No team made more noise than the Knicks this offseason.
They could have been content to re-sign top free agent OG Anunoby and basically run it back with the same core that carried them to the Eastern Conference semifinals. They were decimated by injuries as the playoffs wore on but still took the Pacers to the limit in their series.
New York did indeed lock up Anunoby, though the price tag was a whopping $212.5MM for five years (including a player option). The Knicks lost another key free agent in Isaiah Hartenstein.
Around the same time, they pulled off what seemed like the biggest shocker of the offseason, agreeing to give up five future first-round picks, among other assets, for Nets forward Mikal Bridges.
Jalen Brunson soon did the Knicks a favor by signing a $156.5MM extension, rather than waiting until next offseason when he could have gotten an even bigger payday.
As training camp approached, the biggest question seemed to be whether Julius Randle would play more at center until Mitchell Robinson returned from left foot surgery. Seemingly out of nowhere, the Knicks pulled off another blockbuster, sending Randle and Donte DiVincenzo to the Timberwolves as part of a package for Karl-Anthony Towns. New York also surrendered another first-round pick and two second-rounders as part of the three-team deal.
Towns’ $220MM super-max extension kicks in this season, weighing down the Knicks’ long-term cap sheet. He’s undeniably one of the most talented and accomplished big men in the league. However, he has been affected by a variety of injuries since 2019, so the Knicks are taking on a huge gamble that he stays healthy and productive in the postseason.
Overall, New York’s starting unit is formidable with Towns, Josh Hart, Anunoby, Bridges and Brunson. Their offense is much more versatile with the additions of Towns and Bridges, though their three-point shooting could take a hit with the loss of DiVincenzo.
There appears to be enough backcourt depth with the likes of Miles McBride, Cameron Payne, Tyler Kolek and Landry Shamet. The frontcourt depth has been depleted by the flurry of moves and that could be an ongoing concern.
That brings up to today’s topic: Do you think the Knicks’ offseason acquistions of Bridges and Towns can deliver a championship to New York? Or will they fall short of that goal and ultimately regret going all-in and mortgaging their future?
Please take to the comments section to weigh on this topic. We look forward to your input.
They’re a better team then we’re at when their playoff run ended but they still aren’t as good as Boston.
Wolves got better from the trade.
Knicks main 9 rotation pieces are: Brunson-Towns-Bridges-Robinson-Anunoby-Hart-Achiuwa-McBride-Shamet. Boston’s is: Tatum-Brown-Holiday-Porzingis-White-Horford-Kornet-Hauser-Pritchard. Not in the same class, really.
Let’s see if Porzingus makes it to the court. Horford is how old? Kornet…?
Payne will get more time than Shamet. Shamet is a ‘break glass’ if injuries happen. Kolek will get time as the season goes on. The Knicks roster is all under 30 with the exception of Payne, who is 30. Sprinkle in the increased D and I believe the Knicks have the chance to move past the Celts. Still need to prove it, but they’re knocking hard at the door.
Sooooo hard to win a championship. Its their best roster in many years, but don’t think they are going to win it all. Ton of injury question marks Also they are going to be playing under intense scrutiny and are going to get everybodys best effort, teams won’t be sleeping on them.
Knicks are probably locked in with what they have. That said, is anyone clearly better than them on paper? They’re a fairly comfortable 2nd in the East and should be able to play with Boston. I say they played this well.
Knicks have no bench at all. Losing DDV will be the end of any chances of them winning anything.
The Wolves won the trade simply because they are free of the Towns contract.
This era is the weakest ever. I bet Caitlyn Clark could school some of the NBA best players. I’m sure any team anywhere could beat the Celtics right now
KAT’s addition makes them real contenders instead of pretenders. Best move from NYK in decades!
The NYK have put their future in KAT’s hands. If he stays healthy, gets grittier, and buys in (I’m skeptical on all of them), then the NYK will move forward with a championship core that’s 6-7 deep, and has a 4-year window where all are still in their primes. That was the FO’s goal from the start, and it would put us in a somewhat unique position in the East going forward, and I believe that would make the KAT deal a good one for the NYK. Of course, if KAT doesn’t comply, the next steps for the NYK won’t be straight ahead.
It’s a gamble, but I wouldn’t call it mortgaging the future. The Bridges deal alone maybe, as they traded away a bunch of future draft picks, but the deal also added a 27 year old player to a core that’s all under 30. The KAT deal, whether it turns out good or bad, certainly didn’t mortgage the future (we basically swapped contracts, 2 for 1, covering the next 3-4 years, of similar age players).
This makes them a lot better but it also makes them a lot more dependent on Brunson for scoring/spacing. Gotta see how much Bridges and KAT can do offensively.
For direct ball-handling, yes, but KAT and Bridges can both score quite a bit as option players. KAT’s one of the best 3pt shooters among bigs and can finish at the rim at a high level. Bridges can do a bit of everything. They’re not built to hold the ball and run the offense, but they can come up huge as a 2nd or 3rd option.
Spacing isn’t a concern. With the expected starting lineup to open the year of Brunson/OG/Bridges/Achiuwa/Towns, they have four guys who can shoot. Ditto when Robinson comes back and Towns moves to the 4, but with better defense. The bench is thinner in regards to shooting, but McBride is a good shooter, Shamet’s whole game is the 3, Kolek has the chops from college, and Hart is enough that you can’t ignore him. That degree of mix-and-match can open up a lot of options.
I guess we will find out if KAT is a winning player! He did get some experience last year. I think the Celtics will repeat if KP plays in the playoffs.
Their record against sub 500 teams vs above 500 is 45 – 78 the last 2 years. They have been doing what they are perceived to be doing against the weak sisters.
The only goal for them this year is to finish above 500 against 500 plus teams for them to be considered for anything other than second round and out the third year in a row.
They need to finish no less than 7 games above 500 against the above 500 teams to have any real expectations of winning it.
I don’t see it. 3 to 5 at best.
Boston in 4…
I hated the Bridges trade, so much so that I am seriously considering boycotting the team going forward (after being a fan of this team since the ’68-’69 season). There have been too many of these ‘all-in’ trades during the Dolan years, with all of them turning out horribly in my opinion. Bridges is not close to being worth surrendering a lottery pick in 2031 and quite possibly 2029. He’s not that caliber of player. He’s an excellent player but not a legit franchise talent that you literally mortgage the future of your franchise for into the next decade to acquire. The average age of the current Knicks starters is 28 years old, with at least two of them being seriously injury prone (OG, Towns). How many of these guys will you even want on your team when that 2031 or 2029 pick gets made? How many of them will still even be in the league (except as the kind of player you sign to fill out the end of a roster with a grizzled veteran) when those picks get made? Bridges makes the Knicks better – but not so much better that you take the risk of surrendering lottery picks in 2029 and 2031 to acquire.