT the way Minny has the past 2-3 years.

I been posting the numbers on the Knicks board, but the numbers show when he plays the 5, they were a terrible defensive team.

We need a true C next to KAT. Hopefully it's Mitch or someone we trade for.

Yeah, but that's because he needs someone else to protect the rim for him and be the last line of defense. Which is exactly what we asked Precious to do last season and exactly what he had success doing. So even if Towns was the "5" & Achiuwa the "4" on paper, it should still work well until Mitch is back because functionally Precious would be doing the 5 things that KAT needs someone else to do.

OG can do it too...but I like that option less because OG is just a lot more dynamic defensively when he's free to disrupt or smothering a team's #1, and doesn't have to cover for everyone. Plus that would mean we had to put Mikal on the #1 option instead of OG...and Precious is crazy switchable & a really good offensive rebounder.

I'm also optimistic Jericho will take another step like he did last summer. He has the tools to be a good rim protector and has made a lot of progress since getting drafted. If Sims doesn't cut it, then I'd like to see something like Dadiet+Sims+WSH pick for Kessler. Robinson, Achiuwa, & Kessler would make me feel really good about our depth at the 5.

...even if I'd still have my concerns about the non-Brunson creation...

[iLLmatic860]

what Rivalry? lol

New York hates boston
Boston hates new york

that one

Just because the media sold you doesn't mean the rest of us are.

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Media? Lmao i dont even watch tv. I actually know tons of Boston fans and we talk **** regularly.

Are you really pretending that Boston fans dont hate Ny fans, vice versa or u being deadass?

[JujitsuFlip]

Brunson / McBride
Bridges / Payne
Anunoby / Morris Sr
Hart / Achiuwa
Towns / Mitchell

A little thin on the bench but their starting unit now rivals Boston.

Knicks really needed playmaking last season so don't forget about Kolek.

I expect Shamet to get some mins too

Kolek won't get PT from Thibs until he learns to play even bad NBA defense...especially given the depth in front of him at PG. And we can only keep 1 vet minimum guy on top of Payne, that final roster spot needs to go to a rookie-min guy. So it's either Shamet, Okeke, Morris, or somebody they haven't yet tried out, but just 1 of them.

Kids can obviously, improve...I think Jericho could become a full-time rotation guy and maybe Kolek will figure things out enough for Thibs to trust his defense in the NBA...and guys can prove surprisingly useful...I thought Payne was pretty good for the 6ers, I was intrigued by Okeke during Orlando's run, and Shamet can shoot if he's healthy...but as things stand we're looking at:

Starters
Brunson - Bridges - Anunoby - Towns - Robinson*

Big minute bench guys; can step in without looking out of place playing against starters
McBride* - Hart* - Achiuwa*

Deeper bench options; can give us minutes against bench units
Payne - Shamet/Okeke/Morris/FA - Sims

Redshirts; barring massive progress in the GL
Kolek - McCullar

Pretty sure TJ Warren replaced Morris once Morris refused to come back on a camp deal, once waived.

[cgf]

Knicks really needed playmaking last season so don't forget about Kolek.

I expect Shamet to get some mins too

Kolek won't get PT from Thibs until he learns to play even bad NBA defense...especially given the depth in front of him at PG. And we can only keep 1 vet minimum guy on top of Payne, that final roster spot needs to go to a rookie-min guy. So it's either Shamet, Okeke, Morris, or somebody they haven't yet tried out, but just 1 of them.

Kids can obviously, improve...I think Jericho could become a full-time rotation guy and maybe Kolek will figure things out enough for Thibs to trust his defense in the NBA...and guys can prove surprisingly useful...I thought Payne was pretty good for the 6ers, I was intrigued by Okeke during Orlando's run, and Shamet can shoot if he's healthy...but as things stand we're looking at:

Starters
Brunson - Bridges - Anunoby - Towns - Robinson*

Big minute bench guys; can step in without looking out of place playing against starters
McBride* - Hart* - Achiuwa*

Deeper bench options; can give us minutes against bench units
Payne - Shamet/Okeke/Morris/FA - Sims

Redshirts; barring massive progress in the GL
Kolek - McCullar

Pretty sure TJ Warren replaced Morris once Morris refused to come back on a camp deal, once waived.

