What’s Next for the Knicks? | The Bill Simmons Podcast 

Brunson breaks his hand and no foul called hahahahaaa

Great post season? We lost to the pacers. Why are we so delusional. Brunson ain't it unless we want first round exits for the next 10 years

​@@janrobertching8391this man appears to be quite the idiot 🤔

@@janrobertching8391”Unless we want first round exits”… last two years we made it to the second round and half our team was injured this year…

No one said that for the cavs who were missing their best player and lost to a much better team

If everyone was healthy, Knicks not even top 4 in the East lol

@@MaxJulien2701 we will see. The Knicks were hooping when they were healthy. They almost made the conference finals without an all NBA player and allstar. So well see. Meanwhile the PACERS will crush the weak-ass celtics.

The question is, how will the chemistry be with everyone healthy. The most loaded roster is not always the best team.

@@MaxJulien2701nah, the Knicks lost one game all year with Brunson, OG, and Randle in a lineup. They are kinda loaded when healthy

@@mileshall9235 good question, hopefully won't just be Randle iso-ing for 48 minutes

A lot of those losses was from before og and of course when og got hurt so you can’t really look at our record against winning teams and say we are not good

@@AzornRhodes I don't know if we wanna go down that rabbit hole. You'd have to also start taking credit away from the Knicks for beating above .500 teams that were injured when the Knicks beat em. For example, I know the 76ers were missing Embiid most of the season and the Knicks were 3-1 vs them.

@@AzornRhodes damn, but we can't rely on OG to be there so .... i don't know, i still think we're stacked

People just stick with lazy narratives instead of actually seeing what happened

Playoffs make sense to shorten the rotation but Brunson averaged over 38 mpg over the last 10 of the regular season. They had people on the bench barely playing that could have played more but Thibs doesn't trust guys. Burks got a few dnps and less than 15 in every game dueing that stretch. Bojan got under 20 minutes almost every game during his stretch before his injury. Meanwhile, Hart and Donte are playing 45 mpg in the regular season. Let me be clear, I'm not saying it's his fault players got injured, but it's definitely a possibility, and maybe they have just a little more if they just play less in the regular season.

Bill Simmons is awful lol

That’s a solid comparison.

Do not underestimate this team, remember how they were pre Hali injury.

@@skylertaylor7283 I won't pretend to consume Pacers basketball, just watched a few games this postseason. I don't want to be pessimistic but it's a lot easier to win games this time of year when your opponents are down two or more starters. Will be interested to see them against a healthy C's squad.

@@Chalk89haven’t watched much NBA in general by the sound of it, it’s the playoffs. Everyone has injured players on every squad this time of year, it’s always been a major factor in every Finals run since the beginning of the league… you are also the 5,000,000th person this week to say that so great take very original

@@UserNo1000 I have, just not the last few years. Who are the Celtics missing? Who are the Pacers missing? Who are the Mavericks missing? Who are the Timberwolves missing? You can't just generalize that, 'every squad...' while the ones who are advancing are the ones who are healthy and clearly the Knicks were decimated not just heading into the postseason, but losing guys during it as well.

I sort of agree but do think they should maybe think of trading randle. I know he was having a good season but he hasn’t been all that reliable come playoff time. Either he gets injured or he plays worse than he did in the regular season. Look how they performed without him I think they could trade him and still be a great team depending on what they get for him

Randle for Giannis? Jesus Christ are you giving up 19 1st rounders too?? That framework doesn’t exist, nor will it ever exist.

Agree with everything, but I know what you mean that the only blockbusters to do for the Knicks trade wise would be Giannis or Joel. I would like Joel with Brunson & Julius together but if Giannis, Randle goes lol no hard feelings

We gotta see if DiVincenzo will keep this up next season cuz he's the most questionable to me because this season felt like an outlier by him so if you can get a guy like booker do it and obviously if you can trade Randle for someone better at the 4 spot do it but it's really not that many available or even above average 4's besides the immediate ones.

@@jeremyroberts8822 they were a .500 team without him. It happened at the same time as OG’s injury, but they say they are just as good without Randle as with him is crazy

Guess what the regular season means nothing. And when your coach refuses to play his bench during the regular season players end up injured. That’s Thibs and the Knicks won’t make it this far next year. Knicks won’t be a top 5 seed next year. Knick were the 2 seed, pacers the 6th. Knick won 3 more reg season games and played all those extra minutes for nothing.

