The New York Knicks made two of the biggest moves in the NBA this offseason.
Adding Mikal Bridges to their Villanova core seemed great on paper.
He was tailor-made for a coach like Tom Thibodeau, given that he can play heavy minutes without getting hurt and takes pride in playing defense.
Then, they doubled down on this core by trading for Karl-Anthony Towns and offloading Julius Randle’s contract to get a much more talented player.
Nevertheless, so far, they haven’t looked the part.
They’ve alternated huge wins with tough losses, and Charles Barkley doesn’t think they can win it all.
Talking on TNT, the Hall of Famer power forward claimed that this team’s ceiling was the Eastern Conference Finals (via New York Basketball).
Kenny "Knicks believe they can win"
Chuck "Stop it"
Shaq "Don't have a chance"
Ernie "I thought you were high on Knicks?"
Chuck "I am…I don't think they can win championship…Had this talk w Ben Stiller on podcast…ceiling's ECF"
Kenny "That's 1 round from winning it all!" pic.twitter.com/uNadEocOj0
— New York Basketball (@NBA_NewYork) December 4, 2024
He might be right.
Granted, the Knicks are talented enough to take down any team in the league on any given night, but consistency matters.
They might need more than one season together to be at their best.
Also, the Knicks have struggled with injuries since before the start of the season, and that’s always a part of the equation with Tom Thibodeau at the helm.
Thibodeau has repeatedly done the same thing, wearing his players down and causing chronic injuries.
They have one of the most talented starting lineups in the game.
But unless they get healthier or find more role players before the trade deadline, this team might not win the whole thing this season.
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