The NBA schedule-makers didn’t do the Knicks any favors.
No, this isn’t about how many back-to-backs or lengthy road trips they have.
It’s about something much more subtle.
It’s called “rest advantage,” something that teams have begun to monitor in recent years.
For next season’s slate, the Knicks have just eight games in which they will be more rested than the opponent, tied for the fifth-fewest in the league.
Only the Rockets (five), Warriors, Pistons (six each) and Lakers (seven) have fewer.
The Celtics, by contrast, lead the league with a rest advantage in 16 games, and the Nets have 14 games in which they will be more rested than the opposition.
Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau touched on the subject from time to time last season, in particular when discussing the schedule. It’s not always who you play, he liked to say, but when you play them.
Though the Knicks are young — there isn’t a single player of significance on the roster who is 30 years of age or older — Thibodeau’s inclination to stick with a nine-man rotation could make that rest disadvantage more significant.
This isn’t new, either. Last season, the Knicks were tied with the Hornets for the fewest rest-advantage games in the league with five.
Expect Thibodeau to harp on this subject this coming season.
Rest advantage was one thing that stood out in the 2023-24 schedule. A few other thoughts below:
Difficult start
Eight of the Knicks’ first 11 games are against teams that reached the postseason last season. That includes two with the Cavaliers, their first-round playoff opponent, two against the contending Celtics (including opening night) and one with the powerhouse Bucks. Six are on the road and there are three sets of back-to-backs. Not easy at all.
A slow start is possible, similar to last year, when the Knicks were 10-13 through 23 games.
December on the road
The Knicks will play nine of 12 December games on the road, highlighted by a five-game, four-city trip that starts in Utah, goes to Phoenix and Los Angeles and finishes in Brooklyn.
Then they get consecutive home games with the Bucks, followed by three more games away against the Thunder, Magic and Pacers. Thibodeau’s crew will be racking up the frequent flier mileage.
Light second half
It’s pretty clear the toughest part of the Knicks’ schedule is the first half. They will play eight of their 12 back-to-backs in their opening 36 games. January and February will feature 18 of 28 games at the Garden. Fifteen of those games are against teams that had losing records last season. The Knicks are set up well if they can survive a difficult first two months.
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Lose my number
The bombshell news that the Knicks are suing the Raptors, members of the Raptors organization and former Knicks employee Ikechukwu Azotam for alleged “illegally procured and then disclosed proprietary information” could have a negative impact on this coming season.
You may as well forget about the Knicks trading for O.G. Anunoby, the versatile, sharpshooting and defensive-minded Raptors wing whom they have been linked to for quite some time.
It seems extremely unlikely the two teams would do business together due to this looming lawsuit and the contempt that now exists between them.
Depending on the kind of season the Raptors have — they are not projected to be very good, particularly after losing point guard Fred VanVleet to the Rockets this summer — Anunoby figures to be one of the more attractive options at the trade deadline, considering he is entering the final year of his contract.
Another player who could be moved, forward Pascal Siakam, would seem to be off limits as well. Siakam also is set to become a free agent after the coming season.
There was talk for a good part of the offseason the Raptors could move one of the aforementioned players, though they never did.
It’s no secret the Knicks are thin on the wing, and the 6-foot-7 Anunoby would be a perfect fit to the roster that is now overloaded with guards and small wings. But the best chance the Knicks have to land him would seem to be in free agency, especially after he recently switched agencies, joining CAA, which team president Leon Rose once ran and is closely aligned with the Knicks.
RJ is OK
Knicks fans should be excited about RJ Barrett entering the FIBA World Cup.
After a strong postseason, Barrett picked up where he left off in a few showcase games for Team Canada entering the international competition, which begins Friday.
Barrett poured in 31 points, hitting all four of his 3-point attempts and 13 of 14 shots from the field, in a narrow overtime win over Germany, and added 18 points in a close victory over Spain, the reigning FIBA World Cup champion, as Canada went 3-2 in their five warmup contests.
It will be interesting to see whether he can continue his hot shooting in World Cup play and whether there is any carryover when he returns to New York in a few weeks.
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