Tom Thibodeau has been fired from the New York Knicks head coach position, even though many believe he did a great job this season.
Tom Thibodeau brought the Knicks to their first Eastern Conference Finals since 2000, with a victory against the current champions Boston Celtics in the journey.
However, there are those who feel that Thibodeau’s plan is not strong enough to take the Knicks to the Finals and even win a championship.
Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green shared his thoughts about why Thibodeau failed to bring a championship to New York. The issue started with the Mikal Bridges trade.
To acquire Bridges, the Knicks gave up three players and five first-round draft picks, including four unprotected selections.
Bridges provided decent contributions this season, averaging 17.6 points and 3.6 assists while shooting 50% from the field, but it doesn‘t really solve the Knicks problem.
“Even in beating the Boston Celtics who everyone thought would be the team coming out of the East, you still didn’t get to the NBA Finals. But there’s reasons for that. You trade for Mikal Bridges. You give up a lot,” Green said on his podcast.
“Then you don’t quite have the depth. Now there are some that say Thibs may not use the depth, but whether use it or not, they didn’t quite have the depth that you need to compete at that level, get to the NBA Finals, win an NBA championship,” he added.
Instead of having picks that could be useful to add depth through trades, the Knicks chose limited depth with Thibodeau overusing his main players. When injuries or foul trouble hit their stars, the Knicks lacked quality replacements.
“One of the things that ultimately hurt them was that they didn’t have depth. When KAT got in foul trouble or Jalen Brunson got in foul trouble, they went on runs at some of those points for sure. But ultimately, you do need your best players on the floor,” Green explained.
“If your best players aren’t on the floor together, then that’s an issue. In order to win, they need to add a great player to that roster. I can’t talk specific names because I’m not gonna give my money away for that.”
“But if you’re talking about championships, I’m just gonna tell you from a champion’s perspective, and I know exactly what it takes. They need to add a great player if they’re gonna compete for an actual NBA championship,” Green concluded.
The four-time champion’s analysis highlights the delicate balance between star power and roster depth that championship teams require. And that‘s the homework for the Knicks front office as well as to find replacement for Thibodeau.
