The New York Knicks and Atlanta Hawks, two teams with new head coaches, faced off in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs. Despite the Knicks being the higher seed and the widespread favorite to win the series, the Hawks handled the Knicks with ease, winning the series in five games. After an exciting and feisty playoff series, here are my thoughts on both teams going forward.
Atlanta Hawks
Can we appreciate Nate McMillan for a minute? After being fired by the Indiana Pacers, McMillan served as an assistant under Lloyd Pierce until the Hawks got off to a slow start and Pierce was fired. McMillan took a team that looked dead in the water and turned them into a true playoff contender. I never thought the Pacers’ lack of success was because of McMillan but instead because they lacked a true star. Malcolm Brogdon, Domantas Sabonis, and Myles Turner are all very good players, but none of them are good enough to lead a team on a deep playoff run. So the move to fire McMillan came as a surprise to me, and he proved to the world that Indiana’s front office made a mistake. Despite my love for both the Knicks’ Tom Thibodeau and the Suns’ Monty Williams, I think McMillan should be the clear favorite for the NBA’s Coach of the Year award. We saw how terrible this Hawks team was without McMillan. I’ll be shocked if Atlanta doesn’t retain McMillan as their head coach long-term, but if they don’t, expect him to quickly find a job elsewhere.
Despite how good they looked against the Knicks, do the Hawks actually have a chance against the #1 seed 76ers? If Joel Embiid remains out for most of the series, then I believe that the Hawks are the clear favorites. Ben Simmons proved in Game 4 that he can be a liability late in games, as his free throw shooting would even be bad for a center, much less a point guard. Without Embiid, who was an MVP candidate before dealing with injuries down the stretch, Philly just isn’t a great team. Despite Simmons’ defensive abilities, I don’t think he’ll be able to prevent Trae Young from scoring much, and even if he does, Young has been a more-than-capable facilitator, averaging 9.4(!) assists per game this season. Despite Dwight Howard’s improved play the past two seasons, there’s no way he can stop the frontcourt duo of John Collins and Clint Capela (who I thought was a steal of a trade acquisition last season). Obviously, this all changes if Embiid comes back, but unless he can suddenly recover from his meniscus tear, Atlanta has a great chance of advancing into the Eastern Conference Finals.
New York Knicks
Despite his terrible performance in the playoffs, let’s just appreciate Julius Randle’s turnaround this season. He went from a liability on the Knicks to a first-time All-Star under coach Tom Thibodeau. While Randle shouldn’t be a playoff team’s number one option, he certainly proved that he can be a great contributor to a winning team.
Now, it’s up to the rest of the Knicks’ roster and the front office to put a better team around Randle. R.J. Barrett showed marked improvement this season, but he still has a long way to go before becoming a great player. Both Barrett and Randle looked timid in the playoffs, and while this could be chalked up to a lack of playoff experience, that can’t be the excuse next year. Surprising breakout rookie Immanuel Quickley, who also had a good regular season, looked bad in the playoffs, averaging only 5.8 PPG on 30% shooting from the field. Obi Toppin didn’t see many minutes during the regular season, but that’s reasonable considering Thibs usually doesn’t play rookies much. He showed flashes this season but will need to carve out a much more defined role next season.
So, what do the Knicks do this offseason? Gone are the days of Knicks fans hoping to get the #1 pick in the draft lottery. Instead, the front office will have to somehow get a star on this team. With $67M in cap space, New York could easily sign one of this year’s premier free agents to a huge contract. New York also has all of their first-round picks, along with the Mavericks’ pick this year, which means they could easily pull off a trade if a star becomes available. Names like Russell Westbrook, Bradley Beal, and even Damian Lillard could be tossed around this offseason as teams look to rebuild and the Knicks have the cap space to simply take on stars’ salaries without having to send over other contracts.
Despite the Knicks’ disappointing playoff performance, the future is bright in the city of New York. For the first time in what feels like forever, the Knicks are a team on the rise. If they don’t mess up this offseason, they could be contenders for years to come.
Stats via Basketball Reference
Cap figures/salaries via Spotrac