Break-ups are never easy, especially if you thought you’d found the one. Kristaps Porzingis was supposed to be the one, our franchise player. He was the unicorn; a player from an exotic land with a skillset so unique that he pretty much signaled a new era of shooting big men. He was homegrown too, someone that New York took under it’s wing and watched grow up to buy his teammates custom Timbs. The Knicks haven’t re-signed a rookie long term since Charlie Ward and haven’t developed their own franchise player since Patrick Ewing. Today he demanded a trade and Scott Perry obliged almost immediately; it’s over, no turning back now.
The scariest and most hopeful thing about a split like this is looking at the possibilities. Listen the Knicks just picked up two first round picks, an ultra athletic slashing 21 year old prospect at Point guard in Dennis Smith Jr and two expiring contracts in Wes Mathews and Deandre Jordan that will translate to enough cap space for Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving to team-up at the Garden. They have the best odds in the league to land the number one, pretty much guaranteed to be Zion Williamson. By dealing away Tim Hardaway Jr, Courtney Lee and Trey Burke; they may have locked those odds up (assuming they waive Jordan and Mathews). On the other hand, the best odds give them a 14% chance at Williamson while they’ll be sitting on 48% odds to pick fifth even in the best circumstance. Any max player, such as Durant and Kyrie, could get squeamish looking at the worst team and the league especially if they don’t wind up with the best player in the draft. To top it off, you don’t clear this much cap and come out of the offseason with nothing to show for it. The top free agents spurning the Knicks could leave them overpaying a second tier of solid but not king making players to join the fifth pick in the draft for a team that has treadmill upside and angry mob downsides. There is opportunity to strike big but there are a lot of ways to strike out and wind up in a situation that is worse than where we started this morning.
One thing is certain though, this is an opportunity to grow and become a better team right now. Porzingis demanded a trade because the Knicks left him worried and uncertain about his own future. But in dealing him away, the Knicks also gave themselves a lot more space to focus on the youth. Tim Hardaway was the leading the Knicks in field goal attempts and Trey Burke was part of a logjam at the point guard position. This trade likely signals a firesale for some of the other vets on the team, such as Enes Kanter who appeared to revel in the news that KP wanted out. That means the youngest team in the league is likely to get even younger and focus will fall entirely on the youth. Newly acquired Dennis Smith Jr joins Frank Ntilikina, Kevin Knox, Mitchell Robinson, Allonzo Trier and Luke Kornet in the under 25 and signed to multi-year contract crowd. David Fizdale has mentioned that players like Kanter didn’t fit with the identity he wants to establish for this young core. He alluded to wanting to play these kids in the roles that he foresees for them in the future. Now, nothing short of injuries will prevent him from being able to play the kids and focus on giving them a new and improved identity.
This is still really frustrating though. Look, I have no idea how to truly judge this trade until we reach the offseason and find out how that cap space is spent. On top of that, Dennis Smith Jr’s development and the draft picks in 2021 and 2023 could all change the way we look back on the fateful day that the Knicks and their franchise cornerstone decided to part ways. But past missteps can’t help but work their way into my mind. There are directions this can all take that would leave me looking back and wondering what could have been, but there are also higher peaks than I believe this team had a chance to reach with KP still needing cap space just to offer one player a max contract. I’ve got a pitchfork ready if this all goes south. But for now, I’m going to enjoy watching a collective of young promising players develop with the promise of a top five pick joining their fold. I’m about to be locked into the roller coaster ride of free agency with cap space and handful of gamechangers that could be the first guy to bring a NBA championship to NYC in my lifetime. The glass is half empty but in a few months there’s a legitimate possibility that our cup will runneth over. So for now, I’m just keeping my fingers crossed and hoping that the future becomes clearer as we see watch what the young Knicks grow into. But if Frank gets traded before Enes Kanter we riot tho…
Care to elaborate, breh?
