The Knicks are only five games into an 82-game season. So it’s way too early to talk broadly about any trends/statistical characteristics of the team.
But I think there’s been in interesting adjustment over the past week.
Last Monday, the Knicks let a 14-point late-third-quarter lead slip away in a home loss to Cleveland.
Many factors led to defeat that night for the Knicks. New York’s defense allowed Darius Garland to go off for 15 points in a pivotal fourth quarter. Cleveland neutralized the Knicks on the offensive glass after halftime. The Cavs also were more aggressive in hunting for threes.
One other stat that stood out? Karl-Anthony Towns took just eight shots in 32 minutes.
After the game, Jalen Brunson stated clearly that he wanted Towns to get more shots moving forward.
“It’s on us. It’s on me as a teammate to make sure we’re all on the same page, making sure everyone’s eating,” Brunson said. “I’ve got to be better when it comes to that; I’ve got to adjust and be better.”
That night, Brunson threw 46 passes to Knicks starters. These passing totals can be misleading because they don’t account for context around each pass. But the number of passes from Brunson to Towns (six) was noteworthy.
Whether it is intentional or not, the numbers between Brunson and Towns look much different over the past two games.
In those games (wins at Miami and Detroit), Brunson is averaging 16 passes per game. The percentage of Brunson’s passes to Towns (28.6 percent) in those games has nearly tripled when compared to the Cleveland game.
Also, Towns is averaging six field goal attempts on passes from Brunson over the past two games. He’s shooting 58 percent from the floor on those attempts.
Whether it’s intentional or not, Brunson has followed through on his words after the home loss to Cleveland. He’s certainly made sure “everyone’s eating,” including Towns.
WHAT’S NEXT WITH THE ROSTER?
The Knicks have played the first 14 days of the season with 12 players on traditional contracts. Teams can have fewer than 14 players on traditional contracts for 14 consecutive days.
So the Knicks will need to add two players on traditional contracts by Tuesday in order to satisfy NBA roster rules.
They have agreed to a traditional deal with two-way player Ariel Hukporti, league sources confirm. Hukporti’s deal is expected to begin on Tuesday, giving the Knicks 13 players on standard contracts.
There’s still strong mutual interest between the Knicks and Matt Ryan.
The Knicks also have interest in bringing back Landry Shamet.
I’d be surprised if they signed Shamet this week to get to 14 players because of the nature of his injury (dislocated shoulder). Based on traditional timelines, it’s unlikely Shamet is ready to return to the floor.
So the Knicks can sign Ryan to a traditional deal to get to 14 players on the roster (excluding two-way guys). That plan had been discussed internally last month.
The Knicks could also sign another young free agent to a non-guaranteed deal to get to 14 players and add Ryan as a two-way player. Ryan would fill the void created by Hukporti’s conversion.
The Knicks can limit the financial impact of these signings by inking the players to non-guaranteed deals. This would allow them to maintain more space under the second apron. The second apron is a team salary ($188.9 million) threshold that the Knicks need to stay under this season.
If they don’t sign Shamet on Tuesday, I’d still expect them to bring him back closer to when he’s ready to return to the court. So it would make sense for the Knicks to sign Ryan — or another player — to a non-guaranteed traditional deal by tomorrow in order to maintain a roster spot for Shamet.
