Is Taylor Jenkins THE ANSWER For The New York Knicks? With XJ

Is Taylor Jenkins THE ANSWER For The New York Knicks? With XJ

on today’s episode of the Locked on Knicks podcast I’m once again joined by XJ to break down the Knicks coaching search and did they make a mistake not pursuing Kevin Durant you are Locked on Knicks your daily New York Knicks podcast part of the Locked On podcast network your team every day hey what’s up guys my name is Gavin Shaw i’m a longtime credential media member that has been covering the New York Knicks for eight seasons now also the Saturday co-host of the Locked On NBA podcast in case you didn’t know this is Locked on Nick’s part of the Locked On podcast network your team every single day your daily podcast on the New York Knicks give you the most detailed insight on your favorite team at least 5 days a week so be sure to join thousands of other Nicks fans in subscribing both YouTube and your favorite podcast platform for the best insight on your favorite team every single day on today’s show we are finishing up our conversation with XJ in case you missed it part one dropped Thursday i think people for the most part really like the episode so I hope you tune in for that in case you missed it uh but we’re finishing up that conversation by doing a deep dive on Mike Brown versus Taylor Jenkins xj uh this was not something I knew was going to happen coming in the episode but I really appreciated that he brought some prep he gave me the six qualities he’s looking for in the next Knicks head coach debuting that um and then we get into whether or not the Knicks made a mistake not going after Kevin Durant maybe some of you will roll your eyes at that conversation i personally think it’s one worth having and one that is pretty interesting uh quick final caveat uh on the episode that uh aired last Thursday obviously we recorded it uh before this weekend we recorded it on Wednesday so it was before the KD trade it was before Tyres Hallebertton’s injury so we don’t really get too much into those we’re going to talk about Hallebertton’s injury its impact on the rest of the Eastern Conference later this week hope he heals up uh really sucked ruined what could have been an all-time great game yesterday and certainly affects the Pacers next season so we’re going to get into all that throughout the week uh but before we dive into this conversation with XJ I want to remind everyone this episode is brought to you by our friends over at Monarch Money take control of your finances with Monarch Money use code lockdown at monarchoney.com for 50% off your first year without further ado let’s get into it right now with XJ i I think it’s a great point and it go it goes back to that intellectual humility argument where there is there is I I think people just underestimate how many factors there are in knowing a a coach is great like I obviously like you can only do so much with a crappy roster and and I’m sure there have been NBA coaches that in in a different context could have gone down as all-time greats but they were stuck with the Charlotte Hornets for four years and then they just never really got another opportunity and it’s so hard to separate like to your point on on potentially hiring Lar Ro like all right was it the head coach was it the assistance was it that the roster jive perfectly with how they think about basketball how many guys have the like approach but don’t have the play calling acumen how many guys have both those things but don’t have the soft skills to your point about like managing personalities and managing rosters and knowing when to make substitutions and when to use challenges and can get just get along with people on a day-to-day basis and not wear them down which I think this team loved Tom Fibido i have a feeling he’s probably a little bit of a grinding personality to be around for for half a decade at at a certain point if you’re not Jaylen Brunson you didn’t essentially grow up with your own version of mini tibs in your dad um and it’s just it is it is a guessing game to some extent in the same way drafting a quarterback is in the NFL or drafting anyone like below a Cooper flag tier of prospect is in the NBA where you you just a guy can be perfect on paper and and it it’s just too multiffactorial to be like “Yep this is the dude.” But I I I I like what you said and I think I generally agree with it and the the fact and and this this might just be our personal biases on it and what we feel about basketball but the fact that he embraces five out the fact that he plays a very deep bench just kind of makes me think like all right at a baseline this guy gets it and this is total gut instinct on my part but I just like Taylor Jenkins i like the way he stands up for his players because I do think Mike Brown and Jason Kit have have similar elements to that but he maybe it’s unfair to excuse whatever his shortcomings were in that area in Memphis uh I John Morant obviously has other issues that I can’t really speak to but I think we have enough evidence of that i I would be pretty confident in him figuring it out with this roster even though we we’ve both I know heard and and it’s been reported that there there are definitive locker room issues there that whoever the new coaches is going to have to figure out um I I again I could I could I think I could do a pretty good guess of some of the names is there are there any candidates who haven’t really like strongly come up in the conversation yet that you would you would advocate for and you you’d want the Knicks to take a look at you know it’s tough i I I think uh like I said like kind of particular candidates is difficult just because there there’s so much