On December 30th the Knicks made a bold trade sending RJ Barrett, Immanuel Quickley, and a 2024 2nd round pick via the Detroit Pistons to the Toronto Raptors for OG Anunoby, Precious Achiuwa, and Malachi Flynn. At the time I told you it made them better but I do not think that we realized how much better it makes them.
At the time of the trade I said; “acquiring OG Anunoby makes the Knicks better enough to justify the deal in my opinion.” Boy does it look like I nailed it on that one. In January, the Knicks went 14-2 with a net rating of 15.8 over that 16 game stretch, the best net rating in the league this season is the Celtics at 9.5. This is very real. Their new starting 5 of Jalen Brunson/Donte DiVincenzo/OG Anunoby/Julius Randle/Isaiah Hartenstein has been dominate, in 180 minutes played they have a 126.6 offensive rating and 110.0 defensive rating, meaning they have a net rating of 16.6 with those 5 players on the court, they are also a +62 with those 5 guys on the court, that lineup is 13th in league in cumulative plus/minus on the court in just 180 minutes. They are 12th in net rating in terms of 5 player lineups who have played more than 80 minutes together. There is a lot of evidence that their starting 5 is amongst the best in the NBA and I do not believe that it is a fluke. They way this is a team that is built extremely well with Jalen Brunson, OG Anunoby, and Julius Randle complimenting each other as well as they do, the Knicks are a very well rounded team and Jalen Brunson is the engine that makes them go.
Drafted in the 2nd round of the 2018 NBA Draft, Jalen Brunson spent the first 4 seasons of his career with the Dallas Mavericks, mostly being overshadowed by Luka Doncic. In 277 games as a Maverick, Brunson averaged 11.9 points, 3.7 assists, and 3.0 rebounds, yet in 2022, Brunson began to show flashes in the playoffs of what he would become, averaging 21.6 points in 18 games (all starts) that postseason as the Mavericks went to the Western Conference Finals, before the Warriors took them out in 5 games. That summer, he inked a 4yr/$104 million deal to become a New York Knick, something that many considered to be an overpay… not me tho.
Since signing with the Knicks, Brunson has become a star, averaging 25.3 points, 6.3 assists, and 3.7 rebounds in 115 regular season games as a Knick, all starts. He is even better in the playoffs, averaging 27.8 points, 5.6 assists, and 4.9 rebounds in last year’s postseason. Brunson has become a legit number 1 option on a really good team, the question is how far can he take them?
The Knicks are really good. After beating the Pacers, they are 15-2 over their last 17 games and 32-17 overall, 3rd in the Eastern Conference. In fact they are closer to first place Boston (5.0 games back), than they are 7th place Miami (5.5 games up). As I mentioned, their starting 5 is really good but they also are good with other guys on the court too. For the whole season, the Knicks are rated 7th in offense, 6th in defense, and 4th in net. That is a really good basketball team, and over the last 3 games, they have done it without Anunoby and Randle. With guys like DiVincenzo, Hartenstein, Deuce McBride, and Precious Achiuwa stepping up to help the Knicks continue their 9 game winning streak. The question is how far can they go in what seems like a loaded Eastern Conference?
For the entire season it has seemed that the Celtics, Bucks, and 76ers are just in a different tier than everyone else in the Eastern Conference. Yet over the past month, it has not seemed that way. An injury to Joel Embiid, a little bit of slippage by the Bucks and Celtics, and the Cavs and Knicks really starting to click have led to the Knicks and Cavaliers both jumping the Sixers and only .5 games (Knicks) and 1 game (Cavs) back of Milwaukee for 2nd place. While you may consider Boston above everyone else considering they are 4.5 games up on everyone else, there is no debating the Knicks and Cavs are right there with the 76ers and Bucks in the Eastern Conference. This is a Knicks team that can absolutely go to the Eastern Conference Finals and falling short of that could be considered a disappointment. An NBA Finals trip also is not out of the realm of possibilities considering how well they have played as of late and how the Celtics, Bucks, and Sixers have all performed in some of the biggest moments in recent years. With the trade deadline a week away, I think the Knicks need to operate like a team that can go to the NBA Finals. With that being said, none of this matters unless they get Julius Randle back on the court, who dislocated his shoulder in last Saturday’s win against the Miami Heat and will be re-evaluated in 2-3 weeks.
With the trade deadline fast approaching it is time for teams to make deals and I think that the Knicks need one more scorer off of the bench. Quentin Grimes is a player I would be open to trading because of the emergence of Deuce McBride. McBride has shot 46% on 2.5 3 point attempts per game this season and has shown he should be in the rotation. As a result, Grimes is expendable. Last week in my fake trades blog I sent Malcolm Brogdon to the Knicks for Grimes and Evan Fouriner. That would be choice one for me as the price is one I can live with and the player is good. Jordan Clarkson is another option though he will likely be more expensive and I think he and Brogdon are similar players in terms of how good they are. The Knicks could go the route of a Bruce Brown like player as well and while I think Brown is good, I am not sure that is the kind of player the Knicks need right now. I would want to acquire either Brogdon or Clarkson if I was the Knicks to replace Immanuel Quickley’s scoring off of the bench.
The New York Knicks are playing some of the best basketball in the NBA right now and it looks to be sustainable. They are playing connected defense, with an offense that has proven it can score with the best of the best. The question is, how do they react when the going gets tough in a playoff series against an elite basketball team?
Rockets acquire Steven Adams from the Grizzlies
We had a trade last night! The Grizzlies sent Steven Adams to the Houston Rockets for Victor Oladipo and 3 2nd round picks. This is a fairly simple trade. For Memphis it creates more flexibility for them as they head into this offseason with a lot of optionality, with a high lottery pick so they will be a fun team to watch this summer. The Rockets were looking for toughness at the 5 behind Alpern Sengun with former Boston Celtic, now Portland Trail Blazer, Robert Williams at the head of those discussions. They did not get Williams but they will get that toughness with Adams, who will become their backup center next season and will be able to give them different looks off of the bench. Both Adams and Oladipo are expected to miss the entire season, though Oladipo may return at some point.
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