During the 2020-21 NBA season the New York Knicks had a lot of their success because of how they played defensively. Tom Thibodeau is a defensive guru and he pressed all of the right buttons to get the team to buy in and produce on that end of the court.
New York finished the season third in defensive rating behind only the Los Angeles Lakers and Philadelphia 76ers. So, naturally, Thibodeau wanted to make sure that some key pieces returned to the team this season to keep that continuity up defensively.
The one player that he lobbied hard to keep was small forward, Reggie Bullock. Bullock filled the 3-and-D role well for the New York Knicks last season. He knocked down 41 percent of his 3-point attempts last season and was the lead defender for the team on the wing. Unfortunately for Thibodeau, Bullock was not retained.
The former Tar Heel ended up signing a three-year, $30.5 million deal with the Dallas Mavericks in free agency. The decision to let him walk in free agency is one that the head coach was not thrilled about.
“According to an NBA source, Thibodeau lobbied hard to bring back the team’s defensive heart-and-soul in starting shooting guard Reggie Bullock but team brass went another direction. The coach was disappointed.”
While Thibodeau liked having Bullock in the lineup, the front office made a conscious decision to upgrade the team’s offensive firepower this offseason.
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Kemba Walker and Evan Fournier, who will be replacing Elfrid Payton and Bullock in the starting lineup, may not be as good of defenders as their predecessors but are much better offensive players. They will help take pressure off of Julius Randle and RJ Barrett to create all of the offense.
It should also be noted that Thibodeau doesn’t have the best track record when it comes to making personnel decisions. He had some of that power with the Minnesota Timberwolves and he did a lot more losing than winning with them.
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Up to this point, Leon Rose, Scott Perry, and William Wesley haven’t given people a reason to doubt their vision. They have done an exquisite job of shaping the roster thus far and should be trusted with their outlook and decision-making process.
