When Isaiah Thomas reaches free agency in 2018, the New York Knicks better not come calling.
Unless, of course, they’ve ditched all remnants of Phil Jackson’s beloved triangle offense.
As Isaiah Thomas made clear to the New York Daily News‘ Stefan Bondy while discussing Knicks head coach Jeff Hornacek, for whom he played while with the Phoenix Suns, he is not a fan of the system that, once upon a time, won many NBA championships:
But what about the triangle? Let’s just say Thomas is skeptical.
“I just think if you don’t have Kobe or Shaq or Michael Jordan, the triangle doesn’t work,” the Celtics All-Star told the Daily News.
Isaiah Thomas, for the record, is not alone. Not by a long shot. There are many skeptics of the triangle offense, specifically its fit, or lack thereof, in today’s NBA. Everyone from players, to paid pundits, to fans, and probably some coaches, have expressed doubt about its merits in a pace-and-space league.
Elements of the triangle are still lauded, and subsequently implemented, by good teams—the San Antonio Spurs and Golden State Warriors, for instance. But the Knicks tried installing it in full over the past few years, to mostly disastrous consequences. Jackson, in turn, has been quick to criticize the state of today’s league and its players; in reality, though, a full-blown triangle just doesn’t have a home right now.
Hence why Hornacek is such an interesting fit in New York. He has made it clear he intends to use aspects of the triangle, but he has also discussed picking up the pace, shooting threes, embracing pick-and-pops and all those good things. The Knicks’ livelihood, then, seems to depend on his ability to strike a balance between Jackson’s vision, and what has become the NBA’s reality.
