5 Bold Predictions for the '24-25 Knicks

Plus a look at a mundane media day

Good morning! We’re officially off and running. What better way to celebrate than by making some bold(ish) predictions about the season ahead. But first, the news…

News & Notes

🏀 Knicks media day came and went, and to the surprise of no one, nobody said much of anything interesting. Tom Thibodeau was unable to talk about the KAT trade because it still hasn’t been made official, even though Towns was photographed at New York’s practice facility.

Jalen Brunson also largely skirted questions about the parties involved in the trade, while Mikal Bridges and OG Anunoby played it by the book. Josh Hart was his usual silly self, but even his appearance was toned down by his standards.

As far as storylines go, despite some reports that have him being sent out the door, Mitchell Robinson was indeed in attendance, per Ian Begley. On the X’s & O’s front, Thibs confirmed the team will switch more this season, which OG backed up during his presser as well. My personal favorite quote came from Bridges:

Well said, sir.

🏀 Slight correction from yesterday: as things stand, the team will not be able to re-sign Marcus Morris because his veteran minimum salary would put them over the second apron. They’ll be able to stay under it after the trade by inking one of their two-way rookies to a minimum NBA pact.

🏀 RIP Dikembe Mutombo. What an incredibly fun player to watch over the years, and an even better ambassador of the game since his retirement. He’ll be missed.

5 Bold(ish) Predictions

It’s here…everyone’s favorite annual tradition.

I like doing predictions, first because they’re fun, and second because they hold my feet to the fire, forcing me to flush out my vague thoughts about the upcoming season to see if they actually hold water. Sadly, they rarely do, as my hit rate on these things is below the Mendoza line.

Among last year’s predictions, I did get a few correct - New York beating Philly in the first round, Joker for MVP, Wemby for ROY, the Pacers getting the 6th seed, Boston being the best regular season team, Harden ending up in LA, and correctly naming six of the seven All-NBA guards (Brunson was my one omission, naturally) - but as usual, I got a lot more wrong than I got right. For as predictable as the league can seem at times, it’s usually full of surprises.

But I’m a glutton for punishment, so let’s look foolish one more time.

Today I’m focusing on Knicks related predictions, with league-wide guesses coming later this week.

1. Julius Randle will not sign an extension

Oops…old version of this column. Let’s try that again.

1. Tyler Kolek will win a rotation spot out of camp