[New York Post] – Sat, 13 Apr 2024 04:30:00 GMT
- Knicks squeak out win against rival Nets to clinch at least top-4 playoff seed
- Scenes from Mitch hitting free throws!
- Knicks 111-107 Nets (Apr 12, 2024) Game Recap
- Despite Cam Thomas’ 41, Brooklyn Nets lose 111-107 to New York Knicks
- Brunson scores 39 points, Knicks beat Celtics to keep up push for No. 2 seed in Eastern Conference
[CBS Sports] – Fri, 12 Apr 2024 05:57:17 GMT
NBA playoff sleepers: Why Knicks, Mavericks and Pelicans are in position to crash the contender party
[Celtics Wire] – Fri, 12 Apr 2024 17:30:00 GMT
Kristaps Porzingis sends chilling warning to NBA after Knicks loss
[New York Post] – Fri, 12 Apr 2024 16:35:00 GMT
- Knicks’ Jalen Brunson is the best player in Eastern Conference ‘by far’: Kenny Smith
- Rick Pitino, OG Anunoby believe Jalen Brunson deserves hardware: ‘Should win MVP’
- How Jalen Brunsons constant movement is a staple for the Knicks offense
- Knicks Bulletin: He should win MVP.
- Could Jalen Brunson Lift the Knicks to Postseason Glory?
[LakersNation.com] – Fri, 12 Apr 2024 23:30:12 GMT
Spencer Dinwiddie Compares Lakers-Clippers Dynamic To Knicks-Nets
[The Knicks Wall] – Fri, 12 Apr 2024 11:48:12 GMT
Jalen Brunson’s Preferred Passing Targets
[New York Post] – Fri, 12 Apr 2024 14:07:00 GMT
- Charles Barkley rips Celtics for ‘going through the motions’ vs. Knicks
- Joe Mazzulla said the quiet part out loud
- Charles Barkley Rips Celtics for ‘Going Through the Motions’ in Ugly Loss vs. Knicks
- Do Celtics’ late-season losses matter? What playoff history tells us
- Charles Barkley Blasts Celtics Players After Dual Losses
[Daily Knicks] – Fri, 12 Apr 2024 12:00:00 GMT
- Josh Hart-Mikal Bridges exchange has Knicks fans still hoping for unlikely trade
- Knicks Rumors: Proposed Trade Lands Nets’ Mikal Bridges
- Knicks Floated as Trade Destination for Nets’ Mikal Bridges
- Why a Julius Randle-Mikal Bridges Swap is in the Cards
- Could Knicks pursue Nets’ Mikal Bridges this offseason?
[Basketball Network] – Fri, 12 Apr 2024 16:33:00 GMT
Fat Joe reflects on Knicks’ decision to let go of Jeremy Lin
[Basketball Network] – Fri, 12 Apr 2024 11:13:00 GMT
Carmelo Anthony recalls J.R. Smith untying players’ shoelace
[New York Post] – Sat, 13 Apr 2024 03:14:00 GMT
Cam Thomas shoves Jalen Brunson, OG Anunoby steps in as Knicks-Nets ending gets heated
[New York Post] – Sat, 13 Apr 2024 04:56:00 GMT
Cam Thomas’ historic 41 points go to waste in Nets’ loss to Knicks
[New York Post] – Sat, 13 Apr 2024 04:00:00 GMT
Angel Reese takes Knicks-Nets game in courtside as she preps for WNBA draft
95 replies on “Knicks Morning News (2024.04.13)”
I laid it all out in last night’s thread so you look there for the math but basically if the Knicks don’t lose to Chicago we only avoid Philadelphia if Atlanta beats the Pacers in Indiana.
The Pacers are currently 12.5 pt favorites but I think the Hawks will give ’em hell. They just got Trae Young back and you don’t bring your injured star back for the last three games of the year just to tank.
On paper they have nothing to play for but they have no reason to tank, either. I suspect they’ll want to go into the play-in on a high. They’ve lost three straight but all of them came down to the final buzzer, so they’re fighting.
If you’re into the Knicks tanking tomorrow (I am not, and I doubt they are), we can avoid Philadelphia if we lose and the Magic beat the Bucks.
There are also several ways if Philadelphia loses at home to Brooklyn.
