This offseason, Leon Rose and company proved to be one of the most active front offices in the association, as they worked tirelessly to try and bolster the rotation for the New York Knicks heading into the 2022-23 campaign.
Ultimately, their efforts seem to have paid off, as the club looks far more well-rounded and polished than they did during their lackluster 2021-22 run which, to many, is a sign that a postseason push isn’t all that farfetched of a possibility.
Easily the biggest transaction made by the Knicks during the summer was the addition of top-billed free agent Jalen Brunson, who inked a lucrative four-year, $104 million deal with the franchise.
With the point guard in tow, the idea is that considering his proven abilities to serve as both a lead floor general as well as a complementary presence alongside a ball-dominant forward, the 26-year-old can fit in as an ideal running mate alongside franchise cornerstones RJ Barrett and Julius Randle.
Though the trio has yet to see a lick of regular season action together, through three preseason games and a large chunk of training camp it seems as though their relationship is already rather strong and cohesive.
In a recent presser, Randle was found raving about the type of individual Brunson is, both on and off the court.
“He’s a really good player, obviously. But he’s a good person, a good human being at the core of him,” Randle said via Ian Begley of SNY. “I said it day one, he’s going to be great for our team but he’s going to be even better for our locker room.”
Barrett also jumped on the Brunson bandwagon during the same presser, as he continued to push the notion that the new guard has already proven his worth both as a player and a leader during his short time with the Knicks.
“He’s definitely a leader,” Barrett said via Begley. “…There’s been times (when) he comes over to me and we have good interaction. We have good communication between him and I. I think that’s starting to become contagious. Just throughout the team. So it’s been really good.”
Throughout their three preseason contests, the Knicks have gone 2-1 while Brunson, Barrett, and Randle have managed to play incredibly well alongside one another, combining for averages of 49.0 points, 11.0 assists, and 14.3 rebounds per contest.
Brunson Dishes on Knicks’ Psyche
In Begley’s same report, he quoted Jalen Brunson’s comments on how this 2022-23 iteration of the New York Knicks is viewing their approach as a unit, hinting that they have a “one for all, all for one” mindset.
“We’re in the mode of not really caring who gets the credit,” Brunson said via Begley. “That’s a great way to approach, especially coming into the regular season. We’ve got to keep thinking like that. Individual success can come from team success. If we win, we do things like that, things can happen individually that we want.”
Thus far into the preseason, the Knicks, who ranked in the bottom five in assists per 100 possessions last year, have averaged 25.3 assists per contest which, though is still outside of the ideal top-10 threshold, it’s certainly a step in the right direction.
Begley would also go on to point out in his piece that there has yet to be a player on the team that boasts more than 15 shots on average per game, thus furthering the notion that this club is looking to spread out the ball more often.
Hartenstein Wanted to Play for Knicks, Thibodeau
Aside from Brunson, the other noteworthy addition the New York Knicks brought aboard was fifth-year big man Isaiah Hartenstein, who inked a two-year, $16 million deal with the club after a breakout 2021-22 campaign with the Los Angeles Clippers.
And while the 24-year-old was courted by several other clubs on the free agency market this past summer, it seems as though his sights were set on joining the Knicks all along, as the New York Post reported in an October 11 article that he wanted to play for a coach like Tom Thibodeau.
“To me it was more about finding somewhere I could help [them] win,” Hartenstein said, according to the Post story. “Anytime you have Thibs as a coach, [there’s] no rebuilding phase. That was one thing I knew for sure.
“You see him on the sidelines; that’s not a rebuild. That’s what I was excited about, just having someone I knew for a fact, even if the front office told him, ‘Yeah, we want to lose,’ he can’t. It’s not in Thibs’ nature to do that.”
Through three games played, Hartenstein finds himself sporting averages of 5.0 points, 7.7 rebounds, and 2.3 assists on 58.3% shooting from the field.
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Julius Randle Sounds Off on Knicks Co-Star