The Knicks have significantly retooled their roster and they've caught the eye of Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green. Green, always one to speak his mind about the happenings around the NBA, took to his podcast The Draymond Green Show to speak about the Knicks as a possible contender in the upcoming season.
“I'll tell you now, I don't want to see [the New York Knicks] in the regular season because they are going to play harder than nobody's tomorrow,” Green said. “By the way, defensively that team is going to be tough. Playing against a team like that during the regular season when you really don't have time to prepare and then you go up against that defense, that's going to be hard.”
Green, however, is bullish on how they'll perform in the playoffs.
“It would not shock me if they get the number-one seed, but I ultimately don't think that team gets over the hump.”
The Knicks have seen massive, incremental success over the past few seasons that has translated to back-to-back trips to the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals. The addition of Jalen Brunson proved to be fruitful, as the former Dallas Mavericks guard has turned into an All-Star guard that can get a quick and easy bucket at any point needed in the flow of the game.
Couple that with the fact that the Knicks made savvy trades for former Raptors forward OG Anunoby and acquired Brooklyn Nets two-way standout Mikal Bridges to add as pieces to the puzzle alongside Julius Randle, New York will certainly be a team to look out for in the regular season.
But, does Green have a point that the postseason could prove to be a challenge for the new-look Knicks? It seemed as if the team had all the momentum to make a run to the Eastern Conference Finals and challenge the Boston Celtics but they lost in seven games to the Indiana Pacers. The year before, they lost to a Heat team that dropped to the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference and had to fight their way out of the play-in.
The Knicks have figured out the formula for the regular season and could prove to be an adept challenger to the Boston Celtics. But can they, in Green's terms, get over the hump and truly make a run for a title?
The Knicks open up the season with a matchup against the defining NBA Champion Boston Celtics on October 22nd and 7:30 PM EST. The game will be broadcast on TNT.