I am so happy watching this team and they are always in games because of the defense they play..
we got something building and it feels good and for the first time in a long time if a rumor comes out that a player wants to be a knick, i am going to believe it..
This is awesome
Zion is fun to watch. He's getting by basically on his incredible
athleticism and sheer force of will. If his skill level ever approaches Randle, for example, watch out. He'll be incredible if that happens.
This team is so fun right now. They fight so hard every game and from the top to the bottom of the roster are so plugged into winning. Thibs really has built something special out of a pretty thin roster.
I am so happy watching this team and they are always in games because of the defense they play..
we got something building and it feels good and for the first time in a long time if a rumor comes out that a player wants to be a knick, i am going to believe it..
similar size (Johnson didn't have quite as much girth) and both #1 overall.
Larry Johnson was explosive early in his career, but injuries took their toll.
Much of Zion's current game is based on his explosiveness/quickness/jumping, which is pretty amazing considering his girth.
I agree he will most likely work on his 3 shooting and will improve, but my gut feeling is Zion will break down and lose much of his explosiveness, down the road. The question is how many yrs.
I don't see the comparisons with Shaq. Shaq is 7'1" 324 lbs. Zion is 6'7". Zion has to work on his shooting, if he wants to have a really good and long career. Shaq didn't have to.
You'll get a good idea what they want to do this offseason seeing how they treat Mitch, whether they can commit to someone like Lowry or even Chris Paul if he declines his option (it's 40 mil, but if he can sign a 2 year deal at 60? It's possible he does that).
Tearing it down and acquiring assets seems to be the easy thing to do. This next offseason will be the hard part.
You'll get a good idea what they want to do this offseason seeing how they treat Mitch, whether they can commit to someone like Lowry or even Chris Paul if he declines his option (it's 40 mil, but if he can sign a 2 year deal at 60? It's possible he does that).
Tearing it down and acquiring assets seems to be the easy thing to do. This next offseason will be the hard part.
I would argue they have a #1 star already and they might even have a #2 star.
Randle is 26 and RJ is 20 in 2 years they could both be all-stars.
If they can use the draft capital they have to move up in this draft or trade for a 3rd piece this could be a title contending team in 2 years.
the direction of the team but the Knicks do not have #1 and #2 stars. A team with a legitimate #1 star and a #2 star is a title contender and while Julius Randle has been incredible and Barrett a very nice 2nd season name a championship team headed by a duo "that bad". People will of course point to the outlier Pistons team with 4 all-stars or a Mavs team who had a HOFer as the #1.
Knicks aren't a third good player from being a contender. Realistically via the draft they are "unlikely" to draft a superstar. Lonzo Ball would represent a 3rd good player, Gary Trent Jr would represent a 3rd good player. Neither puts the Knicks in title contention. That's not a knock at all, it's just being realistic.
First what a great time to be a Knicks fan. Such a fun team to watch all year long.
Its great the Knicks are stacking wins right now and hopefully keep it going the next 7 which aren't too bad. But the final 7 has a really tough west coast trip. Hopefully some of those teams may be resting at that point. I would love to see them get the 4 or 5 seed.
Dallas is at the 7th and 2 games back of Portland for the 6th. Their schedule is very easy though. But if for any reason they fell out of the playoffs and the Knicks got a lottery pick out of them? Talk about a cherry on top of a good season.
the direction of the team but the Knicks do not have #1 and #2 stars. A team with a legitimate #1 star and a #2 star is a title contender and while Julius Randle has been incredible and Barrett a very nice 2nd season name a championship team headed by a duo "that bad". People will of course point to the outlier Pistons team with 4 all-stars or a Mavs team who had a HOFer as the #1.
Yeah realistically Randle would be your 2 and Barrett your 3 or vice versa..
Team still needs a #1 to be a legit title contender..
Even if they had a bunch of good players around Barrett and Randle, you still need that number 1 guy in the playoffs
Zion to New York is a real possibility, Zion chooses his words carefully, basically saying it wasnt an accident what he said yesterday
I hope this doesn't start to dominate news cycles. He's so far away from even having the option to leave. This is a pipe dream for like 3 seasons at least.
