The opportunity to embark on an NBA Championship run hasn't been this clear in nearly 30 years for the New York Knicks.
However, even with their second-seeded 23-12 record and third-best odds of running the postseason gauntlet, there are still several weaknesses in the club's makeup that, if not addressed between now and April, could end up holding them back from achieving ultimate glory.
Because of this, Bleacher Report's recent "bold" trade deadline prediction that New York will end up standing pat should be viewed as a worst-case scenario for the title-starved Knicks this season.
Instead of remaining dormant, they should try to do everything they can to address their most glaring weakness: a lack of rotational insurance behind Karl-Anthony Towns and Mitchell Robinson.
Knicks should be hell-bent on pursuing tweener big ahead of deadline
Though backup point guard and wing depth were previously believed to be the two biggest sore spots on New York's depth chart, the breakout of Tyler Kolek and the recent surge in play from guys like Kevin McCullar Jr. and Mohamed Diawara suggest both are now showing signs of resolving themselves with internal fixes.
Should this actually remain the case, then it would appear that the biggest weakness in their team build is at their big man position, for, though they may have All-NBA center Karl-Anthony Towns and the elite nitty-gritty talents of Mitchell Robinson in the fold, the four and five spots easily come with the most question marks compared to any other on the roster.
Both players have proven to be tremendous talents in their own right.
The former is a scoring machine who can stroke it from beyond the arc better than any other pivot the game has ever seen. Meanwhile, the latter is literally a more efficient offensive rebounder than most teams in the association.
However, both come with severe limitations: for Towns, it is his net-negative production on the defensive end and his tendency to get into foul trouble, while Robinson has a virtually nonexistent scoring game and is always an injury risk.
To improve their talent arsenal, rather than remaining complacent like B/R projects, the Knicks front office must prioritize pursuing another big man ahead of February 5.
Whether it be a deal for a tweener big like former Knick Precious Achiuwa or a more traditional center in the likes of Andre Drummond, Leon Rose and company should be highly interested in utilizing Guerschon Yabusele’s salary and whatever assets they have at their disposal to improve their frontcourt this trade season.