Daily Knicks
Fansided

Knicks: Win-Now Mentality Is Good For Kristaps Porzingis

By Maxwell Ogden

Feb 20, 2016; Minneapolis, MN, USA; New York Knicks forward Kristaps Porzingis (6) against the Minnesota Timberwolves at Target Center. The Knicks defeated the Timberwolves 103-95. Mandatory Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 20, 2016; Minneapolis, MN, USA; New York Knicks forward Kristaps Porzingis (6) against the Minnesota Timberwolves at Target Center. The Knicks defeated the Timberwolves 103-95. Mandatory Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
1 of 6
Next

The New York Knicks have embraced a win-now mentality. Few players should benefit more than second-year big man Kristaps Porzingis.

Feb 20, 2016; Minneapolis, MN, USA; New York Knicks forward Kristaps Porzingis (6) against the Minnesota Timberwolves at Target Center. The Knicks defeated the Timberwolves 103-95. Mandatory Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 20, 2016; Minneapolis, MN, USA; New York Knicks forward Kristaps Porzingis (6) against the Minnesota Timberwolves at Target Center. The Knicks defeated the Timberwolves 103-95. Mandatory Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports /

Throughout his first two seasons at the helm, team president Phil Jackson was executing a slow and methodical rebuild. Many New York Knicks fans were unhappy with that approach, citing a hunger to win now after going more than 40 years without a championship.

With free agency and the trade market at his disposal, Jackson expedited that process by quite a significant measure in 2016 .

The Knicks hired a head coach, Jeff Hornacek, who led the overachieving Phoenix Suns to 48 wins as recently as 2013-14. New York also traded for point guard Derrick Rose and signed the likes of Joakim Noah, Courtney Lee, and Brandon Jennings.

If nothing else, Jackson has built a roster that Carmelo Anthony should be able to lead to the playoffs in 2017.

Though Knicks fans are understandably thrilled, there’s an underlying sense of skepticism. Though victory should always be the goal, there’s a thought process that winning too fast and too soon could stunt the progressive development of second-year power forward Kristaps Porzingis.

Fear not, Knicks fans, for Porzingis will only benefit from playing with a team that possesses a win-now mentality.

Next: The Perfect Teammate

Home/Knicks News