Sports
Knicks Bold Predictions Ahead of 2023-24 NBA Season – Bleacher Report
After a bounce-back season in the Big Apple, the New York Knicks are hoping for more in the upcoming 2023-24 campaign.
With a largely unchanged roster, though, is this a team that can keep climbing the NBA ladder?
Answer: Yes, but only if a lot of things go their way. We’ll examine what can go right—and could go wrong—with a round of ‘Bockers-based bold predictions.
RJ Barrett, the No. 3 pick in the 2019 draft, was in the Empire State all of one season before his name started rumbling around the rumor mill. It might be bolder, then, to predict a trade talk-free campaign for the 23-year-old swingman.
But these talks could be different. They might have more substance than any of the rumblings that came before them.
If they do, one of two things will have happened. The first—and unequivocally the most fun—scenario is that a star player pops up on the trade block and convinces this front office that it’s time to push its best chips to the center of the table.
It’s debatable whether Barrett has enough clout to anchor an offer for a star, but he’d almost certainly play a prominent part in any of the best trade packages New York can put together.
The other is, objectively speaking, an absolute bummer: Barrett regressing in a way that keeps this team from taking the next step. It’s entirely possible he and the Knicks could learn they’d be better off apart, as their shared shooting struggles could be stunting the development of both parties.
New York last sent multiple players to the All-Star Game in 2012-13, when Tyson Chandler joined Carmelo Anthony for his annual trip to the world’s best pickup game.
The Knicks could snap that streak this season, and it wouldn’t even take a big leap to get it done.
Julius Randle has been an All-Star in two of the past three seasons. His path to a third selection seems pretty straightforward: Make quick decisions, hit a respectable number of outside shots and keep his energy level up. He’ll always get his numbers, but if he tallies them in a way that helps this team, the basketball world will recognize his contributions.
Jalen Brunson is the other candidate, and you could argue he doesn’t need to do much more than he did last season. Per-game contributions of 24 points and 6.2 assists sure feel like All-Star numbers, particularly when paired with a tidy 49.1/41.6/82.9 shooting slash.
If he’s that productive and efficient again, and the Knicks are a touch more competitive in the East, he could be in line for the first All-Star nod of his career.
Immanuel Quickley was a jolt of good energy his first two seasons, but his last one made the loudest argument to date that he is a key piece of this club’s core.
He was as electric and energetic as ever, but he was also productive in ways he hadn’t been before. He set a slew of career highs in the 2022-23 campaign, including 14.9 points, 4.2 rebounds, 1.0 steals and 44.8 percent shooting.
Unfortunately, things went sideways in the postseason—9.0 points on 34.8/24.3/85 shooting—but that didn’t erase all the progress he’d made. If anything, it may have set the table for the ultimate tale of redemption.
If he doesn’t sign an extension this offseason, then the campaign becomes a contract year. If he does, he’ll have a new, presumably massive (maybe nine-figure enormous) pay rate to live up to.
Either way, he’ll be plenty motivated while also being more seasoned and experienced in this league. That might mean another leap year is in the works, and if he takes another sizable step forward, he could absolutely wind up as a Most Improved Player award finalist.