Will the NY Knicks be one of the best playmaking teams this season?
I’m not gonna lie, the offense so far this year has been a little too ISO-heavy for my liking.
You’d think that since the front office put such an emphasis on offensive creation this offseason, we’d see a much more polished product in the court this year.
One that gets the rest of the team involved much more.
It hasn’t happened yet but eventually, when playing some of the better defensive teams in the league, it’ll hopefully force the Knicks to get the ball moving around a lot more.
That said, on paper, the Knicks should be a much better playmaking team moving forward.
Kemba Walker, although not known for his playmaking prowess, is a far superior offensive creator than Elfrid Payton was.
Payton may have had the stats over the years to prove that he wasn’t far behind Kemba, but from the eye test, you’d see that he’s just got a much better, higher-level understanding of the sport of basketball and knows how to get his guys in their spots as well as how to get his teammates involved more often.
In all reality, anyone the Knicks got could have been an upgrade over Reggie Bullock’s playmaking, but the Knicks knew it was important to get a guy like Evan Fournier who could not only take defenders off the dribble, but he could also spot up and create for others at an advanced level.
In Orlando, Fournier ran the point pretty often.
We’re obviously still waiting for RJ to become the level of playmaker that we all know he can be, but he’s getting better everywhere else and right now that’s more important.
Julius Randle should look even better than he did last year because he simply has more offensive firepower around him, so while he may not average more assists this season, the offense should run a lot smoother moving forward.
In regards to the bench unit, the Knicks have the 3 guys who do all of the ballhandling and creating in Rose, IQ, and Burks, but Obi is also a very underrated passer and seems to only be getting better.