Zion to New York is a real possibility, Zion chooses his words carefully, basically saying it wasnt an accident what he said yesterday
I hope this doesn't start to dominate news cycles. He's so far away from even having the option to leave. This is a pipe dream for like 3 seasons at least.
I doubt it does. He happened to be playing the Knicks. Obviously, if next season NO is doing poorly there will begin to be a bubbling storyline of Zion eventually bolting/wanting to bolt.
Zion know what he was doing when he said it, and Woj has to say somehting bout it. Zion is realistically like 6 years from FA, lol. AD for comparison spent 7 seasons in NO. Lets cross this bridge in like 2025 when him and RJ are seen at a club together 2 days before FA, lol.
the direction of the team but the Knicks do not have #1 and #2 stars. A team with a legitimate #1 star and a #2 star is a title contender and while Julius Randle has been incredible and Barrett a very nice 2nd season name a championship team headed by a duo "that bad". People will of course point to the outlier Pistons team with 4 all-stars or a Mavs team who had a HOFer as the #1.
Yeah realistically Randle would be your 2 and Barrett your 3 or vice versa..
Team still needs a #1 to be a legit title contender..
Even if they had a bunch of good players around Barrett and Randle, you still need that number 1 guy in the playoffs
If you are going off play today yes.
But do you think both are finished getting better?
IMO Randle and RJ have obviously not reach their potential.
In 2 or 3 years they could both be all-stars and be your true 1 and 2.
all-stars would be great, but 2 all-stars also doesn't necessarily mean that team has 2 players good enough to be contenders. In this case, they likely would not. Heck, the Celtics have Tatum/Brown 2 all-stars this season and good luck finding someone who thinks the Celtics are contenders.
the direction of the team but the Knicks do not have #1 and #2 stars. A team with a legitimate #1 star and a #2 star is a title contender and while Julius Randle has been incredible and Barrett a very nice 2nd season name a championship team headed by a duo "that bad". People will of course point to the outlier Pistons team with 4 all-stars or a Mavs team who had a HOFer as the #1.
Yeah realistically Randle would be your 2 and Barrett your 3 or vice versa..
Team still needs a #1 to be a legit title contender..
Even if they had a bunch of good players around Barrett and Randle, you still need that number 1 guy in the playoffs
If you are going off play today yes.
But do you think both are finished getting better?
IMO Randle and RJ have obviously not reach their potential.
In 2 or 3 years they could both be all-stars and be your true 1 and 2.
All stars is one thing, becoming a superstar and being a number 1 is something different..
There are not many players who can do it on their own, that is why 2 or 3 guys always look to team up..
all-stars would be great, but 2 all-stars also doesn't necessarily mean that team has 2 players good enough to be contenders. In this case, they likely would not. Heck, the Celtics have Tatum/Brown 2 all-stars this season and good luck finding someone who thinks the Celtics are contenders.
Neither is playing the all around game Randle is right now.
He is making the whole team better and has lifted his game to another level this past week.
His maturity and leadership is finally showing up.
IMO he can be your #1.
all-stars would be great, but 2 all-stars also doesn't necessarily mean that team has 2 players good enough to be contenders. In this case, they likely would not. Heck, the Celtics have Tatum/Brown 2 all-stars this season and good luck finding someone who thinks the Celtics are contenders.
Neither is playing the all around game Randle is right now.
He is making the whole team better and has lifted his game to another level this past week.
His maturity and leadership is finally showing up.
IMO he can be your #1.
That's completely unfair. Brown/Tatum have been incredible Brown is averaging 25, 6 and 3 on 49/40/75% shooting. He has a 20.5 PER, .127 WS/48, if Barrett is Brown 2.0 then the Knicks will be very, very happy. Tatum 26, 7 and 4 49/39/87% shooting 21.3 PER, .140 WS/48. Why is Randle still getting better but we are capping Tatum 23 and Brown 24?
Randle has been absolutely incredible and yet Tatum leads him in PER and near-identical WS/48 (.140 vs..142) The Celtics are the perfect example of 2 all-stars not being the same as a franchise player.
all-stars would be great, but 2 all-stars also doesn't necessarily mean that team has 2 players good enough to be contenders. In this case, they likely would not. Heck, the Celtics have Tatum/Brown 2 all-stars this season and good luck finding someone who thinks the Celtics are contenders.
