Like all mother or father making an attempt to speak a toddler out of a gaudy, gaudy – and above all, costly – Christmas reward: you do not want it, New York Knicks followers.
Brett Siegel, ClutchPoints NBA Insider energized a sleeping NBA Friday with a report that Minnesota Timberwolves capturing guard Donte DiVincenzo was “thought-about a attainable commerce candidate for a number of contending groups within the league.” Siegel clarified that there was “no indication that the Timberwolves will need to transfer their newly acquired guard,” nevertheless it proved worthy of stopping Knicks followers’ unbridled enthusiasm for nostalgia and gossip .
It isn’t like imagining DiVincenzo in a Knicks jersey requires it any creativeness contemplating he was on the listing lower than two months in the past and left Manhattan because the document holder after only one tour (essentially the most profitable three factors in a single season).
This does not even get into the Important Line delusion that by no means acquired to take the ground, because the “‘Nova Knicks” idea peaked when Mikal Bridges was added to a gaggle that already included DiVincenzo, Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart. That by no means occurred, as DiVincenzo and Julius Randle had been traded to Minnesota for the providers of Karl-Anthony Cities. Siegel’s report reopened hopes that the quartet will sooner or later head to the Madison Sq. Graden hardwood as teammates past the Huge East event.
However the Knicks face sufficient criticism for his or her conception of being caught prior to now, endlessly subjecting themselves to the purgatory of turn-of-the-century hijinks and championships received earlier than most main cable networks had been on the air. Why aspire to the golden yr of… 2024?
There is not any sin on this temptation: The Knicks’ early struggles, notably deep, sparked loads of nostalgia from only a few weeks in the past, particularly when Bridges and Cities struggled to dwell as much as their hype. So it was honest to marvel if the most effective transfer the Knicks may have made was to do nothing in any respect, particularly contemplating how DiVincenzo was fired simply days earlier than coaching camp.
However will DiVincenzo change the Knicks’ championship fortunes? This isn’t possible, and the truth that there’s no fascinating place within the beginning 5 for DiVincenzo, that is simply the primary cause.
The Knicks’ newest concepts for including gamers – this season has already spoke of Giannis Antetokounmpo’s desires with New York on his chest— met resistance within the type of recognition for what the Backyard already has, as New York threw itself into a gaggle led by Brunson and Cities. Admitting defeat to their lieutenants (as a result of Minnesota actually is not going to be swayed by draft picks who’re most likely nonetheless in grade college) so early within the course of would eat away on the psyche of recent New Yorkers and eat away on the progress they’ve made by the Brunson period of the ground unit.
The Knicks’ three-point efforts, partially boosted by Cities’ well-known spacing and the insertion of OG Anunoby and Cameron Payne into the offensive sport, stabilized nicely sufficient to present them the chance to linger and even dominate penalties. It is the protection that’s the Knicks’ largest downside and whereas DiVincenzo’s protection has been fairly first rate in latest seasons, it is not going to maneuver the championship needle for the Knicks.
Because it stands, the Knicks are in comparatively the identical place as final season: totally able to scoring and capturing/making an attempt from deep (tenth in made threes per sport and twenty first in makes an attempt after being within the decrease fifth through the first decade). The one factor lacking is protection and that is removed from DiVincenzo’s sturdy level. If the Knicks need to resolve this situation, sticking with what they’ve and exhibiting just a little endurance – particularly with regards to ready out Mitchell Robinson’s rehab – would be the key to transferring ahead. ahead moderately than a DiVincenzo-based plan. culpa.
New York was additionally a staff that was beginning to drift away from key cogs, regardless of how a lot they endeared themselves to the group. Solely 5 gamers from the 2023-24 season’s opening night time staff are nonetheless on the staff, and solely three males from that group really performed in that loss to Boston. There is not any level in returning DiVincenzo, particularly when the deal that despatched him away within the first place left them with little to present anyway. However even when DiVincenzo, whose major averages dropped considerably in Minneapolis, discovered a second wind in a possible return to Manhattan, the Knicks are now not the NBA’s reply to skilled rehabilitation.
If the Knicks need to take pleasure in nostalgia, they’d higher be affected person with Mitchell Robinson, who’s scheduled to return this winter in what ought to undoubtedly strengthen their protection. New York is already able to holding its personal in shootouts, however, nowadays, chasing 120 factors each night time just isn’t a sustainable plan of assault for a championship contender.
