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00:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:03 The New York Knicks, a magical run
00:07 to the second round of the NBA playoffs
00:09 for a second straight year, but failing to reach
00:12 the Eastern Conference Finals.
00:14 A destination in NBA postseason action
00:17 the Knickerbockers have not gotten to since the year 2000.
00:21 It will be 25 years if the Knicks get there next year.
00:26 Two and a half decades from reaching the Eastern Conference
00:29 Finals for a proud Knicks franchise.
00:32 When you look back at this season, it was successful.
00:35 Once again, 50 wins in the regular season,
00:38 well over their preseason win total of 45 and a half.
00:41 Expected to get to the Eastern Conference playoffs,
00:45 the Knicks did that.
00:46 A second straight year of a playoff series win,
00:50 but ultimately coming up short in a game seven
00:53 yesterday against Indiana.
00:55 But it's interesting when you look at this Knicks team,
00:58 because of how shorthanded and banged up they were DRS.
01:01 Does that change your assessment of this Knicks season
01:05 if it was ultimately a success or a failure,
01:08 because of how injured they were up and down the roster?
01:12 Well, they also got some breaks too from injuries
01:14 on other teams and teams limping into the playoffs.
01:17 So let's start there.
01:17 But also, if we're talking about the Knicks season success,
01:20 I do believe it was that.
01:22 Because I think you finally now have your superstar in Jalen
01:25 Brunson.
01:26 I don't think that's like, hey, man,
01:27 that was a flash in a pan type run out of Brunson.
01:29 He'll just be average next year.
01:31 No, this is the new Jalen Brunson in the NBA,
01:33 which I do believe he can score 30 points a game
01:35 if he wants to.
01:36 Now, the question is going to be not Jalen Brunson moving
01:39 forward, but who is he going to be surrounded by?
01:41 Because yes, we love the fight and the grit for the New York
01:44 Knicks in the playoffs here.
01:46 Let's be honest, Steven Chenzo can't be a lead guy.
01:49 Like, Josh Hart is a great glue guy.
01:50 You need separate superstars along with Jalen Brunson.
01:54 For so many years, we talked about getting a superstar.
01:56 Side by side with Luka Doncic.
01:57 Now, it's funny that that side by side superstar probably
02:00 could have been Jalen Brunson, but then it
02:01 turns into Kyrie Irving.
02:02 You need that here.
02:04 And yes, I like OG Ananobis as a player.
02:06 Fine for 15 to 20 points on a night-night basis.
02:09 Play good defense, get some rebounds.
02:11 I get that.
02:12 But the Knicks need a true superstar player
02:14 to go along with Brunson.
02:15 It can't just be like, hey, we love the grittiness.
02:17 Because that's only going to get you so far.
02:19 Superstars will carry you over.
02:21 And if your superstar can't carry it over,
02:23 you know what's nice to have, Ben?
02:24 A second superstar to help you out on nights where you
02:27 don't have your A game here.
02:28 I like where the Knicks are going.
02:30 Why?
02:30 Because Jalen Brunson confirmed to me he's a true NBA superstar.
02:34 Now you just have to get the pairing around him
02:36 in order to get that help.
02:39 Me as well, DRS.
02:40 We talked about it at the end of the regular season,
02:42 or at least with a month, month and a half remaining.
02:45 If the Knicks got healthy, still playing winning basketball,
02:48 that would be the optimistic outlook
02:50 for the playoffs and beyond.
02:52 OG Ananobis returned, and then of course
02:54 was injured here in this second round series
02:56 against the Pacers.
02:57 Julius Randle did not.
02:59 Randle was not there for the playoffs.
03:01 You think about just the depth.
03:02 If OG Ananobis remained healthy in this series against Indiana,
03:06 if Mitchell Robinson was there for all of the playoffs,
03:08 is Mitchell Robinson the X Factor for New York?
03:11 No.
03:12 Does he provide more depth?
03:13 Absolutely so.
03:14 I think if OG Ananobis is not injured at the end of game two,
03:19 the New York Knicks win this series against the Pacers.
03:22 They were up 2-0 heading to Indianapolis
03:24 in two tightly contested games.
03:26 Inside the garden, OG Ananobis playing the best basketball
03:30 of his playoff career in that second game
03:32 through three quarters.
03:34 What a shoulda, coulda, of course, the great if
03:36 to every question that we ask.
03:39 That's not what history will remember.
03:42 But like you, I believe the Knicks
03:44 are moving in the right direction.
03:46 We had this conversation earlier in the postseason.
03:49 Can Jalen Brunson be the one best player on an NBA
03:55 championship winning team?
03:57 A lot of people would say no.
03:59 I don't think Jalen Brunson could be one,
04:01 and then you have somebody as a two,
04:03 like a Julius Randle or an OG Ananobis.
04:06 But I believe Jalen Brunson could be one with a 1A.
04:09 I really do.
04:10 And although the season came to a crushing defeat,
04:13 and although injuries will always provide that great what
04:17 if for New York, they are a destination.
04:20 They are going to be an attractive landing
04:22 spot for some this offseason.
04:24 I think the New York Knicks will be back.
04:26 But now, this is the level of pedigree.
04:30 Second round of the postseason, fantastic.
04:33 Whoop-de-doo.
04:34 It's getting the Eastern Conference Finals
04:36 and beyond for the first time in 2 and 1/2 decades.
04:39 Yes, and also, keep in mind, let's just
04:41 say you have five starters out there.
04:42 You know what you should be getting
04:43 for the Knicks off of the bench?
04:44 Josh Hart and Dante DiVincenzo.
04:47 Now, that would be a pretty impressive team,
04:48 because you still need the starters that can score,
04:50 but also that bench oomph here.
04:52 You had Myles McBride come in yesterday, again,
04:54 couldn't find his three-point range.
04:55 You're just leaning on guys that weren't used to stepping up
04:58 in the biggest moments.
04:59 Maybe they will in the future.
05:00 But again, key point here, Brunson is a superstar.
05:03 Pair him up with another true superstar,
05:05 and away the Knicks go onto a better season next year.
05:09 And we will see what the odds are for the New York Knicks.
05:12 The Eastern Conference is going to look crazy next year.
05:14 Obviously, the off-season ahead in the NBA.
05:18 But is anybody going to catch Boston?
05:20 That will be the conversation.
05:23 (upbeat music)
05:26 [BLANK_AUDIO]