It’s annoying that we seem destined to face the Sixers in the first round, right as Embiid is rounding into health/form. At the same time, to be the best, you gotta beat the best. And while Orlando and Indiana seem like the easier matchups, there are things that both of them do that would complicate our play against them, so… Just go out and win, Knicks.
https://x.com/awfulannouncing/status/1778972316577276019?s=46&t=0wqff4cNt-sCGcDs-uMExw
Clyde and Breen at it again. Priceless
Happy to play whomever with home court advantage. And assuming we played them tough, rather take my chances even if it means losing to a healthy Embiid.
well we also avoid philly if we win and get 2nd bc the bucks lose and philly loses the play in to miami
Losing in the first round after getting 50 wins would really suck. But hey, one of the Mavs or Clips is gonna lose in the first round.
Is there a scenario where we get 2nd and the Sixers finish 6th?
no that can’t happen
for the intrepid
https://x.com/moose_nba/status/1779053840689447050?s=46
If we finish 2nd and the Hawks beat Pacers, the Sixers would finish 5th (the Pacers would be 7th).
If we finish 2nd and the Pacers beat the Hawks, the Sixers would finish 7th.
Both of those assume Cavs & Sixers win to keep it simple.
Given how poorly Orlando has played and the uncertainty regarding the Bucks, it’s really hard to anticipate what will happen in that game. I hope they get the #2 seed, because getting Philly on the 3-6 is somehow even worse.
I feel like “do you want Philly or Miami” is a fascinating conversation, but one I’ll save until they are actually slated to play the 7 v 8 game.
Bring on Philly.
Side note: I have rid myself of the irrational belief that Orlando is a tougher matchup for us than Philly. And I even have a healthy amount of concern now bc it’s easy to imagine a scenario where this whole thing just boils to down to Philly has Maxey & Embiid and we just have Brunson.
But I still think Philly is fundamentally broken. It seems everyone else gets the blame there. It was Simmons, it was Harden, it was Doc, it’s Tobias Harris… sounds like a lot of scapegoating to me.
The numbers are real: Joel Embiid underperforms in the playoffs. He also misses a lot of games in them.
I think we’ll be fine. It may take 7 games my money’s on Jalen Brunson.
The only thing that would give me pause is if Game 1 is a matinee at the Garden. And I trust Big Blue Al knows why.
Not once have I rooted for the Orlando Magic..until now lol. As for us- we can still beat Chicago tomorrow if Hartenstein and Deuce sits again. But we absolutely cannot do it if we have another slow start. I want this 50th win BAD. I’m pretty sure Thibs is gonna make sure guys like Green don’t go off on us again. If Thibs isn’t high on the list for COTY, something is wrong. IMO, the top 3 should be Daigneault, Finch, and Thibs- with Mazzulla and Green tied for a close 4th
We also have iHart and Mitch to at least make Joel work, and we’ve got OG, Hart, and Deuce to try different coverages of Maxey. If Embiid is at 100%, that’s really tough. But I can see us winning.
I feel like “do you want Philly or Miami” is a fascinating conversation, but one I’ll save until they are actually slated to play the 7 v 8 game.
Not opining on this per se, but my working theory is the shorter the series, the less coaching matters.
Personally I would prefer Philly to Miami.
Vegas odds on Thibs winning coach of the year are +20000.
Daigneault -550
Finch +650
Mosley +1000
Mezzulla +6000
Carlise +15000
Udokah +19000
I give him tons of credit for creating a solid structure that enabled us to endure tons of injuries this year. But riding Jalen Brunson and going to a playoff rotation in January really isn’t an award-winning strategy.
And I don’t think the mainstream is as eager to absolve him of his role in the injury accumulation as you guys are.
The Sixers are much less likely to intentionally injure one of our players, so I’d rather face them over Miami.
I got to the point where I really don’t care, this team won’t be intimidated by anyone and all the potential opponents will present some sort of different challenge. If I really had to choose, I’d pick Orlando because they really are at least one year away from their development, but I truly believe we can beat anyone.
If we have to face Philly, I’d rather it be a Philly team that had to win a playin team to get into the playoffs.
I don’t think Thibs is deserving of CoTY. I don’t even put much stock into such a subjective award. But he’s done a great job given what he’s had to work with, and given who he is.
I very much doubt that his minutes allocations will have anything to do with the voting.
