What the heck are the Knicks doing, anyway?

The New York Knicks have made some of the most polarizing moves in the NBA this offseason. They were one of the butts of the Kevin Durant joke — not quite on Oklahoma City’s level, but probably good for 2nd place: Durant held free agency meetings with six separate teams (none of which included the Knicks, of course) in The Hamptons, New York’s most popular July 4th weekend getaway destination, right under Phil Jackson’s nose. You have to chuckle at the irony.

So what did the Knicks do after realizing they would not be meeting with Durant? Fresh on the heels of acquiring Derrick Rose in exchange for their young, dependable starting center on a team-friendly contract (Robin Lopez) and an even younger, super-cheap prospect (Horace Grant’s nephew, Jerian Grant), they went ahead and doled out two mega-contracts, long-term deals to players on the wrong side of 30 to finish filling out a starting five who, in the most optimistic, rosiest projection (if you’re chewing food, swallow before you continue), could take the Knicks as far as the Eastern Conference Finals. More realistically, the Knicks will claw for the 7th or 8th seed in a much improved Eastern Conference — and that’s if each member of the starting five, which includes Rose, Joakim Noah, and an aging Melo can stay healthy for at least 65–70 games each (a dicey proposition).

Why did Jackson commit nearly one third of his salary cap in long-term deals to Noah and Courtney Lee, who will be 35 and 34 respectively at the end of their contracts? A team might acquire those pieces to finish off a champion contender, not to build one coming off a 50-loss season. Not when your team’s best asset is the 20-year old Kristaps Porzingis. When Porzingis enters his prime, Noah (and to a lesser extent, Lee) will likely be considered after-thoughts on the roster.

Why enter the Knicks into this boom or bust scenario, with so much leveraged toward the probability of bust? It goes back to the meetings Durant took. Those serve as a microcosm for what today’s NBA stars want: rings. Durant met with the Thunder, Warriors, Spurs, Heat, Celtics and Clippers. Three of those teams have won 4 of the past 5 NBA finals. All of them have been in recent significant playoff contention. Supposed big-market cache teams like the Knicks and Lakers? Couldn’t even get a phone-meeting. Jackson took note of it, and he took it to heart.

The goal this year is to make noise in the playoffs and put the Knicks back on the map. The free agent list next summer is mind-boggling, including, just to name a few: Russell Westbrook, Chris Paul and Steph Curry. Add any of these three to a team featuring Porzingis, Melo, Noah and Lee at the other four starting positions, and you have a roster that can legitimately contend for a championship. Without making these deals, the selling line to these players would be: Come join the Knicks — we may not have sniffed the playoffs in years, but at least we have cap space to sign another max player with you, so that could work! Jackson would be laughed out of the room — sorry, he wouldn’t even get into the room, just like with Durant — and Jim Dolan would likely ask him to take his remaining $12M/year and leave.

So Jackson is taking a risk, betting big on a guy he loves in Noah ($72M guaranteed). But the bigger risk would have been standing pat and hoping for the best. So, no matter the outcome, Jackson has made calculated moves to put the Knicks headed in the right direction.