New York Knicks fans are coming around to the idea of tanking the rest of the 2016-17 NBA regular season. What would the pros and cons of that decision be?
The New York Knicks have reached a turning point in the 2016-17 NBA regular season. A postseason appearance is an attainable goal, but it seems as though the Knicks’ best shot at reaching the playoffs is securing the No. 7 or No. 8 seed.
Thus, a polarizing question has begun to circulate throughout the NBA: should the Knicks tank the remainder of the 2016-17 season?
56 games into the 2016-17 NBA regular season, New York is 10 games below .500 at 23-33. That’s a disheartening place to be following an offseason that had many believing this team could win at a high level.
Rather than living up to the hype, the Knicks have been given a laundry list of distractions off the court and have underachieved on it.
With the 2017 NBA Draft possessing intriguing talent and the current season bordering on being lost, many are in the tanking camp. With the Knicks just 3.0 games back of the No. 8 seed in the Eastern Conference, however, there’s also a camp that favors making a run at the postseason.
The question is: should the Knicks embrace the opportunity to tank or commit to a pursuit of the postseason in 2017?