Post-Mortem: 2022-23 New York Knicks

[ElectricMayhem]

The Butler did it.

Here is the data from previous years' Post-Mortems:
2020-21:

Spoiler:

Post-Mortem Results I: GM Confidence Meter
Post-Mortem Results II: Coaching Confidence Meter
Post-Mortem Results III: Performance Compared to Expectations
Post-Mortem Results IV: Rising/Treadmill/Waning

2021-22:
2021-22 Post Mortem Final Summary

Team Name: New York Knicks
Record at Time of Death: 47-35 (.573) (2nd Round Loss)
Head of Front Office: Scott Perry (2020-)
Coach: Tom Thibodeau (2020-)

Offensive Rating: 4th
Defensive Rating: 19th
Rebound %: 2nd
Turnover %: 5th

Front Office: Change or keep?
Coach: Change or keep?
Relative to expectations, how did they fare this year?
Rising, falling, or treadmill?
If you were in charge, what would you do this offseason?

Notes:
Players under contract next year:
Jalen Brunson ($26m)
Julius Randle ($26m)
RJ Barrett ($24m)
Evan Fournier ($19m)
Mitchell Robinson ($16m)
Isaiah Hartenstein ($8m)
Obi Toppin ($7m)
Immanuel Quickley ($4m)
Quentin Grimes ($2m)
Jericho Sims ($2m) (Partially Guaranteed)

Team Options:
Derrick Rose ($16m)
Miles McBride ($2m)

Player Options:
Josh Hart ($13m)

Free Agents:
Isaiah Roby
Trevor Keels
DaQuan Jeffries
Duane Washington Jr.

Dead Money:

Previous Post-Mortems:
30. Houston Rockets
29. San Antonio Spurs
28. Detroit Pistons
27. Charlotte Hornets
26. Portland Trail Blazers
25. Indiana Pacers
24. Washington Wizards
23. Orlando Magic
22. Utah Jazz
21. Dallas Mavericks
20. Toronto Raptors
19. New Orleans Pelicans
18. Chicago Bulls
17. Oklahoma City Thunder
16. Brooklyn Nets
15. Minnesota Timberwolves
14. Los Angeles Clippers
13. Cleveland Cavaliers
12. Milwaukee Bucks
11. Atlanta Hawks
10. Memphis Grizzlies
9. Sacramento Kings
8. Phoenix Suns
7. New York Knicks

[slicedbread2]

1) Keep the front office. World Wide Wes has been doing a phenomenal job. Sure his connection to being Jalen Brunson's godfather was a major reason in him coming to NY but he's really done a nice job in setting a good foundation in which the younger guys will have an opportunity to shine. Having stability at the top is very important and for a long suffering franchise that's been ailing since the turn of the Millennium it's really good to see them do well. Pray that Dolan stays out of the way.

2) Thibs is a mixed bag but I like him. Knicks fans will have a better picture of him coaching wise but I'm sort of glad that he let the young guys develop and not throw them into the deep end of the swimming pool without seeing whether or not they can swim in the shallow end. Very important because if you throw them to the wolves before they are ready you'll kill them mentally.

3) They performed better than I thought they would. I didn't think Brunson would be this damn good and I was skeptical about him leaving Dallas because he had a great situation with Luka and Spence with that 3 guard rotation but I can't blame him for wanting a bigger role and trying to find out what he's truly made out of. Love the internal development even though R.J. Barrett has some major growing pains to go through(he's gonna be 23 soon so I'd give him time but who knows).

4) Rising. For the love of god I hope the Knicks don't make a boneheaded move and mortgage their future like in years past. Quite frankly if the Dallas pick falls to 11 they could find a potential gem at the 3 spot to develop or perhaps flip that pick+filler for an established piece if need be.

I like where the team is headed and hopefully we see more success and stability going forward.

[itrsteve]

Run it back, with some complimentary pieces.

Knicks had a good thing going and I was wrong about them. Either way a good Knicks team is always great for the NBA. Don’t hate to see it, yet.

[TrentTuckerRule]

Keep the front office, you can't teach old Thibs new tricks so fire him. Performed better than expected however with RJ and Randle we are a treadmill team. Brunson should be untouchable, don't care about the rest of the roster.

[ElectricMayhem]

The Knicks had a very good season. The biggest issue I see with them is a lack of a pathway toward greatness. Brunson showed this year that he's got what it takes, but it kind of feels like the entire team is at or near their ceiling, so internal growth will be limited. Nobody has a crazy contract, so now that the franchise has sort of stabilized and they have a foundation piece in Brunson, they may be able to attract some free agents. Just don't throw crazy money at guys who don't deserve it like past New York Knick front offices.

[KnicksGadfly]

Second time Butler has beat Thibs’ ass with a bunch of gleaguers

[RoxSteady]

The Knicks had a very good season. The biggest issue I see with them is a lack of a pathway toward greatness. Brunson showed this year that he's got what it takes, but it kind of feels like the entire team is at or near their ceiling, so internal growth will be limited. Nobody has a crazy contract, so now that the franchise has sort of stabilized and they have a foundation piece in Brunson, they may be able to attract some free agents. Just don't throw crazy money at guys who don't deserve it like past New York Knick front offices.

This! The depth chart is really solid (below) but I'm also very confused as to how to move forward!

