Expectations For the Knicks' Highly-Anticipated Season

With NBA training camps and the preseason underway, we are inching closer and closer to the opening night of the New York Knicks season. This campaign is filled with high expectations coming off a trip to the second round of the playoffs last season.

New York re-signed OG Anunoby to give the Knicks a much-needed three-and-D option that helped them in their push to the playoffs last year. They also extended Jalen Brunson and traded for Mikal Bridges from the Brooklyn Nets. Bridges gives the Knicks more scoring and sharpshooting as he averaged 19.6 points per game last season. Bridges is also one of the best three-and-D players in the league to go along with OG.

It is worth pointing out that Tom Thibodeau will enjoy coaching Bridges who has never missed a game in his career.

The Knicks’ biggest offseason move came right before training camp when they acquired Karl-Anthony Towns from the Minnesota Timberwolves in exchange for Julius Randle, Donte DiVincenzo, and draft picks. This was a trade that the Knicks had to make as they were extremely thin at the center position after losing Isaiah Hartenstein in free agency and learning that Mitchell Robinson would not be back until January from an ankle injury.

Randle never really fit in the offense with Brunson because Randle always needed the ball in his hands. Randle was also never trustworthy enough to run the offense late in games as he would often default to one-on-one play and was prone to turnovers. He also never consistently performed in the playoffs and could not be counted on as a top option for a team with championship aspirations.

The Knicks have been rumored for years to be looking to acquire a big-time star and were never able to make it happen. This was a trade that made sense for both sides and is probably one of the most predictable trades in NBA history. Shams Charania of ESPN reported that New York and Minnesota had been talking since NBA Draft week and the Knicks originally offered Julius Randle and Mitchell Robinson but were turned down. Minnesota was only intrigued once the Knicks threw DiVincenzo into the deal.

While losing DiVincenzo hurts as he was one of the consistent players off the bench who could also make clutch three-pointers, you have to give a little to get a little sometimes and this trade makes the Knicks a better team. New York is going for it and is now set for the next three to four years and closed the gap to compete with the Boston Celtics.

On paper, the Knicks should finish in the top five of the Eastern Conference at the very least. The other true contenders for the Knicks in the East are Boston and Philadelphia. Although, who knows how the 76ers will wind up with the injury-prone Joel Embiid and Paul George in the lineup?

The only true concern for Knick fans is that New York certainly got weaker on the bench and will need players like Jericho Sims and Miles McBride to step up and perform when called upon.

The Knicks’ quest to try to get back to the NBA Finals for the first time since 1999 begins on October 22nd when they open the season in Boston to face the Celtics in a highly-anticipated matchup at 7:30 p.m.  

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