The NBA trade deadline is in two weeks and the Knicks are trending in the wrong direction.
They’ve lost five of six heading into Friday’s game against the Bucks in Milwaukee.
If you’re an optimist, maybe you look at this Knicks team and find comfort in the fact that last year’s club started slowly, too. They were 11-15 at one point and finished with the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference.
Does this team have that kind of run in it? If not, what needs to change? And who is going to fix it?
Those are the questions the organization needs to answer as the trade deadline approaches.
Maybe the Knicks are quiet on Feb. 10. Maybe they believe that the team, as is, can improve over time.
Just like all other teams, New York’s management will take and make plenty of calls over the next two weeks to gauge the market.
It’s worth noting that one team in touch with a member of the organization recently is under the impression that Julius Randle would be available for the right return.
The Knicks and Randle agreed to a four-year extension prior to the season. But the idea that his name would come up in trade discussions shouldn’t be a surprise.
The Knicks also have had Jalen Brunson and Myles Turner on their radar recently. There will probably be several other players available for the right price at the deadline.
Last season, the Knicks liked where they were at the deadline. They wanted to give that group a chance to compete together. So after trading for Derrick Rose weeks earlier, they were quiet at the trade deadline.
Will they take the same approach this year? We’ll find out in two weeks.
One factor to consider as the deadline approaches: The coaching staff and players haven’t always been on the same page this season.
As noted in late December, some Knicks players felt that the decision to bench Kemba Walker revealed an inconsistency in decision-making from Tom Thibodeau and his coaching staff. Those players felt that the entire team wasn’t held to a consistent standard.
That feeling lingered in the weeks after the decision, per people familiar with the situation. At the time, those people noted the chemistry/connectivity between players and Thibodeau/his staff wasn’t as strong as it had been last season.
Three things to point out here:
I can’t say definitively whether that dynamic exists at the moment. It’s possible that any lingering issues have been smoothed over.
Disconnect between NBA players and coaches is fairly common when teams underperform.
Thibodeau won Coach of the Year in 2020-21. Clearly, he did something right last season when he led the Knicks to their first playoff appearance in seven years.
The 2021-22 roster is mostly the same, with the exception of the backcourt. New York signed Walker and Evan Fournier in the offseason to replace Elfrid Payton and Reggie Bullock. Those signings, so far, haven’t worked out for the Knicks.
They’re three games under .500 with 33 games left in the regular season.
Can this roster make a run over the next 10 weeks and make the playoffs?
If not, what needs to change? And who is going to fix it?
Again, these are the questions the organization needs to answer ahead of the Feb. 10 trade deadline.
If they don’t find the right answers, the next question will be: Whose fault is it?
If you’ve followed the Knicks for long enough, you know it can get ugly when that question comes up.
