Since 2001, the New York Knicks have made the playoffs just four times, advancing past the first round just once in 2013. Over that span, they have also only had three winning seasons and have filtered through 13 different head coaches, leading to Tom Thibodeau being named the next head coach of the Knicks this NBA offseason.
A large part of the Knicks lack of success of the years is directly correlated to their poor ownership and owner James Dolan, who seems to care more about his band than he does the entire Knicks organization and brand. He has completely ruined what is one of the NBA’s most historic franchises and until he sells the team, the Knicks are ultimately set up for failure due to his lack of leadership and lack of knowledge about his organization.
The problems with Knicks ownership however is not affecting new President of the Knicks, Leon Rose and GM Scott Perry, who are determined to turn this franchise back into a championship contender, something they have not been since the Patrick Ewing days in the early 90s.
This season has a chance to be different for the Knicks, not just because of their new management and offseason moves, but because of their new head coach. The Knicks hired Tom Thibodeau to be the franchise’s 13th head coach since 2000 and have a lot of faith in him being their head coach for years to come as they signed him to a five-year contract.
Thibs is known for the job he did with the Chicago Bulls from 2010-2015, leading them to five consecutive winning seasons, two Eastern Conference Semifinal appearances and one Eastern Conference Finals. He is a winning head coach and with the Knicks trying to create a new winning culture within the organization, Tom Thibodeau is a terrific hire.
With an abundance of youthful talent on the roster and two guys in R.J. Barrett and Obi Toppin, who look to be the two core players the Knicks will build around for years to come, the New York Knicks have a chance to make some noise in the Eastern Conference this year and set themselves up for success down the road.
As a result, here are 4 bold predictions for the New York Knicks entering the 2020-21 NBA season.
