Via Elite Sports NY
Key Players: Kevin Knox, Tim Hardaway Jr., Enes Kanter, Frank Ntilkina
Yes, I am aware of the existence of Kristaps Porzingis; I am also aware of the definition of player--a person taking part in a sport or a game. Emphasis on 'taking part in'. If the New York Knicks are smart Kristaps Porzingis wouldn't be classified as a player this season. Then again, this is the same franchise paying $18 million for Joakim Noah to have more blonde-bearded escapades than game appearances.
Key Players: Kristaps Porzingis, Kevin Knox, Tim Hardaway Jr., Enes Kanter, Frank Ntilkina
In his first year as the undisputed face of the franchise, Kristaps Porzingis averaged 22.7 points and 6.6 rebounds, before undergoing season-ending surgery in February to repair a torn left ACL. The New York Posts reports the earliest the 7'3 unicorn will prance onto the court again is after Christmas.
New head coach David Fizdale will attempt to be the first Knicks coach to last longer than two years since Mike D'Antoni(2008-2012). The last three New York head coaches combined for a hard-to-root-for 109-219 record, so winning a few games seems like a good place to start for Fizdale. However, with a suspiciously logical Knicks front office, losing isn't a fireable offense in New York this season.
Knicks President Steve Mills had this to say in regards to winning, " We want to win, too, but we want to win in a way that’s sustainable and we want to build it organically, through the organization. When it’s opportunistic, in our view, maybe a few years from now, we can add free agents.​"
A few things to take away from that quote: the use of 'but' in regards to winning, the words "build", "sustainable", and "organically", and the explicit refusal to build the team through free agency any time soon. It doesn't take an English major to breakdown Mills' coded language; the Knicks are finally in rebuild mode.
Draft picks Kevin Knox (8th overall) and Mitchell Robinson (36th overall) will be integral in the success of that rebuild. Another major component of how this Knicks transitional period will be judged is the finding or selecting of the franchise point guard. New York has three point guards selected in the top-10 of the draft, with the oldest being picked in 2013. As all three either lack the size or scoring ability to play two-guard, Trey Burke, Emmanuel Mudiay, and Frank Ntilikina will be forced to enter a three-way battle over the title of Knicks starting point guard.
Despite Mills' outlook on building a team through free agency, the Knicks still decided to take one-year chances on young prospects Mario "Croatian Kobe" Hezonja and Noah "no cool nickname" Vonleh.
New York's Best Case Scenario
Via Daily Fame Live
Thanks to a loaded 2018 NBA draft, New York managed to slip into two diamonds in the rough.
The diamond that shines brightest comes in the form of 6'9 former Kentucky forward Kevin Knox. Despite being the first small forward selected in this year's draft, Kevin Knox was wildly underrated throughout both his Kentucky-tenure and the pre-draft process, with trusted outlets like SI.com questioning everything from his athleticism to motor. Knox's college stats were far from eye-popping, averaging a respectable 15.6 points and 5.4 rebounds; however, those numbers were more of an emphasis on Calipari's coaching philosophy of talented individuals sacrificing personal accolades for team success.
Knox proved his less-than-stellar freshman season had more to do with his situation than his talent by dominating the Las Vegas Summer League, posting averages of 21.3 points and 6.5 rebounds. Knox, along with teammate Mitchell Robinson, earned the honor of being named to the Las Vegas Summer League Second Team.
Speaking of Mitchell Robinson.
The 7'1 bigman plays like the one kid with the late birthday who's way too tall to still be playing on an 8' goal. Much like the kid with the late birthday, Robinson relies on freakish length and attributes that only he has. There's no shimmy post moves, no up-and-unders, just catch ball, dunk ball, block shot. This simplistic playstyle allows Robinson to look like Rudy Gobert 2.0 one minute then a player trying to foul out the next. After skipping his college career to train for the NBA, Robinson is at least a year behind most rookies IQ-wise, but if David Fizdale can maximize the natural talent that accompanies a 7'4 wingspan, New York might just have found the second half of its unicornic(not a word) frontcourt.
The final block in the New York rebuild is the peg at the point guard position. A number of impressive games, including a 42 point 12 assist coming out party against Charlotte, earned Trey Burke a legitimate chance to hear his name in the starting lineup. Burke's main contender to be the Knicks lead man is second-year guard Frank Ntilikina, who, according to Steve Mills, added 10-15 pounds of muscle. However, Burke doesn't see it as a competition at all, stating, "I believe last year he(Ntilikina) played better when I was on the floor with him because he had a guy to take the pressure off him handling the ball. He can play a spot-up and when he’s ready to be aggressive and get in the lane and make plays, he could. I think he played much better with me, and he’d say that as well. I definitely see us in the backcourt a lot.​" The third candidate in the Knicks point guard battle is former seventh overall pick Emmanuel Mudiay. According to Mills, Mudiay has lost 15 pounds and is in " elite shape".
New York will be in elite shape for the future if one guard steps up with their potential-filled rookies.
New York's Worst Case Scenario
Via NBA-NBC Sports
Messages can often be misunderstood when fluffed with detail. So, New York's worst case scenario will be presented as simply as possible. Three words.
Kristaps Porzingis plays.
It's that simple to keep this season from becoming as bad as possible. Placing Porzingis on Joakim Noah-treatment allows a young team to find itself and places no pressure on an orginization that consistently cracks under it. Under no circumstance should Porzingis play in a regular season game, unless he is 10000000 percent healthy. At 7'3, lower body injuries have the potential to turn the Knicks unicorn into another franchise donkey.
Record Prediction: 27-55, One of the worst records in the league, and that's okay.