"Your a*s sitting there with nothing, but you're spending championship money" - Gilbert Arenas goes off on the Knicks
The New York Knicks and Toronto Raptors kicked off trade season in the NBA with a blockbuster deal centered around OG Anunoby going to the Knicks, and RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley going to the Raptors. While there's no doubt that Anunoby is a good fit with the Knicks, many fans think the organization didn't really improve the roster by losing Barrett and Quickley.
When assessing the state of the team, Gilbert Arenas decided to take aim at the Knicks' front office after their latest move.
Gil slams the Knicks
The Knicks have spent much of their history trying to add superstars to their roster and failing to do so. Despite having Carmelo Anthony in town at one point, up until recently, New York had spent the past decade as one of the worst teams in the NBA.
Jalen Brunson and Julius Randle are a solid duo, but it's not as if either guy is a superstar. And when you combine that with all the money the front office spends, it feels like they should have a de facto star in town. But since they don't, Arenas took the front office to task for continually wasting money.
"When the numbers come out of who spent the most money, you and the Lakers, you, Lakers, Boston, one, two, three, four in a sense. Top four every year, one has 18 championships, the other has 18 championships, your a*s sitting there with nothing, but you're spending championship money," Arenas said on "Gil's Arena."
"So that means whoever is at the grocery store looking for items don't know what the f*** they're looking at. They need to revamp, all y'all, for the last 18 years that's been here, get the f*** out of here. And they need to bring in people who actually understand; they have a horrible research team on what talent is because they should have had stars. They should be looking for a star, period. I don't give a f*** who I gotta give up; I want a star; I want a Jalen Green, Edwards. I want a superstar name first, and then I'm gonna build my team," Gilbert concluded.
The Knicks are (still) not good enough
At 18-15, the Knicks are having a solid start to the season, but they also don't look like a legitimate title contender. Brunson and Randle, along with a strong collection of depth pieces, are a good foundation, but when it comes to the playoffs, they aren't good enough to compete with top teams.
The addition of Anunoby is another example of the front office aiming high but ultimately settling lower than they should when trying to improve the team.
Of course, going out and swinging a trade for a true superstar is easier said than done, but at some point, the Knicks have to push all their chips to the center of the table if they ever intend on becoming the Finals contender they want to be.
That may require overhauling their front office, although it is worth seeing if there are any trades New York makes moving forward now that they have Anunoby on board.