Clippers had a great stretch of basketball around that time. Got them eliminated in round 1

uniformed and easy trope that has no validity if you look at the data from this year. Brunson led the team in minutes and he finished 15th in the league behind guys like K.D..

@@55freeagainfor real dude, you’re just going to try and lay down a real reply to this obvious and brilliant joke? This comment is the case study for people from Indiana being dumber than a box of hammers.

You know who didn't struggle with load management? Oliver North. Folks...

Not sure what the numbers say but thats a win win trade for both teams.. Im sure the nets will talk themselves out of it but its an awesome trade. Good job

@Theinsideoutsider running it through fanspo draft simulator says Knicks improve +8 regular season wins. Regardless, it adds everything the team needs and takes away nothing. I love Randle too. But he has been inconsistent in the past, injured recently, and we've all seen what Bridges does with with the Nova 3 core they have. Claxton also healthier than Mitch on average.

@@andysauro1500 this isbt even about Randle as much as bridges is a better fit with the Knicks cuz he scores but isnt ball dominant like Randle who is a better fit with Brooklyn bcuz they dont have a true PG and could run the offense more through randle while getting multiple draft picks. Win win!

This is the dumbest thing I’ve read. Bridges doesn’t have a fraction of the gravity and passing ability that Randle creates and it takes away the teams 3 or 4th best rebounder. Also we already have a claxton level player in Robinson. That team would get destroyed against bigger teams like Minny or Milwaukee. Being a rebounding team is what made the Knicks a serious threat to the Celtics in January with 30 point blowouts against the sixers and Denver. I understand the whole ball movement argument, truly, but you lose a lot of what this teams identity is with Randle. Plus there are a lot of big men in the East that the Knicks have to deal with so having some one with rim pressure like Randle is amazing with all the current shooters they have (they’ve never had before)

Yeah that’s no crazy

Regular season bro. Every thibs team is great in the regular season then in the playoffs it doesn’t work. Trust me as a bulls fan. Thibs team will have great moments and will be fun to watch but the ceiling is a conference final

Yes, they are hypnotically a good team and the Kings are what ifs. Enjoy Cancun

@@kyserrylee6909 dude they were like +200 when Randle, OG, and Brunson were on the court It was gonna translate to playoffs

Keep acting like we were lucky to beat the almighty Knicks, I swear Knicks fans are the clowns of the century It didn't "take the best shooting performance ever" to beat the Knicks. They would have won without making some of those 3s and you know it. Enjoy another offseason convincing yourselves you're getting a superstar only to swing and miss and lose before the ECF again next season.

@@AceManning18your view of Knicks fans and their thinking comes from watching espn and Stephen A. No Knicks fans wants a superstar or some crazy trade this summer. We just want to resign OG and hartenstein and run it back with a healthy team. Pacers are not lucky to beat the “almighty Knicks” but they have been lucky to face heavily injured opponents in both round 1 and 2. But luck does play a part in all playoff runs, so it isn’t something you can hold against them.

@@SteveNY823 OG, Mitch and Thibs. First two injury prone and the last wears his players out.

@@SteveNY823 sure. Some of you have brains. Most of you don't, cry.

​@AceManning18 obviously you don't

Finally someone said it 😭😭

Bro majority of the injuries the Knicks had were contact injuries besides OG. So this argument is already pretty shaky if you’re gonna make it

Really?! lol

@@tjace45 it’s true! Knicks are dirt

spot on, we just couldn't use the bench for some reason, must have been a reason, but Thibs, I don't know

Low expectations, the 76ers have lost in the second round for a decade and the Process is considered a failure. The Knicks lose in the second round twice after a decade of failure and it’s considered a rousing success.

Bing Bong!

They made it in 2000

As long as you don't count 2000

They were just following NBA orders. The refs tried again this game but the Pacers shot 76% and no amount of officiating could overcome that.

@@daveclark8337 along those lines you could say that the 76ers were gifted a game when Maxey travelled on his 3 pointer, and Embid wasn't suspended after the hit job on Robinson,. To me, this narrative that the knicks were given games doesnt make sense. the Knicks just played way harder in most games. that was their MO all season.

It didn’t happen

@@peterludwig7721 The NBA is all about the money and NY is the biggest market. Brunson hit Tyrese SO hard on the way to the hoop he broke his own hand and yet the refs STILL refused to call a Foul on that play.

@@daveclark8337 Brunson was fouled 8,000,000 times and did not always get calls so i think it goes all ways.

