Knicks Media Roundup: Hollinger on Knicks and Nets, Newsday praises Deuce, and The Guardian calls Knicks ‘contenders’

Last Saturday, the Knicks gave the Brooklyn Nets the business end of the beatdown stick. That must have inspired John Hollinger to wonder in The Athletic if the Knicks and the Nets have swapped destinies. ($)

Per Hollinger, the Nets’ initially successful rebuild took a downturn after acquiring Durant and Irving and subsequent dramas and controversies, e.g., Kyrie Irving’s weird tenure, Durant’s primadonna behavior, the James Harden saga, and Ben Simmons, full stop. The Nets are mired in mediocrity, hampered by the lack of control over their draft picks due to the Harden trade and a roster without a clear elite centerpiece. Brooklyn has some hope with future draft picks from Phoenix and Dallas but faces a challenging path to contention, which feels similar to the Knicks’ past struggles.

Meanwhile, under Leon Rose’s leadership since 2020, the Knicks have reversed their reputation for impatience by making smart moves and maintaining stability with coach Tom Thibodeau. The Knicks have boosted their success by acquiring impactful players like Jalen Brunson, Isaiah Hartenstein, Josh Hart, Donte DiVincenzo, OG Anunoby, and Precious Achiuwa and continuing to develop Deuce McBride and Jericho Sims. Hollinger writes:

Just look at these teams. Virtually every key player on the Knicks got there as the result of a plus transaction. Splashing out on Jalen Brunson is one thing, but look up and down the roster: Josh Hart cost a late first, Mitchell Robinson and Miles McBride were picked with early seconds, and Donte DiVincenzo and Isaiah Hartenstein came as screaming bargains via the midlevel exception.

Indeed, the two teams have reversed course. The Knicks are charging down a promising path, and the Nets are struggling to find their way back to relevancy. Best team in New York? The debate is closed.

Over at Newsday, Barbara Barker wrote about how Miles “Deuce” McBride has elevated from a bit player at the bottom of the rotation to a Tom Thibodeau favorite. Indeed, Thibs and Leon Rose look ever more shrewd after every recent game because they had the good sense to lock McBride into a three-year contract extension worth $13 million last December.

After a trade in February that primarily swapped Quentin Grimes and Evan Fournier for Alec Burks and Bojan Bogdanovic, speculation was high that Burks would assume the backup point guard position. That would slide McBride back down the bench, and the move wouldn’t have been a shock: Burks is the vet, while McBride averaged 11.9 minutes and 3.5 points per game as a sophomore last season. Although McBride’s defense has more teeth than a shark and he had shot well from beyond the arc, Deuce had yet to demonstrate the consistent offensive ability that he displayed in the G-League.

To his credit, the ultra-competitive McBride has learned how to handle the capriciousness of the NBA.

“Yeah, it definitely had some downs. When you’re not playing and you want to do anything to help the team win, it’s tough. But you just stay true, look to the Lord and do whatever I can to keep myself ready.”

Thankfully, Coach Thibodeau kept showing faith in Deuce and, since the Detroit trade, the third-year player has rewarded that confidence with undeniable effort and efficiency. Injuries to starters OG Anunoby and Julius Randle presented an opportunity for McBride to play more minutes. In short order, he worked his way up to starting games alongside Jalen Brunson, transforming himself into a key rotation player. He scored 26 points against the Nets and a career-high 29 against Golden State, and he played every minute in the tilt with the Nets. In fact, he has averaged over 40 minutes in the last four games, despite only averaging 16.7 minutes per game this season.

McBride’s teammates applaud his readiness and his dedication to staying prepared even when not playing regularly. If it’s one day revealed that Deuce was once a Boy Scout, it wouldn’t be a shocker. After all, their motto is “Be Prepared,” and so Deuce has been. His dedication is evident in his commitment to practice, from shooting 500 three-pointers per day to never taking more than two days off since being drafted.

“I was just trying to make practice harder than the games,” he said in the article. “Doing whatever I can — running, treadmill, bike and making it game-like in practice as much as I can.”

Once a West Virginia Mountaineer, McBride is looking more and more like a forever New York Knick.

Finally, in The Guardian, Claire de Lune wrote an article titled, “How the Knicks went from laughing stocks to NBA finals contenders (yes, really)” and marveled at how one of the NBA’s most historically underperforming yet prominent teams is playoff-bound “with a legitimate hope of reaching the finals.”

De Lune remarks on how the New York Knicks are heading into the playoffs with renewed optimism. They have transitioned from pretenders to contenders thanks to the contributions of All-Star Jalen Brunson and the strategic leadership of general manager Leon Rose since 2020. As in Hollinger’s piece, this article acknowledges Rose’s acquisitions, including Brunson, Donte DiVincenzo, Josh Hart, and OG Anunoby, alongside preserving draft picks, have played a key role in the team’s revival.

The Guardian interviewed the great Chris Herring (Blood in the Garden), who opined, “Something clearly is different [this year]. There’s a camaraderie around this team that just feels a lot different [...] When the Knicks have these win streaks, when they look like, ‘Man, they could actually accomplish something,’ the Garden just roars a little bit different.”

Also similar to the aforementioned Athletic article, much is made about how Tom Thibodeau has reinforced the Knicks’ tough, defensive identity, and laid the groundwork for team chemistry. Herring gives high praise to Thibs, adding:

“They’re basically knocking on the ‘contending’ door right now, and to be at that level, to put yourself in that conversation and have it be what looks like potentially a perennial thing, is a huge step up from where they were.”

As the postseason approaches, this is a refrain that we’re seeing in countless articles: the team’s talent is for real, and the current leadership seems stable and sustainable. As Micheal Ray Richardson might say, “The sky’s the limit!”

Go Knicks!