On June 25, 2015, the New York Knicks took a step back in becoming a contending basketball team. At this point I feel like the New York Knicks could use: Stacey Patton, Allan Houston, Willis Reed, and Patrick to help change the culture with the Knicks. In last night’s NBA Draft, Phil Jackson selected Kristaps Porzingis 4th overall, which to some it felt like a reach. At the fourth spot in the draft, Jahlil Okafor, D’Angelo Russell, and Karl Anthony-Towns were already gone, but Emmanuel Mudiay, Justise Winslow, and a host of other players were available on the draft board.
The Knicks had several options to even trade down, trade the pick, or even select someone else, but they surprised everyone with the Porzingis pick. Selecting Porzingis places a mountain of pressure on Phil Jackson. Porzingis has been dubbed the next Dirk Nowitzki, but in reality how many times have we’ve heard that about a foreign prospect? Andrea Baragni, who the Knicks recently divorced with had the same comparison as well as guys such as Nikoloz Tskitishvili and Darko Millic. Porzingis may be a diamond in the rough, but he has a huge adjustment trying to translate his game to the NBA. Porzingis could pan out to be a great player, but the odds are stacked against him.
Jackson is making all of the basketball decisions in the big apple, and as of now he has yet to make any big splashes. Prior to yesterday’s draft the Knicks had the perfect opportunity to improve as a basketball team, and yesterday they didn’t. Along with reaching with the Porzingis pick, the Knicks traded Tim Hardaway Jr., who was one of the bright spots on the lowly Knicks over the past two seasons. The Zen master has to figure out a way to incorporate his powers into this Knicks roster before he gets the Trinidad James treatment when he is in the big apple. Carmelo Anthony has to be very disappointed that he doesn’t have a capable supporting cast, and head coach Derrick Fisher is in no-man’s land at this point.
There is still time for the Knicks to make some moves this off-season, and they need to come quick fast and in a hurry. New York Knicks fans are desperately waiting for a winning team, and it seems like it may not happen soon with Jackson at the helm.
With playing in a big market with having a star player such as Anthony it should be easy to lure a few quality free agents, so the jury is still out with the Phil Jackson project. When July 1st hits the free agent circuit will be in full effect, and the Knicks will do all they can to sway players such as Marc Gasol, Kevin Love, Jimmy Butler, and LaMarcus Aldridge when they become free to negotiate with other teams. I began to wonder if Jackson is pulling our leg, and setting up to make a run at Kevin Durant in 2016, but New York Knicks fans can’t wait that long to be relevant again. Phil Jackson may be running out of options for help, and he may have to call up Eddie Franklin for some assistance.
