to make another addition — have a definite ceiling on what they can be. They’re not as good as the Bucks, who have kept the band together while changing coaches. They’re not as good as the Celtics, assuming Jaylen Brown stays. They’re not as good as the Heat, even if it’s only Tyler Herro who returns for them this year, let aloneCorey Sipkin for the NY Post
“The Knicks are a really nice team,” one longtime NBA executive said Thursday afternoon. “There’s nothing wrong with having a really nice team, at all. But there’s only so much you can expect to achieve with a really nice team.”And thus, we have team president Leon Rose’s quandary. Well, it would be nice if Giannis Antetokounmpo or Joel Embiid — or, hell, while we’re dreaming, Victor Wembanyama — woke up one day over the weekend and announces, “You know, unless I get traded to the Knicks, I’m retiring from the NBA.” But I wouldn’t count on that.Not randomly. Not recklessly. And there are really very few choices here. Jalen Brunson is going nowhere. It seems unlikely the Knicks will part with Julius Randle for dimes and quarters on the dollar.
But there are still elements of his game that can be frustrating: He has inconsistent 3-point shooting. He has been increasingly reliant on an inside game for a guy who only stands 6-foot-6. Tom Thibodeau took to benching him in fourth quarters last year in favor of Quentin Grimes or Josh Hart or Immanuel Quickley.