of a lack of knowledge especially for assistant coaches say a guy I’ve been looking at is Dave Bliss who’s the lead assistant in Oklahoma City but you know I just have limited information on who’s kind of behind a lot of the decisions and and you have to kind of go by word of mouth and the front office just have so much more information than we have what I would like to see is a really a widely cast net so I I really would like to see the Knicks look at take a hard look at some assistant coaches take a hard look at college coaches take a hard look at European coaches uh just just really look like have no stone be unturned and my concern would be that they’re just kind of dedicated and fixed on on getting an experienced head coach someone who has head coaching experience and has coached at the highest level which I don’t think is a necessary prerequ prerequisite to be uh an elite coach and to fit what the Knicks do so I I do I do have and and and I I won’t have enough time to kind of go through this in detail but I do have Gavin I do have a a fully fleshed out framework for what the Knicks should look for in a coach and uh especially with with the point that the Knicks are in terms of contending for a title and I haven’t shared this anyway i haven’t talked about this on hand theory or anything at all cool sorry yeah go for it um but there are six key qualities that I think the next coach needs to have in no specific order but just six key qualities I think that are are are really important um and I’ll just go through them quickly so so just for the sake of time but uh modern basketball thinking I think is is critical they need to fully understand how the game is played today you know so ideas and strategies based on how the modern game is played that have built on learning from the past and and and learning what works and what doesn’t so that that that that modern lens is important in-game and a gametoame adjustments they need to be able to recognize when something’s not working respond in real time from game to game uh and it’s not about to me the key point is not about creativity and solutions it’s really about being able to uh accurately identify what the actual problem is and I think problem identification is something that’s there’s not enough time spent on often times we just assume based on prior biases what problems are and then start to implement a solution but maybe the problems aren’t what we think they are so that’s really important towards being able to make correct in-game and game-to-ame adjustments uh I talked about this earlier championship first prioritization so everything everything the coach does needs to be done in service of the goal of winning a championship so you’re not trying to maximize regular seasons or any other short-term goals so decisions that prioritize long-term at the expense of the short term has to be the way that the coach views things uh the fourth one is an understanding and people are going to not be surprised of me saying this an understanding and respect for analytics um I don’t think they need to be a mathematician or anything like that um but they just have to deeply value the work that analytics staff does and of the analytics team um there was actually a recent study from an MIT researcher that showed that teams with more robust analytics teams and analytic staffs win more games and there’s a significant direct correlation between the the analytic staff number of staffers and team success it’s a very direct correlation so much so that each analytic staffer is worth on average about the equivalent value of adding $9 million in player salary that’s insane wow it’s completely insane so it is more valuable than than most people think by by exponentially um and then the two last ones having a rosterbased strategy so not forcing players into a rigid system that they need you know they need to be able to adapt their uh their strategy around the roster that they have the the particular group of guys that they have around them um and and they can bring underlying principles like the value of spacing and things like that but they they have to be consistent and on the execution being flexible to the team that they have and then the final one is one that I talked about again strong player relationships i think it’s really important to be able to build those relationships mutual trust especially when you’re pushing a new and and innovative um ideas that they may be trying to push and asking players to do things that they’re not used to or think in a way that they haven’t throughout their whole careers that trust and and and mutual respect is even more important so I think those are the the six critical factors and I don’t know who has who checks all those boxes to a high grade but um whoever it does and and and I trust this front office to do their due diligence i would be really excited about the hire if they were six out of six but before we continue with XJ I want to tell you about our good friends over at Lollipop lollipop is a new kind of soda made for people who love that classic soda taste but want something that also supports their health with just two to five grams of sugar and nine grams of prebiotic fiber in every can Lollipop is reimagining soda in a way that’s better for your gut traditional sodas are absolutely loaded with sugar like it it it’s honestly a gross amount 39 grams in a regular Coke 44 grams in orange font seriously you see that pour down to a cup you you’d want to throw up alip flips the script with just a fraction of the sugar no artificial sweeteners and gut- friendly ingredients like Alsmart a blend shown to support digestive and overall health it’s soda that tastes like