Before the day is out, we are officially 23 days away from the NBA regular season and the eagerness for the first tip could not be any greater. Coming up next into our SneakerReporter Top NBA Team countdown on day 23 is team 23: the New York Knicks.
The Knicks finished with the league’s worst record in 2018 and tied their franchise record for the worst win-loss ratio in a single season. On top of that, what looked to be a pragmatic procedure to feed fans’ optimism in possessing all that cap space to sign two max free agents was abhorrent mismanagement that blew up in their faces.
And of course Knicks fans, I’ve got good news and bad news for y’all: you got the Duke man that you wanted to build around for the future. Bad news: It wasn’t Zion.
What feels like broken promises – having all that cap space to sign two free agents in Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving to blowing it on low-tier talent in Julius Randle and Taj Gibson, and losing out on the first overall pick in the Draft Lottery to the Pelicans – are probably just more cycles of sun and moon for everyday Knicks fans. It’s gonna be a long road back to the top of the East, and that’s putting it nicely. With what they have, however, owner James Dolan, President Steve Mills, and GM Scott Perry, and head coach Dave Fizdale think what they have is enough to turn the Garden into Eden again someday.
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23. New York Knicks (37-45) – Trust Me Knicks Fans, It Really Could Be Worse…
The Knicks are looking for a miracle, for lack of a better term. The Garden has not seen a postseason contender since 2013 when the Carmelo Anthony-Amare Stoudamire faction took the Knicks to the conference semis, ultimately losing to the Conference finals-bound Indiana Pacers in 6. Since then, it’s been gut punch after gut punch for fans who’ve felt like their favorite team playing in the Mecca was finally on the cusp of turning into contenders.
The cap space meant for Kyrie and KD to splurge within the city that never sleeps was dealt to Taj Gibson, Bobby Portis and Julius Randle, who in the most obvious of insights don’t hold a candle to the immensity of Kyrie and Durant’s name as KD and Uncle Drew took the trip to smaller NY borough Brooklyn to grow the smaller market into an Eastern powerhouse. Still, it could be way worse for the Knicks, and really, it’s a blessing in disguise.
In reality, the three veterans will be tasked with assisting the Knicks’ coaching staff in the professional and mental development of their new pieces picked up in the draft, and namely, their first-round selection, scoring aficionado R.J. Barrett. You ask anyone if the Knicks’ plan all along was to draft the 6-foot-7, 208-lb guard out of Duke, and they’d have a belly-aching laugh, proclaiming you were crazy. I mean, Knicks fans premade Zion Williamson jerseys and theorized different starting lineups with an assumed big three of Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant, and Zion Williamson, all before March Madness even started at the end of the college basketball season.
But, to quote some boring summer reading assignment for my eighth-grade English class, “the best-laid plans go awry”. The Knicks may not have seen Barrett in their future and things did not go as planned. That doesn’t mean its time to sulk over what could’ve been, but work on and go with what is their future. And Rowan Alexander Barrett is just that, if not more.
The Duke guard played understudy to the most efficient and electric player in the nation Zion Williamson, but that did not mean he didn’t get his. As a freshman, it was Barrett, not Williamson, who led the entire ACC in scoring. The duo led the nation in scoring, with Zion’s numbers being lower than Barrett’s. That number could be misleading, considering that Barrett’s numbers saw a rise in productivity by being the go-to scorer after Williamson went down with a foot injury (after blowing his sneaker to smithereens against UNC in January 2019).
The crafty lefty was a 3-level offensive dynamo under Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski, averaging over 22 points a game, 4.3 assists per contest, and most surprisingly, 7.6 rebounds a game to earn Consensus 1st Team All-American honors. Barrett possesses an impressive blend of size, fluidity, and body control. He’s garnered professional comparisons to Manu Ginobili for his ability to get creative and ambidextrous at the rim, and James Harden to get hot from anywhere, create off the dribble as a slasher and make plays as an off-ball cutter.
His 6’10 wingspan meshes well with his unflappable scoring mentality, and in games that he struggled to put the ball in the basket, which, to be frank, were a good few, Barrett never showed discouragement or dismay, for he kept putting up shots. His consistency was a problem at Duke last season but as a playmaker, the native of Toronto, Canada displayed no shortage of Ball IQ. As his body and mind mature further into his career, his defensive skills will improve, and that will come with the proper development at the next level, of course.
Barrett can be a franchise centerpiece – that is, if he is afforded the proper coaching and established time with a starting five in the regular season. He’s too dynamic of a playmaker to leave on the bench as the sixth man to kick off his career.
As it goes for the rest of the Knicks, the destruction of the old-look Knicks in the post-Kristaps Porzingis era could not have come at a sweeter time.
