It was as if New York Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau spoke it into existence.
On a stormy, late-March evening in Miami, a group of young Knicks charged back from down 17 to defeat the league-best Heat. The comeback got the headlines, but not because of the result. Instead, it was because of who did it.
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The Knicks, 10 games under .500 at that point, were playing for the youth, and in Miami, it was the youth who led the way. Immanuel Quickley lit up the fourth quarter. Miles McBride stunted Kyle Lowry on multiple defensive possessions. Quentin Grimes hit clutch 3-pointers. But there was another metaphysical moment that didn’t make the back pages: earlier that day, Thibodeau revealed he can predict the future.
The head coach was positioned by the scorer’s table following the morning shootaround at FTX Arena, chatting with reporters about Jericho Sims, who would play a major part in the upcoming comeback. The rookie center had just started for the first time two days before in Charlotte and was about to make career start No. 2 in Miami.
Thibodeau gave a behind-the-scenes look at the 23-year-old the Knicks drafted in the second round. He said Sims wasn’t just about blocks, relentless rebounding and lobs. He mentioned the center’s secret touch in the paint and his feel for the game.
“We’ll see that more and more as he learns and he grows,” Thibodeau said. “He’s got a little push shot. We haven’t seen a lot of that.”
Until later that evening, that is.
Not even two minutes into the Heat game, Sims received a pass from RJ Barrett and released a short-armed, hooking floater over Miami big man Bam Adebayo. The play seemed to catch Adebayo, one of the world’s best defenders, off guard. Other than a useless, garbage-time flick from a different angle a few weeks earlier, it was the first time Sims had even attempted a shot of that type in his pro career. Maybe Adebayo should have listened to Thibodeau that morning.
The Knicks drafted Sims No. 58 in last summer’s draft and then signed him to a two-way contract, which allowed them to flex him between the NBA and G League. He’ll be on a two-way again next season before hitting restricted free agency in 2023.
That shot against Miami wasn’t just a floater; it was a sign.
There were moments earlier in the season when Sims looked like a deer in the headlights, maneuvering too slow for the pro game, even if he was capable of moving quicker than most people his size. Not many bigs can slide side to side like Sims or jump higher. Yet, on the rare occasion that he would get into games back in the fall, he’d end up with the ball on the perimeter not sure what to do with it as a defender hounded him, or he’d set a hard screen but roll directly into his teammate’s driving lane.
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He had the opposite problem of many hyper-athletic, young shot-swatters, who get caught out of position chasing blocks. Instead, Sims didn’t contest enough, sometimes allowing infiltrators to fly by him instead of using his physical frame (6 foot 10, 245 pounds) to get in the way.
The Knicks believed the best way to develop Sims was to keep him in NBA practices instead of handing him extended G League minutes. He worked out with Taj Gibson, a veteran whose dual role may as well be officially deemed “center/coaching liaison,” every day throughout the season.
“He wants to learn,” Gibson said. “You don’t have to ask him to come into the gym.”
By the time Sims busted out the floater in Miami, one month after he’d entered the Knicks’ rotation, Thibodeau had already praised him for his improved paint defense, specifically his verticality. He was moving with more flow on offense, turning what looked like moving in sludge only a few months prior into instinct. He still needs to become a better screener. Good defenders get around him. But at least for now, he’s in the right places and is willing.
By season’s end, he’d try multiple picks on the same possession just to keep the offense going. He started to notice when teammates approached after he received the ball on the 3-point arc and would go into immediate dribble-handoffs. There were still moments when the game got too fast for him, but there also was intuitiveness to his movement that didn’t exist in November.
With free agency beginning in one month, the organization has to decide how far it believes Sims’ progression can go.
The Knicks have four conventional big men: Mitchell Robinson, Nerlens Noel, Taj Gibson and Sims. Yet, things could look different next season.
Robinson will hit the open market on June 30. Noel is on an expiring, $9.2 million deal in 2022-23, and finding a new home for him could be an objective over the summer, considering the Knicks were quite open to including him in trade talks leading up to this past deadline, league sources said at the time. Gibson’s salary, meanwhile, is not guaranteed for next season. The Knicks could release him for no cost.
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The group, meanwhile, does not complement each other. All four occupy the paint on offense. Robinson will become significantly more expensive when he signs his new contract. He made $1.8 million in 2021-22 but will likely earn at least the mid-level exception, worth a hair above $10 million, next season.
It begs many questions: If Robinson leaves, how do the Knicks proceed? The soon-to-be free agent fills the type of paint-dwelling role teams can often clog for cheaper than he’ll command. Would they prefer 60 or 70 or 80 percent of the quality for 20 percent of the price? Do they move on from Noel, slide Sims into a consistent role and find another center to join him? Do they leave a center spot open so they can force-feed Obi Toppin minutes at backup five?
And if Robinson stays, what might it mean for Sims, considering both guys are energetic, shot-blocking, offensive-rebounding, rim-diving bigs? If an opponent is packing the paint against Robinson, deterring Knicks drivers from getting near the basket, then it will most certainly do the same against Sims, as New York saw time and time again this season.
Of course, the idealized version of Sims has skills Robinson has yet to boast — and not just the floater. In the spring, Sims started finding occasional shooters when defenses collapsed in on him. Thibodeau references his quick feet often. The Knicks will send him farther from the rim on defense than they do with Robinson, using him to blitz pick-and-rolls or double-team fiery scorers, as they did when Kevin Durant was blowing them up during a late-season loss to the Nets.
Sims is a different type of offensive rebounder than Robinson, who became one of the world’s best by leaping over opponents to grab his teammate’s misses. Sims can fly and does his version of the tap, tap, tapping Robinson has mastered, but he is more of a scurrier than an overpowering force. He is a range rebounder, the spirit of a relentless guard inside the body of a center. He tracks down loose balls as well as most other bigs.
“I like the energy that he has. … He keeps going,” Thibodeau said. “He’s got great feet. He’s strong. He can hold his ground. As he matures and gets stronger, it will be a big plus for not only him but our team.”
Yet, the Knicks can’t know the complete picture, and not just because Sims didn’t receive court time until the second half of the season. He ended his rookie campaign with the ninth-most minutes played of any second-round pick from his draft class, but his offensive role was so minimized, that it’s difficult to predict what’s ahead, even for those aware of the behind-the-scenes push shots.
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Part of the reason the world hadn’t yet seen Sims’ floater when he lifted for that one in Miami was because he rarely ever shoots.
Or even touches the ball.
Or even threatens to do so.
Among 381 qualifying NBA players, Sims’ 6.8 percent usage rate (the percentage of Knicks possessions while he’s on the floor that he ends with a shot, turnover or drawn foul) ranked dead last during the regular season — and 380th place wasn’t close to him. That’s far too minuscule a role to make an impact. For context, Robinson doesn’t get many touches either, and his usage is nearly twice Sims’.
Next season, Sims has to build on it.
If the Knicks choose to hand him a bigger part, it will mean projecting something a little more extravagant: more lobs and dump-offs for dunks, an offensive game that flows as it did in April, harder screens, more consistent contests around the basket and quick-footed, quick-minded decision making guarding inside and away from the paint.
It will mean progression from a rookie season that already showed some. According to his mentor, that’s to be expected.
“He comes into the gym even on off days. He’s real intuitive and real competitive,” Gibson said. “He’s learning the game, but not just learning it. He wants to learn. He asks me questions. But he’s real quiet. He has the long mentality.”
(Photo of Jericho Sims: Nathaniel S. Butler / NBAE via Getty Images)
