New York Knicks: 3 most surprising players this season

May 3, 2021; Memphis, Tennessee, USA; New York Knicks guard RJ Barrett (9) forward Julius Randle (30) and guard Derrick Rose (4) look on after Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant (not pictured) was ejected in the fourth quarter at FedExForum. Knicks won 118-104. Mandatory Credit: Nelson Chenault-USA TODAY Sports /

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New York Knicks Mandatory Credit: Frank Franklin II/POOL PHOTOS-USA TODAY Sports /

The New York Knicks have been an astonishing success story this season. Expectations were low in head coach Tom Thibodeau’s first season after a quiet offseason and there didn’t seem to be much reason to hope for anything better than a middling-to-bad 2020-21 campaign.

We couldn’t have been more wrong, as our preseason win-totals predictions show.

The New York Knicks have been an astonishing success story this season, and they have these three surprising players to thank for it

The Knicks are 39-31 and sit in a fifth-place tie with the Miami Heat, and they’re just half a game behind the fourth-place Atlanta Hawks. They are safe from exposure to the play-in tournament with a 4.0 game lead on the seventh-place Boston Celtics and are firmly locked into a spot no worse than sixth in the Eastern Conference.

Even the most optimistic of New York Knicks fans would be hard-pressed to claim that they could have expected how this regular season has gone. It’s simply been a remarkable turnaround for a woebegone franchise in a massive media market and a coach in Thibodeau looking to prove that he still has a place in the NBA.

There are many things to credit for their 18 (or more) win jump from last season’s 21-39 effort, but we’re going to take a look at three players who have surprised us the most. This trio is not only the most surprising, but they are also perhaps the group most responsible for actually getting the Knicks where they are today.

Let’s begin.

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