Neither is playing the all around game Randle is right now.
He is making the whole team better and has lifted his game to another level this past week.
His maturity and leadership is finally showing up.
IMO he can be your #1.
That's completely unfair. Brown/Tatum have been incredible Brown is averaging 25, 6 and 3 on 49/40/75% shooting. He has a 20.5 PER, .127 WS/48, if Barrett is Brown 2.0 then the Knicks will be very, very happy. Tatum 26, 7 and 4 49/39/87% shooting 21.3 PER, .140 WS/48. Why is Randle still getting better but we are capping Tatum 23 and Brown 24?
I am absolutely not undervaluing the 2 in Boston that was the case you made.
I think Boston should be much better than they are and on paper they are the 4th best team in the east.
They have started to put it all together and will be dangerous.
And soak it up. We all that that was just the beginning with Judge, Sanchrz, Sevi etc...turn out that there's a good chance that's the closest that group will ever get to the WS. Sure the future looks bright with the Knicks. However there are no promises. Who knows how much RJ and Randle improve from here or who we can acquire this summer. I'm just enjoying good exciting hard fought NBA basketball and looking forward to the playoffs. I'll worry about the future when it gets here. For right now I just look forward to each game and hopefully watching a rousing postgame on Knick fan tv lol
RE: One thing the 2017 Yankees taught me is to live in the moment
And soak it up. We all that that was just the beginning with Judge, Sanchrz, Sevi etc...turn out that there's a good chance that's the closest that group will ever get to the WS. Sure the future looks bright with the Knicks. However there are no promises. Who knows how much RJ and Randle improve from here or who we can acquire this summer. I'm just enjoying good exciting hard fought NBA basketball and looking forward to the playoffs. I'll worry about the future when it gets here. For right now I just look forward to each game and hopefully watching a rousing postgame on Knick fan tv lol
Same. I'm somewhat pessimistic on our chance's to land a true franchise changing star anytime soon, but I'm REALLY enjoying having a competitive team to watch every night. Also helps that they've been drama free.
the direction of the team but the Knicks do not have #1 and #2 stars. A team with a legitimate #1 star and a #2 star is a title contender and while Julius Randle has been incredible and Barrett a very nice 2nd season name a championship team headed by a duo "that bad". People will of course point to the outlier Pistons team with 4 all-stars or a Mavs team who had a HOFer as the #1.
Maybe I'm not understanding but I think Randle can definitely be a number 2 option on a contender. Barrett is probably ideally your 3 probably 4th. But that also depends on the surrounding players.
It would be amazing to land a superstar in the next year, but I don't think the Knicks have limited window here to land one. Just keep building and building. Try to nab 1 or 2 good players in free agency and hope you hit on the draft picks.
I think in previous years the talks of a promising future with the "extra draft picks and young core" was laughable. But not anymore. The Knicks are in a fantastic situation moving forward.
Tatum seemed to be making the jump last season before the shutdown. Then he gets COVID &, from all accounts, got a bad case of it & has had to use an inhaler.
Zion to New York is a real possibility, Zion chooses his words carefully, basically saying it wasnt an accident what he said yesterday
I hope this doesn't start to dominate news cycles. He's so far away from even having the option to leave. This is a pipe dream for like 3 seasons at least.
I doubt it does. He happened to be playing the Knicks. Obviously, if next season NO is doing poorly there will begin to be a bubbling storyline of Zion eventually bolting/wanting to bolt.
Damn, well generation Z (no pun intended in talking about Zion) is even more about immediate gratification than us millennials, so Zion demanding to be traded after 2.5 seasons of the Pelicans being mediocre would be par for the course for a gen Z guy lol. I’m half-kidding, yet at the same time I agree that’s very possible.
Anthony Davis at least stuck it out for EIGHT bad seasons with the Pelicans. But in this day and age I’m not sure we’ll ever see that from a top 5-10 player ever again. Not entirely their fault though, I guarantee you if the Pelicans aren’t in the playoff hunt next year there will already be people questioning if Zion is truly a “winner” and if he will ever win a championship, and it may cause him to get a little antsy.
the direction of the team but the Knicks do not have #1 and #2 stars. A team with a legitimate #1 star and a #2 star is a title contender and while Julius Randle has been incredible and Barrett a very nice 2nd season name a championship team headed by a duo "that bad". People will of course point to the outlier Pistons team with 4 all-stars or a Mavs team who had a HOFer as the #1.
