There may be more pressure on the Knicks’ front office than coach Tom Thibodeau, Steve Popper of Newsday speculates.
The Knicks had to attach draft picks to trade three veterans during the offseason and now have three more — Evan Fournier, Derrick Rose and Cam Reddish — glued to the bench. They could use some help on the second unit, with Eric Gordon and Grayson Allen rumored as potential trade targets. Meanwhile, Thibodeau is leaning on younger players to produce.
“We know that a big part of learning is trial and error, so our young guys are getting better day by day, and that’s what I’m excited about,” the head coach said. “I know there’s a tremendous amount of growth they’ve already had, and I think there’s more to come.”
We have more on the New York City teams:
- With the jumbled standings and most teams at least in contention for the play-in tournament, there are more buyers than sellers in the trade market. That could make it more difficult for the Knicks to do anything, Fred Katz of The Athletic notes. The Knicks are hoping that more teams will go into sell mode prior to the trade deadline — Katz breaks down which clubs might fall into that category.
- The Knicks were disappointed with their defensive coverages in their loss to the Kevin Durant-less Nets, Peter Botte of the New York Post writes. The Nets knocked down 22 3-pointers. “Closing out, sense of urgency, none of that. We have to be better,” Julius Randle said. “We didn’t play well enough to win. We definitely didn’t deserve to win the game. We didn’t pick up our sense of urgency until the game went on, the fourth quarter. We have to be better from the start.”
- On the flip side, the Nets might need to continue firing away from deep to make up for Durant’s absence, according to Brian Lewis of the New York Post. They attempted 40 3-pointers against the Knicks and head coach Jacque Vaughn wasn’t sure it was enough. “I wouldn’t mind having 10 more,” Vaughn said. “I say that in the huddle, let’s get 50 up. We have a good enough squad who can shoot the basketball and they have to be respected. [Kyrie Irving’s] ability, that’s why it’s so great to have the basketball in his hands. … If we can shoot 50 [3-pointers], we’ll shoot 50 and be OK with that as long as they’re good ones.”
Losing to the Nets without KD playing is disgraceful. A friend of mind was like it’s not like they got blown out. Totally Unacceptable. Smh
not disgraceful
KD-less Nets >> fully healthy Knicks
Maybe, and just hear me out… but maybe Thibs is just a crap coach? I’m sorry but Reddish, Fournier, and D Rose get meaningful minutes on every other team in the league.
And I also think (but could be wrong) that Mr Vet, Thibs, had a heavy influence on brining these players in.
You can’t blame the front office when the coach us just doing everything possible to screw with the front office…
There’s a very obvious disconnect between coach and the front office…
I guess the front office could be blamed for not firing Thibs already… But this is the Knicks, all decisions run through Dolan…
Or you can blame both. Thibs is a known, mediocre quantity. But the front office has had its share of missteps, too.
Obi? I always thought that pick was horrible, both in a vacuum and given the state of their roster. It was obvious he was going to be defensively challenged and probably not shoot well enough to keep himself on the floor as a starter. 6th man was the absolute best-case scenario, with the floor being much lower than that.
The Reddish trade ultimately falls on the front office as well. Yes, Thibs refused to play him at times but even when given quality minutes this season due to injuries, he showed the same things he always has: tantalizing talent, low BBIQ, horrible shot selection, inconsistency. There’s a reason his price around the league was deflated even before that deal went down.
Then there are the FA signings which speak for themselves.
In terms of pecking order, I do think Thibs should be the first to go. Give the front office one more year (since it hasn’t all been bad) and reassess then.
The knicks are way over-achieving for what the roster contains. I can’t see a need to blame anyone but the quality of personnel on the floor if blame is the game. With or without Durant the Nets are a better team on paper, or otherwise
There certainly should be more pressure on the FO than the HC. The FO’s 3-year record is mixed, with mostly low beta moves. The HC has done a consistently great job since being hired. Other than Brunson, hiring him was their best move.
In any event, the FO should be given a full 5 years based on what was inherited, before defining them. The before and after look from each of the last 2 regimes is very good to great on all fronts. They have a winning record, a young 9-10 player core, an identity and good team culture, all their draft picks and a bunch of other teams picks. They only have one under water contract (Fournier) and its expiring next year, with no reason to move it until then. More could always be aspired to, but if more was expected, it was expected in ignorance of the basic tenets of team building.
Brunson and Hartenstein were good signings. Barrett is coming around. Fournier for Bertans and a second would work for Dallas and you lose a year of bad contract. Rose and 1st for Coby White.
Zero chance the Knicks want Bertans. Fournier’s contract is only marginally worse than Bertans’s and Bertans is a much worse player. The move wouldn’t help the Knicks at all.
Bertans’ contract is far worse than Fournier’s from a practical (cap space) standpoint, because not only because there’s more overall guaranteed money left on it, but, more importantly, it cuts into 2024-25. So, you gain one year of bad contract. That year is the next one in which the NYK figure to have cap space.
AnnunobyPERIOD. RJ goes home, 2 number 1’s. Obi backs him and Randle up. Centers stay on the floor. Never understood the Reddish trade. You can’t fit Obi, where’s Cam fitting in? Logjam is not Julius it’s RJ