The Future of the Knicks’ Young Core

As the season from hell continues to drag on, the New York Knicks have a unique opportunity to give meaningful minutes to the majority of their young players. This is largely the result of Knicks management purging the team of its veterans. The season shutdown of Carmelo Anthony is slowly coming to fruition, J.R. Smith was traded to the Cavaliers in a cap saving move, Iman Shumpert was also moved to Cleveland in a move best for both parties, Andrea Bargnani is unsurprisingly injured once again and is surrounded by trade/buyout rumors, Samuel Dalembert was waived in order to avoid paying the rest of his contract this season, and Amar’e Stoudemire is injured while shutdown/buyout options are being considered. Additionally, the team is reportedly trying to trade the underachieving Jose Calderon who has two years remaining on his current contract.

Regardless of whether any additional players get moved, the Knicks younger players will be seeing significant minutes. This will allow the team to evaluate each player and determine if they have any chance of remaining in the Knicks future plans. The notion of competitiveness is irrelevant at this point with the Knicks already in full tank mode after gutting the roster while having the worst record in the NBA. The evaluation of young talent (or lack thereof) is far more important to the future success of the franchise. Currently, the team has 6 young players on the roster that have a chance at remaining with the Knicks after this season. Obviously it is very unlikely that all of them remain but each player has their merits.

The opportunity for Tim Hardaway Jr. has been mentioned routinely throughout the season as the injuries began to pile up. With the Knicks now devoid of offensive firepower, THJ will be relied upon more then ever to shoulder the load.

With the Knicks now devoid of offensive firepower, THJ will be relied upon more than ever to shoulder the load

Hopefully he can improve on his promising rookie year and turn around his inconsistent sophomore campaign thus far because he will have every opportunity to do so. The Knicks have not re-signed any first-round picks to multi-year deals since Charlie Ward, whom they drafted in 1994. If Hardaway hopes to break this alarming trend he needs to prove that he is part of the solution to the team’s struggles and not an extraneous spare part.

Despite only playing in 13 games this season due to injuries, rookie forward Cleanthony Early has returned to action and is showing good progress. He is starting in place of Carmelo Anthony and will receive plenty of minutes going forward. The Knicks are invested in Early who was selected with the 34th overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft, a pick acquired in the trade of Tyson Chandler to Dallas in the offseason. With two years remaining on his contract Early’s development will be important to the team. Apart from Hardaway and Early, the rest of the young Knicks players are not under contract next season; however, some still have a shot at coming back next year.

Center Cole Aldrich has shown flashes of strong play this season after getting the first meaningful minutes of his career. As the season progressed he beat out Dalembert for minutes and now with him gone, Bargnani on his way out, and Amar’e injured, Aldrich is the starting center and only true center on the roster. Aldrich needs to improve on his offensive post moves but his defensive intensity and ability to rebound have been on display this season. He has a real chance at becoming an NBA caliber backup center. The Knicks will certainly be giving him a look because retaining his services for next year will come at a discount given Aldrich’s lack of career accolades or accomplishments. Aldrich is also a good fit in the much maligned Triangle Offense…if you still care about that sort of thing.

Point guard Shane Larkin has played well in spurts this season due to his ability to steal the ball and knock down jumpers. With Jose Calderon’s Knicks future in doubt and Pablo Prigioni being 37 years old, the Knicks should continue to give Larkin minutes. In fact the team won the majority of its games early in the season when Larkin started 12 of the 13 games when Calderon was injured. The positive impact Larkin has had this season statistically is hard to deny. The second year player is only 22 years old and had not played many meaningful minutes as a rookie with Dallas. His speed and defensive ability alone make him a valuable rotation player; however, the Knicks might not be able to retain Larkin in free agency this season. The team declined his option meaning they can only resign him for the option amount of $1,675,320. He may sign elsewhere for more money but either way the Knicks should continue to evaluate their options because if Larkin continues his development elsewhere they may regret letting him go.

After his impressive Summer League showing helped him beat out veteran Travis Outlaw for the final roster spot, Travis Wear has seen his role increase all season. His presence early on in the season was negatively received by fans but as the season continued and his role expanded, Wear continues to positively contribute as a pseudo stretch-four. The problem for Travis Wear is that his ceiling as an NBA player is in doubt. He will need to continue to capitalize on his chance to prove himself as he auditions for next season. His 21 points including 3 for 6 from downtown on January 8th is a good start.

The Knicks recently signed Langston Galloway to a 10-day contract to fill the roster void created by the trade of Smith and Shumpert. College basketball fans may remember Galloway as the leading scorer on the St. Joseph’s team that almost beat UConn in the first round of the NCAA tournament last season. Galloway was undrafted but acquired by the Westchester Knicks as an affiliate player in November after previously being waived by the Knicks following the Summer League. He has proven in college and in the D-League that he can knock down the 3 ball with consistency. Galloway will most likely receive an additional contract to finish out the season as the team continues to see what he can bring to the table. He has the potential to become an offensive role player and the Knicks will see what they can do with him this season considering they have little else left to accomplish. With only 3 games under his belt at the professional level, the social media boasts of “Langsanity” are a tad overblown.

Then again this put-back dunk was the top NBA play of the night on ESPN on January 8th.

The signing of Galloway has ignited cries for the signing of the Knicks’ other D-League standout Thanasis Antetokounmpo. He is the older brother of “The Greek Freak” aka Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks and was selected with the 51st overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft (the other pick from Dallas). Thanasis has played very well with the Westchester Knicks, averaging 13.0 points, 6.2 rebounds and a team-high 1.6 blocks. Despite being the older sibling, Thanasis is only 22 years old and an even rawer NBA talent than his brother. Most envision him becoming a capable defensive-minded wing once his game develops. A trade or waive of Bargnani may open up a spot for Thanasis. Giannis recently called out the Knicks for not calling up his brother at this point in the lowly season. The Knicks have little else to lose by calling him up besides taking a small cap hit. As long as the Knicks do plan to continue his development long term then bringing him up this season makes sense given the chance for playing time. However, the Knicks may elect to keep him in the D-League while they maximize cap space for 2015-2016.