The New York Knicks won 54 games during the 2012-13 season. That was the squad with Carmelo Anthony, J.R. Smith, Tyson Chandler, Jason Kidd and Amar’e Stoudemire. It’s been all downhill after that, as the Knicks won at least 40 games just once, with two sub-20 win seasons.
The turnaround began on June 2, 2022. New York hired Rick Brunson to be an assistant coach. A month later, the Knicks signed his son, Jalen, to a four-year, $104 million contract. The Knicks finished 47-35 that season, eventually losing in the Eastern Conference Semis.
Last season, the team improved to 50-32 with Jalen Brunson pointing two fingers to his teammates, the benches, the fans, the tv cameras, the celebrities, the reporters and the 31 other teams in the NBA while saying, “Look at me. I’m the captain now.” He garnered a massive 32.2 percent usage rate on the season.
Julius Randle only played 46 games due to injury. After he went down in January, Brunson had seven games with a usage rate over 40%, with a ridiculous 49% rate in a loss to the Spurs in March.
With Brunson proving he can be the alpha on offense, the front office went to work at the trade deadline, acquiring one of the best two-way forwards in OG Anunoby, in exhange for RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley. The Knicks made a run but eventually lost in the Eastern Conference Semis again.
Then the front office went to work in the offseason. On July 6, 2024, New York acquired SF Mikal Bridges for Bojan Bogdanovic, Shake Milton, Mamadi Diakite, five future first-round picks, a first-round pick swap and a second-round pick. Bridges is one of the best all-around, complementary players in the league. His defense is excellent, he can guard multiple positions and he can spot up or initiate offense when needed. He is the perfect player to pair with Brunson. In addition, with Anunoby, the pair would constitute one of the best defending duos in the league.
Unfortunately, center Isaiah Hartenstein was up for a payday and the Knicks were out of cash. Hartenstein took his talents to Oklahoma City for three years and $87 million, which left a gaping hole at the center position for the Knicks.
Mitchell Robinson was still on the depth chart, but he has an injury history and it was announced on September 23rd that he would miss the start of the season due to offseason ankle surgery.
Four days later, the Knicks pounced like a crocodile grabbing a gazelle slurping water from the edge of the grass. Per The Athletic’s Shams Charania, New York has acquired All-Star PF/C Karl-Anthony Towns for PF Julius Randle, SG Donte DiVincenczo and a first-round pick from Detroit.
New York is also sending salary, which includes DaQuan Jeffries, and draft compensation to Charlotte to make it a three-team deal.
Now, let’s break it, break it down for both teams.
Towns is 7-foot, 248 pounds and is one of the most versatile players in the league. While he’s adept at playing with his back to the basket, he’s a career 39% shooter from downtown. Pick-and-pop with Brunson is going to be deadly, especially with Bridges, Anunoby, Josh Hart and Miles McBride spacing the floor. That is going to open up the lane for Brunson big time.
There are defensive concerns with Towns. He’s not a vicious rim protector, as he’s averaged more than 1.5 blocks per game only twice in his career. Tom Thibodeau is a defensive-minded coach, though, so he should be able to scheme things, especially since Towns can move well for a big man, has versatility, and Bridges and Anunoby can cover up some deficiencies.
Towns didn’t miss a game in his first three seasons in the league. Since then, though, he’s played over 50 games just three times, so there are some injury concerns. Now he plays for Thibodeau, who has been known to “play his guys” a ton of minutes.
For the Wolves, they receive a sharp-shooter in DiVincenzo and a power forward in Randle, who is 6-foot-8 and 250 pounds. He has some shooting efficiency issues, though, and is only a career 33% shooter from downtown. He is powerful on the blocks, though, and can take bigger defenders off the dribble. How will he work with Rudy Gobert, though? He’s not as efficient as Towns, so it looks to be an offensive downgrade, and Minnesota still has spacing issues. In addition, Randle has never been known as a defensive stalwart.
DK Sportsbook has the Knicks at +950 to rack up the most regular season wins, the third-lowest odds in the league. The Knicks are at +750 to win the championship, also the third-lowest odds. Minnesota is at +1100, the seventh-lowest. New York is +400 to win the Eastern Conference, right behind the Boston Celtics at +150. Minnesota is +500 to win the Western Conference, the fourth-lowest odds.
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