What a difference two weeks can make.
It wasn’t long ago that both fear and anxiety had the New York Knicks in a headlock. The team with championship aspirations was spiraling, with just two victories over a 10-game span to start the New Year. The vibes in the locker room and behind the scenes were as bad as the play. With the NBA trade deadline fast approaching, New York’s decision-makers had to ask themselves, “Can this group win the championship?”
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Then the Knicks reversed the headlock and put in one of their own, putting both fear and anxiety slowly down onto the mat. Players talked. Hard practices were had. Accountability was handed out like trick-or-treat candy. New York passed Thursday’s NBA trade deadline as winners of eight straight after a thrilling double-overtime victory over the mighty Denver Nuggets at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday. The Knicks’ flimsy defense is sturdy. The offense’s formula is simple: make 3s and if we miss, get the offensive rebound and make 3s. New York is playing its best basketball around these parts in quite some time.
The team we’ve watched for the past two weeks has what it takes to make it to the NBA Finals.
A patient and detailed front office thinks so, too. The Knicks didn’t make one major move by the deadline, despite speculation that Karl-Anthony Towns might be on the move or that Giannis Antetokounmpo might be available. Instead, New York waited out its rough patch and made a trade around the margins.
The team has long been in the market for a backup ballhandler and acquired one Thursday in Jose Alvarado from the Pelicans for two second-round picks, while getting the Bulls to take on the contract of Guerschon Yabusele, league sources said. Adding Alvarado became even more important to the Knicks after the franchise learned that backup shooting guard Miles “Deuce” McBride will undergo surgery to fix a core muscle injury this week and be sidelined until the playoffs, league sources told The Athletic. Additionally, by trading for Alvarado and moving on from Yabusele, New York shed enough salary to become a player in the buyout market with its open roster spot, and adding another center as insurance could be beneficial.
Love it, like it or hate it, New York has its roster for its push to represent the Eastern Conference in the NBA Finals, which its owner publicly said has to happen this season.
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Head coach Mike Brown has pushed the necessary buttons to get this Knicks squad back on track. He’s tweaked the defense to a scheme the players find more suitable and easier to execute. He’s messed with rotations, allowing oft-injured center Mitchell Robinson to run free for longer stretches. He’s given Landry Shamet starter-like minutes, and done more staggering of star players Jalen Brunson and Towns to better insulate the defense around them.
During this eight-game win streak, New York has the NBA’s No. 1-ranked defense and second-ranked offense. The former is a far cry from what took place during the Knicks’ skid, when they were the 29th-ranked defense in the NBA for two weeks.
As much as New York’s coaching staff and players should be applauded for how things have shifted, New York’s front office deserves credit, as well. Not only did it not panic when things got tough, but the organization found a way to right the ship. That’s a sign of qualified leadership.
Furthermore, the Knicks were good about asset management. It was believed that there was no way the Knicks could unload Yabusele’s contract without attaching draft picks. Multiple teams that spoke with The Athletic thought New York would have to attach one or two second-round picks. The Knicks were patient and found the one team willing to take on a player option at no cost. Maybe that says more about the Bulls’ decision-makers, but it also illustrates New York’s patience. Getting Alvarado for two seconds when multiple teams were pursuing him is also shrewd. The Knicks added a good player while getting far enough from the second apron that they can fill their 15th roster spot immediately, as opposed to April 2, which had been the date before the trades were made. That’s just good business all around by Leon Rose and his staff.
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The Knicks, from top to bottom, feel like a well-oiled machine now. The win over Denver greased the wheels even more. New York will follow up Wednesday’s performance with two games against the East-leading Detroit Pistons, who beat the Knicks by 30 earlier this season, and the Celtics, who have the same record as New York. Splitting the next two would add even more validity to New York’s recent uptick in play. Most of the victories during the Knicks’ current winning streak have come against bad opponents or ones who are good but not expected to do much in the postseason. The Knicks have an opportunity this weekend to quiet a lot of doubters ahead of the All-Star break.
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From here on out, it’s just about basketball. Players no longer have to worry about potentially uprooting their lives. There’s no more fear about being in an Antetokounmpo trade. Certain guys can now exhale.
Even when all of the extracurriculars were at the forefront of everyone’s mind, New York was already doing the basketball part quite well.
Many people thought this Knicks team could be special. New York has started to prove those people right.