Well, give Leon Rose this: Once more he shows he is not content sitting still and letting good feelings and happy vibes try to carry his team forward. We have seen plenty that he doesn’t believe in magical thinking, simply hoping for the best.
Sometimes you have to shake things up, rattle the comfort zone to take the next step.
He did that last December, sending RJ Barrett and Isaiah Quickley to Toronto and importing OG Anunoby. There was an instant reaction among much of the faithful, a wistful sadness. They’d watched Barrett and Quickley grow up. The Knicks had been winning with them. Was that trade really necessary?
As we found out, it was.
As we found out whenever Anunoby was healthy last year, the Knicks were a far more lethal and efficient team with him than they would’ve been with Barrett and Quickley. Anunoby going down during the Pacers series denied what sure seemed likely: That new lineup likely would’ve gotten a few swings at the Celtics in the conference finals.
Knicks fans have spent most of the weeks and months since counting the days until the opening of training camp next week in Charleston, S.C. It’s been a while since the return of pro basketball has been greeted with this level of anticipation. The Knicks added Mikal Bridges and subtracted Isaiah Hartenstein. The college-days quirk of Bridges, Donte DiVincenzo, Josh Hart and Jalen Brunson was an indisputably cute story.
Can cute stories win an NBA title?
It’s hard to identify one, to be honest. And so it will cause some instant shock, realizing that DiVincenzo and Julius Randle are heading to Minnesota now in exchange for Karl-Anthony Towns. It will take a few days to absorb, to get used to.
KAT has long been viewed as a potential final puzzle piece for the Knicks because of a strong relationship with Leon Rose and because, at his best, he’s been a dynamite player. Lately, he’s been surpassed in Minneapolis by Anthony Edwards, and during the playoffs, he was exposed on both ends of the floor.
He’s a flawed All-Star-caliber player, same as Randle was flawed. Rose decided to pull the trigger, knowing that it would certainly cause some mourning among the Villanova crew and Randle, who, like KAT, is a Kentucky man with an inside-out game and a history of collecting critics and critiques along the way. Randle was an import of the prior Knicks administration, but he took to Tom Thibodeau’s system instantly and had his best years here. Randle is as responsible as anyone for ending the endless wave of misery almost a quarter-century deep.
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But could he return from shoulder surgery and lift the Knicks to the next level, which means standing toe-to-toe against the Celtics?
Well, Rose made the trade so that tells you what he thinks. And Rose has earned the benefit of the doubt with his work here since Day 1. We have all said in unison that the Knicks won’t be a true contender until they made one more move. This is the move.
Do you trust in Leon?
If you do, then you believe in the deal. You believe that Thibodeau wouldn’t have signed off on this if he didn’t believe he could coach him and who was KAT’s first coach in the league. You further have to believe that the Villanova guys, starting with Brunson, had been alerted before the rest of New York was surprised by it.
Does this make the Knicks a genuine threat to the Celtics now?
We’ll find out soon enough. But right now, it certainly seems the Knicks’ potential ceiling is higher than it was Friday morning. KAT has to stay healthy. He has to embrace Thibodeau’s ways. But his skill sets project to fitting in with the players he’s joining.
No trade is easy, especially when it involves popular players fans have fallen in love with. But if you trust in the man making these moves — and there’s little reason why you shouldn’t — this will grow on you. It’s been smart to trust in Leon so far. Why stop now?
