Alright. Deep breaths here, New York Knicks fans.
But uh … I think something good is happening.
I say that with reticence, mostly because the last time I wrote something positive about the franchise — something along the lines of, they won’t trade a disgruntled Kristaps Porzingis, right? — they went and traded Porzingis about 20 minutes later (Seriously. That happened in real time. Ask my For The Win colleagues).
But we’re not here to rehash the extremely awful Knicks past (yet). We’re here to look at a future that might — MIGHT — finally be bright for a franchise that needs it badly.
The Knicks are 4-3 this season. They already beat the Bucks (!), Pacers and a very, very talented Hawks team. Under head coach Tom Thibodeau, they’re playing some surprisingly stifling defense (they’ve allowed 105.1 points per game thus far, third in the East). Offensively, Julius Randle went from being a floor-spacing nightmare to an out-of-nowhere patient passer out of the post and in transition to the tune of 7.4 dimes per contest (his previous career-high was 3.6 in 2016-17 with the Lakers). Young center Mitchell Robinson continues to take steps forward. First-round point guard Immanuel Quickley has shown flashes of some serious talent and shooting prowess. A group of vets — Alec Burks, Nerlens Noel, Austin Rivers and Reggie Bullock — under palatable contracts are playing well. And that’s all before Obi Toppin has played more than one game due to injury.
The really good news, however? Second-year stud R.J. Barrett looks like the real deal.
Per @bball_ref,
Barrett is just the sixth player this century to match or exceed those numbers in those categories in a single game before turning 21.
The other five players are:
LeBron James,
Kevin Durant,
Tobias Harris,
Anthony Davis,
Luka Doncic— Tommy Beer (@TommyBeer) January 5, 2021
Look, I’m not comparing him to Luka or LeBron or KD. I’m simply pointing out that the Knicks finally have a potential star to build around, even if he’s one who doesn’t shoot that well from distance (he’s not even 21! Give him time! And surround him with shooters!). Along with Thibodeau, maybe the league could take notice that the Knicks are now on the right path to building for the future.
And that’s absolutely huge. It won’t erase decades of stumbles and screw-ups, certainly. But to have a young nucleus in place and a coach like Thibs is the first step toward legitimacy.
The reason for all the question marks in the headline is those very same stumbles and screw-ups. A lot can go wrong and quickly. Notably, Thibodeau could run his players into the ground:
Stat of the Day #15!
RJ Barrett leads the NBA in playing time, at 38.8 minutes per game. Julius Randle (38.4) is second.
Nobody has played that much over a full season since Jimmy Butler for the 2015 Bulls.
To which I can only say … THIIIIIIIIIIBS.
— Zach Kram (@zachkram) January 5, 2021
There could be another Porzingis-type trade down the road that restarts the rebuild clock again.
But there are signs that the Knicks have something good that could be developing.
