New York Knicks: NBA Draft best way to keep up in arms race
The 2017 offseason has proven that the NBA has evolved into an arms race. The best way for the New York Knicks to maintain the pace is through the NBA Draft.
The New York Knicks are currently looking up at a legion of teams that are engaged in a proverbial arms race. The Western Conference runs 10-plus postseason-caliber rosters deep, and the top of the Eastern Conference just became even more competitive.
As teams around the NBA make significant improvements to their rosters and cores, it’s only rational for fans to want the Knicks to do the same.
The Golden State Warriors sparked a revolution by adding five-time All-NBA First Team honoree Kevin Durant to a team that had won 140 games and an NBA championship between 2014-15 and 2015-16. A year later, stars have been changing teams with regularity.
Five stars jumped to new teams in July alone: Chris Paul to the Houston Rockets, Gordon Hayward to the Boston Celtics, Paul Millsap to the Denver Nuggets, Paul George to the Oklahoma City Thunder, and Jimmy Butler to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
That doesn’t even include DeMarcus Cousins, who was traded to the New Orleans Pelicans mere days after the 2017 All-Star Game.
In late August, the Cleveland Cavaliers and Boston Celtics swapped All-Star point guards in a deal that sent Kyrie Irving to Beantown and Isaiah Thomas to Ohio. Cleveland also added versatile defender Jae Crowder and the Brooklyn Nets’ 2018 first-round draft pick.
Thus, the question beckons: How can the Knicks possible maintain this torrid pace?
The truth is: The best way for the Knicks to keep up in this wild and unpredictable arms race is to accept that they can’t.
Making a desperation move and trading Carmelo Anthony for a high-profile player who doesn’t fit the scheme would fall in line with what’s plagued New York for the better part of 16 years. Trying to sign just anyone in 2018 would fit that same bill.
Trading Kristaps Porzingis or Willy Hernangomez would be even more of a flawed decision, as it would display yet another example of short-term thinking and irrational fear ruling over logic.
Disheartening as it may be to see most every team but the Knicks landing big names, it makes no sense to go all-in on a maybe.
The Knicks have a promising core of 25-and-under players: Frank Ntilikina, Tim Hardaway Jr., Porzingis, and Hernangomez. If all four players realize their potential, the Knicks would have high-quality players at four of the five traditional positions.
Rather than attempting to find one player who can make the Knicks a playoff team in 2017-18, the organization should continue to execute this slow build towards sustainability.
It will take significantly more than just one player to beat the Warriors, which makes developing a young core long-term the ideal move here.
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The frustration of a four-year postseason drought is understandable, but ending the 44-year and counting title drought should be a higher priority.
The only way the New York Knicks are going to win an elusive championship is to build organically, create a realistic timeline, and avoid forcing the issue.