Analyst: Knicks Workshopping New Identity

The New York Knicks have been going through an adjustment period to start the season, and it has come with mixed results.

After trading for Karl-Anthony Towns and Mikal Bridges during the offseason while saying goodbye to Isaiah Hartenstein, the Knicks have gone from a defense-first team to scoring juggernaut, placing in the top three in offensive rating to start the season.

Bleacher Report writer Eric Pincus says that the Knicks are still trying to get things to where they want to be.

“The Knicks were on the other end of the roster shakeup with the Minnesota Timberwolves, but New York also brought Mikal Bridges from the Brooklyn Nets. The team’s identity has shifted significantly. Instead of a defense-heavy team with little scoring help to supplement Jalen Brunson, the Knicks added Karl-Anthony Towns and now have two offense-first options who aren’t known for what they do on the defensive end,” Pincus writes.

“Coach Tom Thibodeau has made his reputation coaching defense, but this roster isn’t quite as rugged as last year. That’s not bad; it’s just different, and the Knicks need (and still need) some time to perfect it.”

The Knicks have stressed time and time again that they are hoping that they can play their best basketball at the end of the season, so they still have 50+ games to do just that.

Considering the fact that they are sitting in third place in the Eastern Conference right now, they are on the right track, but it isn’t enough to get to the championship contender conversation.

The Knicks will have to find a way to unseat either the Cleveland Cavaliers or Boston Celtics en route to a title, but that’s a job for the team that they are in May, not while they are still developing in December.

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