moocow007 wrote:HEZI wrote:Looking at what Bobby Portis got man how many wish we still had Bobby instead of Randle? I do
Folks treated Bobby like trash and he was the best of the forwards we had. He’s making half as much as what we signed Brunson for but equally as good. Oof
If Bobby Portis had to do what the Knicks needed Randle to do the Knicks would have been looking at a couple top 3 picks. Hey wait...that may have been the better choice after all?

Well, if Bobby Portis tried to do what Randle did last year, he'd be on the street right now and looking at a minimum contract. Oh, you're not talking about Bobby Portis copying Randle's attitude, are you? But you know that's not Portis' game, so it's not like Thibs would give him the ball and ask him to create. Rather, what Portis would give the Knicks in this scenario, presumably we max him out so that we have no choice but to put up with his poor attitude and lackadaisical defense, is much better floor spacing, much more efficient scoring, rebounding, and a lot less onball creation. Probably more toughness and less turnovers. Probably much deserved blame if he was putting in terrible work after he was maxed out, a season after showing great leadership, mental strength, and defense.
I think this is a terrible argument because if we replaced Randle, the ball probably would have been distributed elsewhere...presumably RJ, Burks, and IQ would step up more in that scenario since everyone else got hurt. In all honesty, it'd look ugly, but it probably would have been better for New York, and the fans would never question if they were giving full effort. It would also force Thibs to be more creative or he would play a really nasty grind it out version of basketball to try and limit turnovers.
Now let's say Randle was gone. No Portis. Obi Toppin probably would have started and his skillset is really different. Obi runs more, moves without the ball more, is not as great as a rebounder, is more athletic and is not as good as an offensive hub. Thibs also has less of a leash for him, so he might have gotten benched for Taj a ton. There might be some upside on offense there, since Obi has some chemistry with RJ and IQ, but still, it would be growing pains.
Would the lack of Randle would have caused the Knicks to drop from the 11th pick to a top 3 pick? That was one of your arguments, right? The Knicks won 37 games. OKC, with the 4th worst record, won 24. No way Randle was responsible for that swing or for the Knicks winning 13 more games. He had his worst offensive NBA season ever, a really bad +/-, bad defense, bad leadership, technicals that didn't need to happen, etc. Would the Knicks lose more in this scenario if we lost Randle and had to shunt possessions onto the other players on the roster. I really doubt it. Dude had a quite a **** season. Like I said, just cause Obi all of a sudden replaces Randle doesn't mean that Obi would all of a sudden gain Randle's possessions. Someone else would take over.