I also think that in spite of all the minutes police stuff, his team is going into the playoffs as healthy as any team that has had to weather the loss of players to non-minutes-related injuries (Randle and Mitch). Every team has guys who are nicked up, as he calls it, regardless of how the coach allocated minutes.
It’s a bitter pill that the reward for this is playing the likes of the Heat or the Sixers in the first round.
“If we have to face Philly, I’d rather it be a Philly team that had to win a playin team to get into the playoffs.”
This makes sense, but it also makes it possible that Miami would beat Philly and would be our opponent.
For me, it’s more about not wanting to play the Sixers or Heat because of the “star whistles” Embiid and Butler get versus the less egregious biases for the Pacers/Magic stars. That said, Brunson is now a legit star whistle guy, so let’s just go get this.
It may seem counterintuitive but I’m not a fan of giving players time off because a game “doesn’t matter”. I think Boston’s asking for trouble if they wind these guys down for two weeks and end up playing a Miami team that just fought their way in.
Then again, with their luck, they’ll probably draw the Bulls.
They don’t care about that. COY is for the coach whose teams exceeds pre-season expectations the most. We slighly outperformed, I think the consensus was we’d win someting like 45, 46 games. Vegas had the OU on the Thunder around 43.
I think Thibs has done a good job but the 2 main reasons the team is where it is is JB and the OG trade. I’m not sure there really is an outstanding candidate this year as most teams are somewhat within expectations (OKC an exception but Shai and Chet get the credit) given the roster but Adrian Griffin might have the best case, assuming a fired coach can win.
if the media had a shred of respect for the poetic justice gods they’d give it to adrian griffin
thinking about which teams would be most likely to blow it up slash dramatically reconfigure in the offseason were they to fail to get through the play in or lose in the first round. seems like more than half the west might. hard to say what miami would do. the helio centric teams like the bucks, mavs, sixers are just about what their star wants.
19-3 with OG
The New York Knicks have a record of 19-3 with OG Anunoby this season. That’s our 71-win pace with against their measly 65-win pace with Embiid. We win!!!
Thanks, DRed, for pointing out that it is 19 wins with OG rather than 18.
And until Embiid proves he can do it in the playoffs, those regular season numbers are just that. We’ve seen the Sixers come out with brilliant numbers until it all falls apart in the most majestic way once they face real adversity.
I’d still rather avoid them in the first round, but in a series where they would come as the 6th or 7th seed, they would have all the pressure on them. Nurse is obviously a better coach than Doc was, but they still have to prove it.
“…….71-win pace with OG against their measly…….”
Poor OG got lost in the edit ether. 🙂
Embiid’s had some very good playoffs, but on the other hand he’s also had some bad ones. And he might not be healthy. He visibily hurt his knee last night, went to the locker room to get treatment, and then Thibs put him back in the game because he’s a madman.
Huh?
I’m sort of agnostic to the “Player X hasn’t gotten it done in the playoffs” stuff. With Embiid, it’s mostly been about his health and his team, and to a lesser degree, about his coach.
For example, in the 2021 series they lost to ATL, the biggest minutes-getters besides Embiid were Seth Curry, Tobias Harris, Ben Simmons, and Furkan Korkmaz. In 2022, he was banged up and missed two games in the Heat series. Last year against the Celts, he was banged up again and none of his teammates stepped up, most notably James Harden. Being coached by Doc Rivers didn’t help.
This is a different team with a different coach. If Embiid’s knee holds up, they will be a formidable opponent.
Ideally we would have an easier first-round matchup if we gut our way to 50 wins and the 2 seed. I mean, come the hell on! the 2/7 series is supposed to be a laugher.
We can beat any of these teams, but it’s annoying. The NBA should implement a seed draft wherein the 1st seed picks its opponent, then the 2nd seed, and so on. Would be dramatic and exciting.
But whatever, let’s find out quickly what we’re made of.
Idk a team that has Tobias Harris, Kelly Oubre and Kyle Lowry as their 3rd, 4th and 5th starters doesn’t scare me that much (yes I know Lowry tends to torch us but the dude has a lot of miles) Plus fwiw we handled them pretty easily in the regular season when we were healthy.
I do wish Doc Rivers or Bernie Bickerstaff was their coach tho
Maxey and Embiid vs Brunson and?
Knicks play as a team, but Brunson doesn’t currently have a co-star next to him
It’s set up to give us the team we want in the first round in the 2nd round, though.
This is really just a reverse sequence.