Maybe I'm not understanding but I think Randle can definitely be a number 2 option on a contender. Barrett is probably ideally your 3 probably 4th. But that also depends on the surrounding players.
It would be amazing to land a superstar in the next year, but I don't think the Knicks have limited window here to land one. Just keep building and building. Try to nab 1 or 2 good players in free agency and hope you hit on the draft picks.
I think in previous years the talks of a promising future with the "extra draft picks and young core" was laughable. But not anymore. The Knicks are in a fantastic situation moving forward.
He believes Randle/Barrett are realistically a 1 and 2 on a title team/contender. I strongly disagree. Can they be the 2nd and 3rd best players on a contender? It depends on your #1 and the surrounding players but yes it seems feasible. I
Long story short, I don't see it being realistic to ever view the Knicks as legitimate contenders without adding a player at minimum as good as Randle, and more likely a guy better aka a true franchise player.
the direction of the team but the Knicks do not have #1 and #2 stars. A team with a legitimate #1 star and a #2 star is a title contender and while Julius Randle has been incredible and Barrett a very nice 2nd season name a championship team headed by a duo "that bad". People will of course point to the outlier Pistons team with 4 all-stars or a Mavs team who had a HOFer as the #1.
Maybe I'm not understanding but I think Randle can definitely be a number 2 option on a contender. Barrett is probably ideally your 3 probably 4th. But that also depends on the surrounding players.
It would be amazing to land a superstar in the next year, but I don't think the Knicks have limited window here to land one. Just keep building and building. Try to nab 1 or 2 good players in free agency and hope you hit on the draft picks.
I think in previous years the talks of a promising future with the "extra draft picks and young core" was laughable. But not anymore. The Knicks are in a fantastic situation moving forward.
Barrett is a 20 yr old ascending talent who’s so far living up to the billing of being drafted #3 overall. He could very well be an all star in 2 years. If he’s our “4th option” 2 years from now ... well I’m just saying I think it’s a pipe dream to imagine we’ll be able to acquire 2 additional all stars, but it is fun to dream.
But, as long as we’re dreaming this afternoon— might as well throw this out there: I think more likely than acquiring 2 all stars over the next year or 2, another path to contending for a title would be acquiring a single top 5 player ... one Kawhi Leonard (assuming the Clippers don’t make it out of the west and Kawhi opts out of his contract). And the way these things work in the NBA now: once one big domino falls and a team becomes a legit contender, other pieces are more likely to come along for the ride. For instance: we sign Kawhi, then we could either ride with Mitch at the 5 and/or trade him and signed Drummond. Could we still afford Ball after all that? Ball—Barrett—Leonard—Randle—Drummond/Mitch ... that’s a 2022 / 2023 title contender right there.
Also— I’m gonna continue saying this over and over: I really would not count out Julius Randle’s progression just suddenly stopping at his current level. He could very well come back even better in 2022 and even better in 2023. We’ve seen that before from NBA players who are late risers and ascend thanks to sheer hard work as opposed to just getting by on pure natural talent (although I realize you need both to be an all star, all the talk in the locker room has been about how hard Randle has worked and continues to work).
great as Julius Randle has been, Randle has been a God send but laying out a scenario where he and Barrett are the two best players on a title contender seems like homerism at it's finest. The Nuggets are 4 seeds in the West with quite possibly the league MVP and Murray (before he got hurt). Murray was averaging 21, 5 and 4, 48/41/87 shooting.
Who is the last title team to win without a top 5 NBA player?
I am so happy watching this team and they are always in games because of the defense they play..
we got something building and it feels good and for the first time in a long time if a rumor comes out that a player wants to be a knick, i am going to believe it..
This is awesome
This team is so fun right now. They fight so hard every game and from the top to the bottom of the roster are so plugged into winning. Thibs really has built something special out of a pretty thin roster.
