WELCOME TO NYC

The New York Knicks pulled off a blockbuster trade in early October that shocked the basketball world by trading Julius Randle, Donte Divincenzo for Minnesota Timberwolves superstar, Karl Anthony Towns. Here’s my take on this current trade…

First and fore-most, let’s give Julius all the fuckin flowers in the world. Dude came to the Knicks when NO ONE wanted to play here and held the city on his shoulders. He also took a pay cut at some point when he didn’t have to. One can argue that he was a catalyst for this current Knicks team and their success. With the way he played last year, one could only imagine how far the Knicks would’ve went in the playoffs if he didn’t get hurt.

Thank you, Julius!

Secondly… Donte. Dude wasn’t even a starter and ended up breaking the franchise’s 3-point record and played like a true all-star. He took that starting role and ran with it. It’s especially hard to see him get traded after the organization made the move to trade for Bridges this off-season and reuniting the Villanova Wildcats squad… something I and a lot of fans were looking forward to seeing this season. My fingers are crossed that SOMEHOW they can get him back this season and hopefully win the big one with that Nova squad. But I do understand that without him being included in the trade, it would’ve never been possible. The only other option would’ve been Mitch, but obviously Minnesota didn’t want to take the risk with his injuries… fair enough. At least him and Julius are on a team that can potentially win it all.

Thank you, Donte!

Now, onto KAT.

There’s no denying that he’s a generational talent. And having him on a team with JB, Bridges, OG, Hart, Precious and Deuce is a recipe for success. If Mitch can manage to stay healthy when the Knicks need him the most, that front court is going to be hell for opposing teams. Despite seeing Donte go, I’m excited for this trade. The Knicks were already better before this trade… they only managed to get even better after this trade.

KAT has played with coach Thibbs before, so there’s totally some kind of familiarity with coach’s system and the transition to NY should be seamless. Plugging KAT into this roster isn’t going to change things up from last season (for the most part). I don’t really see them taking that long to gel.

My biggest hope is that whatever grievances KAT may have had towards coach Thibbs is put in the rear-view mirror. Thibbs has really cemented a culture in NY that the players, organization and fans have bought into, so if KAT buys into it too, the sky is the limit. There’s also the contract thing, but at least the team has OG, JB and KAT locked in for a decent amount of time, so all the team would need is solid role players going foward. Mid-level contract guys, that can easily be picked up via draft or free agency.

As fans, there’s not much we can do about moves being made or not being made. Sure, we fall in love with players and it sucks to see them leave, but at the end of the day, it is part of the business. At least this time around, the Knicks are making GOOD moves. Me, my brother and my friend always bring up the days where the Knicks organization made Lance Thomas “the guy”. Those days are long gone.

I can’t wait for this season to start!