We’ll get the 2nd round matchup in the 1st round and the 1st round matchup in the 2nd.
Don’t care who it is, bring ’em on!!
Brunson/OG/iHart >>>>> Embiid & Maxey
Robinson could be important for us against Philadelphia. I think he’s capable of defending Embiid pretty well because he’s tall enough and strong enough. Not all teams have someone who can do that. I’ve seen him do ok in the past. But he does tend to get in foul trouble against Embiid.
OG is actually the perfect defender for Embiid. But he’s also the best guy to cover Maxey.
😉
I don’t disagree in principle Z-Man, specially since we have so many historic examples of well-known “chokers” who weren’t really chokers at all and eventually won when the context was right, like Nowitzki.
But there is a big drop in Embiid’s production in the playoffs which is verifiable. Maybe it’s all about his teammates and coaches and injuries, but we all know he’ll never be 100% healthy with the wear and tear he already has in his body, and he doesn’t have a perfect team around him this time either.
Like an echo chamber in here….
It is really annoying what will probably happen but at least I will have something to talk about with my buddy in Philly…..
I’ll be disappointed with anything less than ECF. I think they can be a top 4 team in the league. Better than that, dayenu
Well Hubert considering Knicks 76ers would be a pretty big deal for a 1st rd matchup so I assume they’d get an ABC afternoon slot most likely on Saturday. Forget Reggie Miller in Game 1, recent Game 1’s at MSG also haven’t gone well vs Miami last year and Indiana in 2013!
His compete level is low and his conditioning is bad.
Guys, remember this?
https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401585111
Josh Hart came into the game and the Sixers were like “oh fuck, we have to compete hard tonight?” and got rolled.
These guys are bums. They want nothing to do with a Thibs team. Read the game thread if you forgot:
https://knickerblogger.net/2024/01/05/2023-24-game-thread-knicks-vs-bulls-ogs-road-opener-which-is-not-a-thing/
I’d be disappointed too if the Knicks finish 2nd and don’t make the ECF but I won’t look at it as some major flaw of the roster, I think it would just prove how important Randle still is to this team.
Great line from Brian in that thread:
Bruno, the one thing that can’t be shrugged off is the health issue. Like most superstars, Embiid has had great and terrible games in the playoffs. But he is rarely healthy. Which is why I was so adamantly against trading for him despite his MVP-level play when healthy. He has chronically bad knees and that’s not going to change. If the game were played like it was in the ’90s, maybe he could get away with it. But in today’s game, the best teams can figure out how to exploit him when he’s not 100%, which he never is come playoff time. And it doesn’t help when his #2 guy is also undependable in the playoffs, whether it’s Harden, Simmons, or Harris…or that his coach has a rep for playoff failure.
I expect him to not be 100% again this year, but in my opinion he has the best supporting cast he ever has, and probably the best coach as well. I like our chances, but this is not a typical #6 or #7 seed. If hes knee holds up, we will definitely have our hands full.
And if it turns out that we face Miami, I like that we have OG to defend Jimmy and/or Bam. They will be formidable but far from unbeatable. We should kill them on the boards. Rozier is sort of the X-factor, he’s mercurial and maybe exploitable, but also tough to stop when he gets hot.
It kind of sucks that ATL is playing without both Johnson and Okongwu.
Give me Miami any day. Against this iteration of Philly we are fucked. I predict we lose Game 1 on our way to going down in 5.
Philly is MUCH better than their past iterations and there is mo Doc to bail us out anymore.
It is notable that assuming Miami did not want to fall into the play in, they lost 3 of their last six, including two at home vs. the Sixers and Mavs and on the road vs. Indy. Losing Kyle Lowry’s grit and veteran leadership may hurt them. Jovic, Highsmith, and Jaquez Jr. are all untested. In a way, I worry about Spo more than the team on paper.
Pags, they started Kyle Lowry, Kelly Oubre, and Tobias Harris last night.
This is the worst iteration of Philly they’ve taken to the playoffs during the Embiid era.
Morey is literally dumping 75% of the roster in the offseason.
I don’t share the fear about a possible Sixers series. Philly is clearly not the easiest of available matchups, but if it happens, then so be it. Let the pieces fall together as they may. If you want to be the best, you have to beat the best. We must think positively and not waste energy on trying to find shortcuts. Those often backfire.