I am so happy watching this team and they are always in games because of the defense they play..
we got something building and it feels good and for the first time in a long time if a rumor comes out that a player wants to be a knick, i am going to believe it..
This is awesome
Feels good. Let's keep it rolling tonight.
For whatever reason, I though today was the 20th. I gotta get back into the office ASAP to get back my days right, Haha.
Larry Johnson was explosive early in his career, but injuries took their toll.
Much of Zion's current game is based on his explosiveness/quickness/jumping, which is pretty amazing considering his girth.
I agree he will most likely work on his 3 shooting and will improve, but my gut feeling is Zion will break down and lose much of his explosiveness, down the road. The question is how many yrs.
I don't see the comparisons with Shaq. Shaq is 7'1" 324 lbs. Zion is 6'7". Zion has to work on his shooting, if he wants to have a really good and long career. Shaq didn't have to.
Of course it is, league is about stars, getting them any way you can
You'll get a good idea what they want to do this offseason seeing how they treat Mitch, whether they can commit to someone like Lowry or even Chris Paul if he declines his option (it's 40 mil, but if he can sign a 2 year deal at 60? It's possible he does that).
Tearing it down and acquiring assets seems to be the easy thing to do. This next offseason will be the hard part.
You'll get a good idea what they want to do this offseason seeing how they treat Mitch, whether they can commit to someone like Lowry or even Chris Paul if he declines his option (it's 40 mil, but if he can sign a 2 year deal at 60? It's possible he does that).
Tearing it down and acquiring assets seems to be the easy thing to do. This next offseason will be the hard part.
I would argue they have a #1 star already and they might even have a #2 star.
Randle is 26 and RJ is 20 in 2 years they could both be all-stars.
If they can use the draft capital they have to move up in this draft or trade for a 3rd piece this could be a title contending team in 2 years.
Its great the Knicks are stacking wins right now and hopefully keep it going the next 7 which aren't too bad. But the final 7 has a really tough west coast trip. Hopefully some of those teams may be resting at that point. I would love to see them get the 4 or 5 seed.
Dallas is at the 7th and 2 games back of Portland for the 6th. Their schedule is very easy though. But if for any reason they fell out of the playoffs and the Knicks got a lottery pick out of them? Talk about a cherry on top of a good season.
Yeah realistically Randle would be your 2 and Barrett your 3 or vice versa..
Team still needs a #1 to be a legit title contender..
Even if they had a bunch of good players around Barrett and Randle, you still need that number 1 guy in the playoffs
I hope this doesn't start to dominate news cycles. He's so far away from even having the option to leave. This is a pipe dream for like 3 seasons at least.
Quote:
Zion to New York is a real possibility, Zion chooses his words carefully, basically saying it wasnt an accident what he said yesterday
I hope this doesn't start to dominate news cycles. He's so far away from even having the option to leave. This is a pipe dream for like 3 seasons at least.
I doubt it does. He happened to be playing the Knicks. Obviously, if next season NO is doing poorly there will begin to be a bubbling storyline of Zion eventually bolting/wanting to bolt.
Quote:
the direction of the team but the Knicks do not have #1 and #2 stars. A team with a legitimate #1 star and a #2 star is a title contender and while Julius Randle has been incredible and Barrett a very nice 2nd season name a championship team headed by a duo "that bad". People will of course point to the outlier Pistons team with 4 all-stars or a Mavs team who had a HOFer as the #1.
Yeah realistically Randle would be your 2 and Barrett your 3 or vice versa..
Team still needs a #1 to be a legit title contender..
Even if they had a bunch of good players around Barrett and Randle, you still need that number 1 guy in the playoffs
If you are going off play today yes.
But do you think both are finished getting better?
IMO Randle and RJ have obviously not reach their potential.
In 2 or 3 years they could both be all-stars and be your true 1 and 2.
Quote:
In comment 15225638 DanMetroMan said:
Quote:
the direction of the team but the Knicks do not have #1 and #2 stars. A team with a legitimate #1 star and a #2 star is a title contender and while Julius Randle has been incredible and Barrett a very nice 2nd season name a championship team headed by a duo "that bad". People will of course point to the outlier Pistons team with 4 all-stars or a Mavs team who had a HOFer as the #1.