Roster:
Like many, I think RJ and Randle need to be upgraded. Of course the team has a history of chasing big names and bloated contracts and you want to avoid that. On the other hand, I also think you want to sell high and, with Randle, that time is now. Barrett showed some efficiency in the playoffs and I'd be willing to sell while he may have some value (young, 20ppg, with some [small] chance of becoming a star).

The question is, who is available? Dame's age scares me. KAT is possibly an upgrade but hardly seems able to thrust us into contention, ditto Zach LaVine. Ayton would be an upgrade at center in some ways. Trae? Maybe if they don't have to give up much. I guess you just have to wait out the right player.

F/O:
I've been heartened by some of the moves Leon Rose has made; particularly going after Brunson, Hart, and Hartenstein.

Coach:
I think they could probably find a better coach, but Thibs isn't going anywhere anytime soon. He surpassed expectations again.

OT: Have you watched the Electric Mayhem show on Disney+ yet?

Brunson - Quickley/McBride
Grimes - Quickley
RJ - Hart
Randle - Obi
Robinson - Hartenstein

[MoneyTalks41890]

Imo keep Thibs, keep the FO. Keep RJ to see if he finds another gear, and I think he could play SG as a defender next to Jalen. Maybe platoon that spot with Grimes who I like a lot as a glue guy. But I would look at upgrading the forward spots and center with their assets if they can, depending on who becomes available with their future picks.

[MaxZaslofskyJr]

The other team wanted it more. Clean house.

[Statlanta]

Keep the coach and the front office.

Need more Hartenstein like contracts

[ThunderBolt]

I don’t see how anyone thinks they are plateauing. They have a star in Brunson, several other good role players and and plenty of assets. Also, they are the freaking NEW YORK Knicks, not the Oklahoma City Knicks. They’ve been trolled for so long because if the front office would be anything but horrible, stars would love to play there. Well, they are at that point. I’m not sure who it will be, but they are going to get more star power in NY.

[Chokic]

I would keep RJ for one more year. Randle has got go to go. The experiment is over. Keep thibs and FO. Trade for Mikal Bridges.

[CallMeKahn]

The Knicks had a very good season. The biggest issue I see with them is a lack of a pathway toward greatness. Brunson showed this year that he's got what it takes, but it kind of feels like the entire team is at or near their ceiling, so internal growth will be limited. Nobody has a crazy contract, so now that the franchise has sort of stabilized and they have a foundation piece in Brunson, they may be able to attract some free agents. Just don't throw crazy money at guys who don't deserve it like past New York Knick front offices.

I disagree with this. The Knicks have about 12 1st they own in some capacity in the coming years and their cap situation isn't horrible (set pretty sweet for next offseason) with some of their important players locked up for a while. They have the power of a major market at their back as well and most of the league is realizing these aren't the Knicks of yesteryear.

Despite the fact I think he's a sniveling weasel, Rose has done an underrated job getting them into a good to great position and they've done well to say "See, we didn't need Mitchell!" They have plenty of avenues forward, it's just a matter of how they want to do it.

[kobyz]

Grimes Played 40mpg while looking like the worst player in the league, and Knicks still made it a series, if Knicks can find a real peice to upgrade that position and RJ and Obi take a step further, they could make some real noise

[Phish Tank]

Trade Randle at all costs
Fire Thibs.

The Knicks were more talented than the Heat


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[Grinditout]

Is there anyone on this board that thinks they should keep Randle? It's really the move to do at this point.

[iLLmatic860]

say what you want about Thibs but hes made us relevant again. He exceeded expectations so we should keep building off of that until we actually do have expectations and when we start disappointing then thats when a coaching change is necessary. Unless if a coach like Ty Lue becomes available then ill do what I can to get him here

Trading Randle and trading some of our assets for shooting should be the priority

[Pointgod]

Gotta give props to the Knicks. They exceeded my expectations. Brunson is an absolute hoss! Brunson is a great option 2A/2B. They need to trade Randle or RJ for someone who actually shows up in the playoffs. Don’t necessarily need a superstar but you need a gamer like a Jimmy Butler. I would suggest they try to go after Lillard but a Lillard, Brunson backcourt is the stuff of nightmares defensively. If I’m the Knicks I keep a close eye on Shai in OKC, Jaylen Brown and Lauri Markkanen. Continue to fill the bench with young guys and stack draft picks. Don’t do anything stupid like empty the clip for KAT or Bradley Beal. Lastly, keeping Thibs is fine, but he’s not the guy to take the Knicks to the next level.

[stuporman]

It's kind of weird that the best coach the Knicks have had in like two decades has worn out his welcome among many fans wanting him to be fired plus their two time all-star and all NBA player has also worn it out with many fans wanting him to be traded.

Both of these people have contributed to an improvement to the team over the past few years but both have shown why they also limit the upside of the team. Additionally, there needs to be some adjustments to the rest of the roster to compliment Brunson better but the team seems like it's a little ahead of schedule.

Their cap situation is pretty good and have alot of draft assets to work with but all it takes is one bad move getting the wrong guy at the wrong cost on the wrong salary to screw it all up so this next couple of off seasons will take them up a level or make them treadmill.

Time will tell.

[Johnny Tomala]

Keep, keep, better, treadmill.