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Knicks Rumors: Five reasons firing Jeff Hornacek would be premature

By Maxwell Ogden

SACRAMENTO, CA - MARCH 4: Head coach Jeff Hornacek of the New York Knicks coaches against the Sacramento Kings on March 4, 2018 at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California. Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images)
SACRAMENTO, CA - MARCH 4: Head coach Jeff Hornacek of the New York Knicks coaches against the Sacramento Kings on March 4, 2018 at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California. Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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SACRAMENTO, CA – MARCH 4: Head coach Jeff Hornacek of the New York Knicks coaches Trey Burke #23 against the Sacramento Kings on March 4, 2018 at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California. Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images)
SACRAMENTO, CA – MARCH 4: Head coach Jeff Hornacek of the New York Knicks coaches Trey Burke #23 against the Sacramento Kings on March 4, 2018 at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California. Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images) /

3. The Imperfect Roster

New York Knicks general manager Scott Perry was hired exactly two weeks into free agency. Thus, it’s hard to hold it against him that the Knicks have played a vast majority of the 2017-18 season with glaring flaws at key positions.

Nevertheless, one would be remiss to ignore the fact that the Knicks had glaring voids at two essential positions: Small forward and point guard.

Prior to Perry’s hiring, team president Steve Mills signed shooting guard Tim Hardaway Jr. to a lucrative four-year contract. It wasn’t a bad move, but it was a decision that created conflict considering another 2-guard, Courtney Lee, is on a four-year deal worth $48 million.

Without a small forward on the roster who could be viewed as a starting-caliber player on a postseason-caliber team, Hornacek was forced to start multiple guards.

Furthermore, the Knicks entered the regular season with three point guards: Rookie Frank Ntilikina, 31-year-old Ramon Sessions, and 34-year-old Jarrett Jack. Ntilikina is now viewed as more of a shooting guard, Sessions is shooting 32.3 percent from the field, and Jack is 34.

There are certainly fair questions about why Hornacek didn’t let Ntilikina play through his inconsistencies, but he wasn’t the one who put off calling up Trey Burke.

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