Could Signing Taj Gibson Help Solve New York Knicks, Julius Randle Woes?
Is it getting late early out there? Perhaps it's time for deja vu all over again
Alas, the New York Knicks don't have time to muse over Yogi Berra axioms. The 2023-24 NBA season is less than two weeks old but perturbed whispers are already pegging the Knicks as an early favorite for the campaign's biggest disappointment: fresh off its most successful season in a decade, New York (2-4) has dropped four of its opening six. The road gets no easier with the NBA's latest supposed superteam, the Los Angeles Clippers, visiting Madison Square Garden on Monday (7:30 p.m. ET, MSG).
While every Knick has had his share of growing pains to open this season, the most common culprit has been two-time All-Star Julius Randle. Through six games, Randle is shooting an ugly 27 percent from the field and his effort has been called into question as the Knicks dropped two in a row with homegrown franchise face RJ Barrett forced to sit due to knee soreness.
Even though the Knicks are losing some ground in the premature Eastern Conference playoff picture, the silver lining is that Randle's struggles can be diagnosed and addressed with over 70 games left on the docket.
Perhaps they stem from lingering aftershocks of a late ankle injury that diluted his impact in last spring's playoff run. One could also say Randle's dealing with a larger workload with Obi Toppin gone and the Knicks having done little to replace his frame off the bench. The potential sub, Josh Hart, has had to work in the backcourt more often in relief of the injured Barrett, throwing the backup plans out of rhythm and forcing the Knicks to play smaller.
Continued struggles will only intensify the Knicks' search for a superstar as fans and analysts alike grow tired of management's ongoing patience. A partial, if not potential, solution to their current affairs lingers not on the trade block but rather on the free agency ledger in the form of Taj Gibson.
GIbson (L) and Randle embrace after a win 2021
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Gibson is one of head coach Tom Thibodeau's most recurring proteges, having worked with him in Chicago, Minnesota, and New York (2019-22). His most recent NBA minutes came with the Washington Wizards last season and he was among their final training camp cuts earlier this fall.
No one would expect Gibson, 38, to fully flip the Knicks' fortunes much less catapult them into the Eastern Conference penthouse. But bringing the Brooklyn native back to his relative home of New York would at least help them gain some clarity in a fateful season that has gotten off on the wrong foot.
For the time being, put aside the fact that Gibson's 6-9, 232-lb. frame would be an intriguing interior addition to the Knicks' depth, especially if they're going to continue burying Jericho Sims. Gibson's strengths do lie in rebounding and defense but the Knicks are handling those responsibilities fairly well thanks to the efforts of Mitchell Robinson and Isaiah Hartenstein, among others.
Instead, Gibson can be a welcome addition back to the New York rotation to set a familiar pace for Thibodeau. It's perhaps a bit damning for both Thibodeau and his set-ups that the Knicks are in need of a playbook reset four years into his tenure but it can do the Knicks some good. With a mind like Thibodeau's in tow, the Knicks should be able to win the sub-100-point slugfests that have populated the early portions of their schedule.
Gibson's ability to adapt should be another intriguing lesson for the newer Knicks to abide by: in the latter stages of his career, the USC alum, a 2009 first-round pick of Chicago's, started to develop something of an outside attack, an essential for a player of his frame to ensure continued employment in the modern Association. After taking 35 triples total over his first eight seasons, Gibson put up 160 over the latter six.
“He’s a great veteran leader. It’s like having another assistant coach out there. He just knows everything,” head coach Tom Thibodeau said of Gibson in 2021, per Peter Botte of the New York Post. “He doesn’t make mistakes, he plays hard. He can guard every position. His shooting, really he’s always been a pretty good shooter, from 15 to 17 (feet), but now he’s really comfortable shooting the three. He’s put a lot of work into it."
“So I think that’s what good veterans do. They continue to add to their game and he’s done that.”
More importantly, Gibson should be able to give some sort of assurance to the ongoing affairs of Randle. Even though there's legitimate debate over whether Jalen Brunson has taken over as the face of the franchise, it's clear that the Knicks' fortunes still flow through Randle, making him the team MVP ... for better or worse.
Gibson knows what it's like to work with Randle, having done so at the onset of his Knicks career. As two of the veteran cornerstones that helped the Knicks start the Thibodeau era on the right note (posting 41 wins in a shortened campaign in 2020-21), a mutual respect, trust, and understanding of each other's game formed between the two.
The former Bull, Timberwolf, and Knick, in fact, offered one of the highest compliments he could possibly offer, especially when working in a Thibodeau-led pursuit of a championship.
"A tough guy, a tough dude, man," Gibson said in a Randle profile from Nick Friedell of ESPN. "When you're a Thibs Guy that just shows that he can count on you. Ups and downs, highs and lows, you know that he believes in you and he believes that you can go in there and help the team overcome, through injuries, through it all. It's being a tough-minded guy, fighting for the team."
With Randle working through what undoubtedly stands as one of the most high-profile, most troubling slumps of his career, Gibson could help him find some space and strength at a fateful point on the metropolitan timeline.
Many have proposed hypothetical trades left and right when it comes to fortifying the Knicks' future, some of which include Randle. But their most important arrival, at least in the immediate future, might only cost them some salary.
