New York Knicks: Five most intriguing games of 2019-20 schedule

3. Three… four… maybe five cheers for Zion

Speaking of New York Knicks fans greeting opposing players, Zion Williamson is potentially set to receive the biggest welcoming of them all when the Pelicans come to town on Friday, Jan. 10 for their first and only game in Manhattan.

For those who missed last season, college basketball and the NBA draft lottery, the Knicks were the buzz to take Williamson first overall. They had the league’s worst record and, for once, this franchise was poised to have something draft-related fall into their laps, as previous regimes traded first-round picks or “busts” were selected.

However, that league-worst record came with just 14 percent odds to win the first pick. Instead, the Pelicans and Memphis Grizzlies jumped them from lower in the lottery. This let the Knicks take Williamson’s Duke teammate, RJ Barrett, with the No. 3 pick, but after all the expectations and the dramatized hype, it seemed disappointing, at the time, for them to fall short.

Well, with all the NBA star movement, does that mean it is never too soon to begin recruiting? That is not for the Knicks, but their fans, who can warmly welcome Williamson to Madison Square Garden, where he played one game at for Duke in December 2018, and proceed from there.