In a subscriber-only story, Zach Braziller of The New York Post considers whether the Knicks‘ coaching change will benefit Mikal Bridges and Karl-Anthony Towns in their second year with the team.
Bridges had an up-and-down first season in New York, while Towns put up big numbers but wasn’t always involved in the offense enough, including in some playoff games. New head coach Mike Brown is expected to bring a faster pace and more ball movement with him to the Knicks, Braziller notes, which could result in better looks for Bridges and Towns.
James L. Edwards III of The Athletic covers similar ground in a mailbag, observing that Brown used some creative offensive sets in Sacramento to get DeMar DeRozan good mid-range looks and could run similar sets for Bridges. Edwards also thinks the Knicks could use Towns as the hub of their offense more frequently and take advantage of his passing.
Here’s more on the Knicks:
- Edwards also explores some lineup and rotation questions in his mailbag, speculating that the Knicks will open the season with Towns and Mitchell Robinson starting alongside one another in the frontcourt in order to provide more rim protection on the first unit.
- Whether it’s Robinson or Josh Hart in the starting lineup, Edwards projects both players to be regular parts of the rotation along with Towns, Bridges, Jalen Brunson, OG Anunoby, Miles McBride, Jordan Clarkson, and Guerschon Yabusele. Whether Brown opts to go beyond a nine-man rotation to open the season could depend on who the Knicks sign to fill out their roster and whether or not any of the club’s young players stand out during the preseason, Edwards writes.
- Former Knicks star Carmelo Anthony has chosen Allen Iverson and Dwyane Wade to be his presenters when he’s formally inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame next month, according to a press release.
- In case you missed it, Mike Weinar withdrew from the Knicks’ search for a lead assistant, but Chris Jent of the Hornets remains under consideration. In other Knicks news, we recently passed along the details on Bridges’ four-year extension with the team, including his unique trade kicker.
Its love to see JJJ play alongside KAT in NY.
Think his defensive skillset would pair perfectly with KATs offensive game. JJJ as the third option still gives you 20 points per game, he’s still a decent 3 point shooter. The main hole in his game is that he’s a poor rebounder but KAT just averaged 13 boards a game last year and Josh Hart is one of the best rebounding wings.
I could also see Memphis being happy to trade JJJ for Bridges and OG.
JJJ has struggled to stay on the court sometimes. His first 3 seasons he didn’t play over 60 games and in his 7 seasons he only averaged over 30 minutes per game once. He’s also not ideal as the second option due to being more of their defensive leader and with Bane gone they might look for more help on that end. They might not worry about playing small with Mikal at the 3 and OG the 4 with Zach Edey a massive 5. Not to mention they have Aldama for depth, GG Jackson for depth and big SG’s in Wells and Coward (6’7 and 6’6).
The possible deal JJJ, KCP and Konchar for Mikal, OG and a first round pick or two?
Knicks:
Brunson KCP Hart JJJ KAT
McBride Konchar Yabusele and maybe Robinson
Memphis:
Ja Wells Mikal OG Edey
Jerome Coward GG Aldama Clarke plus Pippen
For NY, KCP would also be a really nice fit as a 3 and D wing with plenty of experience. Plus Konchar would be a handy bit of depth on the wing aswell. Think in terms of big 3’s and fit and playing in the East they be a real title contender.
As for Memphis, I like them playing small with loads of switchable wings and forwards and guys that’ll all chip in with points helping Ja. Instead of having a clear second option it would be a bunch of guys giving you 15-20+ points. Plus for stacked for depth with guys off the bench they could even look to make another trade eventually for a clear second star while keeping a number of the good role players they have for example a Zion Williamson.
Knicks dont have a first round pick to trade
They have 2 this year and one is from Washington.
Nope they have no firsts that can be traded today
The wash pick isn’t going to transmit either
They have a 32 swap and useless 26 swap
Bc of Stephien Rule 26 first can’t be traded as 27 pick is already traded
He had his best years as a Nugget. Please wear a Nuggets cap. One of worst trades ever made by Knicks. All Dolans doing. And Knicks have been paying for it ever since.
Towns and Mitch won’t work defensively. That’s the reason Minny got rid of him. Towns to have success as a player. Has to play center for Knicks. He is a better rebounder this way. And can take centers out the middle on offense. Knicks should be looking for a defensive big PF. Who can also play on perimeter some. To backup Towns on D.
Towns and Gobert were playing great together. They did the trade for cap reasons and to improve depth, not because KAT wasn’t awesome for them.
Late last season we saw opponents have success guarding KAT with a small. He won’t be dragging centers to the perimeter because they won’t be guarding him anyway, they’ll be guarding Hart or Mitch, whichever starts.
So… I would start Mitch. His rim protection is such a game changer. He is plenty agile to guard on the perimeter. And, it’s good to get his minutes early in the quarter before fouls pile up and they start hacking him.
Towns had his lowest scoring and rebounding stats two years with Rudy. But most importantly their perimeter defense didn’t work. Towns today still is not a good team D guy. Yes the TWolves had cap issues. So does every team with new cap last two yrs. They invested in their young star. Which they should do. And they got good assets with the trade.
Two yrs with Rudy — 21.4 prs, 8.1 reb
One year with Knicks at the Center — 24.4 pts, 12.8 reb, plus starting C East all star.
And still needs help on D. It’s part of what got Thibs fired.