The New York Knicks may have been built to fail.
When the New York Knicks lost in Game 7 on their home floor in the Eastern Conference Semifinals against the Indiana Pacers last season, it was clear that changes - or upgrades - needed to be made. And it didn't take long for the Knicks to aggressively start making those moves during the 2024 NBA offseason. In an attempt to add the finishing touches to a championship build, the Knicks made two bold trades during the summer.
First, the Knicks made the blockbuster trade for Mikal Bridges. As a move that was unanimously praised, Bridges was considered a strong two-way player who could be considered the final piece of the team's championship puzzle. But what made the Knicks' offseason even more of a success was their second blockbuster move of the offseason. In addition to the trade for Bridges, the Knicks also acquired Karl-Anthony Towns just before the start of training camp.
Adding two big-name "stars," it was natural to feel as if the Knicks were going to head into the season as one of the favorites to win the Eastern Conference. Of course, all of that hope - and perhaps expectations - came to a crashing halt on opening night as the Knicks lost to the defending champion Boston Celtics by 23 points (and it wasn't even that close).
The concerns are mounting for the New York Knicks
At the time, most of that result was chalked up to a new team getting to know how to play with each other when, in retrospect, it shouldn't been a sign of things to come for the flawed Knicks. At this point, from what we've seen from the Knicks, there are more issues than learning how to play with each other that is taking place in New York. In fact, I'd go all the way to say that the Knicks are a fatally flawed contender that is a ticking time bomb before it all goes south.
The Knicks are 5-6 at the near one-month mark of the regular season but that's not even the biggest concern I would have for the team. In addition to their mediocre record to start the year, the Knicks have the lowest-scoring bench in the league. The only consistent force the Knicks have off their bench right now is Miles McBride. After that, it's a crapshoot every night. For a team that is expected to contend, that's not ideal. That's not the way championship teams are usually built.
But the concerns go well beyond that. Whether the Knicks want to believe it or not, the team has a Bridges problem. He's not been the player the Knicks hoped he would be when they traded for him. In fact, he's the only player on the team that sees consistent minutes that has a negative plus-minus when he's on the floor. He also hasn't been the defender the Knicks need him to be on the wing and is on pace to have the worst 3-point shooting season of his career.
The fallacy of KAT
On the contrary, the argument could be made that Karl-Anthony Towns has been the team's best player so far this season. Through the first few weeks of the season, KAT is the team's leading scorer and he's posting outrageous numbers - averaging 27 points, 12 rebounds, and three assists on 54 percent shooting from the field and 51 percent shooting from 3-point range. He's also been a pretty good defender this season. On top of all that, where has that left the Knicks? As an average team in the East. This is what I like to call the fallacy of KAT. He can be your best player on the floor and, to be honest, the team may not be very good. Right now, the Knicks are not playing very good basketball.
The Knicks built a team with stars but with no superstar. And that's what a fatally flawed contender generally looks like in the NBA. It's almost as if the Knicks traded their hard-nosed, defensive toughness for flash and an offensive mirage. If something doesn't change quickly, this season is going to end in disaster for the Knicks. It's early and a turnaround could still be made but it's looking more and more as if this team has been set up to fail once again.