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Tanking 101: How the Knicks Accidentally Tanked (Again)
Your guide to the necessarily evil of tanking and rationalizing why it’s so important right now
Different season, same result.
In yet another season that’s been marred by futility, the New York Knickerbockers have found themselves in the midst of another underachieving campaign. This would be the second time in three years with Phil Jackson at the helm that the ‘Bockers find themselves in the NBA’s Draft Lottery, as well as the second time in three years that Jackson believed he had fielded a playoff contender, only to come up short.
Many critics predicted the Knicks would be bad this year, or .500 at best. This team was described as a low-end playoff team — if they even made it that far. (For the record, I had them at 40 wins and the eighth seed.) Joakim Noah was rumored to be healthy and in his best shape in years, and like him or not, Derrick Rose was also shaping up to have a resurgent year.
In typical Knicks fashion, the team imploded after a 14–10 start, having gone 13–31 since then.
Yuck.
All of this is to ask, where do the Knicks go from here? Where should the Knicks go from here?
At 27–41 and 12th in the Eastern Conference, the answer is down. Down, plunging further into the depths of ineptitude, in hopes of using their first round draft pick to capture another franchise-changing talent to pair alongside their young cornerstone, Kristaps Porzingis.
What is Tanking, Anyway?
It depends on who you ask, but tanking is, essentially, doing less than the bare minimum in hopes of obtaining an optimal chance at landing a top draft pick (see: Hinkie, Sam). The rule of thumb since Hinkie’s reign in Philadelphia has been that if your team is not going to be good enough to truly contend (think of contending as a five/six seed or higher for playoff seeding), then you should be in a constant selling state, trying to shed salary, and even some young talent, in hope of obtaining better draft positions or to stockpile draft picks. It should be noted that Philly’s tanking was the most extreme of cases. (Fire sales and proto-tanking were not rare in the previous generations of the NBA.)
Generally speaking, a team may tank for a season or two, like the Milwaukee Bucks a few years back. They landed Giannis Antetokounmpo after overhauling their roster following a sweep at the hands of the Miami Heat in the 2012–13 playoffs. After landing Giannis, the Bucks went 15–67, and they took Duke’s Jabari Parker with the second pick in the 2014 Draft. Suddenly, the Bucks had two young cornerstones to build around. Their tank was swift, but effective in netting them talent worthy of building around, and ideally that’s the goal. (Get well soon, Jabari.)
The Bucks model of tanking is one the Knicks could realistically hope for, and on they could realistically attain. Whatever the means were to get them into optimal draft position, the ends could provide a similar long-term boost. Giannis is coming into his own now, in his fourth season, and before Jabari went down for the season, he was tearing it up in Milwuakee. Loading the roster with two potential cornerstones is absolutely within grasp for Phil Jackson & Co.
Why Should the Knicks Tank?
So, the Knicks aren’t exactly tanking, if you go by the previous examples. They are simply bad. By any measure, they have been a no good, very bad, professional basketball team.
For much of this season we’ve gone back and forth about whether this team could actually make the playoffs, or if they should simply embrace the tank. With only 15 games left in this season, it’s apparent that playoffs are no longer an option. Best case scenario, this team goes on an improbable run, only to make the eighth seed and face a bloodbath matchup against the Cleveland Cavaliers, led by LeBron James. In that scenario, there isn’t much, if anything, to be gained.
However, tanking provides much to be gained.
Losing on purpose looks, and feels, awful. Somehow, this team isn’t losing on purpose. They’re just losing, and losing often. The Knicks are often bad, but in years prior they didn’t own the rights to their own first round draft picks. This year, they do.
The upside to this is seemingly limitless, seeing as this year’s draft class is absolutely loaded, arguably more loaded than in KP’s notorious 2015 draft class. Due to this, tanking is not a bad option. It’s not the worst, or even a very “meh” option. At this juncture, it’s simply the best, and most fruitful strategy.
This team just never shaped up to become anything. Joakim Noah was incapable of providing a single stretch of respectable play. Derrick Rose, while offensively resurgent, is a doormat defensively. Carmelo Anthony and Kristaps have been playing out of optimal positioning for much of the season. The only silver lining to this season has been provided by the young players, but specifically the young tandem of Kristaps and Willy Hernangómez. It’s because of that that the Knicks should opt to keep rebuilding around these two.
Tanking to Rebuild Around KP and Willy
Carmelo still has a lot left in the tank, but he is inarguably on the downside of his career. The future of this franchise revolves around Kristaps Porzingis. It seemed that KP was the only component that the Knicks should be building around, but the emergence of Willy Hernangómez has happened at the perfect time. Joakim Noah is a $72 million dumpster fire, and Kristaps isn’t quite ready for full-time work at the center position. Willy, while not as talented as Kristaps, is more polished at the center position right now. So, the team has two talented young players they need to build with. With Carmelo still on the books through the end of next season, the frontline for next season is solidified.
After this season concludes, the team should be actively looking to move any valuable pieces, namely Courtney Lee and Kyle O’Quinn, in hopes of obtaining more picks in this deep draft. Providing KP and Willy with a new, playmaking, and perhaps defensive oriented point guard, would immediately put this team back on track towards a brighter future.
Look, nobody enjoys losing. Losing is bad, but a season of tanking is well worth it if it means it puts a stop to the inevitable and perpetual losing that has plagued this New York Knicks franchise over the last 15 years. We’re all tired of it, but there is only one real, tangible path towards constant success going forward. For better or for worse, it’s via the tank. The only thing left to do is knock this team down and build it back up through the draft. The trades haven’t worked. The free-agent signings haven’t worked. Enough with the shortcuts.
There is a plethora of depth in this draft, especially at the guard position and on the wings, which is exactly what the Knicks need to shore up their weaknesses. As of today, the Knicks have the seventh worst record in the league and therefore have an incredible chance at landing another franchise-altering talent, one who’d hopefully compliment Porzingis, and possibly Willy.
So, it’s time to accept the reality. It’s fine to tank; it’s not like you have a choice, either. This is a bad basketball team that will continue to be bad, therefore the tank will continue to roll.
Like it or not, the tank is rolling and there’s no other choice left but to embrace it…and that’s okay.
— Kyle Maggio, senior writer
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