The New York Knicks acquired shooting guard Donte Divincenzo this off-season, in hopes of adding to their perimeter defense and outside shooting. But many fans expected more to be done and were disappointed in the lack of moves made. The team is good, but not great, and with teams like the Boston Celtics and Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference, just “good” is not good enough. My prediction for the Knicks this year is a 4 or 5 seed and a 2nd round exit, which isn’t bad at all.
Julius Randle, while a very talented player, just can’t take a team, as it’s 1st or 2nd option, into the conference finals, where only 4 teams remain. If he fails to show up again this playoffs, he must be traded promptly. I hope he proves me wrong, I really do. Jalen Brunson has proven he can lead a team past the 1st round as its best player. He has a reputation for showing up in big spots like he did all of last year, which was ever more solidified by his playoff performance. RJ Barrett is getting better, but he’s still not playing on the level that the Knicks were hoping for when they drafted him with the 3rd pick 4 years ago. New additions like Josh Hart have helped greatly, but as it stands now, this team, in all likelihood, does not have enough to make a serious run at the title.
Now this may sound too critical, but New York is a good team that needs to be judged at this standard if they ever hope to actually capture a title in the near future. A few years ago, holding the Knicks to this pedigree would have been laughable, as they had no chance in a million years to contend for a championship. Now as New York’s title drought increases past half a century, the time is now to start making a quality team into an excellent one. This year, and the next, will be crucial to the Knick’s hopes of adding another banner to MSG’s rafters, even if they do not win it all (which they won’t). Building chemistry and learning from their mistakes, and then fixing them in the off-seasons, must take place in order for them to develop into a championship caliber team. The time is near and for the first time in a decade, the New York Knicks have life!
