Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
The offseason has seen shocking news unfold for the New York Knicks and across the NBA. All-Star Paul George is now a member of the 76ers, and Warriors legend Klay Thompson joined the Dallas Mavericks. The Knicks, to their credit, traded for Mikal Bridges in a blockbuster deal that should make them championship contenders.
But New York also saw the loss of Isaiah Hartenstein to Oklahoma City. The Knicks will look to exceed last season’s accomplishments, which means roles being expanded and diminished for the sake of winning. While the Knicks are some of the offseason’s biggest winners, their roster had internal wins and losses as well.
The Knicks’ Biggest Winners From Free Agency
Mikal Bridges
Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
The 27-year-old former first-team All-Defender Mikal Bridges is where he wanted to be all along: The New York Knicks.
Bridges’ maturation as a player is now entering his prime, looking for a winning role on a championship team. As the stars align for Bridges, expectations of him are even greater. Last season, Bridges played all 82 games with an average of 35 minutes per game. The best ability is availability, and the durability of Bridges is coveted after the Knicks were plagued by injuries last year.
This ‘win-win’ scenario, looks to mesh seamlessly as Bridges will share the floor at times with three of his former college teammates, and if they learned anything at Villanova, it’s how to play a winning style of basketball.
“Moved v quickly…could tell how interested they were…Mikal didn’t know til I called…That Mikal wanted to leave or requested trade couldn’t be further from truth…Not in Mikal’s character, not who he is”
— Nets Sean Marks on Knicks Mikal Bridges trade pic.twitter.com/607IGMwwio
— New York Basketball (@NBA_NewYork) July 8, 2024
Josh Hart
Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports
The Iron Man for New York last season, Josh Hart, wins this offseason because he can take a load off with the arrival of Mikal Bridges. Donte DiVincenzo also gets this luxury, but Hart’s level of two-way consistency and productivity on top of his endurance saved the Knicks in stretches last season. The intangibles Hart possesses are focal attributes that contribute to winning basketball.
Taking a step back offensively will allow Hart to maximize himself defensively. Josh Hart accumulated six triple-doubles in 2024 alone and never had one prior in his six-year career. The levels to which Hart reached, playing stretches of 40+ minutes per game to secure the Knicks 2nd seed, were unprecedented, and with opportunity to maximize his best skill sets adds a level of variation that championship teams must possess.
The Knicks’ Biggest Losers From Free Agency
Julius Randle
Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
It has been rampant as of late, with the acquisition of Mikal Bridges, that people suspect there won’t be any room offensively for former All-NBA forward Julius Randle.
Randle has shown tremendous growth during his Knicks tenure, but health concerns do raise a level of awareness coming off a season that saw Taj Gibson get another run with no big men to go to. Concerning Randle, the best he can be is available. The dominant force that Randle can be creates another level for the New York Knicks.
The collection of talent available may ask Randle to work less on offense and more on defense, but given his history, the best way to believe he’s capable will be to see it. The All-NBA forward will be going into an adjustment phase with the ball in his hands less, but Randle maximizing other facets of his game, and being a willing defender is all that’s missing to put New York over the top.
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Publish date : 2024-07-09 10:47:54
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