With the New York Knicks struggling a 4-2 elimination within the 2025 Japanese Convention Finals, it means some adjustments are due for the group.
The Knicks took step one in that course after firing head coach Tom Thibodeau following a five-year stint with the franchise.
Whereas the Knicks may gain advantage from a brand new voice, there may be one participant who wants main enchancment forward of the 2025-26 season if the franchise desires to carry the Larry O’Brien trophy.
Many might marvel if it’s Mikal Bridges, however it’s not. As a substitute, star heart Karl-Anthony Cities has to work on one facet of his recreation for the Knicks to succeed.
Final summer time, the Knicks engaged in a blockbuster commerce with the Minnesota Timberwolves to amass Cities. There’s little question that including Cities was an enormous enchancment.
In spite of everything, KAT is likely one of the most versatile huge males within the league. In his first season in New York, Cities averaged 24.4 factors, 12.8 rebounds, and three.1 assists per recreation whereas capturing a powerful 52.6% from the sector and 42.0% from the three-point line.
Nevertheless, offense has by no means been an issue for the 5x NBA All-Star. It’s his protection that he must work on within the offseason. Even his Knicks teammates are reportedly pissed off on account of this trait.
Cities’ lack of effort on the defensive finish of the ground was totally exploited by the Indiana Pacers in Sport 6 of the ECF. The Knicks huge man gave an excessive amount of area to Tyrese Haliburton and he made them pay.
KAT had a 110.6 defensive ranking within the playoffs, which isn’t wonderful, however it isn’t the worst both amongst gamers who performed not less than 10 video games.
As talked about earlier, the primary level of concern about Cities is his lax protection in opposition to star gamers. Until he works on that, it’s exhausting to see the Knicks profitable the NBA Championship.
In spite of everything, the Knicks can’t count on a lot success if their two greatest gamers, Cities and Jalen Brunson, are an enormous defensive legal responsibility.
At 29 years previous, Cities is within the prime of his NBA profession. Evidently, this additionally means he’s costly to maintain on the roster.
KAT has his upsides, but when he fails to succeed in the expectations of the Knicks, they will all the time commerce him. In reality, many have advised a direct commerce for the Phoenix Suns’ Kevin Durant in change for Cities.
Durant could also be within the twilight years of his profession, however whilst a 36-year-old, he has a a lot better defensive work charge than Cities.
Clearly, a commerce ought to solely be thought of within the worst-case state of affairs as Cities has spent only a single season in New York.