Because they were so much better without him. Randle is awful

@@crambo765GTFOH. Missing an all nba player is bad for any team. We just found a rotation that works is all.

@@crambo765 also because he’s horrible in the playoffs. Dudes laid an egg in almost every playoff game he’s ever played in

We were 30-5 when og played. Even without Randle we were incredible when even fairly healthy. We’re gonna be good again next year whether or not we trade Randle.

Randle has never showed up in the playoffs, dudes 17 a game on like 34% from the field in the 15 career playoff games he’s played.

pathetic. Maybe Rick was just smart enough to not play 5 guys over 45 minutes a night? is that luck?

@@UserNo1000 The Knicks can hold their heads high. We all saw it

@@UserNo1000 Who was being played 45 minutes a night?

@@THE_BEAR_JEW Brunson, Hart, Divo, OG were all averaging close to that in the first 8 postseason games, some of them north of it like Hart who played 10 consecutive quarters before his abdominal muscles strained and took him out of game 6

@@UserNo1000 Sorry for the lengthy post below, but there's no way to go through this in 2 lines of text. Divo was not averaging anywhere close to 45 MPG. He had one game in the 76ers series where he played 48 minutes. Most of the series he actually played under 30. He's played 45 or more just that one game. OG played 45 minutes or more 3 times (one being that OT game vs the 76ers). The rest of the time he's been mostly 42 minutes or less. Bruson has played 45 or more 2 times (one being that OT game also). The rest of the time he's been at 43 or less. Again, in line with other stars. Brunson was played over 40 minutes like 6 times all season btw. I think we can all agree Hart has played the most. His minutes before Game 4 of the Pacers series were crazy high, and his minutes need to come down for sure. He's the one who has been overplayed. The others have not. That said, Hart's overuse does not extend to the entire season and the other guys weren't overused in the regular season or the postseason. I'm not gonna get on Thibs when I'm seeing Kobe's average minutes per postseason game from age 22 to age 28 are 43 or higher. MJ averaged almost 42 minute per playoff game for his career. Dirk from age 23 to age 29 was at around 42.5 MPG. Iverson is at over 45 MPG for his career. LeBron has ton of postseason where he's at 42 minutes a game. Shaq in his prime was averaging 40 MPG at least. Duncan and KG until age 27 were doing a minimum of 40 mpg on average. Bird through the entire 80s was out there averaging a minimum of 40 MPG. Kareem was playing 43-47 MPG playoffs until age 33. Those happened because there were many games where yeah, you would have to play your star nearly the whole game. It's just odd to get on a coach today for doing that when it's been normal forever, especially when you wanna make a deep run and you may not be fully healthy as a team.

Same Boston team who lost to an 8th seed a couple years ago. Gonna be funny when the pacers pull off the upset

You overachieve when you have HORRIBLE players but still win.. the Knicks are filled with ballers .. not scrubs ..

This is such cap knicks win that series in 6 possibly 5 with the full roster

Yeah, pretty much. I like the team but they were 29-4 vs teams below .500 and 21-28 vs teams above .500. That's not good for a 2 seed. The only playoff team with a worse winning percentage against teams above .500 was Orlando.

Basically they blew their load chasing the two seed Everything after the end of the regular season was just pure will and mental fortitude, it’s amazing they even got this far

You’re right. It could be Celtics in six instead of five.

They barely beat a team with 3 of 4 top players injured or compromised final 3 games Brunson their best injured. Acting like Indiana showed anything there is a lazy and poor analysis

It took the pacers 6 games to beat the Bucks then 7 for the Knicks. Both teams were devastated by injuries. Pacers are a fluke.

@@WarrenFranceSportsNetworkright the Knicks were starting 4 guards the whole series

@@nocturne311 5 instead of 4. Pacers play no defense. Celtics have a similar quality defense to a healthier Knicks team, with a higher caliber offense. Celtics beat themselves more than other teams beat them.

If I was him I’d be worried about both those teams. I don’t think Boston can beat Minnesota and idk about Dallas. Luke and kyrie always seem to do amazing things when the lights are the brightest

@@jeremyroberts8822Tatum averaged 38 points on 50%+ shooting against Minnesota this season and the Wolves won the first meeting in Minnesota in OT (Boston didn’t have White) while Boston won the second meeting in Boston in OT (Boston didn’t have Porzingis and Minnesota didn’t have Gobert or Conley). I know defeating the Nuggets makes the Wolves seem like the favorites, but that’s lot necessarily the case. Styles make fights, as they say, and as Jokic said in his postgame presser, Minnesota is built to beat Denver. That doesn’t mean they’re built to beat or will matchup as well with Dallas or Boston for that matter though. As far as the Mavs are concerned, Boston defeated them both times they played and blew them out in the second game. Everyone is underrating the Celtics right now due to their issues in previous postseasons and their easier schedule thus far, but there’s a reason this team finished with a historically good net rating.

