The Only Way The Knicks Can Regain Respect in the NBA
It’s a simple solution but difficult to accomplish. Can they pull it off?
I never once believed the rumors. Unlike my peers, I’ve learned that lesson a long time ago.
I’ve been a Knicks fan since the early ’90s. I was a believer in this team ever since I saw John Starks posterize Horace Grant and Michael Jordan in the 1993 Eastern Conference Finals. I witnessed many highs and lows with this team. I’ve seen every era of basketball with this club ever since I learned what a basketball was. I learned my lesson a long time ago to never believe the rumors without any confirmation or proof. In the 1990s, it was believed that Michael Jordan and Reggie Miller would join the Knicks in free agency. In the 2000s, that rumor later became Allen Iverson and Kobe Bryant. In the early 2010s — also known as the summer of “The Decision” — LeBron James, Chris Bosh, and Dwyane Wade would team up in free agency and join the Knicks. Every single major free agency rumor that came about led to the belief that some superstar would be interested in playing at the Mecca of Basketball and that rumor turned out to be just that: a rumor. Nothing came out of it except disappointment. And every single time Knicks would fall for the same trick every decade.
So here we are again in the 2019 NBA Free Agency period and once again ridiculous rumors about Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant planning to play in New York together was the rumor that ran rampant throughout the NBA season. Irving was fed up with his teammates and the Boston Celtics culture as a whole and wanted out. Durant realized that the Golden State Warriors will forever be Steph Curry’s team and he needs to find a team for himself while ensuring he has secured a business long after he retires from the NBA and can receive a genuine income to take care of himself and his family. Well, that rumor turned out to be true (sort of). Irving and Durant were planning on coming to New York…just not Manhattan.
One “Woj Bomb” tweet was all it took to shatter the delusion of Knicks fans and the culture that ran rampant throughout the Five Boroughs. The Brooklyn Nets were no longer the “little brother” team that stood in the shadows of the Knicks. They were no longer the boring team nobody wanted to play for. They were no longer the punching bag of NBA Twitter. The jokes about Nets GM Sean Marks being a “fake genius” no longer held any merit. Marks was the real deal (as if wasn’t proven already). He rebuilt the basketball culture in Brooklyn. He modernized the team. He turned reclamation projects like D’Angelo Russell into All Star players. He salvaged what was left after the infamous Paul Pierce — Kevin Garnett trade. In the end, it was Marks who would have the last laugh against Celtics GM Danny Ainge and head executive of the Knicks James Dolan. The Nets, in a single free agency period, catapulted themselves from a good playoff team to a championship-caliber team in 2020.
Meanwhile the Knicks are once again the butt of everybody’s jokes, deserving the scrutiny and mockery of NBA fandom as a pathetic franchise with no end goal and no plan.
You don’t have to take my word for it. Take a look at all the “good press” the Knicks have been receiving. You’d be lucky enough to find something remotely positive about this team. Almost every single analyst on a national scale has criticized/mocked the Knicks at every turn. “They can’t do anything right!” “Dolan needs to sell the team!” “They should’ve never traded Kristaps Porzingis!” “The Knicks are forever bums! They should just give up!” “LOL Knicks forever!” It is what it is. This is essentially the brutal nature of a social-media driven sports culture we live in today. Heck, NBA Twitter is supposedly one of the main reasons why Durant felt compelled to join the Nets.
So where does this leave the Knicks? How can one of the oldest NBA franchises regain some status of respectability and belief as an excellent professional basketball team? What can general manager Scott Perry do to change the narrative about this team around the league?
The answer is actually pretty easy: develop the young core players drafted by the team and win games next season.
Yes, that’s all they need to do. Improve and win games.
You may think this is some sort of sarcasm but no, this is a genuine answer. Quite frankly that’s the only concept sports fans will ever understand. They’re not interested in the nuances, the difficulties of building a team, the cycles of constructing competitive rosters. That’s neither interesting or justifiable in their eyes as to why you’re not winning games. The only thing that they will understand is the win total of a team and if it’s not enough to go to the playoffs then the team stinks and there’s no hope.
Several teams that were in the gutter are now the “belle of the ball” after those development cycles paid off. People tend to forget that the “Stephen Curry Era” of the Golden State Warriors initially began as a complete poop of a basketball play before Curry evolved into a “Super Saiyan God-level” athlete. Curry was drafted in 2009 but had a difficult period early on. The Warriors started off that era 26–56. The following year they won 36 games. Then they drafted future superstar shooting guard Klay Thompson and future All Star Draymond Green but they finished with 26 wins during the lockout season. Curry was injury-prone and there were questions of his durability. It wasn’t until the 2012–2013 season that the team started to showcase some success and you saw the emergence of the “Splash Brothers.” By 2015, they became title contenders and the rest — as they say — is history.
This is a pretty quick summary of what happened in those six years of building a championship team but fans could care less about that. They’re not interested in the change of ownership, hiring of a new GM while embedding a new philosophy, going through three head coaches before hitting the mark with Steve Kerr, and Curry and Thompson learning to develop and improve as their professional careers grew. Fans only cared about the wins. That’s it. Curry made a promise to improve and that’s all that mattered.
