The Knicks are defending again

New York currently ranks fifth in the league in defensive rating, stymying opponents during both wins and losses to a surprising degree. No team has held more opponents to under 90 points than Tom Thibodeau’s Knicks, and their opponents’ shooting percentages are the lowest in the league.

This is unlikely to continue at this level, given the talent on paper, their workload due to injuries and their luck with semi-contested and uncontested threes. However, it’s safe to say the Knicks will end up as a defensive team among the top half of the league, maybe even Top 10. That’s enough to raise a roster’s floor tremendously and keep them in the postseason hunt, which should excite Knicks fans.

The offense is going to be a struggle

On the flip side of New York’s very real and very suffocating defense, their offense doesn’t appear to stack up well with the rest of the league. Injuries played a major role, with Obi Toppin, Alec Burks, Rivers and others missing serious time.

However, barring a major reconstruction of the system or roster, the Knicks look like a fundamentally poor offensive team. They have few reliable shooters on the roster and the ones they do have need reciprocal spacing out of the RJ Barrett, Julius Randle and Mitchell Robinson trio, which you can’t expect on a nightly basis. Even fewer Knicks are dependable creators of shots for themselves or others.

Julius Randle is an All-Star

It’s time to say it, declare it, chisel it into cement and hang it in the MoMA. There was a concern that Randle’s newfound defensive and playmaking commitment would drift with the first couple losing streaks or due to burnout with all his minutes, and yet a quarter into the season we’ve seen no such thing. He’s even improved in some areas with more games under his belt.

Randle is averaging 22.7 points, 11.3 rebounds and 6.1 assists per game, about where he was during New York’s hot start. This is good news alone, but to top it off his free-throw percentage climbed above 80 percent after a recent span of knockdown charity stripe trips. All told, he easily remains the Knicks' best player, an amazing year-to-year turnaround story, and unquestionably an All-Star in the Eastern Conference.

“Reaching” for Immanuel Quickley was brilliant

During the draft, Quickley was a borderline first-round prospect due to fall into the second, and not one implicitly linked to the Knicks, with their need for a point guard not matching his last collegiate year spent at off-guard. Two months later and Knicks fans are petitioning for the rookie to start and maybe run for mayor in 2021.

Perhaps the diminutive shooter isn’t quite ready to take on a starting role or messiah for an entire franchise role, but thus far it’s hard not to call him a straight-up steal of a pick and a supremely talented piece.

He’s averaging 11 points a night and shooting 37 percent from deep, but he’d be scoring 22 in 36 minutes of action. He could get to that point soon should he continue this level of play, but even if a rookie wall sits around the corner, Quickley going to the Knicks at pick No. 25 is a steal.

Signs of development out of the young core

Last year saw minimal improvements from Kevin Knox and Robinson, as well as an up-and-down rookie season out of Barrett. This raised some concern that New York wasn’t able to effectively develop their young core, or that their potential plateaued.

Glance at Knox, Robinson and Barrett now and those concerns look silly. Robinson settled into the starting center role with few hiccups, cutting down his fouling habits and anchoring one of the league’s best defenses.

Nearly every facet of Knox’s and Barrett’s games also improved, earning them rotation minutes in which they’ve contributed a great deal to this near-.500 start. If the losing picks up from here, Knicks fans can find solace in their young core making legitimate, tangible strides towards positive NBA futures.

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