We destroy the Pacers with a healthy roster easily but your right we still need that big trade to put us to championship level without completeky dismantling the chemistry weve built.

Pacers had a plan and stuck to it. Not their fault people got injured. No mercy just keep pushing the pace until Thibs plays his players to death

“Knicks at full strength” will not be a possibility when Thibodeau is coaching Regular season games are treated like playoff games

You could only really say this for Hart, who was only playing so many minutes out of necessity because of the Bojan, Randle and OG injuries. It’s a very lazy narrative, Thibs ran a normal 9 man rotation all season. Even starting Taj Gibson when we had injuries. It’s the playoffs, everyone cuts their rotation down.

Nah. That's an ancient narrative but he didn't do that in the regular season. Freackishly bad level of injuries.

No, people jump in during the playoffs and don't follow the regular season, so they just assume the narrative is gospel. Thibs has been doing good this year with that. The others already commented with accurate explanations.

STILL, he is diabolical if just at his other stops🤣

What? They went on about the pacers making every shot possible and setting an insane record. At the same time you have to acknowledge the Knicks were super hurt

LOL they literally can't stop singing the praises of the Pacers and talking about how the Knicks came up short. But nice job coining the Knick ride. Lol dudes spent 5 mins on SIAKAM. I don't even think he talks about himself that much

We have a Bench stop speaking on my team if u don’t watch the games…what’s wrong with u casuals?

Deuce, hart, and hartenstein were off the bench role players in the regular season. They started for a decent amount of the season bc of injuries

Sorry bro but neither Knicks or LeBron has ANY interest in this

@@MaChao2 You are probably right, but it would make sense for both sides on many levels. Lebron seems to want to be in LA more than trying to win again and the Knicks would probably only do it if he signed for a minimum deal there which he would never do. But they would win a ring with him there I think, that team is one piece away and he provides them everything they are missing.

you really want to bring the refs up? go look at the free throw disparity, go look at the number of called turnovers, it wasn’t even close. Go away with these uneducated opinions

Can we talk about how Brunson hit Haliburton hard enough to fracture his own hand, and it still wasn't called a foul?

they don't call travels in the nba lol

yeah the Pacers are lazy for going to MSG for a game 7 and crushing the Knicks

i don't know if i would say the Pacers were lazy, i just think they are deep and talented and didn't miss a shot. The knick just did not have enough talent left after the injuries, not enough energy to really compete and play defense the way they want to

If my aunt had wheels she’d be a bicycle.

Facts…but these idiots won’t admit it

@@hargism249 which Knicks? The Knicks had 4 players out of their lineup, with two more players compromised. I said the Pacers were lazy because the Knicks were compromised from Game 1 on and the Pacers still struggled. Put your Pom poms down… the Knicks were missing about 55 points and 30 rebounds in injuries.

I saw Jason Bateman sitting courtside in Game 7 and I know he's a Lakers and Dodgers fan.

Finally a comment that makes sense.🫡

That’s because of the way Brunson plays. He’s shifty and game is built on drawing fouls

@@banditonehundred I would get that but so many ghost calls he got. If you watched the series a lot of and 1s had no contact. Which brings me to say that Knicks are not physical team talk if they are getting this many whistles

@@tellhand3917 yeah, he’s a dirty player like prime Harden, just not as good

You know the pacers had the biggest free throw disparity in the NBA. It might just be that the pacers don’t draw fouls or score in the paint as often in half court offense.

@@angelmercedes2029 nah, we just didn't get any whistles. It was not an even called series and we should've got a chance to win game one.

I think that's such a lame ass response. The 76ers shot more free throws for the series. If Joel Embiid shot better than 6/36 from the field in Q4, the 76ers would have been playing against the Pacers.

if that was true, then Embid would have been suspended. The refs also missed Maxey's travel on that three-pointer that tied one of the games in the last minute. the narrative you are pitching just does not hold up. The knicks had plenty of games where they were unable to play the way they wanted to because of the whistle. They didn't complain, they just played. The pacers shouldn't have talked sh*t because they are not that good. the Celtics are going to crush them because the Pacers can't play defense.