The New York Knicks have pulled off an underwhelming 2021-22 NBA season. Holding just a 23-26 record through 49 games, the team still finds themselves trailing the Washington Wizards by a half game for the final play-in spot in the Eastern Conference standings.
The Atlanta Hawks are rapidly approaching a level where they appear primed to takeover that final play-in spot. They have won five consecutive games and are also a half game back from the Wizards. The Knicks may need to get aggressive to overtake some of their competitors.
One potential option for the Knicks to do so could be to go the ‘addition by subtraction’ route by moving on from some veteran players in order to make room for some of the young players on the roster. That seems to be a logical theme to pursue after trading for Cam Reddish, who has logged 15 minutes of action in two appearances with New York.
During an appearance on NBA Today, Brian Windhorst said that the Knicks are open to moving “Kemba Walker, Evan Fournier, Alec Burks, guys this this.”
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In the midst of potential Knicks moves, franchise-cornerstone Julius Randle recently made clear that he remains committed to trying to win a title with the team.
“I still want to be a part of it. I still want to see this thing through. I still want to be a part of helping trying to bring a championship to the Knicks,” Randle said, according to Newsday. “So, I’m not going to be happy and be all about it when things are good and just because it’s not necessarily going the way I want it to or the team wants it to run and hide.
“I’m still behind this. I’m still sticking it through.”
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The trade chatter surrounding Julius Randle and the other franchise-cornerstone, RJ Barrett, has been minimal at best. Where Randle feels changes need to come with the Knicks is in the habits the team builds on a daily basis, not with making trades ahead of the deadline.
“Definitely. We got the team. We got the talent. We got the coach, support. So, we definitely can do it,” Randle said. “We’ve just got to take everything day by day. Understand it’s a process and understand things don’t happen overnight. And as long as we’re creating and building the right habits every day, we’ll be fine.”
Regardless, it feels the New York Knicks are primed to move on from some of their veteran players that fill supporting cast roles to pave the way for younger options with higher ceilings to get more run. That could help spark better results ahead of a playoff push, or help the future.