True, but I can't say I think either one was likely to make it over Shamet or Okeke.

[iLLmatic860]

Kolek won't get PT from Thibs until he learns to play even bad NBA defense...especially given the depth in front of him at PG. And we can only keep 1 vet minimum guy on top of Payne, that final roster spot needs to go to a rookie-min guy. So it's either Shamet, Okeke, Morris, or somebody they haven't yet tried out, but just 1 of them.

Kids can obviously, improve...I think Jericho could become a full-time rotation guy and maybe Kolek will figure things out enough for Thibs to trust his defense in the NBA...and guys can prove surprisingly useful...I thought Payne was pretty good for the 6ers, I was intrigued by Okeke during Orlando's run, and Shamet can shoot if he's healthy...but as things stand we're looking at:

Starters
Brunson - Bridges - Anunoby - Towns - Robinson*

Big minute bench guys; can step in without looking out of place playing against starters
McBride* - Hart* - Achiuwa*

Deeper bench options; can give us minutes against bench units
Payne - Shamet/Okeke/Morris/FA - Sims

Redshirts; barring massive progress in the GL
Kolek - McCullar

Pretty sure TJ Warren replaced Morris once Morris refused to come back on a camp deal, once waived.

True, but I can't say I think either one was likely to make it over Shamet or Okeke.

I think Warren gonna be at the end of the bench sorta like Burks was. So situational. But he do have some goon in him. I hope we play Heat in playoffs lol

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[OrangeBlueSkies]

Kolek won't get PT from Thibs until he learns to play even bad NBA defense...especially given the depth in front of him at PG. And we can only keep 1 vet minimum guy on top of Payne, that final roster spot needs to go to a rookie-min guy. So it's either Shamet, Okeke, Morris, or somebody they haven't yet tried out, but just 1 of them.

Kids can obviously, improve...I think Jericho could become a full-time rotation guy and maybe Kolek will figure things out enough for Thibs to trust his defense in the NBA...and guys can prove surprisingly useful...I thought Payne was pretty good for the 6ers, I was intrigued by Okeke during Orlando's run, and Shamet can shoot if he's healthy...but as things stand we're looking at:

Starters
Brunson - Bridges - Anunoby - Towns - Robinson*

Big minute bench guys; can step in without looking out of place playing against starters
McBride* - Hart* - Achiuwa*

Deeper bench options; can give us minutes against bench units
Payne - Shamet/Okeke/Morris/FA - Sims

Redshirts; barring massive progress in the GL
Kolek - McCullar

Pretty sure TJ Warren replaced Morris once Morris refused to come back on a camp deal, once waived.

True, but I can't say I think either one was likely to make it over Shamet or Okeke.

Due to the new cba, we can only sign one veteran. It seems that shamet will be signed and ariel hukporti the center at rookie.

[cgf]

Pretty sure TJ Warren replaced Morris once Morris refused to come back on a camp deal, once waived.

True, but I can't say I think either one was likely to make it over Shamet or Okeke.

Due to the new cba, we can only sign one veteran. It seems that shamet will be signed and ariel hukporti the center at rookie.

Yeah, it was in the middle of that first paragraph but I mentioned that we can only sign one of Shamet / Okeke / Morris / Warren / vet min FA:

we can only keep 1 vet minimum guy on top of Payne, that final roster spot needs to go to a rookie-min guy. So it's either Shamet, Okeke, Morris, or somebody they haven't yet tried out, but just 1 of them

But I'm not sure why you are assuming that Shamet & Hukporti will get those final two spots. Did I miss some reporting from Katz or one of the good Knicks beat guys?

If you're just speculating then I'm skeptical about Huk getting the contract over McCullar. With Achiuwa, Sims and Towns capable of filling in while Mitch is out, we're not so desperate for a center that we'll take just anybody & from what I've read McCullar seems much closer to actually giving us NBA minutes.

