Before the New York Knicks edged the undermanned, offensively-challenged Orlando Magic, they suffered a disappointing loss to the Atlanta Hawks, eliminating themselves from the NBA Cup. As they sit 16-10 more than a quarter of the way through, it’s time to start questioning, what is the Knicks identity?
They’ve certainly bern inconsistent. One night, they’ll look like the Harlem Globetrotters with their shooting, passing, and movement without the ball. Yet on another night, they’ll lose to an inferior team such as the Detroit Pistons or Utah Jazz. All in all, there’s little to no threat of dropping out of the top-six in the East, but the point of these massive trades for Karl-Anthony Towns and Mikal Bridges was to compete for a championship. So far in the East though, both the Boston Celtics and the Cleveland Cavaliers are both off to much better starts.
Now, champions aren’t crowned in December, but to take a hard look at their roster, I don’t see the depth or the identity that prevailed throughout last year’s team. They have the most productive starting five, but the least effective bench in the league. That disparity isn’t sustainable.
What is the Knicks Identity?
This current iteration of a Knicks team carries little of the personality and identity of last year’s team. They are no longer a threat inside on the defensive end. They’re an undersized team in some games, and they can get exposed against athletic teams.
They’re the second-slowest team in the league by pace and don’t go to the foul line enough. They are 27th in free throw attempts per game through December 15.
However, offensively they have upgraded significantly on paper. It’s a different type of team. In a positive sense, they’re incredibly efficient. They are second in both field goal and three-point percentage, while being third in offensive rating.
Towns is having a career year and is a down-ballot MVP candidate. OG Anunoby and Josh Hart are also having career years. All of this is positive.
Arguably, the Knicks identity is becoming a reliable three-point shooting team, but they don’t have much of a Plan B. If their shot isn’t falling, they don’t offer much threat inside, or in the pick-and-roll game. For instance against the Hawks, they shot 26% from three, and they had no other plan to win.
I don’t see the consistent perimeter defense, the interior defense, or toughness on the roster that indicates they’d go any further than last year’s Conference Semifinals. Most of all, the Knicks aren’t plsying like they have a championship pedigree.
Lack Of Toughness
The Knicks lack of toughness was made obvious by Trae Young ‘rolling dice’ on the Knicks logo at MSG after the Hawks win, while the Knicks stood and watched.
First off, I welcome players who add a little spice to games. The league is unquestionably far too chummy these days, and rivalries are fun. I didn’t take much issue with it, but I’m astonished that a prideful Knicks team just stood and watched. Yet this is par for the course for this team, which is completely different in identity from recent Tom Thibodeau teams.
Last year, the Knicks were all about toughness. It wasn’t an issue on off-shooting nights, because their size and defense carried over to each game. Isaiah Hartenstein was their rock, providing elite rim protection and offensive rebounding. Donte DiVincenzo brought it every night. He provided terrific perimeter defense along with career-high offensive numbers and an indomitable spirit. Julius Randle was a force inside and was having another great year before his season-ending shoulder injury. It was a physical group that promised to fight night in and night out.
Teams such as the Jazz, Rockets, and Pacers are teams that can switch from one through five, and they especially handled the Knicks with ease. This is a trend to pay attention to. Improving chemistry won’t resolve issues such as a lack of size and physicality.
Lack of Rebounding and Rim Protection
Before last night’s game, the Knicks ranked a very disappointing 25th in the league in overall rebounding. Of more concern, they rank 26th in offensive rebounding. This is a stunning dropoff from last season where they were the best team in the NBA in offensive rebounding. The Knicks were relentless on the boards last season, creating numerous second-chance opportunities.
Hartenstein was a beast on the offensive glass averaging 3.3 offensive boards per game. He’s a huge missing piece, and he’s taken his game to another level in OKC. He is currently averaging career highs in points (12.5) and rebounds (12.3).
Julius Randle averaged 10 rebounds per game with the Knicks, and Mitchell Robinson was second in the NBA in offensive boards in both 2022 and 2023. That’s a lot of rebounds to make up, and they haven’t done nearly enough in that regard to make up for that. Robinson could return in late January due to injury. Even that projection is a stretch considering he has had difficulty remaining healthy.
On the flip-side, Karl-Anthony Towns leads the NBA in defensive rebounds and helps greatly in addressing their issue. However, the problem is when he’s off the court. There is not nearly enough rebounding on the court without him. Essentially, it’s Josh Hart and Towns carrying the load, but it oftenvisn’t enough. This seems like a costly oversight by the front office. Precious Achiuwa is a welcome return from injury but he’s undersized.
The Knicks are 26th in the NBA in blocks per game, 26th in steals, and 16th in defensive rating. These numbers don’t look especially promising moving forward.
Bridges Looks Like A Waste of Resources
The Knicks gave up five firsts for a 3-and-D wing in Mikal Bridges. Unfortunately, he isn’t providing much ‘D’, or many 3’s for that matter. Shooting a miserable 33.9% from three, way off his career average.
Bridges is poor as a point-of-attack defender. His defensive box plus/minus is -1.4 the worst of his career. His overall box +/- is a career worst -1.6. Perhaps the greatest indicator of his under performance is his value over a replacement player of 0.1. This indicates they could have found someone better suited for that role at a considerably lower price.
It feels like a waste of resources to trade that amount of picks. With that being the case, arguably it was one trade too many for the front office. Karl-Anthony Towns was acquired much later than Bridges. The front office had been working on the Towns trade for a long time before this past summer. Yet to pivot to Bridges, giving up most of their resources for him, indicates they had far bigger ambitions for Bridges. Then to acquire Towns making him the new lead option, limits Bridges’ role.
It’s almost indefensible to give up five first-round picks for Bridges to make him a complimentary piece. Not only that, but one that has been outshone often by OG Anunoby and Josh Hart on both ends. It seems the Knicks are stuck in terms of flexibility and identity.
The post What Is The Knicks Identity? appeared first on Last Word On Basketball.