The New York Knicks walloped the Philadelphia 76ers on Tuesday night 112-99. The offense was humming, the defense was stout as the team advanced to 3-1 on the season, including wins at home vs the Boston Celtics and Philadelphia. Now, another test comes on Thursday, as the team gets set to head to Chicago to take on the 4-0 Bulls (one of two teams with that 4-0 record). Where do the Knicks stand, and can they become a team that can win a playoff series in the East?
The Knicks roster is better than last season’s, to replace Elfrid Payton and Reggie Bullock with Evan Fouriner and Kemba Walker is a win. The Knicks lacked offense last season and both Fouriner and Walker gave them upgrades in that department. Walker scored 19 points while hitting 5 three pointers in the win Tuesday night against the Sixers while Fournier scored 32 in the opening night double overtime win vs the Celtics. Through 4 games the Knicks are 4th in offense after finishing 21st last season. Now do I expect that to hold up, especially since one of those games went to double OT and 2 were against the Orlando Magic, no I do not, but a top 12-15 finish would be a massive win for New York. The team also kept a lot of last season’s core around from last season after re-signing Alec Burks, Nerlens Noel, Derrick Rose, and Taj Gibson while also giving Julius Randle a 4yr/$117 million contract extension. They still have R.J. Barrett and get Mitchell Robinson back after he played just 31 games a season ago. There is a lot to be excited about for Knicks fans, the question is what can they be in the Eastern Conference?
For most of last season it felt like the Knicks were playing with house money after being so bad for so long. Now, the question becomes can they take the next step and through 4 games, the jury is still out because in a sense it is unclear what the next step is. They are not on the same level as the Bucks or Nets, so the East Finals feels a bit out of reach, but the second round feels doable. However, that is also a challenge. Atlanta is a better team then the Knicks are, Philly and Boston are putting the pieces together, especially Philly with the unclear Ben Simmons situation, and the Heat have a better team for the playoffs then the Knicks do, not to mention the 4-0 Bulls and the 3-1 Charlotte Hornets. The East is better than it has been in previous years, at the top of it and the depth of it, so the play-in is absolutely a possibility for New York, and that is not what Knick fans want. R.J. Barrett needs to take a leap, he has to be a 20 point per game scorer at some point in his career and probably higher. He needs to become a consistent 3 pointer shooter, he has to become a better playmaker, it is now year 3, he is extension eligible next offseason, if he wants a max, 2 of those things better come quickly.
The Knicks need to acquire a star player at some point here, a guy who can carry this roster to a deep playoff run, a guy who can carry them to the promised land. There is a very obvious player out there, a guard who played his college ball at Weber State and has played his entire career in the state of Oregon, but we are not going to get into trade details right now. They should not trade for Ben Simmons, he does not give them what they need. However, at some point they need to get at least one star, because once you get the first star, the second one usually comes a lot easier.
The Knicks are 3-1 after 2 impressive wins vs the Sixers and Celtics and a bad loss to the Magic it is unclear what the Knicks can do this season. They have holes on this roster and are not a serious threat to challenge the Bucks and Nets in the East. They are an upstart team that needs to become more serious at some point here, which I expect they will this season. New York is buzzing about the NBA again, and it is not about the title contending Brooklyn Nets.
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