“I just feel like we’re hungry,” he said. “They know — we realize how terrible of a team we were last year, or how terrible we did. I know ‘terrible’ is a strong word, so I don’t want to — but we weren’t the best team last year. So I feel like we’ve got that chip on our shoulder now, and we’re ready to prove some people wrong.”

Johnson expects the offseason trade for Julius Randle to contribute to the team’s improvement. Acquired from Minnesota in a four-team deal that sent out Nic Claxton, Randle provides another proven scorer to team with Michael Porter Jr. along with another veteran who has extensive playoff experience.

“Julius Randle, for sure, just brings a grit that I’m not going to say we don’t have, but just a grit that we need,” Johnson said. “He brings — like, Jordi (Fernandez) is a hard-nosed, dive-on-the-floor, play-hard, but at the same time make sure we take care of the basics type of coach. I feel like Julius brings that. He just brings an added benefit on top of what Jordi already wants out of his players. … He brings a toughness that I feel like is going to pay off this year.”

There’s more from New York City:

• In the same interview, Johnson points to second-year guard Nolan Traore as the Nets player who has shown the most growth during the offseason. Traore was held out of Summer League while recovering from a knee scope, but he’s still been able to spend extensive time in the gym and the weight room. “All the guys have improved, but I feel like Nolan … he’s a different guy now,” Johnson said. “He done put on some mass. He’s walking around with a sleeveless hoodie on, looking at the biceps, you know what I’m saying? He done put on some strength.”
• The Knicks may have to be willing to sacrifice some regular season wins and settle for a lower seed to improve their chances of defending their title, suggests Zach Braziller of The New York Post. All the starters played reduced minutes last season, and coach Mike Brown is expected to continue that approach. Braziller notes that could lead to increased opportunities for Mohamed Diawara, Tyler Kolek and other young players.
• Player development will be vital in helping the Knicks remain in title contention, states Rafael Canton of SNY.tv. The team lost Mitchell Robinson in free agency this summer because owner James Dolan didn’t want to go above the second apron, and the core will get even more expensive with Karl-Anthony Towns, Josh Hart, Jalen Brunson and OG Anunoby all eligible for extensions over the next 12 months.