the real thing but actually does something good for your body my favorite flavor is easily the cherry cola i love cherry Coke growing up but the difference is instead of feeling like sluggish and heavy and just generally gross after drinking it there’s kind of a happy burbling going on in my stomach after I drink lollipop i I don’t really know how to describe it for the next couple hours though I am feeling great i am I’m awake and I’m excited to go about the rest of my day so uh if you want to experience it for yourself get a free can of Lollipop all you have to do is buy any two cans in store and they’ll reimburse you for one head to drink.com/lockton NBA to claim your free can and find Ollipop near you that’s drinkallop.comonmbba yeah i mean I think you look at the two coaches that are in the finals right now Rick Carile and M Mark Dagnol and you would say I mean that’s that’s a lot of what they and we do know um I don’t know if this is still true but I think at the time Leon Rose came in the Knicks had correct me if I’m off on this I think they had the biggest analytic staff in the NBA which to me again indicates that there is and I know it’s funny one one childhood friend actually works for them i would love to see if I get him on the podcast i cannot imagine uh that would that would go down well but um uh like works for the uh works in the Nyx analytics department and um it it does make me think that there are some people pushing for a lot of the same stuff that you’re that you’re pushing for um and it’s hard to check all those boxes but I I’m I’m with you i would be dismayed like I was a little inside baseball i was saying like “Oh when am I going to put out these episodes?” We do these we have some draft episodes i’m like well the Knicks could maybe make a higher any day and I’m like I really hope it drags out much to the national media chagrin much to the ringer chagrin posting this hate nail about the Knicks stretching out this coaching search i hope they take two months like like talk talk to everyone find the best person because you only you only get to do this once every couple of years and with this core right like I think you guys have been good about this i’ve tried to drive it home like we don’t we don’t know there might have been a world where like this past season was the Knicks window right like they got a lot of fortunate injury or I don’t want to say a lot of fortunate injury luck they got some fortunate injury luck from other teams they got a lot of fortunate injury luck on their own end like it’s not a guarantee they’re going to have another postseason where you have OG Anobi and Carl Anthony Towns for whatever how many however many games 14 plus games right like that is that is far from a lock um and you like whoever this next hire is like Jaylen Brunson is going to be what 29 years old like approaching 30 next season like you a single there there is not any room for error I guess is what I’m saying because you you’re only going to have so many cracks at this and it’s not even a guarantee even even if you make the perfect coaching hire you’re going to have a crack at it with with a fully healthy team with an optimal chance to win with so many other teams like you guys highlighted the Orlando Magic going for it so you you just you really you need to nail it um to that point as we start to wind down here uh do you agree with the New York Knicks not pursuing Kevin Durant i I think it’s I think some people because they do not like Kevin Durant at this point which if you’re a Knicks fan more power to you totally fair i get it um have been very quick to dismiss it and it’s it’s it’s it’s easy to get the argument right even even beyond the basketball stuff and his age and the injury potential of like oh he he said no to us now that things are good he wants to come here uh it’s it’s like we we we have the high ground now as as Knicks fans and and yet like I I I was in Phoenix this past year a lot of people listened to know I made the move i got credentials i went to uh something like 12 Suns home games maybe a few more this season and I’ll say this Kevin Durant at 36 is just flat out one of the three or four best offensive basketball players I’ve ever watched in person like still a genius still scores the ball incredibly easily put up just under 27 points per game this year six rebounds four assists 53% from the field 43% from three 84% from the line like he is still just an extraordinary scorer and I understand the the obvious counter is that you are that that window that I’m talking about that might already be very thin you are you’re making it like infantesimally small because you you will be fortunate to get one more season like that from KD forget about if he has an injury or if he has a drop off which again most people his size or or just in general in NBA history XJ you know as well as I do like they are not this good this late in their career and it doesn’t make sense to continue to predict them to be this good this late in their career so I understand that relative to Cat even relative to Mikuel Bridges you would you would be really having a thin window if you go and get KD and yet if you’re if you’re going for that all-in move if you’re prioritizing a championship I personally I see the argument for going out and trying to get Kevin Durant do do you agree that the Knicks were wise to not as far as we know really entertain this yeah from my standpoint yeah I I I think they were really wise not to pursue Kevin Durant i agree with it and and and not from the perspective of you know getting him back for for not coming when when when they did want him but um I I think we’re it’s really interesting with KD because we