All the Knicks need is Thibs? So the Knicks are good? We have a better record than them and everyone here says we suck.
East guards with a better PER than CJ: James Harden Bradley Beal Zach Lavine Kyrie Irving Trae Young That’s it. There are usually 6 guards on an All Star team. I also think a CJ-led East team would be better than the Bulls. So there’s that. I also think as the #1 option, he’d have a higher PER.
It is not where you are (record) but the direction you are headed. The Knicks are currently on the up escalator whereas the Blazers are on the down escalator. Remember the physics uncertainty principle-you can either know where an object is (point-in-time) or you can tell the direction it is headed. As we head toward the playoffs the Blazers are in a path to the play-in or missing altogether. The Knicks are looking stronger and more competitive. We may have the better record now but if you follow the trajectory of both teams, won’t stay that way.
Umm we were 35-39 last year. At 32-26 with all the injuries, and playing more competitively against good teams and the defense improving, I’d say we’re in the up escalator too. Knicks are in easier conference too.
And how do you have us “missing altogether”? Pelicans have 7 more losses than us and we own the tiebreaker. There is zero chance we “miss altogether.”
That sucks. Luckily the worst coach we have ever had, Terry stotts, and our worst GM this team has ever had, Neil Olshey, will be gone after we lose in the playoffs because of them. Then we will finally have a chance to win a championship. Can't wait!
PER is fine as a stat....but it is only a single stat that gauges just one end of the floor. There is also the simple fact that CJ's PER has been tanking steadily. It used to be over 29.0, IIRC...that hot start of his. It has fallen to 21.0 and may drop under 20.0 by the end of the season. Not only that, if your only argument is that CJ's PER this year would see him on the all-star team, then CJ's missed 25 games would have kept him off. That would leave CJ's PER 'factor' at a career mark and that is only 17.4. I'm more persuaded by that number, produced over 500 games than a number warped by a 12 game hot streak you did name 6 guards that are better and were more deserving of an all-star nod this season. There would be no way CJ would be picked over Jimmy Butler, Ben Simmons, or Jalen Brown either. So, that's 9 better players, and that list of 9 doesn't include Giannis, Embiid, Tatum, Durant, Adebayo, Sabonis, Siakam, or Vucevic' in other words, the often repeated meme around here that "CJ would be an all-star in the east" is 97% bullshit