TimRobbins wrote:HopelessKnick wrote:Keep in mind we are 24-5 since the OG trade. And that's with JR missing most of those games. Out of those 29 games 20 games were against playoff/play-in teams, where we went 15-5. This is not something that you break up easily.
We do have 2 FRPs coming up though and need to make a decision on them. Are we going to draft or are we going to punt or package them for some player? I think if any move happens it will be around draft day with the picks + Bojan's contract.
Should we keep Randle? IS the team really better with him?
This is obviously only my opinion but I would answer it with a resounding YES. Look with a healthy Julius Randle that played the way he played after his bad start---meaning ferociously attacking the basket and playing more unselfishly and effectively, the Knicks are clearly better. Teams won't be able to handle our frontcourt at all. You have probably the best frontcourt rotation in the entire league with Brunson in the backcourt. The team as currently constituted is already a true title contender. That's what the OG trade did for us IMO. Put Randle in there and you'll see Philly has much less opportunities to focus on Brunson and all of a sudden you'll see Brunson shooting even more effectively. All our role players like McBride, DD, Hart, OG will get many more open looks. Brunson and JR are our only guys in the rotation with not so good defense but we have great defenders everywhere to make it up. Also keep in mind that despite his recent injury struggles, both came from freak situations, Randle is usually super reliable.
Take all that and the outstanding chemistry the team has and I'd roll it back. Depending on the draft I'd look to draft a SF/PF and develop him in a super professional, winning atmosphere lead by true leaders like Brunson, Thibs etc. or if no SF/PF is available in the draft you may look at trading for one in the Jeremi Grant tier of players. If the Knicks were 100% healthy right now, it'd be a coin flip between them the Celtics, Nuggets and Wolves. And keep in mind we destroyed a healthy Nuggets and Philly team by 40 points apiece in the regular season and beat the Wolves in OG's first game where we lead by 20+ points in the third quarter as well. The size, defense, toughness of this team is already unmatched, and then you still have very good 3 point shooting with Brunson, Deuce, DD, OG as well. Remember DD was shooting like 45% from 3 until Randle went down. This is already a title team.
