The NBA’s trade deadline passed Thursday afternoon and the time for activity was over. The Knicks stayed put, letting last week’s Kristaps Porzingis deal act as their final say ahead of this summer.



Now, the season of silence has begun. The one that has teams organizing and pivoting for the start of free agency. The one that’s all maneuvering for one of the most star-studded classes to hit the market in memory. The one that the Knicks, as much as they’ve tried to proclaim otherwise, are at the center of.



There will be a postseason in the NBA this year and there will be a draft and there will be history. But for the Knicks, all that matters is the shifting of the league’s tectonic plates ahead of July 1. Only 143 days remain and the countdown is on.



Their trade of Porzingis last week cemented the Knicks’ position there. Kevin Durant’s nine days of quiet only exacerbated it.



The NBA is no longer centered...