It isn’t exclusive to the Warriors. The Philadelphia 76ers went through a sucky period of basketball called “The Process.” I’m sure you’ve heard this one. Collect as many first rounders as possible to draft high quality talent you can control for many years and build a dynasty for many years to come. That plan didn’t necessarily end up that way but The Process DID create a championship-ready roster thanks to the two young leads in Joel Embiid — arguably the best center in the NBA — and Ben Simmons, a young point guard in a power forward’s body who has excellent court vision, can run the floor, and play superb defense (we’ll leave the shooting woes out of this discussion).
Never mind the struggles of Embiid’s health, Simmons inability to play his first year after being drafted, or the many, many roster shuffles the team went through over the years. Fans only cared about what? Wins.
Heck, you can even look at Sean Marks and what he did with the Brooklyn Nets. While everyone was still mocking the team for the infamous Celtics trade, Marks assessed what could be done with the options he had. He drafted Caris LeVert. He traded Brook Lopez and Thaddeus Young (two fan-favorite players) for young players looking to redeem themselves (D’Angelo Russell) and draft picks (Caris LeVert). He also signed reclamation projects like Joe Harris and Spencer Dinwiddie. He hired Kenny Atkinson as the head coach of the team who initially was an assistant coach from the Atlanta Hawks that specialized in player development and was an understudy of Mike D’Antoni and Mike Budenholzer. They traded for smart veteran players like DeMarre Carroll (while picking up picks to boot) and signed good character, high IQ players like Jared Dudley and Ed Davis while drafting young prospects like Jarrett Allen and Rodion Kurucs. This helped the Nets reached the playoffs for the first time since 2015 and we witnessed breakout performances like what D’Angelo Russell had against the Sacramento Kings and cemented his position as one of the most exciting young point guards emerging in the NBA.
Despite the blunders this free agency, the Knicks have walked away with a solid plan B. It’s not the sexiest free agency but it isn’t the most damning either. Contrary to popular belief, the Knicks are not trying to save up for 2020 or 2021 free agency like many people suspect they are with most of the two year deals they’ve signed that includes team options. All these moves are essentially them trying to remain flexible before plotting their next move. That means the off chance they are willing to step up to absorb a veteran player’s contract that will include a draft pick or an elite All Star player they’ll make the move. For now, it seems Scott Perry wants to remain as transient as possible in order to not jeopardize the team’s future.
Julius Randle is a solid signing and can be a fun player to have on the team. He had a nice bounce back year while playing for the New Orleans Pelicans and could be an excellent piece playing alongside Mitchell Robinson. That will enable floor-spacing while the team will be playing fast and loose.
The Knicks also added some excellent shooters in Reggie Bullock, Wayne Ellington, and Bobby Portis. Taj Gibson a respectable NBA veteran and a real New York athlete (he’s from Brooklyn). Elfrid Payton is a pick and roll point guard who will force Dennis Smith Jr. and Frank Ntilikina to fight for playing time and inspire to improve their game. These moves are by no means bad moves. The Knicks could do much, much worse than what they’ve done (again, you’re talking to a guy who’s seen nearly a decade of the “Isiah Thomas — Scott Layden Years” of basketball).
This is also a big year for David Fizdale as well. Last season he was excused since the roster was essentially poor due to having so young of a talent and no real philosophy, style of play, or definitive lineup that played consistently for the duration of the season. This time the talent has steadfastly improve. They’re not exactly a playoff team but they’re not a bunch of scrubs either. Fizdale has to make sure that he assembles a competitive team while ensuring the younger players are put in a position to improve while receiving key playing time minutes to be significant contributors. If he fails like last year, it’s unlikely he’ll be back even with an improved roster the following offseason. This needs to work.
The front office also needs to act competent in terms of how they handle everything from here on out. That means no more falsified promises. No more overzealous hype. Strictly focus on realistic expectations and constructing a winning basketball team. Luckily, Scott Perry doesn’t seem like the type who’s interested in winning the backpage wars (that seems more along the lines of his partner Steve Mills and, of course, their boss head executive James Dolan). The front office needs to show future free agents that a culture is acceptable here and things can change for the better. That means they need to modernize the way they develop their team culture at MSG (as noted by the brilliant Harvey Aarton of the New York Times). This needs to be a place that’s inviting to people. That means no more throwing out legendary players out of games just because you don’t like them. No more banning press members and denying them their First Amendment rights. That all has to change.
The players also need to show a willingness to improve their game and a desire to step up. They had a rough first year but most of the returning players should have an idea of how to play in an NBA environment. This also needs to be a breakout out for several players. Dennis Smith Jr. needs to showcase that he can be a lead guard that can push the pace and command the floor. Ntilikina needs to showcase more grit and confidence in playing his game. Mitchell Robinson needs to expand his game. Alonzo Trier will need to show more than simply his ability to score the basketball. Damyean Dotson will have to improve his shot to fulfill his destiny as the prototypical 3-D shooting guard. Kevin Knox also has to be an efficient scorer. This will take time and it will not be an overnight succession but if they can harness their games, this team can be truly special.
It’s been a rough offseason but it’s not the end. In many ways, this was needed. The bubble had to be popped and the Knicks fandom and the organization had to come crashing back to Earth. The Nets’ success should inspire the front office to step up and work harder to build a winning culture. The time to adapt and change is now. If things pan out right, the Knicks can have quite a storied-comeback season that would garner attention in the league. Let’s hope the front office and Fizdale can work the magic to make this season a fun one.
Now if we could just get Dolan to grow up.
additional content* from House of Highlights, ESPN, The New York Times, Complex Magazine, Chicago Tribune, Yahoo Sports, Bleacher Report, CNN
