Knicks adjusting well since OG Anunoby trade last week
The Knicks' Jalen Brunson reacts during the first half of an NBA game against the 76ers on Friday in Philadelphia. Credit: AP/Matt Slocum
WASHINGTON — When the Knicks swung the trade for OG Anunoby on Dec. 30, drastically changing their makeup, Julius Randle worried about how the team would adjust. So he sat down with Tom Thibodeau and asked a simple question.
“You never know what to expect,” Randle recalled. “I remember the first day after the trade, playing Minnesota, and I’m talking to Coach in the office and I’m like, ‘What you think? I hope they’re ready.’ And he was like, ‘[Shoot], I hope so.’ So it was one of them things where you don’t really know what to expect, but I’m glad to be on this end.”
Saturday night’s 121-105 victory over the Wizards gave the Knicks a 4-0 record since the trade and the sudden appearance of a much-better-fitting starting lineup with no need for an adjustment period. It’s not just the four wins, but they did it against a schedule that has included two of the best teams in the NBA — Minnesota and Philadelphia — and without the benefit of a practice day, relying on morning shootarounds before games and a crash course to acclimate the new group to each other.
While it’s hard to explain, the Knicks actually have done this before. Last season, they traded for Josh Hart and immediately ran off nine straight wins to spur a run to the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference and a conference semifinal berth.
Perhaps the common denominator in these moves is that they weren’t the acquisition of the offensive star that so many for so long have proclaimed they need. Hart was and is a Swiss army knife of a player, insisting he’s a guard while plugging holes at power forward and rebounding like a center. Anunoby is a defensive stopper versatile enough to guard almost any position and a fit offensively, not needing the ball in his hands to contribute. Instead, he waits for corner three-point shots on kickouts or reads the defense and cuts to the rim for impressive finishes.
“I think we have a good core that’s been together for a while now,” Thibodeau said. “So I think that can absorb people coming in and then a guy like OG is very serious. He wants to do well, and I think his mind is open. He plays incredibly hard on every possession, so even if it’s not perfect right now, it’s still going to be good. Your hustle can make up for a lot. And that’s really what he’s doing.
“And each day, he’ll get better and better and guys are starting to figure him out as well. So that takes a little bit of time. But help where you can, hustle, be in passing lanes, get deflections, help out on the boards, play physical, run the floor, move without the ball; those are things that he does great. And then as time goes on, he’ll find more places where he can get scoring opportunities, too.”
While the Knicks lost RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley in the trade, both of whom were important pieces in what they had accomplished in recent years, Anunoby has not made up for their offense. Instead, he has opened up opportunities for others. His style offensively has put the ball more in the hands of Randle and Jalen Brunson — who totaled 72 points Saturday night — but also has made Isaiah Hartenstein more useful on offense. Bench pieces Quentin Grimes and Deuce McBride took advantage of the trickle-down Friday, totaling 34 points in the Knicks’ 128-92 victory over the 76ers, a game they led by 39 in the final minutes. Hart had 15 rebounds and was an astounding plus-46 in less than 30 minutes.
“I feel like we’re a pretty good post-trade team, if you know what I mean,” Hart said with a smile, recalling his own impact. “Maybe we can make some more trades. No one in here, maybe 2040 picks or something like that, keep it rolling until the trade deadline and we can’t do it anymore.
“We’re high-character guys that play the game hard, that play the game the right way, and I think that’s really showing right now in the style of play we’re doing, the wins that we’re getting. We just got to continue to do it. We can’t get too high, too low. In this league, when you’re at your peak, you have more room to fall. We have to continue to build and to grow and try to put together wins.”
Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
