I quite like this take. Obviously I think we’ll beat the Knicks in 6 or so games if we’re both healthy, but their trade for KAT reduces our guys’ margin of error. We’re gonna have to play closer to our best in order to beat this Knicks squad at their best imo.
let‘s aim aim first 1st spot and then let‘s see if we even have to play them.
No one should be worried about KAT in any way. Marginal upgrade at best for the Knicks.
I’m a Knicks fan and I think this trade actually hurts our chances of beating you. Lineups with KAT and Brunson give the Jays two potential mismatches to hunt. We could hide Brunson before, but it’s much harder now. I also think it’s a mistake to try to play your style—your 5 out lineup is prob still better than ours.
I liked Julius bc his bully ball gave us a different element. Tatum is the only guy with the right body type to guard him and it would be a good way to try to drain Tatums legs. Tatum is also a better off-ball than on-ball defender, so it would help the rest of the offense by taking him out of the equation as a helper and switcher. Randle is also a surprisingly good on-ball defender and actually matched up super well with Brown (can’t remember the exact stat, but I think he held him to like 35% shooting over 4 games).
The best way for to attack you, imo, would be to try to grind the game down and win the battle inside, not try to go shot for shot with your offense. Randle let us play super physically without sacrificing skill.
Yeah NYK are much more of a finesse team now with Bridges and KAT instead of Randle and Hartenstein. It could work but it’s definitely a bit of an identity shift for y’all.
Imo with the trade the Knicks needed all the depth help they can get with how Thibs usually runs his teams. Randle getting traded is probably a net win for them, especially exchanging him for KAT, when the other two starting bigs/wings OG and Bridges are very strong defenders and someone like OG can guard bigger guys similar to what Tatum showed in the finals.
Now where I don’t like the trade for the Knicks is that if anything happens to Brunson, their guard depth is extremely thin with Donte leaving, especially when you consider how great he played last offseason.
KAT addition does make them very versatile with big formations and gives them Mitch Robinson insurance, which was their biggest what if I thought heading into the year.
As far as I see it, New York now has 2 defensive liabilities in their starting lineup in Brunson and KAT and we don’t. In a playoff setting teams usually attack the mismatch relentlessly, so we know beforehand that we have 2 guys who we can consistently go at knowing they’re the big offensive options, meaning they’ll be getting serious minutes especially under Thibs.
I don’t see them winning a series against us, I think we beat them in 6 at worse if everyone is healthy.
Thibs will run the team into the ground for the playoffs, especially now with their depth depleted. Thibs hated Kat the first go around, did something change? Now the Knicks have zero financial flexibility, lost depth and a lot of tradeable assets, so everyone needs to stay healthy, unlike the Celts due to their depth. Throw in DD, cost savings and a 1st, Wolves did well.
I don’t like theorizing on these kinds of things cause it’s more about personality and style fit than straight up talent. But I’m dubious that this is just gonna work and close what was a huge gap last year when we’re just running it back
It’s an opinion….nobody on either side of the trade can be connected to ultimate success even though they’ve all been associated with good teams.
Actual fit will determine who wins this trade.
Celtics in 5. We’re better at every position.
A couple, three things:
1. Towns, if healthy, makes it more likely the Knicks finish the regular season in first place. They are going to _feast_ on the Least of the East, and competitive with the contenders on both conferences. If healthy, they’re gonna score a ton and be fun to watch (when not playing the Celtics). Towns, if healthy, is a playoff mismatch. Teams, like the Celtics, will feast on Brunson and Towns in a 7-game series. Yes, the other guys are good defensively. And teams have covered over individual liabilities like Towns and Brunson to be successful. But I’m not betting it.
2. The Celtics will probably offensively attack Towns and Brunson with a two man ISO involving KP and Holiday, which is a size, skill, and experience advantage for Boston. Pull everyone else to the strong side, and give KP the ball. Good luck short guys. Get Brunson in foul trouble or switched onto KP on a roll to the hoop.
3. Oh yeah, the Knicks will likely put so much effort into the regular season, “if healthy” means nothing for them. (Whereas, we do not need seeding or regular season validation.) Thibs will burn KAT and Brunson down, so any playoff series will be…major advantage Boston.
Did Karl-Anthony Towns even go to Villanova? Color me skeptical.
I’m genuinely not at all scared of KAT. He and brunson are two easy mismatches to attack and KAT has never been a consistent playoff performer. Their defense and offensive rebounding, two huge things that they did, both took hits. I’m really not that scared
Underrated aspect of this trade for the Knicks is losing donte’s bench scoring and clutch shot making.
I actually think this move exposes the Knicks against Philly and Milwaukee somewhat: how much KAT at the 5 can they play against Embiid? What’s their plan for Giannis?
