New York Knicks’ silver lining is nonexistent amid disastrous season

After yet another blowout loss, and with coach David Fizdale’s looming status, there is nowhere to look but down for the New York Knicks.

Coach David Fizdale used the word “sickening” to describe the New York Knicks’ latest loss—a 129-92 crushing by the Denver Nuggets. It was the team’s second consecutive game of losing by at least 35 points.

This was not always out of hand, either, at 50-44, Denver, in the second quarter. Failing to defend the three-point field goal was the Knicks unraveling, though, leading to a 17-1 run by coach Mike Malone’s squad and the landslide deficit for the rest of the game.

Thursday’s performance was a disaster for the Knicks. The front office, coach and players all deserve blame for not just this, but Monday’s nightmare against the Bucks and the 4-18 record through just over one-fourth of the season. They are on a worse pace than 2018-19’s 17-65 team, that featured fringe NBA talents and three rookies.

Amazingly, there’s not a silver lining to pick out—not even the payroll situation. Sure, the Knicks can back out of six of their seven signings from July, but who, at this point, expects anything to be done with available cap space?

The only veterans providing a worthwhile impact are Marcus Morris and Taj Gibson. However, the former can leave by season’s end and is a potential trade candidate, and the latter man’s production only goes so far in a leadership role. The rest of the group has been irrelevant.

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It continues with the youth. In Year Two of Fizdale’s run, no player has taken a significant step forward, from Kevin Knox‘s struggles to Allonzo Trier maintaining an end-of-the-bench spot. Mitchell Robinson‘s foul woes have regressed, as well, and while zero personal calls against Denver was a step in the right direction, he has a long way to go.

This even applies to RJ Barrett, who started the year hot but went ice cold on Nov. 1 and tailed off through the past four weeks. It’s too early into his career to be disparaged, but as other young players struggle, the No. 3 overall pick’s concerns have become more apparent.

Turn to Fizdale’s job itself. His dismissal may be inevitable, but does inserting any interim coach from the bench create hope? It’s difficult to think anyone, let alone a face from outside the organization to take the permanent role, is the answer. The problems go deeper, beyond a coaching change as Marc Stein of the New York Times alluded to:

Take it one step further. What if the Knicks changed out the front office? Maybe some fans want it, but different regimes have cycled through over the years, all, eventually, to no avail. If a new group takes over, it means starting from the beginning in the rebuild—if that even exists anymore—and making sweeping changes. Again, maybe some fans want that, but there are no guarantees for what’s at the finish line, much like the hope that arrived with the cap-space saga earlier this year.

Seeking a silver lining is impossible right now. Perhaps some New York Knicks fans see a light at the end of this dark tunnel, but this trainwreck of a season gets worse by the game, and it’s hard to figure where this organization goes once everyone is scapegoated.