Dave Fizdale, an incompetent front office and the spiraling New York Knicks

Is Dave Fizdale a good or bad NBA coach, and does it really matter when the New York Knicks have an incompetent front office?

Being an NBA head coach is not an easy thing. Most don’t have full control of a franchise. So when the fans are breathing down your neck you have to plead with the man who assembles the team to help you out. The same man who might fire you if he feels you underperformed with the roster he gave you.

David Fizdale is the head coach of the New York Knicks. In his first season with the club. he went 17-65. Currently, his team is 4-11. As you’d expect, there are rumors swirling that Fizdale will be fired soon.

Fizdale was much hyped as an assistant coach in Miami. Many in the media talked about how one day he would be an amazing head coach when given the opportunity.

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David Fizdale got a chance to try and re-reinvent the Memphis Grizzlies. Fizdale took over for David Joerger and went 43-39. Improving on the Grizzlies record from a year ago of 42-40.

The 2016-17 Grizzlies led by David Fizdale ranked 7th in Defensive rating. They finished 7th in the Western Conference and eventually lost to the Spurs in the first round 2-4.

Now, that is a very average season for a middle of the pack team, which the Grizzlies developed into with age.

The troubling thing about that season was that they were only slightly better with a healthy team. The most notable injury was Mike Conley missed 13 games that year. The 16-17 Memphis Grizzlies only used 17 players that season.

During David Joerger’s final season, the Grizzlies also finished in 7th and suffered a 1st round sweep at the hands of the Spurs. The key thing of note is Marc Gasol missed 30 regular-season games, Mike Conley missed 26 regular-season games and Zach Randolph missed 14. Twenty-eight different players were used in Memphis during the 15-16 season. So you may say that Fizdale underachieved with a healthy team.

Fizdale was fired early into the 17-18 season as Memphis floundered. Also, tension with All-Star center Marc Gasol made it easy for the team to say goodbye to LeBron’s former assistant coach.

David Fizdale’s stock didn’t plummet. He was offered the Knicks’ job in May of 2018. Which is a little ominous as the Knicks hired Scott Perry as the new GM in June of 2018.

Many GM’s want to bring in their own guy. The Knicks’ front office made it seem like they had a plan.

So far the Knicks’ being coached by David Fizdale has been awful. They were the worst team in the NBA last year. They rank last in almost every category.

Is this David Fizdale’s fault?

He didn’t assemble the roster. The Knicks have been bad for years. Players actively avoid signing there. Kevin Durant didn’t even meet with the Knicks twice during his recent FA periods.

Scott Perry has been brought in to fix the Knicks – another much talked about front office member who is going to turn around the impossible.

Is Scott Perry even good? 

This past offseason his signings were horrific. He signed four power forwards in Marcus Morris, Bobby Portis, Taj Gibson, and Julius Randle. None of these were sought after free agents.

Randle is a good player but Perry offered $10 million more than he made the previous season.

Luckily, other than Randle, most of these contracts are off the books next year. Or signings like Elfrid Payton can be bought out for a low number to free up cap next season too.

There are no big-time free agents next summer. Anthony Davis is one but he is not going to leave a contender with LeBron James to come to play for a dumpster fire of a team.

The Knicks signing DeMar DeRozan to shoot mid-range 2s at a 40 percent clip does sound like a classic Knicks move. That might become a reality when they have cap room next season and no stars to sign.

Scott Perry has made some smart moves. Although, both have regressed this season Kevin Knox was a solid selection in a weak draft. Alonzo Trier was a nice pick up as an undrafted player, putting up 10 points per game during his rookie year.

The Knicks now have some hope in the form of RJ Barrett. Perry can’t take credit for that. Just like how the Dolphins won’t get credit for taking Tua or Joe Burrow you don’t get credit for taking the most talented player available when you have no talent on your roster.

Scott Perry has done nothing to overhaul this roster or put his team in a position to be successful. The Nets for years took bad contracts from teams but always got first-rounders in return. Now, the Nets have a solid core of players and they signed to two top talent FAs this past offseason.

The Sixers were so bad they had to change the draft rules. They never signed bad contracts, always acquired more assets in trades. They were willing to let players who didn’t pan out walk.

Fizdale can only do so much with his Island of Misfit Toys of a roster. Perry has to take some of the blame for not giving him anything to work with.

The Knicks are bad. That will remain constant, just like how the sun rises every morning. The best option might be to start over. Meaning every level of basketball operations in terms of player selections and coaching is removed. The Knicks start from the top and work their way down.

It seems like failure finds a way to grow in Madison Square Garden. It won’t stop unless the Knicks dig everything out by the root.