I still think we are the better team overall. Knicks are going to have availability issues w a lot of the core guys (OG and KAT and Robinson if they keep him)
16 comments
I quite like this take. Obviously I think we’ll beat the Knicks in 6 or so games if we’re both healthy, but their trade for KAT reduces our guys’ margin of error. We’re gonna have to play closer to our best in order to beat this Knicks squad at their best imo.
let‘s aim aim first 1st spot and then let‘s see if we even have to play them.
No one should be worried about KAT in any way. Marginal upgrade at best for the Knicks.
I’m a Knicks fan and I think this trade actually hurts our chances of beating you. Lineups with KAT and Brunson give the Jays two potential mismatches to hunt. We could hide Brunson before, but it’s much harder now. I also think it’s a mistake to try to play your style—your 5 out lineup is prob still better than ours.
I liked Julius bc his bully ball gave us a different element. Tatum is the only guy with the right body type to guard him and it would be a good way to try to drain Tatums legs. Tatum is also a better off-ball than on-ball defender, so it would help the rest of the offense by taking him out of the equation as a helper and switcher. Randle is also a surprisingly good on-ball defender and actually matched up super well with Brown (can’t remember the exact stat, but I think he held him to like 35% shooting over 4 games).
The best way for to attack you, imo, would be to try to grind the game down and win the battle inside, not try to go shot for shot with your offense. Randle let us play super physically without sacrificing skill.
Yeah NYK are much more of a finesse team now with Bridges and KAT instead of Randle and Hartenstein. It could work but it’s definitely a bit of an identity shift for y’all.
Imo with the trade the Knicks needed all the depth help they can get with how Thibs usually runs his teams. Randle getting traded is probably a net win for them, especially exchanging him for KAT, when the other two starting bigs/wings OG and Bridges are very strong defenders and someone like OG can guard bigger guys similar to what Tatum showed in the finals.
Now where I don’t like the trade for the Knicks is that if anything happens to Brunson, their guard depth is extremely thin with Donte leaving, especially when you consider how great he played last offseason.
KAT addition does make them very versatile with big formations and gives them Mitch Robinson insurance, which was their biggest what if I thought heading into the year.
As far as I see it, New York now has 2 defensive liabilities in their starting lineup in Brunson and KAT and we don’t. In a playoff setting teams usually attack the mismatch relentlessly, so we know beforehand that we have 2 guys who we can consistently go at knowing they’re the big offensive options, meaning they’ll be getting serious minutes especially under Thibs.
I don’t see them winning a series against us, I think we beat them in 6 at worse if everyone is healthy.
Thibs will run the team into the ground for the playoffs, especially now with their depth depleted. Thibs hated Kat the first go around, did something change? Now the Knicks have zero financial flexibility, lost depth and a lot of tradeable assets, so everyone needs to stay healthy, unlike the Celts due to their depth. Throw in DD, cost savings and a 1st, Wolves did well.
I don’t like theorizing on these kinds of things cause it’s more about personality and style fit than straight up talent. But I’m dubious that this is just gonna work and close what was a huge gap last year when we’re just running it back
It’s an opinion….nobody on either side of the trade can be connected to ultimate success even though they’ve all been associated with good teams.
Actual fit will determine who wins this trade.
Celtics in 5. We’re better at every position.
A couple, three things:
1. Towns, if healthy, makes it more likely the Knicks finish the regular season in first place. They are going to _feast_ on the Least of the East, and competitive with the contenders on both conferences. If healthy, they’re gonna score a ton and be fun to watch (when not playing the Celtics). Towns, if healthy, is a playoff mismatch. Teams, like the Celtics, will feast on Brunson and Towns in a 7-game series. Yes, the other guys are good defensively. And teams have covered over individual liabilities like Towns and Brunson to be successful. But I’m not betting it.
2. The Celtics will probably offensively attack Towns and Brunson with a two man ISO involving KP and Holiday, which is a size, skill, and experience advantage for Boston. Pull everyone else to the strong side, and give KP the ball. Good luck short guys. Get Brunson in foul trouble or switched onto KP on a roll to the hoop.
3. Oh yeah, the Knicks will likely put so much effort into the regular season, “if healthy” means nothing for them. (Whereas, we do not need seeding or regular season validation.) Thibs will burn KAT and Brunson down, so any playoff series will be…major advantage Boston.
Did Karl-Anthony Towns even go to Villanova? Color me skeptical.
I’m genuinely not at all scared of KAT. He and brunson are two easy mismatches to attack and KAT has never been a consistent playoff performer. Their defense and offensive rebounding, two huge things that they did, both took hits. I’m really not that scared
Underrated aspect of this trade for the Knicks is losing donte’s bench scoring and clutch shot making.
I actually think this move exposes the Knicks against Philly and Milwaukee somewhat: how much KAT at the 5 can they play against Embiid? What’s their plan for Giannis?
I still think we are the better team overall. Knicks are going to have availability issues w a lot of the core guys (OG and KAT and Robinson if they keep him)