aren’t seeing a drop off in terms of his efficiency his percentages his ability as a scorer like you said like you’ve had a front row seat to see uh you know how good he still is in terms of his ability to score the ball and what he does with the ball in his hands we are already however seeing a diminishing in his offensive impact and overall impact on the game and when you start to see that that is a key indicator to you that some of the other stuff that he does um off the ball and things that he does when he’s not just scoring it those are where we’re starting to see some some regression and and we can only expect that the guy’s going to be 37 you know early in the season next season and he’s I don’t know he would have you believe he’s 6’9 he’s he’s nearly 7 feet tall and I just I just think that I would not want to narrow the Knicks window so aggressively and kind of put all the eggs in the basket of next season for a bunch of the reasons that you suggested anything can go wrong in one given season this past season could have been the Knicks best shot at the championship for the next five years for all we know and I just am not going to when we’re talking about riskreward it’s it’s not a high enough reward to pursue Kevin Durant to assume he stays healthy he stays as good he he minimizes his impact drop off that we’ve seen as a pattern for the last three years um as he gets closer to 40 years old um it just it just doesn’t seem to be the right course especially when there’s so many opportunities and options directions for the Knicks to go in so I totally agree with their their decision not to pursue Durant and I would also ask is an a bit of an older Durant plus Jaylen Brunson that much better than Durant plus Booker like I don’t I don’t I don’t necessarily know that i think Jaylen Brunson’s better than Deon Booker but marginally so so yeah I just for for a lot of reasons I I just don’t think it’s the right way to go so I appreciate that they’re not going in that direction yeah i think I think for me and this is this is what you’re getting at like I I don’t I don’t have numbers to to back it up because I I need to get a a Bball index subscription but um I I I don’t think you felt him in the playoffs i mean literally this year because he wasn’t there but just just watching him like he’s he’s not really that titanic force he was early in his career where he similar to Steph Curry just sort of bent games to his will and the stats in the playoffs are still fantastic like I I I looked them up today and I was kind of surprised to see like in that 2023 run over 11 games he was 29 and 5 a half on 48 3392 shooting against the Wolves obviously a short series I know Cat gets credit with with locking him up he was 27 like 6 6 1/2 55 42 83 like he he was he he still puts up monster numbers and yet it doesn’t I mean indicative of them getting swept and by them I guess I mean the Nets and the Suns two of the three two of the last three times he made the playoffs like he is just not quite the game changer he was early in his career which to your point is to be expected like that that version of Kevin Durant you you you sell your soul for this version I I don’t I don’t think you can justify it and I I appreciate that they’re guy doing it um let’s uh let’s finish on this is there a different trade or a specific free agent signing you you want to see the Knicks make this summer all right guys before wrapping this one up we want to tell you about our good friends over at Monarch Money ever check your bank account and wonder “Hey where did all my money go?” Between dining out online shopping and entertainment it’s so easy to lose track trust me I’ve been there that’s where Monarch Money comes in your personal CFO giving you full visibility and control over your finances modern Money isn’t just a budgeting app it’s a complete financial command center you can track all your accounts investments and spending in one place so you stop managing your money and you start building wealth they offer surprising insights when I started using Monarch I realized just how much I was spending on food delivery now I budget smarter and I save more they also give you all-in-one convenience instead of juggling multiple apps which is so frustrating you use Monarch to check your finances track spending and even plan long-term goals they also offer easy collaboration managing money with your partner smoother than ever you can track shared and personal accounts set goals and stay on the same page without all that stress so take control of your finances with Modern Money use code lockbodmoney.com for 50% off your first year that’s modermoney.com code lockdown NBA for half off your first year man I I don’t have something in mind i do think that I think that there’s a little bit of an issue here where one of my biggest issues with kind of going into the season with Tibs is that we I feel like we learned very little about this roster which is so unfortunate to have had a whole season a whole three playoff series and then still feel like we don’t know all the things that we need to know and what I really liked about the Thunder’s approach was that last season they said you know yeah we could make a trade we can we have all the assets in the world we can trade giddy or do whatever we want to do in the middle of the season but let’s play it out and let’s figure out what we need and then once we figure out what we need we can take that information and make informed decisions moving forward so you try a bunch of stuff you see what works and what doesn’t work and you see where you need to fill in and the Knicks didn’t do that so I don’t feel like I know exactly what they need and and for