Knicks have been dealing with massive injuries all year, but have not made excuses - always been "Next man up." Hartenstein becomes a starter and a critical piece of what we do. Guys like Deuce McBride went from never playing to playing 48 and scoring 20ppg. Precious Achiuwa was somewhat of an afterthrought in a trade, looked lost for 10 games and then was a crucial 40 min a night defense/rebound/finishing machine for a month.
We are keeping out hopes up on OG and Jalen bouncing back here, but it seems likely we'll need to have someone "new" contribute in the next few games in some meaningful way. Doesn't feel like Alec Burks right now, but here's a fun poll for us to speculate on who might be our next surprise hero! Honestly I'm not even sure how many of these guys are actually "active" for the playoffs.
"Shake" Milton is the one guy who has a real NBA resume and has been a rotation player and playoff player. Sims more than likely is the player that gets a chance for 8-10 minutes if Precious has to start at the 4 for OG.
Assuming he is actually on the team right now, Jeffries is a darkhorse as he was on the playoff roster last year. He has the most beef of any of the wings (6'5" 220) on our bench and profiles a 3 and D type. Miami turns out Haywood Highsmiths with regularity - I think the KFS pod compared him to Highsmith last night (i was half asleep), but maybe he can guard a wing and shoot a corner 3.
5/15/2024 10:05 AM