Yeah realistically Randle would be your 2 and Barrett your 3 or vice versa..
Team still needs a #1 to be a legit title contender..
Even if they had a bunch of good players around Barrett and Randle, you still need that number 1 guy in the playoffs
If you are going off play today yes.
But do you think both are finished getting better?
IMO Randle and RJ have obviously not reach their potential.
In 2 or 3 years they could both be all-stars and be your true 1 and 2.
All stars is one thing, becoming a superstar and being a number 1 is something different..
There are not many players who can do it on their own, that is why 2 or 3 guys always look to team up..
Lebron, KD, Curry, Jokic, Embiid, Harden are the superstars in the league, guys that can carry a team by themselves..
Nope
Neither is playing the all around game Randle is right now.
He is making the whole team better and has lifted his game to another level this past week.
His maturity and leadership is finally showing up.
IMO he can be your #1.
Quote:
all-stars would be great, but 2 all-stars also doesn't necessarily mean that team has 2 players good enough to be contenders. In this case, they likely would not. Heck, the Celtics have Tatum/Brown 2 all-stars this season and good luck finding someone who thinks the Celtics are contenders.
Neither is playing the all around game Randle is right now.
He is making the whole team better and has lifted his game to another level this past week.
His maturity and leadership is finally showing up.
IMO he can be your #1.
That's completely unfair. Brown/Tatum have been incredible Brown is averaging 25, 6 and 3 on 49/40/75% shooting. He has a 20.5 PER, .127 WS/48, if Barrett is Brown 2.0 then the Knicks will be very, very happy. Tatum 26, 7 and 4 49/39/87% shooting 21.3 PER, .140 WS/48. Why is Randle still getting better but we are capping Tatum 23 and Brown 24?
Quote:
In comment 15225708 DanMetroMan said:
Quote:
all-stars would be great, but 2 all-stars also doesn't necessarily mean that team has 2 players good enough to be contenders. In this case, they likely would not. Heck, the Celtics have Tatum/Brown 2 all-stars this season and good luck finding someone who thinks the Celtics are contenders.
Neither is playing the all around game Randle is right now.
He is making the whole team better and has lifted his game to another level this past week.
His maturity and leadership is finally showing up.
IMO he can be your #1.
That's completely unfair. Brown/Tatum have been incredible Brown is averaging 25, 6 and 3 on 49/40/75% shooting. He has a 20.5 PER, .127 WS/48, if Barrett is Brown 2.0 then the Knicks will be very, very happy. Tatum 26, 7 and 4 49/39/87% shooting 21.3 PER, .140 WS/48. Why is Randle still getting better but we are capping Tatum 23 and Brown 24?
I am absolutely not undervaluing the 2 in Boston that was the case you made.
I think Boston should be much better than they are and on paper they are the 4th best team in the east.
They have started to put it all together and will be dangerous.
Same. I'm somewhat pessimistic on our chance's to land a true franchise changing star anytime soon, but I'm REALLY enjoying having a competitive team to watch every night. Also helps that they've been drama free.
Maybe I'm not understanding but I think Randle can definitely be a number 2 option on a contender. Barrett is probably ideally your 3 probably 4th. But that also depends on the surrounding players.
It would be amazing to land a superstar in the next year, but I don't think the Knicks have limited window here to land one. Just keep building and building. Try to nab 1 or 2 good players in free agency and hope you hit on the draft picks.
I think in previous years the talks of a promising future with the "extra draft picks and young core" was laughable. But not anymore. The Knicks are in a fantastic situation moving forward.
Quote:
In comment 15225533 nygiants16 said:
Quote:
Zion to New York is a real possibility, Zion chooses his words carefully, basically saying it wasnt an accident what he said yesterday
I hope this doesn't start to dominate news cycles. He's so far away from even having the option to leave. This is a pipe dream for like 3 seasons at least.
I doubt it does. He happened to be playing the Knicks. Obviously, if next season NO is doing poorly there will begin to be a bubbling storyline of Zion eventually bolting/wanting to bolt.
Damn, well generation Z (no pun intended in talking about Zion) is even more about immediate gratification than us millennials, so Zion demanding to be traded after 2.5 seasons of the Pelicans being mediocre would be par for the course for a gen Z guy lol. I’m half-kidding, yet at the same time I agree that’s very possible.
