RUN IT BACK⁉ Debating if Knicks are title CONTENDERS right now 👀 | First Take

RUN IT BACK⁉ Debating if Knicks are title CONTENDERS right now 👀 | First Take

let’s get to the next they dealt with a lot of injuries this postseason starting with the fact that Julius Randle was unavailable for the playoffs Mitchell Robinson missed seven games while OJ anobi missed four Jaylen Bruns and Josh Hart didn’t miss any games with their battling injuries throughout these playoffs with that in mind would the Knicks be competing for a championship if fully healthy here’s what kg as in Kevin Durant told essay on the stepen a SM show do you believe that the New York Knicks need a number one option to go along with Brunson in order to come out of the East next year what is what is Randle man Julius Randle is a 25- 10 guy in I love Randle but he ain’t the number one option though I love Randle He Ain’t the number one option J kg you tripping and he grew his game listen man and he grew his game with the three ball man y’all tripping on Julius ran julus Rams one of the harder guards in this m ain’t he left-handed he got a three ball he can playmate man I mean I mean he ain’t perfect right but man being with this team cuz you know what happens when you bring in a superstar you bring somebody else it’s you got that Superstar you gotta you gotta intertwine him in with the fabric of what the Knicks are the Knicks are gritty they gruddy they play for 408 they in your you know they they tears love how the Knicks are man the Knicks are perfect the Knicks should not be touch let’s go let’s run this let’s run this two years with this team and then talk about that Superstar later all right mad do you agree with kg that the Knicks as presently constructed no are contenders I I think they’re a little shy you know and I was thinking about this the other day how many teams in the history of the NBA have won a title with this smaller point guard Curry did Isaiah did it’s very hard to win and he’s he’s great don’t get me wrong but to lean on him to be their guy and I know Randall would help him I think they would come up a little shy so I would say would have beaten Indiana might that boring there Molly when you’re yawning at me oh my gosh that has nothing to do with you it’s staying up to it’s staying up to watch games I’m kidding my go I can see doing it for Stephen A but jeez oh and I quck caffeine so it’s nothing it’s not personal they are a little they are a little shy for winning an NBA championship even if they had their health I think they would have beaten Indiana but I still think they would not have won the title well see there’s your ignorance come shining through the title the the the question is Nick’s title contenders were right well if they beat Indiana they in the Conference Finals doesn’t that qualify as a title Contender I believe it does if you’re in the damn Conference Finals which is what that would have been had the roster been healthy enough I think when you look at the New York Knicks I don’t think there’s any question that they’re title contenders because if their roster were healthy I think they would be in the Easter Conference Finals and I think they would be giving Boston Celtics a run for their money that makes your a title Contender last time I checked Julius Randall Mitchell Robinson a Defender a shot blocker you’ve got hartenstein you see what he brings to the table Josh Hart his guts the Energizer Bunny that he is plus he’s tough his nails defensively and especially with his rebounding we’ve seen what Jaylen Brunson has emerged into bogdanovic is a is a sharpshooter he could do some things and of course ogan anobi is one of the elite defenders in basketball a matter of fact when the New York Knicks were 20th defensively in in defensive efficiency they were 20th before he arrived once he arrived they were number one with Randall OG and Brunson on the court together in like 13 or 14 games they had just one loss I’m looking at those kind of things I’m looking at the fact that they would have beaten Indiana and I’m saying yo that qualifies you as a title contendant you’d be in a mix yeah uh I I think the Knicks have enough um do I think they could get better this summer absolutely but if we’re talking are they real enough uh title contenders they absolutely are when you look at the depth of their team and what they were missing and they still barely came up short to an Indiana Pacers that was fully healthy they absolutely have enough the Pacers barely lost to to to Boston last night all right the Pacers barely beat the Knicks with half their team out we’re not talking about guys who are you know whatever role players we’re talking about vital pieces of their team OG and Julius Randall are key players missing bogdanovich is a key player missing Mitchell uh their Center who’s uh great rim protector missing he’s like an all defensive big when he’s Health uh fully healthy Julius Randle is a guy that consistently gets slept on uh we’re talking about a 25-9 guy if you told me before the year or any of you guys any Knicks fans that Julius Rand going to give you 25 and n a game you would be like that works for me and Jaylen Brunson has played Beyond any expectation when he got the 100 million contract we’re over here saying he’s overpaid now he’s like $150 million underpaid compared to what other some of these other stars are making um they have depth they have two-way players they have guys who play on both side of the ball they have shooting since divon chinzo turned into a Marksman uh bogdanovich would have helped out with some shooting as well they have a team that can contend and mind you we’re in an era of the NBA where we don’t have a dynasty team dominating right the team we thought just lost fully healthy to Minnesota so we don’t have this dominating Warriors team that nobody can beat the League’s wide open the Knicks can absolutely contend this year if they were fully healthy but as far as next year if they come back fully healthy just with the team right now currently they could contend I do think they could get better you can always get better I said yesterday remember Min uh Boston got rid of Marcus Smart none of us thought that was going to happen but what happened they ended up getting a Drew holiday they improved they got some more players if you can go get a Paul George A A Klay Thompson someone who has you know who can play both sides of the ball it has to fit the cloth they have to fit tibs because this team isn’t built around jayen I would love it’s built around tibs the team’s built around tibs a lot of teams aren’t built around yeah that’s good point so you know you got to find the right guy who fits the mole with the Knicks you and you them like offloading a whole bunch of guys for a player is not the answer yeah all right I would love Klay Thompson in New York Nick uniform that’d be great [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause]

On First Take, Stephen A. Smith, Chris “Mad Dog” Russo and Austin Rivers debate if the New York Knicks, despite injuries, are NBA title contenders as currently constructed after Kevin Garnett made the argument for Coach Tom Thibodeau & the Knicks to run it back.

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