Knicks' Championship Hopes: Analyzing Team Dynamics

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00:00If we're taking a look at the Knicks coach, because as a fan, you have to be elated by

00:07this.

00:08There's nothing more fun than being a fan of a team that's bringing superstar talent

00:10with the expectations of winning a championship.

00:13But talk to me about this, heading down the stretch in the playoffs, the Knicks team camaraderie

00:17was phenomenal.

00:18That room we're saying, how are they winning basketball games?

00:21They were so tight, bringing new players in, trading some players away.

00:24Is there any thought process that maybe it would take a while to get that camaraderie

00:28back with all these superstars and the changes to the team?

00:30Well, I think the tough thing about it, Don, is having it happen so late and NBA training

00:35camps, guys, what is what, two weeks?

00:37So you're not going to get a lot of time early on to kind of get the flow going here.

00:43But remember, they also played, you know, the second half of the year without Julius

00:46Randle.

00:47So, you know, that is something to also be noted.

00:51There is camaraderie.

00:52There is that.

00:53I also think we're getting Carl Anthony Townsend's a little bit more mature than people realize.

00:58I know him and Tibbs had their runnings in Minnesota, but he's shown a real true appreciation

01:03for Tom Thibodeau over the last couple of years.

01:07Obviously, I think if I'm not mistaken, Cat is a Leon, was a Leon Rose client as well.

01:13So there's camaraderie that way.

01:15Listen, at the end of the day, Donnie, if you can stay healthy, protect the rim and

01:20not threes, you can, you know, take that camaraderie and shove it.

01:24They need to win games because the window now officially with this group is open for

01:29about a four-year span.

01:31You saw the career resume for Cat.

01:33You see the outlook now for the New York Knicks, a three-to-one price to win the Eastern Conference.

01:39There was a little bit of a trade-off, J-Y, back and forth after the Sixers acquired Paul

01:44George in a relatively quiet free agency period that Philly moved in front of the Knicks for

01:51the second-best price out east.

01:53New York back to the third-best number.

01:55Now the Knickerbockers at three-to-one, second-best price, less than a buck and a half behind

02:00the reigning NBA champs.

02:02That would be the Boston Celtics.

02:04And that was kind of the thing, J-Y, all throughout the summer, we debated.

02:08How far was the gap, the seas in front of everybody else in the Eastern Conference?

02:13So let me ask you plainly a two-part question with the same answer, really.

02:18Are the Knicks, the second-best team in the Eastern Conference now, has the gap between

02:23Boston and New York closed enough that you believe the Knicks are a true title contender

02:28with Boston?

02:29Yes.

02:30Close.

02:31Philadelphia is right there with them.

02:34And yes, here's the key, guys.

02:36The three centers, Porzingis, Cat, and obviously Embiid, all three of them have had careers

02:44With injury concerns, which one of the three can stay the healthiest?

02:49Obviously, we know that KP is going to miss the first, I think, two to three months of

02:52the season.

02:53So I think the Knicks are the biggest challenger.

02:56But there's a guy down in I-95 in Joel Embiid that's going to have a lot to say.

03:02Tyrese Maxey should be unbelievable.

03:04Paul George, that guy can shoot the ball from three.

03:06And I'm really amazed at what Dal Morey was able to do with no salary cap, just getting

03:12rid of Tobias Harris was a win in itself.

03:16Everything else Dal Morey did struck gold.

03:18Top three teams in the East all come from the Atlantic Division.

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