Anthony Davis at least stuck it out for EIGHT bad seasons with the Pelicans. But in this day and age I’m not sure we’ll ever see that from a top 5-10 player ever again. Not entirely their fault though, I guarantee you if the Pelicans aren’t in the playoff hunt next year there will already be people questioning if Zion is truly a “winner” and if he will ever win a championship, and it may cause him to get a little antsy.
Quote:
the direction of the team but the Knicks do not have #1 and #2 stars. A team with a legitimate #1 star and a #2 star is a title contender and while Julius Randle has been incredible and Barrett a very nice 2nd season name a championship team headed by a duo "that bad". People will of course point to the outlier Pistons team with 4 all-stars or a Mavs team who had a HOFer as the #1.
Maybe I'm not understanding but I think Randle can definitely be a number 2 option on a contender. Barrett is probably ideally your 3 probably 4th. But that also depends on the surrounding players.
It would be amazing to land a superstar in the next year, but I don't think the Knicks have limited window here to land one. Just keep building and building. Try to nab 1 or 2 good players in free agency and hope you hit on the draft picks.
I think in previous years the talks of a promising future with the "extra draft picks and young core" was laughable. But not anymore. The Knicks are in a fantastic situation moving forward.
He believes Randle/Barrett are realistically a 1 and 2 on a title team/contender. I strongly disagree. Can they be the 2nd and 3rd best players on a contender? It depends on your #1 and the surrounding players but yes it seems feasible. I
Long story short, I don't see it being realistic to ever view the Knicks as legitimate contenders without adding a player at minimum as good as Randle, and more likely a guy better aka a true franchise player.
Quote:
the direction of the team but the Knicks do not have #1 and #2 stars. A team with a legitimate #1 star and a #2 star is a title contender and while Julius Randle has been incredible and Barrett a very nice 2nd season name a championship team headed by a duo "that bad". People will of course point to the outlier Pistons team with 4 all-stars or a Mavs team who had a HOFer as the #1.
Maybe I'm not understanding but I think Randle can definitely be a number 2 option on a contender. Barrett is probably ideally your 3 probably 4th. But that also depends on the surrounding players.
It would be amazing to land a superstar in the next year, but I don't think the Knicks have limited window here to land one. Just keep building and building. Try to nab 1 or 2 good players in free agency and hope you hit on the draft picks.
I think in previous years the talks of a promising future with the "extra draft picks and young core" was laughable. But not anymore. The Knicks are in a fantastic situation moving forward.
Barrett is a 20 yr old ascending talent who’s so far living up to the billing of being drafted #3 overall. He could very well be an all star in 2 years. If he’s our “4th option” 2 years from now ... well I’m just saying I think it’s a pipe dream to imagine we’ll be able to acquire 2 additional all stars, but it is fun to dream.
But, as long as we’re dreaming this afternoon— might as well throw this out there: I think more likely than acquiring 2 all stars over the next year or 2, another path to contending for a title would be acquiring a single top 5 player ... one Kawhi Leonard (assuming the Clippers don’t make it out of the west and Kawhi opts out of his contract). And the way these things work in the NBA now: once one big domino falls and a team becomes a legit contender, other pieces are more likely to come along for the ride. For instance: we sign Kawhi, then we could either ride with Mitch at the 5 and/or trade him and signed Drummond. Could we still afford Ball after all that? Ball—Barrett—Leonard—Randle—Drummond/Mitch ... that’s a 2022 / 2023 title contender right there.
Also— I’m gonna continue saying this over and over: I really would not count out Julius Randle’s progression just suddenly stopping at his current level. He could very well come back even better in 2022 and even better in 2023. We’ve seen that before from NBA players who are late risers and ascend thanks to sheer hard work as opposed to just getting by on pure natural talent (although I realize you need both to be an all star, all the talk in the locker room has been about how hard Randle has worked and continues to work).
Who is the last title team to win without a top 5 NBA player?
Who is the last title team to win without a top 5 NBA player?
2013-14 Spurs?
Kawhi, Duncan, Ginobili, Parker, Splitter...
Kawhi wasn't Top 5 or even Top 10 back then.