Second, don’t forget that we have our own Alpha and we have players who are winners and have won in the past. This is huge. Philly should be afraid to meet us, not the other way around.
Third, the focus should be on how exactly to defend Embiid WITHOUT fouling. Besides being one of the best players in the league, he also gets the best whistle.
Finally, Embiid is a walking injury. Nobody knows how things will develop in a series, whether he will be 100% or even available at all. Not to mention his poor playoff history.
It would be kinda funny if after all this, we wind up in the 4th seed!
Man, the West is crazy.
We’re worried about Embiid while the 2 seed out west is probably gonna get Durant or LeBron!
Chicago will likely rest their starters again on Sunday. Either way, we should beat the crap out of them! Let the losers from Milwaukee punt their game if they so choose. We will make it to 50 wins and the 2nd seat while half of the team had been injured for so long. What better boost to our morale can there be heading into the playoffs?
Absolute shaft job on iHart, who will have played almost 2000 minutes for a top-10 defense, and often in lineups in which he was the only player above 6’4″.
kinda crazy we might finish 2nd with a current rotation that includes zero lottery picks and six of eight guys drafted 30 or worse (long live alec inchains)
we don’t need no stinkin draft picks
Following a thread for the first time in a while. Glad everyone is on point and not still ruing the Quickly trade or not picking Kai Jones.
Deuce got that little bag and has provided the same lift, and the same ups and downs, as IQ. The team looks great and has beaten good teams with their alphas playing well. OG beat Philly with a big three a few years ago, no?
I doubt that iHart would get serious consideration, but it is definitely shitty that he’s ineligible.
Anything that deflates iHart’s market this offseason is ok by me. Let him pile up accolades once we’ve locked him down.
I am confident that iHart will be on our roster next year.
Looks like Bulls aren’t resting their top players tomorrow.
Just dropping by to let all the haterz know that Jericho Sims logged a plus 13 last night. Next closest was that scrub Brunson at plus 7.
#Stratsfavoritemetric
When was the last time you could say “it isn’t crazy that the Knicks *could* make the Finals?” Even if they’re not the favorites, they have a chance in any series.
I’ll take our chances against anyone.
2012-13, it’s a been a while
Shams:
https://theathletic.com/5412640/2024/04/13/nets-head-coach-candidates-mike-budenholzer/
I am embarrassed to admit I thought we could make the finals in 2021.
We had just come out of quarantine. I was freshly vaxxed. The sun was shining and me & Noble were having drinks outside the Garden before game 1.
I thought the world was ours and we were gonna make the finals.
You can squint your eyes at this group and imagine a Cinderella run to a chip.
Here’s how it goes: pro-rate a full season of OG on the team and we’re north of 60 wins. We’re 6th in SRS but the team we will put on the floor in the playoffs will be a better team than we had most of the season. We have all the things you want out of a title contender: elite superstar player who creates his own offense, 48 minutes of rim protection, elite switchable defensive star on the wing, enough perimeter shooting to keep opponents honest.
We’re probably not winning a chip but I’m squinting my eyes here.
basketball, basketball, new york knicks…more basketball…go knicks…us versus the rest of the association…
okay then, what an amazing day and night of ufc fights…
Felt the same in terms of the atmospherics with the weather and the opening of the arena. Went to that place you wanted to meet, probably got there too early, had a pint that I drank quickly, then kind of realized “I have really no idea what this dude looks like” and wanted to get in the Garden early to soak it in, so I did.
Because of COVID, they basically cleared out much of the normal season ticket base in the 100s and opened it up and the crowd down there wound up being like an 80s/early 90s crowd, mostly loud 30 year old dudes. Unbelievable atmosphere for all three games.
In basketball terms, kind of a buzzkill to see Julius get all deer in the headlights on like the second possession but whatever — still awesome. Still like to look at my phone video of the end of Game 2.
They’re much closer to actual contenders this year, without question. Probably gonna drop $200 at that 37-1 if I can actually get it. Steal at that price point.
I would feel alot more confident and excited about a possible championship run if Randle was healthy. Plus if he was healthy Knicks would have a few more wins and already clinched the 2nd seed.
In at 37-1. That’s an underpay (sm.). No fucking way this team’s odds should be that long.
With Randle in the lineup we could surely make it to the ECF. With Randle out of the lineup, our offensive sets have clearly changed. They have been working well recently and I’m curious to see how far we can go, though I am sure at some point we will miss Randle’s strength down-low.
