After a tumultuous year, the New York Knicks look for a return to normalcy in 2017-18, one which figures to heavily feature their budding young star
The New York Knicks’ summer was defined as much by what didn’t happen as by what did.
At press time, Carmelo Anthony is still getting his checks from the Madison Square Garden Corporation. Or from James Dolan directly. Or maybe he gets a portion of the receipts from the Radio City Christmas Spectacular.
Wherever they come from, it became clear that even after Phil Jackson’s departure, members of the organization would just as soon pay Anthony to simply go away.
And who can blame them. We don’t have time in this space to hold court on Anthony and decide how much of the blame for the last several years belongs at his feet. It’s been done to death. The jury is still hung.
Regardless of whether you’ve been a Melo critic or supporter in the past, what’s become undeniable is that his time with the organization has run its course.
Whether greener pastures lie ahead or not, most fans – like Anthony himself – are eager to see what awaits the team on the other side of the hill. Despite the mutual agreement, Scott Perry appears to be taking my advice and playing the long game.
Still, it would be shocking if everyone didn’t get their wish sooner rather than later.
The other big news of the summer is that sanity still carries some water in this town, and Kristaps Porzingis was not traded.
Despite his professed allegiance to the team and the city, there are still murmurings about his discontent. For now though, the seas appear calm.
With the unicorn in tow, expectations for the upcoming year are for an offense focused on exploiting his many talents, if not one that produces many victories. Vegas has the team pegged for about 30 wins, which seems fair.
A big reason for this is that the team figures to have one of the worst point guard depth charts in the league, but this was the case last year as well. Which brings us to…
Key Additions and Losses
Derrick Rose, the former MVP acquired in Phil Jackson’s ill-fated, win-now approach from the summer of 2016, is mercifully gone.
With him goes the glimpses of his former self which were enough to make the casual fan forget the fact that he has become a non-shooting point guard who does nothing to improve his team’s offense and gives approximately -2.68 shits per possession on the defensive end. Other than that, the move was a resounding success.
Also gone into the Montana wilderness is the man that brought Rose here.
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The book on Phil Jackson likely won’t be closed for some time, not until Porzingis plays his last game with the team. Despite the shenanigans, if the Knicks young star continues to progress on his current track, Phil will be remembered fondly. He also has one hell of a pair of…feet.
What turned out to be Jackson’s last major personal move was the drafting of Frank Ntilikina.
The young Frenchman will always be compared with Dennis Smith Jr., the uber-athletic guard drafted directly after him who is high on flash but low on the qualities Phil sought in his floor general of the future. The pick promises to look bad early on, but thankfully the Knicks are in no rush to compete.
The other major addition of the summer was a player Jackson sent packing two years ago. His return came with quite a bit more fanfare.
The Tim Hardaway Jr. contract has been widely derided as the summer’s grossest overpay, especially after reports surfaced that the Hawks were valuing him somewhere in the range of $12 million annually.
Far more significant than the wisdom of the signing itself was when it was made: during the roughly ten day period between Jackson’s departure and Scott Perry’s arrival. Perry noted that he praised the move from afar when it was announced. Whether he would have bet so heavily on a largely unproven commodity is another question altogether.
3 Storylines to Keep an Eye on Throughout the Season
The on-court narrative for the 2017-18 Knicks is like that of the PGA Tour in the mid 2000’s, when it was Tiger Woods and Everyone Else.
Kristaps Porzingis is the only man wearing orange and blue this season who truly matters.
Yes, the team would like to see signs from Ntilikina, continued growth from Hardaway, and some defensive competence from Hernangomez. It’s all window dressing compared to this guy, who by all indications has continued to improve and refine his game.
If the 7-foot-3 cross between Kevin Durant and Marcus Camby makes The Leap this year, the entire trajectory of the franchise changes. The talent is there. The work ethic is obvious. If the coaching staff can construct a semi-competent system to maximize his ability, he could be in the running for All-NBA.
If that happens, you can forget the Oakley mess and the Jackson nonsense and James Dolan’s general existence. Stars will demand to come play in New York. It’s just a matter of time.
If, on the other hand, his game stagnates, or he doesn’t feel that the organization has earned enough credits to graduate from clown college, progress from every other player on the roster won’t matter in the least.
Even if Porzingis continues his fire-breathing ways, the Knicks are not going to win many games. Unless the league follows through on the proposed lottery reform, this isn’t something the organization figures to mind.
Another high draft pick is their easiest path to getting KP a true running mate.
The balance between renewed competence and overt tanking will be something to watch all year, as will the job done by Jeff Hornacek in his second season as Knicks coach.
Largely an afterthought last year, Hornacek will finally get a chance to run an offense fit for the modern game. The only problem is that he lacks the ideal personnel – a guard with some juice – to make it flow.
Despite the pass he gets for last season, the pressure is on. With only two years to convince Porzingis that New York should be his long term home (is it that insane to think he’d sign a one year qualifying offer if the chicanery continued?), Hornacek is officially on the hot seat.
Player Primed for a Breakout Season
Yes, it’s way too easy to say Kristaps Porzingis. Yes, everyone knows he’s going to garner serious All Star consideration. And yes, a breakout will be that much easier without Carmelo to take away touches and with a point guard who does normal point guard things.
But the level to which the Knicks brightest star since Patrick Ewing is going to take his game this year is something few are prepared for.
(it’s in my imaginary contract that I’m allowed to fan out on one blog post per season. I’m punching my ticket early)
With Boogie and the Brow sharing the same court, and with Nikola Jokic and Karl-Anthony Towns both surrounded by ample talent, there’s a real possibility Porzingis leads all traditional bigs in usage rate this season.
Given that amount of time with the ball, New York is primed to see his full arsenal of talents on display every night. He wants it. The team wants it. The fans crave it.
The team won’t win enough games for him to garner legitimate MVP consideration this season, but it’s coming. There’s still a few seats left on the bandwagon. Best get aboard before the season starts.
(As an aside, keep an eye on second rounder Damyean Dotson. He was a bit of a revelation in Summer League, and could get minutes at shooting guard with both Hardaway and Lee likely spending time at the three).
How The Season Will End?
Poorly.
What’s that? I have 299 words to go. Oh…ok. Well, uh…
There’s a few ways that a team can lose 50 games.
They could be last year’s Knicks, who ended the season with what seemed like an infrastructure that was crumbling from within.
Or they could be last year’s Sixers who, even before landing the third pick in the draft, felt as good about themselves as almost any team in the league.
The Knicks will be bad this year. And the season will likely end with another loss total that begins with a five.
Which is fine. If a few things happen:
- Krisaps Porzingis declares in no uncertain terms that any bad blood he used to harbor against the organization is gone, and he has no plans to look anywhere else, ever. Like, he has to wear a blindfold when he’s not playing. And maybe even when he is.
- The Knicks don’t take back any bad long term money when they eventually deal Anthony.
- Ntilkina gets in guys’ shorts on defense and shows a legitimate NBA three point stroke. That’s all they need him to do.
- Hardaway Jr. takes all the noise personally and works twice as hard on D as he does finding his own shot.
- Hernangomez becomes Jokic-light and allows the offense to flow through him when KP is off the floor.
- Ron Baker crosses the street whenever he walks past a barber.
In a perfect world, all of the above takes place and they still luck into the pick that brings them Kristaps’ spiritual brother, Luca Doncic, who Knicks fans should already be salivating over.
Must Read: NBA: Ranking the top 10 small forwards entering 2017-18
If that happens, the season is a success. Either that, or this guy retires.
(don’t forget to follow me @JCMacriNBA)