The onlookers in the Garden probably won’t miss the likes of Emmanuel Mudiay, Mario Hezonja, Noah Vonleh, Lance Thomas and Luke Kornet, and for the moment be content with an offensively-maturing Julius Randle, who stepped up big in the scoring department, with his numbers going from 11.1 ppg to 21 ppg in a matter of two years. Randle may fit the rebuilding timeline and could be shipped to gain draft capital a few years from now, but was the only player to have guaranteed money beyond the 2019-20 season on the roster, which gives the Knicks organization plenty of flexibility.
Other additions in the offseason were: Michigan’s Ignas Brazdeikis (a result of a draft trade), Taj Gibson, Elfrid Payton, Bobby Portis, and Wayne Ellington, Reggie Bullock and Marcus Morris.
None of those names really jump out, which isn’t really something Knicks fans want to hear. But, the Knicks are getting not only veteran leadership in the locker room but pieces that are legitimate floor spacers. Elfrid Payton, in 42 total games last year, performed like a starting point guard, averaging 10.6 points, 5.2 rebounds and 7.6 assists per game. Though hampered by ankle pains that caused him to miss 40 games last year, he’ll have every opportunity to challenge both Dennis Smith Jr. and Frank Ntilikina for a starting guard spot (if his health permits) as a dual slasher and craftsman as a floor general.
On the topic of the Knicks starting backcourt, the Knicks will be heavily reliant on the offensive output of second-year guards Frank Ntilikina and Dennis Smith Jr. Ntilikina’s efforts on defense have been significant in his short time as a Knick, has held all of his matchups to shooting a little over 45 percent. That hasn’t translated to his scoring ability, only averaging 5.7 points per game off 36 percent shooting.
For that reason, his time in New York may be getting cut even shorter. When the Knicks traded for Dennis Smith Jr. by dealing Tim Hardaway Jr. and Kristaps Porzingis, the Knicks trusted the 21-year old two-way scoring guard to be an athletic pick and roll maestro. While he has time to develop in that role, he will have to earn his minutes in this rotation, regardless if he is a starter.
The acquisitions of Marcus Morris, Wayne Ellington, and Reggie Bullock do not solve the Knicks perimeter scoring problem right off the bat, but they sure are better than nothing. The twin of the Pistons’ Markieff Morris who has to secede from the dysfunction of the 2018 Boston Celtics, Marcus Morris backed out of a deal with the San Antonio Spurs after agreeing to a two-year, $20 million with the organization, all in the idea to agree to a one-year deal that was $5 million less.
Both Ellington (who came over from the Pistons) and Bullock (after one year with the Lakers) fit the bill when it comes to three-point shooting as their averages combine to around 35 percent from deep., which may not be much of an upgrade considering that the Knicks were the third-worst 3 point shooting team in the league last year.
What the Knicks are hoping to have those numbers skyrocket, is the second-year outlook on 2018 first-rounder Kevin Knox. A stretch forward that’s potential is through the roof from a defensive standpoint, Knox will be looked at as a veteran now and not some darling teenager that posted memorable highlights on social media sites in the Summer League. Make no mistake about it, Kevin needs to step it up in the offensive department.
Averaging 12 ppg by shooting 37 percent from the field and 30 percent from behind the arc is obviously not going to cut it and if he wants to avoid a sophomore slump, David Fizdale must run the offense through his 6’9, 216-lb multifaceted athlete for his numbers and confidence to grow.
When discussing the frontcourt situation for New York, the combination of Taj Gibson and second-year man Mitchell Robinson could be a dynamic rim-protecting swat fest when taking Robinson’s rookie year into consideration. Last year, Robinson instantly made a name for himself when he broke the Knicks’ rookie blocks record by swatting away nine shots in just his 12th game in the league and averaging 2.4 blocks per game. With the veteran Gibson, who over the course of a career averaged 1.1 BPG and 4.1 rebounds per game, it will be beneficial for Mitchell’s development into a polished big man.
So adding all of the Knicks offseason woes together, the casual viewer will be writing off the young, prospective Knicks roster that has more upside than their previous failing rosters by a mile. But do realize, even if this is the Knicks team of the impending future, there is enough to challenge in a less-talented Eastern conference right now, as crazy as it sounds. Moreover, if Mills and Perry want to get serious about contending, they have enough bargaining chips to get some big-name free agents by shipping off the pieces they acquired this offseason.
So no, all isn’t terrible for the Knicks in their teardown and reconstruction. And for the Garden to be rocking again, the work that is cut out for them must be accomplished.
But in order to do so while remaining the numero uno spot in the Big Apple, the Knicks must play hard night in and night out so that they can assert themselves as a postseason-pushing team that will incite fear of those who enter the Madison Square Garden during any road trip.
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