I’m writing this about an hour after the NY Knicks just won their 9th straight game!
This feeling is unreal.
To have followed the Knicks through all of their ups and downs over close to 20 years worth of fandom, what my favorite team is doing right now couldn’t possibly mean more to me.
The “Melo” years were special too, but we all expected greatness from that team.
We also all knew that the 2012 team had a very short window to succeed, so if they didn’t find a way to win within that timeframe, we as fans wouldn’t see a team like that built for a while.
It’s not even like we all expected today’s team to be ok. Middle of the pack. No…
We expected another dead season, counting the minutes until the next draft in hopes of selecting our savior.
Our “saviors” came in a few forms this year instead.
Firstly, James Dolan made the best hiring he’s ever made in Leon Rose.
What should the NY Knicks do at the point guard spot next year?
Shoutout to Bob Myers with the Warriors for being the first former agent to be hired as an Executive for a team and really creating the blueprint of what works in today’s NBA from a roster construction standpoint.
Second, the hiring of Tom Thibodeau. I’m sure I’ll get a lot of slack for saying this but I’m not sure Thibs is the coach that will be with this team when they win their next title for a multitude of reasons, but I also wouldn’t be upset about it if he was.
He brought a sense of professionalism and accountability to a young roster full of hungry kids wanting to know what success felt like in the NBA.
Also, what he’s done with everyone on the team today outside of just RJ Barrett and Julius Randle.
He’s making guys that were viewed as reserves or rotational players look like absolute studs.
Lastly, RJ Barrett really starting to come into his own and be the star we all knew he was when he was drafted, alongside Julius Randle becoming this All-NBA type of player out of nowhere.
We have a legitimate Most Improved Player candidate and someone who could garner some votes for MVP of the season as well.
Again, this feeling is unreal.
I love everything about this team…except for one thing. The starting point guard position AKA Elfird Payton.
Look, he’s a quality player, but he makes a lot of boneheaded plays and is really just the one glaring hole on the entire roster.
For anyone who actually understands basketball and watches every game from start to finish, the Knicks have been winning games in spite of him.
Whether it be him driving into 3 defenders instead of kicking it out to an open shooter or even when he tries to pass it out to someone and gets the ball stolen or turns it over…
The Knicks need an upgrade, one way or another.
With someone in there who can score more efficiently than Elf or can create more ball movement in the half-court and in transition, it’ll open up doors for this Knicks roster that they haven’t seen before.
Here I’ll be discussing the 3 different directions I believe the Knicks can go in this offseason to improve the point guard play.