Heck, they wouldn’t force Trae Young to play defense at times just so Brunson could kneel down and present the ball to Dyson Daniels as if bestowing a gift to the king of steals.

From the beginning of February till Brunson went down, the vaunted Knick offense had a 113.9 ORtg. That 14 game span would tie them for 19th in the league. Since Brunson went down, they’re up slightly to 115.4. There were major problems with the offense even when Brunson was still playing.

I do like being gray though.

This board is fully behind gray rights

Brunson is currently averaging 26.3 pts and 7.4 asts per game.

I know, I’m just saying it might help if he can nudge his current balance between hunting for his shot and looking to pass first slightly more towards the latter, especially given the hot streak Wingstop have been on.

and the offense can compete for #1 with OG and Mikal being substantially better secondary shot creators than they were before Brunson went down.

OG and Mikal didn’t wake up one day and suddenly become better secondary shot creators. That’s obviously true of Mikal who has a history of being able to step up his usage, create for himself and remain efficient (at least for stretches).

When Brunson is playing he has the ball in his hands a lot of the time and is primarily focused on his own shot creation and running P&R with Towns or looking for Towns as the 2nd option.

That leaves a LOT of nights when neither OG or Mikal get the ball very often. Even when they do they often defer to Brunson and Towns because they are better options (we’d sure rather have Towns shooting an open 3).

And of course that’s when we get 5 threads about how we dramatically overpaid for role players like Mikal and OG just because their usage is more like the 3rd and 4th option players they become when Brunson and Towns are on the court.

But that has very little to with what a player is capable of if required to do more.

With Brunson out, there is shift in the pecking order that also impacts Towns. Both Mikal and OG are FORCED to be more aggressive and score more because they become primary options. So they TRY to create more. In addition, since Towns is a C that often gets the ball from Brunson, he’s a bit less of #2 than he was when he was running P&Rs or getting assists from Brunson.

In OG’s case he may be learning for the first time that he can use his strength to overpower players and draw fouls. That’s a plus in his development even though his handle and finish are no different. But he always had that ability and will after Brunson returns. (It may not work as well in the playoffs when thing get more physical and the defenses are better)

In Mikal’s case he’s just playing like he was with the Nets because in both cases he had score more.

When Brunson returns the Knicks aren’t suddenly going to have more shots per game. A bunch of the shots being taken by OG and Mikal now are going to go back to Brunson because he’s still the best option.

If anything positive comes of it, perhaps Brunson will have more confidence in Mikal and OG and be a more willing passer to them also. So we may get a better balance and a more efficient overall offense, but OG and Mikal didn’t just magically get better these last few weeks. Their role in the offense changed and enabled them to demonstrate what they are capable of.

Who the fuck is Nick Rivers? Only kidding.

I was kind of hoping you’d say “the director of operations at Pitt men’s basketball team died?!”

But, um, is that topical?

Very glad they’re not talking about breaking Joel’s hip anymore. That shit gave me the serious shivers.

FROM SHAMS:

Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid will undergo arthroscopic surgery on his left knee next week, a team official tells ESPN. Embiid was ruled out for season in late February as he and the 76ers met with doctors to determine the best treatment to alleviate his knee issues.