SPANISH HARLEM – The ESPN over/under is in… [Drum Roll]… and the New York Knicks are projected at 53.5 wins for the 2024-2025 season! This is the highest mark I can remember. Granted, I never paid attention to these projections before but as betting became the behemoth it is in today’s game, you see and hear about these things incessantly. But let’s look under the hood on this and see if these projections have any mileage for the Knickerbockers.
I think it’s fair to say that the excitement to start the season is through the roof or if your Michael Jordan, “The ceiling is the roof.” After posting a 50-win season on the back of Jalen Brunson, the Knicks are better on paper than a year ago. I know they lost Isaiah Hartenstein, which will hurt the team to some degree but added Mikal Bridges and resigned OG Anunoby. This may lead you to think that the Bridges addition led the Knicks to losing Hartenstein but in the free agency process, the Knicks were limited in what they could pay Hartenstein and the OKC Thunder paid him more than what the Knicks could offer under the salary cap.
When you take all this information into account, the Knicks are still better off with the Bridges trade, as this gives the team versatility on defense to play well against the top teams in the league. Hartenstein’s rim protection will be missed but the Knicks have the potential to have the best perimeter wing defense in the league with OG in the fold. The main treat is the NBA Champions Boston Celtics and now they have two guys that can go up against Jason Tatum and Jaylen Brown. I think most people within the organization will tell you that was the main reason for the trade.
Adding Julius Randle, who is the forgotten man, is another reason to believe that this group will win a lot of games. He was clicking on all cylinders before his dislocated shoulder cost him the reminder of the season. Some may believe that with so many talented players in the starting lineup, there will be a drop in production for Randle, but I think while they won’t need him to score has many points as they have in the past, but he will certainly be the 2nd leading scorer, after Jalen Brunson.
With that being said, I have no issue with fans believing that 54 wins are possible, even if you aren’t the betting type. Injuries aside, the New York Knicks will be one of the best teams in the league and when was time you could ever remember saying that.
That’s it for now, please come back tomorrow for the opposite of pabulum with Jackson Sternberg.