Shamet v Okeke is more unclear to me. I see the argument for giving that job to a quality shooter...if Shamet is fit...but I like Okeke's defensive versatility and he just feels more like a Thibsy kinda player than Landry.

[basketballRob]

I don’t think OG true second star . So not contender for championship . They will make ECF and be beat by Boston or 76ers in 6

He's like our 4th option and the best defensive wing in the league...

If you consider Isaac a big, that's true.

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[Lalouie]

no. they are not a top4

[nzahir]

Just so you guys know. KAT is literally the worst defensive center you can have. Very good on the perimeter or bodying 1 on 1, but literally no feel, no rim protection, no help D. There's a reason the Wolves got Gobert. There's a reason suddenly KAT looked decent on D after they did.

Well they still have Mitchell Robinson coming back don't they...

They should really consider a move for a C who isn't hurt now though

OG is the best defender out of OG, Bridges, ANT, and Mcdaniels

They still have Hart and Precious to help out on D. And I think McBride plays decent defense iirc

NY is gona be legit

[KamikazeK]

Absolutely on the same level of the Celtics. They got their Porzingis in Towns. They have the starters. Now they just need some bench pieces but they can always get that at the trade deadline or...who knows maybe a player or two breaks out and develops to solidify their bench situation.

Porzingis is way better than Towns

[Quentin]

I've been following the Wolves since inception. I was very happy to hear about the Towns trade. He has a ten cent head, as Knicks fans will soon find out. Really dumb fouls. Very soft defender and gets lost a lot. Tries to make highlight reel passes that don't work. I may be in the minority from a Wolves fan perspective but I always thought he was overrated. Guess we'll see how the season goes.

[Sweet Serenity]

Absolutely on the same level of the Celtics. They got their Porzingis in Towns. They have the starters. Now they just need some bench pieces but they can always get that at the trade deadline or...who knows maybe a player or two breaks out and develops to solidify their bench situation.

While they have closed the talent gap it’s yet to be determined if the pieces fit together.
The reason the Celtics are so good right now is because the whole team is playing like a well oiled machine.

[Celts17Pride]

Knicks lack depth. Thibs is going to play the starters 42-44 mpg and run them into the ground. Everyone will be hurt for the playoffs.

Where have we seen this movie before?

[Moose]

Knicks lack depth. Thibs is going to play the starters 42-44 mpg and run them into the ground. Everyone will be hurt for the playoffs.

Where have we seen this movie before?

People really just make things up. Even with all the injuries, brunson averaged 35 mpg during the season. Thibs runs a 9-man rotation.

They may still get hurt, but it isn't because they are playing 44 mpg.

[Celts17Pride]

Knicks lack depth. Thibs is going to play the starters 42-44 mpg and run them into the ground. Everyone will be hurt for the playoffs.

Where have we seen this movie before?

People really just make things up. Even with all the injuries, brunson averaged 35 mpg during the season. Thibs runs a 9-man rotation.

They may still get hurt, but it isn't because they are playing 44 mpg.

The point is still the same. Thibs because of a lack of bench depth, is going to run the starters into the ground. It's what he has always done.

[Moose]

Knicks lack depth. Thibs is going to play the starters 42-44 mpg and run them into the ground. Everyone will be hurt for the playoffs.

Where have we seen this movie before?

People really just make things up. Even with all the injuries, brunson averaged 35 mpg during the season. Thibs runs a 9-man rotation.

They may still get hurt, but it isn't because they are playing 44 mpg.

The point is still the same. Thibs because of a lack of bench depth, is going to run the starters into the ground. It's what he has always done.

The regular season data says otherwise.

[Slimjimzv]

I'm clearly in the minority, but I actually liked them better before the trade. KAT is a proven loser, and they lost depth. If they were determined to trade Randle, I think they could have gotten more. That being said, they're clearly contenders. They have one of the best starting 5's in the league.