Do the New York Knicks have the most talented team in the NBA? | NBA Season Preview - video Dailymotion

Peter Klein

The New York Knicks made one of the moves of the off-season, but does that give them the most talent in the NBA? Peter Klein gives his list of the Top 5 Most Talented Teams in the NBA as we head towards the start of the Regular Season.  Apple Pod: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/couch-potato-diary/id1564122189 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3QgazeHcSKSteZbBIubcuM Twitter: twitter.com/primetimeklein IG: instagram.com/primetimeklein Facebook: www.facebook.com/Couchpotatodiary Twitch: twitch.tv/primetimepk Email: couchpotatodiary@yahoo.com We Had No Idea: every Wednesday morning,  instagram.com/wehadnoideapodcast

Transcript

00:00We may as well just dive right into the NBA season preview.

00:05The league, the season, is getting closer and closer.

00:09I'm getting more and more excited for the NBA, and in doing kind of the prep for some

00:13of this, kind of realizing this is such an awesome time for the league.

00:17And we kind of discussed this a little bit yesterday, looking at the top 10 players in

00:22the NBA, but the amount of talent that this league has, like this was the first time since

00:26I started doing these back three or four years ago, that LeBron's not in the top 10.

00:32And that, like, he has certainly fallen off a little bit.

00:36But he has fallen off, and so many players have risen up, that there are just an unbelievable

00:43amount of talent.

00:44And I do think that part of that is why we will probably be getting at least two expansion

00:48teams coming up pretty soon.

00:49But all of that talent, where does a lot of it lie?

00:52Today, we are looking at the top five most talented teams in the NBA.

00:58Howdy Toxic.

00:59Howdy Toxic and Howdy Deeds.

01:01Yes, thank you for popping in.

01:03I gave Toxic a bit of a shout-out before, but I do want to say hello to Toxic and to Deeds.

01:10The all-stars of the chat, as always.

01:13Coming in at number five for the most talented team in the NBA, it is the New York Knickerbockers.

01:19The Knicks have an un—the turnaround they have.

01:24Like, when we look back five years ago, if you were to tell yourself, back in just before

01:30the pandemic even, that, oh yeah, so, just so you know, the best team in the NHL is going

01:39to be the Florida Panthers, and one of the best teams in the NBA is going to be the New

01:43York Knicks.

01:44Like, just giving you a heads-up on all of that.

01:46You would have thought it would have been insane.

01:48But the Knicks have done a great job of—and it's one of the things we talk about when

01:52we do the team-building episodes all the time.

01:54They built that foundation, they have set that identity, and now they are building around

01:58it.

01:59And the more I have talked to people who have played at high levels in sports, the more

02:04I think that identity thing is actually quite important.

02:07You need something when shit's going sideways.

02:09Like, look, this is what we do, let's get back to doing it.

02:13It's something to bring it local, it's something I think the Calgary Flames have struggled

02:16with for a very long time.

02:18And I think they have tried to go the route of, um, we're just gonna—we're gonna be

02:22like water, man.

02:23We're gonna—whatever—whatever style you play, we can play it.

02:26And I do think there is a value to that, um, when you see in, like, mixed martial arts,

02:31John Jones, like, I'm going to do the thing you're best at, I'm gonna do it better than

02:35you.

02:36George St. Pierre was very good at that as well.

02:37But, both of them had that foundation first.

02:40You look in the National Hockey League, the Florida Panthers.

02:43They have, I think, the talent that they can kind of out-skill you.

02:47They have the grind that they can kind of out-grind you.

02:49They have the defense, they can play the defensive style.

02:52They have all of these different styles, but it started with setting that identity with

02:56guys like Hubert O. and Barkov and Ekblad of this really tough-to-play-against team,

03:00and it kind of blossomed from there.

03:01The Knicks have done that here, in the NBA, where they—they hired Tibbs, and they're

03:06like, we are going to go all-in on making this be a Tibbs team.

03:10This is no longer—the identity of the Knicks is no longer going to be, let's wait for

03:14a superstar to come here.

03:16After Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving were like, hey, deuces, we're going to Brooklyn, which

03:21worked out great for them.

03:23After that all played out, the Knicks, I think, understood, like, look, this isn't working.

03:27If Brooklyn has passed us, for Katie and Kyrie, which was a layup three months before the

03:33offseason, I think it is a—I think it was a wake-up call for them.

03:40And so they were like, okay, we're getting Tibbs, and we are making a Tibbs team.

03:44And they did an amazing job with that, to be able to build this roster around those

03:49guys, and now you have—then, you go out and you get Jalen Brunson.

03:54And that helps, right?

03:55So now we have set that foundation, that identity, now we need to go get, like, kind of the superstars

03:59who fit in with that.

04:01And to be fair, we didn't know Jalen Brunson was going to be this level of superstar when

04:05he was acquired by the New York Knicks, but we did have an understanding that he was pretty

04:09good, and he was going to be a pretty good fit on this team.

04:12And he turned out to blossom.

04:14And then everything kind of fit around him.

04:16And now, one of the final pieces that is added is Mikael Bridges.

04:20And now you look at the talent on this team, Bridges, who I think is really good, Brunson

04:23who made the top ten players in the NBA list yesterday, you have Julius Randle, two-time

04:28All-NBA player, and they're already like, hmm, wonder where he's going to fit.

04:33Hart has been unbelievable at different times.

