Getty Head coach of the New York Knicks Tom Thibodeau speaks at a press conference during media day.
The New York Knicks are no longer just a play-in team in the eyes of NBA general managers around the league.
The Knicks jumped to fifth place, just 1% outside the Eastern Conference’s top four teams in the annual NBA GM survey. Last year, the Knicks were nowhere to be found in the annual survey’s top six teams, which had Milwaukee, Boston, Philadelphia, Brooklyn, Miami and Cleveland in that order.
Buoyed by their rousing first-round upset of the fourth-seed Cavaliers in the first round and pushing the Heat to six games in the second round, the Knicks earned a playoff contender status. They drew 33% votes from the GMs who believe they can grab the fourth seed, while 17% votes for a third-seed finish in the East this season.
A huge part of the GMs’ confidence in the Knicks is having Tom Thibodeau, who was tied with Memphis’ Taylor Jenkins, as the head coach with the best defensive schemes. Thibodeau and Jenkins got 13% of the votes, with Miami’s Erik Spoelstra as the runaway top choice with 40%.
Another factor is the leadership of Jalen Brunson. The Knicks starting point guard received votes in two categories: best leader and active player who will become the best head coach someday.
While Thibodeau ranked second in the best defensive coach, the Knicks did not receive votes for best defensive team. Last season, they finished 19th in defensive rating but rose to 2nd in the playoffs.
Thibodeau did not receive votes for the best offensive coach despite the Knicks ranking fourth in the offensive rating last season.
One of Thibodeau’s deputies, Darren Erman, received votes for best assistant coach, which was topped by Sacramento’s Jordi Fernandez, who also coached Canada to their first medal finish in FIBA World Cup history last summer.
The Madison Square Garden was tied with Boston’s TD Garden as the fifth-best homecourt in the NBA.
Charlie Ward Not a Fan of Julius Randle’s Playing Style
Playing in his first game since his ankle surgery in June, Julius Randle scored 11 points on 3-of-4 shooting and had four rebounds in only 12 minutes.
While he was part of the starting lineup that jumped to a 20-11 lead in the first six minutes against a Boston Celtics team that rested its top six players, there were moments when Randle reverted to his iso-heavy, bully-ball tactics.
Whoa! Pro Hog & Celtics rookie wing Jordan Walsh @jordanwalshlife just clean-ripped NBA All Star Julius Randle before cruising in for his 1st-ever pre-szn bucket as Boston leads New York, 42-40, midway 2nd Q … Walsh has 2 pts (1-2 FGs), 1 reb, 1 stl, box +2 in 5 mins so far …
“Julius Randle, I do believe has a place, I’m just not a big fan,” Ward said on the “The Knicks Recap” postgame show following the Knicks’ uninspiring 114-107 preseason-opening win over a skeleton Boston Celtics team Monday night.
“I know he scores the ball really, really well,” Ward continued. “I’m just not a big fan of the [isolation] type of game, which is hard for me to watch. It’s hard for me to coach it. It’s hard for me to watch it. I just like movement, move the ball, move bodies, and then make quick decisions.”
Knicks Monitoring 3 NBA Stars
The Knicks star hunting continues after a quiet offseason. According to New York Post’s Stefan Bondy, the Knicks have their eyes on three NBA stars who could become available soon.
“The Knicks are monitoring three targets, in particular, a source said: Minnesota’s Karl-Anthony Towns, Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid and Cleveland’s Donovan Mitchell,” Bondy reported. “Of those three, the most feasible in-season deal would be for Towns.”