New York Knicks: Should the team want to play again in 2019-20?

All indications point to the NBA leaving the New York Knicks out of  their return-to-play plans.

As the NBA considers a variety of return-to-play proposals, it appears the New York Knicks 2019-20 season is already over. While there are scenarios that could see all 30 teams return to action, the New York Post reports it’s a “long shot” for the league to bring back lower lottery teams like the Knicks.

While most Knicks fans and probably many within the organization would be just as happy to end the season, secure the team’s lottery odds, and move on to hiring a new coach, is it short-sighted to give up on the opportunity to play a few competitive games before breaking for the offseason?

Obviously, there are health concerns that take precedence over basketball in deciding whether to put additional players at risk in order to play potentially meaningless games.

But assuming the league considers the same factors in bringing back 20 teams as they would all 30, and focusing purely on the basketball matter, are the Knicks missing a chance to develop their young team by being excluded from the rest of the season?

Should the New York Knicks be looking to complete the 2019-20 season for player development?

With the 2019-20 season now likely to be pushed into the fall, when will the Knicks get a chance to play together again? ESPN reported on Monday that it’s possible the league organizes mandatory summer training camps and regional fall leagues to help bridge the gap between the time when the season was put on pause (March 2019) until the 2020-21 season might begin (perhaps as late as Christmas 2020).

However, if we have learned anything since the pandemic hit, it is that we know nothing. The future is full of surprises, and as coronavirus-related restrictions continue to ease across the country, it can almost be expected that a second wave will come at some point in time, which might make it impossible for teams to re-organize for informal play in September or October.

In other words, it could be 8-9 months before the Knicks play together as a team in a competitive environment again. Maybe, if the rumors of Tom Thibodeau being the lead candidate to take over as coach are true, the team could use the long break before he starts playing key players 47 minutes per night.

But if the ultimate goal of this otherwise lost season is to continue to develop young players like R.J. Barrett, Mitchell Robinson, Kevin Knox, etc. etc. then it would seem beneficial to get them some reps before they are forced to sit out for the next several months.

There are no easy answers in deciding how to return-to-play amid a pandemic. If the league feels it is safer to reduce the number of teams who are forced to isolate together in a remote location, then that is what makes the most sense. But it’s interesting to think about how the long break impacts the Knicks’ ability to develop their young players relative to other teams who are allowed to return to action.