The New York Knicks were overtaken on Friday night. The Toronto Raptors jumped them for third place in the Eastern Conference's standings, leaving New York in fourth ahead of Saturday's matchup with a third Atlantic Division team, the Philadelphia 76ers. While reporting on what the outlook is ahead of February 5's NBA-wide trade deadline, SNY's Ian Begley shared that the games leading up to then could determine whether or not All-Star big man Karl-Anthony Towns is on the team afterwards.
Towns is likely to stay with Knicks through deadline, unless...
Begley told fans watching SportsNite on television that the Knicks haven't been actively engaged in any trade talks that include the three-time All-NBA center and are most likely to move forward through the deadline with a roster that includes him. However, he did leave the door open for that conversation to change – and quickly.
"They haven't been talking to teams about Karl Towns in terms of trades. I think, in a perfect world, they don't trade Karl Towns and they move forward. And they figure this thing out with the center that they traded Julius Randle, Donte DiVincenzo, and a first-round pick for. And the center that was an All-NBA player last year. I think if you have another 2-9 stretch, or a stretch like that ahead of the deadline, maybe the conversation is a little bit different because the edict for this team is to reach the NBA Finals and to win the NBA Finals," the reporter stated.
He did circle back to his original point with regard to Towns' future in the Big Apple, though, concluding with a concise summary of where the team stands with their star center.
"But I think, even if they're .500 from here going into the deadline, I think you stick with Karl Towns and you try to work through whatever issues remain there."
Knicks' championship expectations have created some pressure
New head coach Mike Brown was an open book about stepping into a role and facing championship expectations from day one. After taking the job, he told reporters about an interaction with a mother from the Westchester area.
Brown said that he was asked how he manages the high expectations in such a big market, and remarked seriously that he wouldn't get paychecks from James Dolan if he couldn't. Over halfway through the team's first regular season under the coach, the pressure from those expectations has certainly risen to the surface.
The team's Martin Luther King Jr. Day defeat to a depleted Mavericks squad sent alarms throughout the fanbase, with some going as far as to question just how tough this New York squad is. Working through whatever's been up between Brown and Towns and banding together for a deep playoff run would give the entire league a clear answer to those questions.
It would allow fans from the '70s, '90s, early '10s, or even the present day to sit back and realize these are still New York's Knicks.