04:36Devin Chenzo won them playoff games in the postseason.

04:39They have done a really good job of filling out talent that fits what they are looking

04:44for, and building off of it.

04:46I am so high on the Knicks, and they are one of the teams where I just think the sport

04:51is better when they are good, and right now they are very, very good, and things are pretty

04:55fun in the NBA.

04:57At four, it is the NBA champs from a couple years ago, the Denver Nuggets.

05:02They were higher on this list a couple of years ago, and certainly last year.

05:07But each year, they're just losing a little bit more, and a little bit more, and a little

05:12bit more.

05:13And these are the dangers of having championship teams in salary cap worlds, and you're never

05:17going to apologize for it.

05:18I'm not saying, yeah, you know what, actually winning the championship was a bad thing for

05:21Denver.

05:22That's certainly not the case.

05:24To lose KCP, and then Bruce Brown is gone, and they've kind of lost a bit of this depth

05:30as things have kind of played out.

05:32Now all of a sudden, it is a big four, and then a lot of question marks.

05:37But it's still a very good big four.

05:40Jokic, again, the best player in the league.

05:42I guess, spoiler alert, for the top ten players in the NBA list that we did, if you haven't

05:47checked that one out.

05:49But Jokic, very good.

05:51Jamal Murray, you know, has had a tough Olympics, and has had a tough time staying healthy,

05:57but when he is out there, A, fits with Jokic perfectly, and B, is such a great creator,

06:02such a very good shooter, and attacks the rim so well.

06:06You have Gordon, who is incredibly important to what this team does defensively, and MPJ,

06:14who is such a skilled scorer when everything is going.

06:18With that top four, you have to consider this one of the best teams in the NBA.

06:23At three, it's the Minnesota Timberwolves.

06:26Anthony Edwards has been such a great breakout these last couple of years, and has grown

06:32into being one of the best players in the NBA.

06:35He makes the top ten list yesterday.

06:37You have Carl Anthony Towns, who, while incredibly flawed, a lot, is also someone who can, you

06:46know, score really, really well, and can at least be a good big body that you can put

06:51on other big bodies to keep them from dominating in ways that big bodies do.

06:55And then the other pieces around, like, Gobert is what he is.

06:59And getting benched in the Olympics, not a great look when it's for France, but he is

07:03still one of the best defensive players in the NBA.

07:07And I just think with that trio there, and then some of the very, very good pieces that

07:13they have found to kind of build around that, this is now a very good roster in Minnesota.

07:18And so they are in at number three.

07:20At two, it's Oklahoma City.

07:22The moves they made this offseason have rocketed them up.

07:25You already had Shea Gilchrist-Alexander, and Chet Holmgren, and all these other pieces

07:31to build around.

07:33And then you turn Giddy, who you couldn't even play in the playoffs, you turn him into

07:38Alex Caruso, who was created in a video game to fit this team perfectly and to fit what

07:43they need, and then to go out and get Isaiah Hartenstein in free agency.

07:50This is a perfectly built basketball team.

07:52And the only reason we don't believe that this team can go further is we haven't seen

07:56it before.

07:57But they are, I think, so clearly the best team in the West.

08:01And I think we're gonna, we could get to a point by like January or February where we're

08:04gonna look back on this list and be like, um, why were the, like, two feels low.

08:10Why weren't they higher?

08:11I think this team is that good that they, that they acquired, again, talk about team

08:15building, they make a gigantic trade to get Shea Gilchrist-Alexander and every draft pick

08:21from the LA Clippers, which has worked out great, by the way.

08:24And they have now been able to build up an amazing foundation.

08:29And then again, what do you need off of it?

08:31Well, we don't need the superstar.

08:32We got that in Shea Gilchrist-Alexander.

08:34Some crazy how.

08:35In a trade with the Clippers, we have drafted well, now let's go out and acquire these pieces

08:40and just do the finishing touches on this.

08:42They get that with Hartenstein, they get that with Caruso, and they do it perfectly.

08:47But in at number one, it has to be the Boston Celtics.

08:50Jason Tatum made our list for top 10 most best players in the NBA last season, or going

08:55into this season.

08:56And he wasn't even the best player on their team in the, um, in the NBA Finals.

09:00Jalen Brown took a gigantic step forward last year, and that was not something I thought

09:05he had.

09:06I was very underwhelmed with Brown two playoffs ago, when Tatum went out, and all of a sudden

09:11it was, oh by the way, this guy can't dribble to the left.

09:13Which is a scouting report that we gave guys when I was playing junior basketball in grade

09:178, and that should not be something that happens in the NBA.

09:21But he absolutely elevated his game.

09:23And then Chris Epps-Porzingis, who won't be ready for the start of the season, but the

09:26talent he has when it comes to shot-making, being a big dude as well, and then rim protection.

09:32Holiday and White both elevating their game, and the talent that they have.

09:36And then some of the other guys, some of the bench options who can come in and just launch

09:39threes.

09:40Pritchard, who is the greatest half-court shooter in the history of the sport.

09:44This is, again, we went over how this team was built.

09:46It is a phenomenal example of taking a team's depth and turning it into superstars and guys

09:52who fit a championship model.

09:55Boston, 100% deserves to be at the top of this list.

09:58So they are the most talented team in the NBA.

Do the New York Knicks have the most talented team in the NBA? | NBA Season Preview

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