Knicks Prediction: Donovan Mitchell Trade and Only 2-Game Improvement?

The New York Knicks this year are essentially going to be no better? There is an argument there.

The New York Knicks of 2021-22 were a 37-45 team that failed to make the playoffs. There is no argument there.

The New York Knicks this year are essentially going to be no better?

There is an argument there.

It is the prediction of the good people at ESPN that New York is only going to win two more games in 2022-23 than it did last year, which ...

Well, ESPN better be wrong.

It is the opinion of the network that New York will finish with a 39-43 record, will finish 10th in the East, and will again finish outside of the playoffs.

For that prediction to come true, New York would have to have two major moves collapse.

Major Move No. 1, of course, has already occurred, with the Knicks' signing of new point guard Jalen Brunson. We would like to make the argument that Brunson running the show here as an "unselfish scoring point guard'' (which he certainly was in working in tandem with Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavs) is worth two wins all by itself.

But then there is ...

Major Move No. 2, which would have the Utah Jazz trade three-time All-Star Donovan Mitchell to the Knicks.

The Knicks are still believed to be the frontrunners to land Mitchell; the latest word is that no other bidder has come close to what New York is offering. And indeed, it is the same exact outlet that believes the Knicks won't make a true improvement in 2022-23 that also has reported frequently, along with the rest of the NBA world, that Mitchell will end up in the Big Apple.

How can both be true? Mitchell is coming to New York along with Brunson and yet the Knicks won't be improved?

That math doesn't add up.

Additionally, there is a bit of pretzel logic involved in the ESPN "insiders'' evaluation. From the story: 

"It remains to be seen just how much better this team got over the summer. The Knicks hope Julius Randle can regain his All-Star form and that R.J. Barrett and young players, such as Obi Toppin and Immanuel Quickley, continue to develop for a team that had high expectations heading into last season.''

Well, of course it "remains to be seen'' whether the Knicks will be better, just as it "remains to be seen'' whether the Knicks will be 39-43; it all "remains to be seen.''

We're not ready to make some bold prediction about the Knicks as a playoff team. We are ready to ponder whether the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Chicago Bulls and the Brooklyn Nets are poised to be better than New York, as ESPN predicts.

But most of all, we're willing to wait. To wait on Donovan Mitchell. And to wait on a bold prediction for the Knicks.