New York Knicks: Pros And Cons Of Tanking The Rest Of 2016-17

Con: Four Straight Seasons

The New York Knicks were once the epitome of consistency. New York made the playoffs in every season from 1987-88 to 2000-01, reaching the NBA Finals twice and making the Eastern Conference Finals on four different occasions.

16 years later, the Knicks are in danger of missing the NBA Playoffs in a devastating four consecutive seasons.

New York’s postseason drought began in 2013-14—the season before Phil Jackson was hired as team president. It was the result of a stunning decline from 54 wins and the division title in 2012-13 to 37 wins and a lottery pick in 2013-14.

Unfortunately, the Knicks didn’t even receive a first-round draft pick in 2014—a point that will be touched upon shortly.

New York then won a franchise-worst 17 games in an attempt to tank in 2014-15—a gamble that yielded Kristaps Porzingis in a Knicks jersey. It also won 32 games in 2015-16, and though it was a 15-win improvement, it didn’t result in a postseason appearance.

No matter how beneficial a tank job could be, there’s one aspect that simply cannot be ignored: it would entail the Knicks missing the playoffs in four consecutive seasons.