New York Knicks: 3 stats from the first half of the season

DETROIT, MICHIGAN - FEBRUARY 28: Derrick Rose #4 of the New York Knicks celebrates with RJ Barrett #9 during the second half while playing the Detroit Pistons at Little Caesars Arena on February 28, 2021 in Detroit, Michigan. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) /

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New York Knicks Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images /

Wild New York Knicks statistic No. 3: +0.5

…is the team’s plus/minus during the first 37 games of the season.

Okay, so what’s so special about being just above average in a statistical category? Well, for starters, when you compare it to last season’s catastrophe, where the Knicks held a +/- of -6.5, we can see a shift of 7 entire units.

Going into the season, the Knicks were perceived by the majority of the basketball population as a bad team. Preluding a change as such would’ve made anyone look foolish. Regardless of that, here we are a few short months later and the Knicks have a winning mentality.

Being a big-market team, the New York Knicks shouldn’t be having any problems attracting high-profile free agents whatsoever. Unfortunately, they do, mainly due to the team’s continuous losing culture over these past few years.

Kevin Durant’s and LeBron James’ moves to the Brooklyn Nets and Los Angeles Lakers respectively would have been far less certain if the Knicks were at their current state of mind just a few years earlier.

Both the Nets and the Lakers possessed exciting young cores and were under excellent management. Additionally, they had the extra benefit of being big-market teams, all three of which are now true about the 2020-21 New York Knicks.

The Knicks may fail to qualify for the playoffs this season. They may even fail to win 35 games. What matters moving forward, is the new aura of basketball that Tom Thibodeau has implemented on these guys, something that free agents will want to be a part of in the future.

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