Knicks Morning News (2026.01.17)

And the argument isn’t really about Mike Brown, is it? It’s more about the roster. The real question is: is this roster good enough for any coach to hit some theoretical ceiling of a finals appearance?

We shall see.

I’ve pointed this out before, but the main problem with our roster is a lack of elite size/athleticism. That’s not something a coach can fix. 36yo Jimmy Butler destroyed us without breaking a sweat and laughing as he did it. 35yo Draymond Green stopped KAT in his tracks in a single-team. We’re losing because we can’t keep up.

Brown (or Thibs or whoever) can jimmy rig schemes to minimize the detrimental effects over the course of a game, or a playoff series, but it is quite possible that a foolproof fix simply doesn’t exist. At some point you have to be able to guard, and someone other than Brunson has to be able to consistently shake loose.

pt, to be honest, I don’t think an answer to that question exists. We sort of have that base covered with OG, Mikal, and to a lesser degree, Mitch and Deuce. You can improve those guys on the margins, but any improvement might put those players over the top in the all-star sense.

To me, the problem is two-fold. First (and by far biggest), our 1-2 punch is extremely unathletic in the context of this conversation…KAT via slow-twitch lumbering and Brunson via short, stumpy, slowish, below-the-rimming. Second, the supporting cast is full of guys who possess at least one very significant and exploitable flaw.

So sure, you can replace OG or Mikal or even Mitch, Hart, or Deuce with Ibaka, but how much marginal utility do you get from that, in the sense that it mitigates the first flaw?

And there’s the rub. There are two non-all-stars on this team who cost an all-star haul and who are making all-star salaries. That would be okay if our two actual all-stars were more well-rounded (i.e. two-way) players.

So when you combine the price paid for Mikal and the ill-fit of KAT, you have the conundrum we are in right now. It doesn’t help that we drafted Kolek (who clearly was not a plus athlete) and Dadiet (who clearly was two years away from being two years away) rather than guys like, say, Dunn and Shead who at the very least are plus defenders with some kind of elite athleticism. It also doesn’t help that neither Clarkson nor Yabu have shown any “plus” athletic ability.

So yeah, Ibaka et. al. would help make us deeper, but not all that much better, especially since he’d be getting paid $30-40M AAV in this market and you’d have to factor in who he’d be replacing.

While I hope we get over the top this year, and will be rooting hard for us to win every game we play until we either win a championship or are eliminated, I think it’s fair to ask: what should Leon do if we fall significantly short of the hoped for outcome, i.e a second-round loss or worse?

My current hot take is:

Plan A: Acquire Giannis, preferably for KAT and one other starter other than Brunson i.e OG, Mikal, or Hart, plus whatever filler in picks or scrubs it takes.

Plan B: Unless something totally unexpected presents itself, forget about chasing a championship via all-in moves. Salary dump KAT and one other starter (again, either OG, Bridges, or Hart). let Mitch go at any price over $12M AAV. We will likely have our own first, a top second, and a mid-second. Draft a a super-athletic defensive wing (i.e. can play D in the NBA right now) and a lightning-quick PG with some size who lacks a consistent perimeter shot but can get to the rim and has a high b-ball IQ. Even if Huk develops, find a solid defensive C in the second round. Then hope that Brunson is still super-elite in 3 years at age 32.

“serge ibaka retired three years ago not sure who is being referenced here”

Can you possibly have made a more stupid comment? Oh wait, it’s Doogie, never mind.

“Almost no player comes without a thermal exhaust port — too short, too slow, can’t go left well, etc. There are a few (for some reason Maxey comes to mind, and of course Jokic, who in fact has a whole long list of failures, none of which seem to matter even a bit).”

Obviously no player is perfect in every regard. However, there’s a difference between imperfections and exploitable weaknesses. For example, Michael Jordan was not a great 3pt shooter but was that a weakness defenses could exploit? No, because he would eat up any space you gave him and score efficiently anyway…like, say, SGA, but unlike, say, Josh Hart. who

There is also the balance between the magnitude of the strengths and weaknesses. For example, Jokic is a weak rim-protector and is not fleet-of-foot, but when you are as ridiculously dominant of an offensive player, and not Enes Kanter on D, the balance falls so far on the positive side of the ledger that the negatives are easier to patch up with other players. Maxey has flaws but he is so explosive in his movements that any crack in the defense looks like a superhighway to him, and if he’s hot from 3 he can singlehandedly make the game too fast for everyone else on the court (although to be fair, he’s closer to Brunson and KAT than he is to SGA and Jokic.)

The problem with Brunson and KAT is that their weaknesses compound each other, and this compounding effect works to expose the weaknesses of their supporting cast. Complementary players are best when they can stay in their respective lanes. On the Knicks, OG, Mikal, Hart, Deuce, and Mitch are all being asked to expand their roles in ways that accentuate their weaknesses.* They can get away with that vs. lesser teams, but sooner or later they will run into a team and coach that has an answer for all of the workarounds.

*for example, OG is being pushed to drive more, and that’s great except when he gets cut off in the paint and then proceeds to cough up the possession. Smart teams know how to lure him into those situations.