that reason I kind of feel like we haven’t seen this roster maximized let’s get the right coach in place someone who kind of can leverage the same roster to their best ability and more so bring in a guy who can help and we know is a super additive player no matter what the roster looks like and and if there was a possibility at all for a guy like a Nikil Alexander Walker or someone like that who we know is a a potentially strong 3 and D wing someone who fits right into the makeup of the team who can add defense take some of the pressure off of Brunson and Cat on that end of the court allow for more versatility and deployments that is kind the kind of addition I would be looking to make not necessarily like a big swing deal like let’s trade you know Carl Anthony Towns and and and a bunch of guys for Giannis Antono who you know you couldn’t be angry if you got Giannis but my point is more so that I think that they’re a bit closer than people might think based on the results that we saw towards towards the end of the season and I definitely think they need to learn more so I would go with a safe addition of somebody who brings a ton of additive impact who we know is going to make the team better no matter who’s here uh go into the season with that do some experimentation and you can always make a bigger deal before the trade deadline as you move forward if you figure out early enough what the actual concrete needs are in a in a larger scale yeah I think it’s a great point and I I you you guys were always very good about pointing this out i do think there’s something into the idea of assuming you’re keeping Cat surrounding him with I mean maybe this is obvious but defense shooting and just just energy and and there’s a reason like him Cam and Deuce as a trio and especially when you mix the wings into that really any combo of them even even Josh Hart and and even if you had you didn’t get fully five out spacing like there was there was just some magic there and I thought at times and this this sounds like a a insult to Jaylen Brunson I don’t intend it to be like that the best basketball they played all year and those were the most dominant lineups their most dominant minutes and like anyone who brings some of those qualities like Royce O’Neal is a name I’ve been like if the Knicks could find a way to get him in whatever the Suns trade is like he his I mean again another guy just seeing in person so there there’s a little little bias on my part there but just seeing him um I I came away really impressed with his shooting and just how smart he was in terms of like consistently making the extra pass defensively like I I don’t think he’s a great defender he was a little bit overrated in Utah just because of how poor the rest of that roster was defensively but just someone who’s like smart knows where to be plays with pace plays with energy and can shoot the basketball like all fit very very well around Carl Anthony Towns and allow you to leverage that cat like when given room can be kind of a singular offensive talent and I think you could build very similar lineups around Jaylen Brunson maybe some people would argue that’s not really asking the right question and it’s it’s who are the three guys between Brunson that matter the most and you assume male’s going to be one you assume OG’s going to be one in the fifth i we we might have our preference but it’s going to be a debate and and maybe that guy is just not on the roster yet i think that is that is probably at the end of the day the biggest thing they could solve that they could find u my last question was going to be if you still think the bones of a title contender are there um you could answer that quickly i I I think you you’ve hinted pretty thoroughly that the answer is yes with with the right coach and the right approach i I think they’re there i think they’re there i think they have enough to win a championship if deployed in in the most optimal way and especially if you’re talking about bringing in one of those kind of glue pieces like a Royce O’Neal or you know if you can get to the level of Nila Alexander Walker I think I think that’s I think they have enough so yeah I definitely still believe that all right optimistic note to end on i love it uh I think people know but just in case they don’t one final time where they where where can they find all your great work yeah I appreciate all the continual shout outs and and and relentless support from you Gavin for sure uh YouTube.com/hoand theory hotand theory everywhere uh social media we’re we’re everywhere and uh yeah more tons more content video essays podcasts a bunch of stuff cool stuff we’re planning on doing over the summer so appreciate you uh coming to join us and check out what we’re doing I mentioned it earlier but you guys just put out a great episode on how Desmond Bane could be a gamecher I was uh not surprisingly on on business because I’ve listened a lot I was on the same page as you guys I I think that was a great trade for Orlando I’m interested to see how it works Everyone should check that out check out all their content covering the Knicks and the league as a whole and plenty more coming on hotand theory and locked on Nick Knicks we’ll talk to you soon on both [Music]

Gavin Schall is once again joined by XJ the cohost of the @hothandtheory Podcast to break down the debate between Taylor Jenkins and Mike Brown for the Knicks’ next head coach and the criteria that should dictate the search.

They then move on to discussing the offseason, whether or not the Knicks should have pursued Kevin Durant and other free agents they should target to fill out their rotation.

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