Trades RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley sent messages about the organization's other top two scorers.
They clearly felt comfortable relying heavily on Jalen Brunson and Julius Randle.
On Wednesday, the Knicks' faith was rewarded with a 116-100 victory over Chicago, as Randle and Brunson combined for 66 points to lead the Bulls to their second straight win at MSG.
They were effective, leading the Knicks in a game-clinching 24-9 run in the fourth quarter, taking turns carrying the ball and scoring efficiently.
Randle led all scorers with 35 points on 13-of-23 shooting. Brunson finished with 31 points on 13-of-22 shooting from the field and 13 assists.
Brunson reached double-digit assists for the second straight game after not registering any assists so far this season.
This trade obviously created a lot more ball movement.
OG Anunoby was lackluster offensively in his second game against the Knicks, scoring just 11 points on nine shots.
However, he also tied for third in total points with the Knicks (19-15), along with Donte DiVincenzo.
In other words, it was the Randall and Brunson show. They were part of a starting lineup that completely dominated Chicago, winning rebounding battles (Isaiah Hartenstein scored a career-high 20 points alone) and nailing over 40 percent of their treys. . To highlight the starter's dominance, the Knicks outscored the Bulls by 33 points in Anunoby's 34 minutes.
The bench was a different story.
Tom Thibodeau tried out his new second unit in the first half, leaving Randle on the bench for the rest of the game.
It didn't work.
The lineup of Randle, Quentin Grimes, Miles McBride, Precious Achiuwa, and Josh Hart put the Knicks in an eight-point hole, scoring just eight points in six minutes.
The big problem was offense.
It ran through Randle and Chicago's defense didn't care about protecting other players, allowing the Bulls to fall on Randle's target and clog the paint/passing lanes.
Thibodeau returned to experimenting with his lineup in the fourth quarter. Struggled again, the coaches quickly scrapped it and reinserted Brunson after two minutes of offensive malaise.
Coaches are obviously learning and adjusting on the fly.
The Knicks have yet to hold an official practice since the trade.
The starter saved the day. Especially Branson and Randle.
The Bulls, on the other hand, were built to compete this season.
They are in win-now mode because there is no team to win right now.
They have big contracts with Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan, Nikola Vucevic and Lonzo Ball.
Only one of those players, DeRozan, was available Wednesday.
The rest were injured. Chicago's disappointing start to this campaign led to rumors of an impending fire sale with LaVine at the forefront of a move.
But the market is soft for LaVine, who missed his 17th straight game Wednesday due to inflammation in his right foot.
The Knicks are one of the teams not interested in trading for the 28-year-old winger, according to sources.
In other words, the Knicks were the favorites to win MSG against the Bulls, but they attacked hard.
DiVincenzo has played well since joining the starting lineup, scoring 11 points on 3-of-8 shooting from beyond the arc.
With Barrett and Quickley gone, DiVincenzo, who was signed in the summer for $50 million, seems like the frontrunner for the No. 3 scorer spot.
“He was shooting the ball very well to start the season, and that's a testament to him,” Thibodeau said. “He put in a lot of time in the offseason.”
