Honestly, I have no clue how this hasn’t happened yet.
While Tom Thibodeau has finally begun to give Quentin Grimes the proper minutes he deserves, it took him far too long to realize this was the right decision. In addition to this, I would not be surprised if Grimes goes back to the bench once Cam Reddish returns.
Regardless, Grimes must continue to receive a high volume of minutes whether he starts or not. He is too valuable of a player to keep sitting on the bench like Thibodeau has made him do for the majority of the season.
Fournier has been quite terrible this season. While you can make the argument about whether or not he was good last season, he still provided value with his elite three-point shooting. However, this season Fournier’s threes are not falling, as he is shooting a career-low 33.3% from downtown on 4.4 attempts per game.
In addition to this, Fournier has been unbelievably useless on the defensive side of the ball, which led to him not only getting benched but being completely out of the rotation.
Who knows what kind of value Fournier has on the market right now, but I’m sure a contending team wouldn’t mind trading for him in order to boost their shooting capabilities off the bench. Whether it be the Lakers or the Warriors, who knows? But at this rate, Fournier needs to be traded soon.
making the playoffs</a>. The team has really struggled against some of the better teams in the league, which has concerned me considering who they could potentially match up against in a playoff scenario.</p>
<p>Currently, the Knicks sit at No. 8 in the Eastern Conference, and considering the slow starts from teams like the Nets, Heat, and Bulls, the Knicks are very likely to slip further down in the conference standings.</p>
<p>The Knicks need to make some drastic changes if they want to compete in the East. While personally, I believe pushing for a nine or ten seed isn’t the best idea considering how stacked the upcoming draft class is, it’s very clear that’s what the front office wants to do.</p>
<p>There are tons of moves the Knicks could make to improve, however, I believe these three things are the most likely to happen this year.</p>
<h2>3 moves the Knicks can make to improve their chances of making the playoffs</h2>
<h3>3: Decrease RJ Barrett’s minutes/shot attempts if he continues to play poorly</h3>
<p>The start of the 2022-23 season has not been too kind to RJ Barrett, who has massively disappointed thus far. He played the last few games while sick, but this is no excuse for how he has been <a href=https://dailyknicks.com/2022/11/23/3-moves-knicks-can-make-improve-chances-making-playoffs/2/"https://nypost.com/2022/11/19/rj-barretts-shooting-woes-continue-in-knicks-loss/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">forcing his offense</a>, which has led to some very questionable shot selection and decision-making.</p>
<p>Barrett has had some very good games this season, but for the most part, he has not played particularly well. Despite this, Tom Thibodeau has yet to reduce his role or minutes, which is just mind-boggling.</p>
<p>Forget that Barrett isn’t playing well, why on earth did he average 35+ minutes in two out of the three games he was sick? I’ll get into Thibodeau later, but his lack of regard for his players’ health and absolute recklessness has cost his teams in the past, and it’s starting to do the same now.</p>
<p>As for Barrett though, he is averaging 18.3 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 2.9 assists while shooting a putrid 27.3% from three and 40.3% from the floor. I still have a ton of hope that Barrett will turn things around, but I think there are zero doubts that decreasing his shot volume/minutes will do wonders for not only Barrett but for the whole team as well.</p>
<p>Not only will a decrease in shots help fix Barrett’s efficiency, but at this rate, it will help the offense run better. It’s funny how the fan base had this conversation about Julius Randle, but now it’s seemingly Barrett’s turn.</p>
<p>Hopefully, Barrett begins to turn things around so we can see the Knicks play a much better and more efficient brand of basketball, but for now, he needs to play smarter.</p>
<p>I still think Barrett has a ton of potential in this league, as he is just 22 and has plenty of time to grow, but not seeing any notable jump in nearly four years in the league is extremely worrisome.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background: #007BC1" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://dailyknicks.com/2022/11/23/3-moves-knicks-can-make-improve-chances-making-playoffs/2/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Something that should have happened by now </a>
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out of the rotation</a>, but the front office needs to act and get Fournier off the roster, as he literally serves zero purpose whether he plays or not.</p>
<p>Fournier has been quite terrible this season. While you can make the argument about whether or not he was good last season, he still provided value with his elite three-point shooting. However, this season Fournier’s threes are not falling, as he is shooting a career-low 33.3% from downtown on 4.4 attempts per game.</p>
<p>In addition to this, Fournier has been unbelievably useless on the defensive side of the ball, which led to him not only getting benched but being completely out of the rotation.</p>
<p>This makes it seem like a <a href=https://dailyknicks.com/2022/11/23/3-moves-knicks-can-make-improve-chances-making-playoffs/2/"https://dailyknicks.com/2022/11/06/3-trades-knicks-make-improve-roster-amid-shaky-start/">trade is inevitable</a>, as obviously a player who makes $18 million a year should not be sitting on the bench. I’m not saying Fournier should play, but he likely isn’t happy about this move.</p>
<p>Who knows what kind of value Fournier has on the market right now, but I’m sure a contending team wouldn’t mind trading for him in order to boost their shooting capabilities off the bench. Whether it be the Lakers or the Warriors, who knows? But at this rate, Fournier needs to be traded soon.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background: #007BC1" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://dailyknicks.com/2022/11/23/3-moves-knicks-can-make-improve-chances-making-playoffs/2/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> We're all tired of this fool running the show </a>
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Tom Thibodeau</a>. Not only do his rotations and minutes distribution make little-to-no sense, but he just simply is not the right coach for this team.</p>
<p>The most pressing issue in recent games has been the way in which he has overplayed a very clearly sick RJ Barrett. Obviously, it is Barrett who should make the decision on whether or not he plays, but this does not give Thibodeau the excuse to play him so many minutes.</p>
<p>Thibodeau has shown time and time again that he does not care for his players’ health. This sort of recklessness is what lead to Barrett’s ankle injury last season when Thibs subbed Barrett into the game down 15 with 3:56 left in the fourth quarter. Despite the deficit not getting any better, Thibodeau left Barrett in for the remainder of the game, where he went on to get hurt with 18 seconds left.</p>
<p>At the time, this reminded me of what happened to Derrick Rose. Obviously, the injury was not as close to as serious, but neither of them should have been in the game when their respective injuries occurred.</p>
<p>In almost his entire coaching career, Thibodeau has proven time and time again that he does not know how to properly run a rotation and it has cost almost every team he has coached.</p>
<p>Whether its the overplaying of Barrett while sick, his — until recently — love for Evan Fournier when he should never have been used so much, or his complete and total lack of a competent offensive system at times, it is very clear that Thibodeau should no longer be coaching this team.</p>
<p>While <a href=https://dailyknicks.com/2022/11/23/3-moves-knicks-can-make-improve-chances-making-playoffs/2/"https://dailyknicks.com/2022/11/14/latest-report-provides-insight-tom-thiobdeau-bleak-future-knicks/">replacing Thibodeau</a> may not necessarily make the Knicks “better” this season, it will not only be better for the team’s future, but the young players will reap the benefits in terms of their development.</p>
<p>If the Knicks were to <a href=https://dailyknicks.com/2022/11/23/3-moves-knicks-can-make-improve-chances-making-playoffs/2/"https://dailyknicks.com/2022/09/29/3-head-coaches-replace-tom-thibodeau-knicks-fire/">fire Thibodeau</a>, they would most likely hire assistant Johnnie Bryant as the interim head coach. Bryant, in my opinion, would likely be a much better coach than anything Thibodeau has been in the past two seasons.</p>
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