New York Knicks: Why This Season Is Actually A Success
By Will Stern
The New York Knicks have been disappointing in 2016-17, but it may be working out for the best. Find out why this season is a success.
The New York Knicks are a bad team. They’re in danger of finishing their season behind the Philadelphia 76ers. Not a Sixers team that is flush with their emerging young talent, but a Sixers team that doesn’t have Ben Simmons or Joel Embiid.
This is the mark of a truly terrible team.
However, to say this season is a disaster, a waste, or even a disappointment is not only incorrect, but it is to miss the forest for the trees.
The moment the signing of Joakim Noah was announced—a revoltingly inordinate four-year, $72 million dollar contract—not a single person could honestly say they thought it would end well. This is the one truly indefensible deed that is cited in the valuation of the Knicks’ rocky season.
No denying it, it was a pure, unadulterated, time-honored, Knicks debacle from the second it began.
Removing the Phil Jackson frailty that is the Noah signing, let’s examine the main objectives of this season.
Develop Kristaps Porzingis
What more can be said about the Latvian giant that hasn’t already been articulated?
He’s undoubtedly the cornerstone of the franchise. That being clear, one of the first goals for this season has been, as it should be, the development of KP. His offense has improved this season by every metric.
He looks more confident in the post. He doesn’t hesitate to shoot his three-ball, which has him up to 37.2 from beyond the arc from last year’s clip of 33.3 percent. He’s been driving to the hole with a vengeance.
The only offensive category in which he has taken a hit is in free throw percentage, but he is still shooting close to 80 percent while taking half an attempt more per game.
Defensively, he’s quietly turning in excellent performances every night. He’s seventh in the league in blocked shots (1.9 per game) and is one of the top players in field goal defense around the rim.
Porzingis is balling, despite some stretches where he looked tired. It’s fair to say the development of Kristaps Porzingis is full speed ahead.
Find Pieces To Pair With Kristaps Porzingis
Willy Hernangomez and Mindaugas Kuzminskas have made it clear that you can never have enough Europeans on your NBA team. Hernangomez has broken out as an animal on the glass. In games in which he has played more than 19 minutes, he’s averaging over 11 rebounds per game.
He has shown flashes of brilliance around the basket, as well as a decent shooting touch.
Kuzminskas has been more than adequate in his limited role for the Knicks this season. His numbers don’t jump out at you, but the value of Kuzminskas is his gritty play style, his shot-creating potential, and his ability to play within the flow of the offense.
These two diamonds in the rough are huge wins for a Knicks franchise that desperately needed to find some internal talent.
- Don’t do anything disastrous
This one is difficult to accomplish when you’re the Knicks, but this season hasn’t been as full of the disaster that Dolan and Co. usually provide.
The Courtney Lee signing was fantastic. He’s a solid defender, superb shooter and is looking more and more like he can be a focal point on offense. Kyle O’Quinn has proven himself to be a tough competitor and consistent contributor. Justin Holiday can knock down some threes and play tough defense. Ron Baker is showing signs that he can play in this league.
The Knicks were actually wise at the deadline. They didn’t chase after an overpaid, under-skilled point guard in Ricky Rubio. They didn’t trade any draft picks. They didn’t alienate any of their players—okay, we’ll get to Carmelo Anthony later.
They could have traded Jennings, but there wasn’t a big market for him anyway.
The Chasson Randle experiment looks to be going well. He had a wonderful showing against the Magic in his second appearance, pouring in five assists and five rebounds to go with his seven points in 26 minutes.
- Military Grade Sherman Tank
Nobody wants their team to tank. That’s what makes the stealth tank so incredible. Everyone is up in arms about how terrible the season has been, but would the Knicks truly be better off if sixth seed and lost in the opening round of the playoffs to the Wizards?
No, they wouldn’t be better off. It may be fun to watch your team play well, but the ultimate goal is a championship and this season is more conducive to that goal than a marginal winning record would have allowed.
The Knicks are going to be in the draft lottery and have a chance to draft a guard in one of the deepest drafts in recent memory.
Must Read: The pros and cons of starting Kristaps Porzingis at center
The season may not have been pretty. In fact, it was really gross at times—some would say hard to watch, perhaps pathetic. But you need lemons to make lemonade and this season has been quite a large lemon harvest