Knicks Must Find Their Defensive Stopper

The New York Knicks are coached by defensive guru Tom Thibodeau, but they aren’t playing like a team that is led by him.

The Knicks have one of the league’s best offenses coupled with one of the worst defenses, which is why the team has hovered around the .500 mark for most of the season.

Bleacher Report writer Dan Favale suggests that the team should look to trade for defensive-minded players ahead of the Feb. 6 deadline.

“Point-of-attack defense looms larger right now. The Knicks knew the risks of pivoting to [Karl-Anthony] Towns at center. But [Mikal] Bridges is not holding up his end of the bargain on a regular basis—so much so New York has probably used [OG] Anunoby at the point-of-attack more than it’d prefer,” Favale writes. “If Bridges isn’t less than elite on the less glamorous end, the Knicks are in trouble. They can alleviate some of the blow by just being deeper.”

The Knicks gave up a ton of their tradable assets for Bridges and Towns, but they aren’t reaping the benefits quite yet. There’s a harsh reality that may be coming that makes the Knicks realize that they still don’t have enough to be the top contender in the Eastern Conference.

That’s okay, as long as they do something about it. This could mean the Knicks just have to play better and enforce new methods to defend other teams, or it could mean they acquire new personnel to mix and match in lineups.

Chances are that they will need to do both if they wish to keep pace in the Eastern Conference and be a true threat to their opponents.

The Knicks are back in action on Saturday as they take on the Utah Jazz in Salt Lake City. Tipoff is set for 5 p.m. ET.

Make sure you bookmark Knicks on SI for the latest news, exclusive interviews, film breakdowns and so much more!