NBA: 30 Storylines Driving The 2015-16 Season

Jun 25, 2015; Brooklyn, NY, USA; Kristaps Porzingis is escorted onto the stage with NBA commissioner Adam Silver after being selected as the number four overall pick to the New York Knicks in the first round of the 2015 NBA Draft at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

New York Knicks – What Now?

I feel another title for the Knicks’ storyline this season could simply just be “What?”. I mean that’s what the world said when they drafted Kristaps Porzingis (along with “BOO!”). It’s what we all said again when they decided to trade away Tim Hardaway Jr. And Knicks fans said it once more when the biggest names Phil Jackson could lure to the Big Apple were Derrick Williams, Robin Lopez, and Aaron Afflalo.

The Knicks are in desperate need of some help. As we learned over the past four or five seasons of Knickerbocker basketball, the team isn’t very good at winning. When they do manage solid regular seasons, they end up getting treated to an early exit in the post-season.

Well, as it turns out, the Knicks aren’t very good at losing either. As a matter of fact, they’re really terrible at it by NBA standards. They started off solid last season by losing a ton of games and bottoming out via trades of key players and sidelining Carmelo Anthony. They were poised to do all of the right things in the off-season to propel themselves into the upper-echilon of teams in the East. But then they didn’t.

The Knicks managed to whiff on every aspect of the NBA offseason, and managed to become a walking contradiction in the process. They drafted Porzingis and told their fans that patience was key, as with time both he and the franchise would develop into a winner.

Then, they went out in free agency and blatantly overpaid for role players so that they could be contenders this season.

Odds are, Phil Jackson and company were forced to flipflop their views by a city that isn’t all that patient. If their initial plan was to blow it up and rebuild slowly, then Porzingis might’ve been the right choice. But then they should’ve found a way to move Melo, ship him off to a contender like the Bulls where they’ll be both be happy and in return get a few assets and draft picks that might help you out going forward.

I’m all for keeping your fan base happy. But in New York, a city that has a history of sports championships, nothing short of a title would truly please the masses. A one and done in the playoffs won’t exactly generate a lot of excitement, so your best bet is to build towards a brighter future. Phil Jackson, you failed in year one. So now what?

Next: Lakers: Something...Anything?