MAILBAG: There's always next year, Josh Childress

Your mailbag questions, answered. Let's talk Knicks fear, our favorite Stromiles and the Double Decker Breakfast Quesadilla.

Good morning. Let’s basketball.

Confidences; Cristiano Banti; 1868

---

Good mailbag questions, folks! Let’s get into it.

Is the key to the Nuggets’ success just Jamal Murray’s health/play? — Andrew S.

Sometimes, the simple answer is the right answer. In the past two postseasons, we saw two different Jamal Murrays. The postseason with the awesome Jamal Murray ended with a Nuggets championship. The postseason with the bad Jamal Murray ended with a Nuggets exit in Round 2. That wasn’t everything that happened in 2023 and 2024 — for one, the field in 2024 was stronger — but it’s notable. Oklahoma City is better now than any team Denver faced in either season; that matters a lot. So there’s a world in which Murray is as great as he was in 2023 (and in pre-injury postseasons) and Denver still falls short of their goal (which is another title for Nikola Jokic to further cement his all-time status). That feels more possible than the Nuggets going deep without Murray at full power.

---

Do you think the NBA will remain the undisputed best league in the world for the foreseeable future, or are we approaching a point where the best European teams present a credible challenge to the NBA? Do you want to see that happen? — Patrick S.

Yes, the NBA will continue to have the strongest talent base. It’s not clear to me that elite European clubs are even making progress in terms of challenging the NBA for supremacy given the continued diversification of the elite ranks here in North America. We have multiple recent examples of Euroleague MVPs coming over the NBA and just being rotation players. It’s not remotely close. I don’t really want to see a foreign league catch up to the NBA either, because it’s pretty cool to be able to see the best players in the world come to a city near me once or twice a year. Also a big fan of watching sports during waking hours! I followed English soccer pretty closely for a spell; the “waking up super early on weekends” thing kinda killed it for me.

---

The Knicks entered the All-Star break 36-18. Last year, they were 33-22 at the same time. They've got a better differential, and two All-Star starters. When they're clicking, the offense is nearly unstoppable. They've done this all without Mitchell Robinson. So, why (to most fellow Knicks fans I talk to, less so to myself) does it feel like they're still not as good as last year's version of the team? — Noel

Expectations. They were lower last season and the Knicks exceeded them. That feels great and promising and powerful. Expectations were high going into this season; the Knicks have met them and maybe exceeded them a tiny bit. The leap feels better than the landing. Three other factors are at play here. First, Karl-Anthony Towns is someone who will need to prove it in the playoffs in a high-profile series for the Knicks. He’s been pretty incredible so far, but he will need to prove it again when the stakes rise. Second, the fear with Tom Thibodeau’s style and proclivities is that he will unnecessarily wear down the key players, which we literally saw come to fruition last playoffs. He has not exactly changed in the intervening months. Third, there is a second East superpower. Last year, it was wide open behind Boston. There’s a second bully this time around. New York probably makes the East finals with some modicum of health last year (no offense, Pacerland). To do that this season means beating a titan. Two to make the Finals. That fate weighs down even the most sunny fans.