E,
If you have a DraftKings account, you can get the Knicks at 40-1 odds. Come join in the sweat!
Also, this team as constructed is at least a fringe contender, possibly more. If Brunson is going to be a supernova all playoffs, anything is possible.
RJ Barrett had 35 pts and 11 rebounds on 13-18 shooting against the Heat last night. What the hell happened this guy!?
His new team got him to stop trying to create his own shot so often. That’s one of the reasons, at least.
RJ as a Knick, assisted 2PT FG%:
35
35
39
42
53
RJ as a Raptor, assisted 2PT FG%
62
So almost 2/3 of his 2PT buckets are assisted now. I think this, combined with removing him from the “three lefties” configuration and good old fashioned age-based improvement just from being in the league for a while is the explanation.
We were using him all wrong here, but that said it’s not like RJ is standing on the precipice of stardom. He’s still not much of a defender and his strong play in Toronto has only earned him a 0.1 BPM during his time there. He hasn’t risen up much in the EPM rankings since joining the Raptors either, I think he’s something like 144th in the league.
Shooting guards that don’t create their own offense and aren’t a plus defensively have limited value. We were definitely jamming the square peg into the round hole with him, trying to make him into something he wasn’t, so he looked worse here than he actually is.
RJ’s improvement in 2pt shooting is probably fairly sustainable, I’m not sure if he can keep making 40% of his 3s.
So the Knicks are facing a Bulls team that gains nothing from winning their final game, and the Bucks are facing a Magic team that could be knocked to a play-in slot if they lose.
Pretty good stuff.
Nets should hire Bud.
Caruana lost to Hikaru. Since I am rooting for one of the two to win the tournament, but lean Caruana, I’m not happy. I can live with anything other than Nepo.
I think a healthy 76ers team would have a decent chance to go to the finals, but given Embiid’s knees it’s probably better than 50% he breaks down in one of the series. I’d love to see a series where KP tries to guard Embiid 🤪or a final with Embiid vs Jokic.
I haven’t been looking at all the possibilities but If Embiid is hurting, I’d rather play the 76ers. If he’s healthy I’d rather play the Heat.
With Randle I think we’d be the favorite over everyone except the Celtics, but without Randle we have little margin for error against quite a few teams.
Pretty typical how certain folks who were dead wrong on RJ try to sugarcoat their stupid opinions in retrospect.
fun fight from the prelims:
Jiří Procházka versus Aleksandar Rakic
crazy fun fight…
i didn’t get the main card (it shows up in about 3 weeks on espn +, and i’m trying to be somewhat more fiscally responsible these days) – but from just looking at the “boxscore” it looks like justin gaethje and max holloway did not disappoint – they never do…
interesting that there are no nba games today…tomorrow is going to be HUGE!!!
Edit: oh yeah, i was wrong on RJ for a good while…what finally got me was when i started paying attention to just how damn slow he was on defense – and how terrible he was trying to get his own shot…
it’s good to see he’s doing less of the shot creation thing these days…
hopefully julius increases his assisted field goal rate also…that would be great…
just noticed we’re on espn in the morning…oh yeah…
We have a player on our roster who is similar to RJ but better on both sides of the ball, and makes half as much money.
What’s your theory about RJ, Z-Man? Are you with E on this one? RJ always had moxie, he was just held back because of the Thibs mosh pit? Surely you’re not going to agree with E that Tom Thibodeau egregiously misused such a killer asset.
RJ wasn’t that much of a mystery.
On the Knicks he was generally playing in lineups that lacked space (in part because of his own inconsistent outside shooting) being asked to create for himself. So whatever he was in NY, he was almost certainly better than that and still young enough to get better.
For years I was saying he wasn’t a good fit with Randle/Mitch. One of either Randle or RJ had to go. I was saying that forever, not just in terms of the better spacing and defense the Knicks needed, but because it was not ideal for either of them.
The debate to me was always are we better off with the better player now (Randle) or the better player 3-4 years from now as RJ peaks and Randle declines. Management went for the accelerated timeline and brought in the perfect player for the starting lineup. RJ is being used better in Toronto, but imo his inconsistent outside shot and defense is still going to be an issue, at least for awhile.
i wonder if jalen will get many most improved player votes…
he was having a good year before julius went out, but since them he’s at a whole other level…