I Hart New York! 3 Rational Reactions to Knicks' Trade Deadline Activity
The ironic part about the NBA's trade deadline day was perhaps the fact that it was Madison Square Garden's hockey team, the New York Rangers, that made the most impactful metropolitan move, trading for four-time NHL All-Star Vladimir Tarasenko.
That's not to belittle anything the New York Knicks did prior to Thursday afternoon's transactional shutdown: Josh Hart is coming to Manhattan through a trade with the Portland Trail Blazers. The exiled Cam Reddish departs, as do 12th men Ryan Arcidiacono and Svi Mykhailiuk (the latter already dealt to Charlotte in another deal).
But the Knicks surprisingly stayed out of the transactional chaos otherwise, keeping more or less the same roster of regulars ... and not-so-regulars ... as the 26-game dash to the postseason begins on Friday in Philadelphia (7 p.m. ET, MSG).
How is the team affected moving forward? All Knicks investigates ...
Time to Play Matchmaker
Hart has been lauded as a sterling depth option, but he has found a bit of a groove as a starter over the last two seasons between New Orleans and Portland, There's no doubt that Hart could probably work well in the Knicks' starting five, especially with overjoyed collegiate teammate Jalen Brunson working wth him. But they've established a good rhythm a regular opening lineup of Brunson, RJ Barrett, Quentin Grimes, Julius Randle, and Mitchell Robinson. Though Robinson is still hurt, the Knicks have posted a 14-8 mark since switching to that group full-time by early December.
Of course, Hart could also also help the Knicks' second unit. That group has found a bit of rhythm lately (namely throughh Isaiah Hartensten's rebounding efforts) but a bulk of its scoring continues to stem from Immanuel Quickley. By no surprise, New York ranks 26th in bench scoring entering Friday's action. The Knicks have a major opportunity to re-establish themselves among the Eastern Conference's top six (especially with the dramatic teardown happening across town) but they need to find the perfect place for Hart to land sooner rather than later.
As The Lineup Turns...
Bidding farewell to the exiled Reddish and a pair of last men off the bench seems to be the definition of addition by subtraction but the Knicks have a curious decision to make, proving nothing is ever so simple in Manhattan hoops. Conventional NBA logic dictates that the Knicks will want Hart to play a regular, immediate role in their fortunes ... but is head coach Tom Thibodeau will to expand beyond a nine-man rotation?
Restricted by the trade's lack of official confirmation, Thibodeau was mum on the instant future of Hart while speaking in Philadelphia this week. But it's easy to see why he wouldn't be willing to move on from his nine-man plan. It's far from perfect but has produced the victorious results the Knicks have sought: since switching to nine after the embarassing Dec. 3 home loss to Dallas, the Knicks own a 20-13 record, seventh-best in the NBA in that span. It's one thing to debate Jericho Sims' future once Robinson heals. But does Hart's arrival spell the end for Miles McBride or the official end to Obi Toppin's chances at a metropolitan impact? It's certainly a good problem to have, but Thibodeu and Co. must solve this issue before the homestretch begins.
Bound for Big Rebounds
Even the most pessimistic Knicks critic can't deny that this team is not boring. For better or worse, no games ever feels over in New York until the clock says so and the team has rewarded its fans with some thrilling victories this season (last week's overtime thriller over Boston, flexed to national television, comes to mind).
Hart, however, could take some of the drama out of the proceedings.
For as pretty as the Knicks (30-26) are sitting right now (half-game out of the automatic six, four up on 11th place and postseason oblivion), there are several games that they could've had if they simply hauled in a rebound. The Los Angeles Clippers' second chance at a last-second equalizer en route to an overtime win created one of several narrow defeats that could come up if the Knicks miss out on any postseason bonuses.
Hart has played. role in one of those defeat: back in November, the Knicks hosted a struggling Portland group that eked out a 132-129 victory thanks in part to a career-best 19 rebounds from Hart. Six of them came on the offensive end, leading to 17 second chance points for the Trail Blazers.
Critics will rightfullly delcare that the Knicks are more or less in the same place they started the week: teetering between Play-In and automatic postseason consideration with little chance of invading the Eastern Conference's penthouse (as if any deadline yield was going to do that anyway). But Hart has the potential to put more close games on the Knicks' side. The fact that they were able to secure such a difference-maker in exchange for what amounted for a handful of minutes is perhaps a downright metropolitan miracle.
Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags
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