Is it bad that the Knicks didn’t make a move at the deadline?

Did the Knicks make the right choice staying put at the deadline? Our trio of NBA writers discuss.

F5 season is over folks, and man, what a week. The Toronto Raptors traded for Serge Ibaka and P.J. Tucker in order to make a playoff run, the Sacramento Kings traded Demarcus Cousins and Omri Casspi for Buddy “literally Steph Curry” Hield and a bowl of jambalaya, and the Knicks made zero trades.

Negotiations went down to the wire with the Minnesota Timberwolves, leading to the Wolves balking on an offer for a Derrick Rose-Ricky Rubio swap.

There weren’t many other Knicks players linked to significant and substantial rumors, and Rose was primarily connected to the Timberwolves. When the trade deadline passed, a number of Knicks fans on various social media platforms were disappointed that no trade was made.

To gain more clarity on the situation, Gotham Sports Network NBA writers Jeremy Cohen, Mike Colon, and myself answered the following questions:

How does staying put affect the remainder of the season? Did the front office screw up by not trading anyone? What does this mean for the Knicks this off-season?

Each writer was tasked with addressing a specific question. Let’s get into it.

How does staying put affect the remainder of the season?

Jeremy Cohen

The bad news from this quiet deadline is the Knicks didn’t acquire any assets. The good news is that they also didn’t give up any assets! The Knicks currently have the eighth-worst record in the NBA and are only one game away from being tied for the fifth-worst record. FiveThirtyEight currently predicts that the Knicks have a three percent chance of making the playoffs this season and will likely finish with a record of 32–50. Even the biggest optimists must be thinking, “Let’s just look towards this deep draft instead of thinking playoffs.”

As I discussed in early January, it would be foolish to give up on the season after only 34 games. At 16–18, I believed it would be something to consider if the team continued to free fall. Since then, the Knicks are 7–17.

Because the Knicks neither added outside help nor traded away any players, it’s up to the front office to dictate to Jeff Hornacek if the team will make a playoff push or embrace mediocrity. Should the front office decide to tank the rest of the season, the team would be wise to give more playing time to its bench. This way the Knicks could develop and evaluate players like Ron Baker and Maurice Ndour while simultaneously trying to increase the team’s chances of securing a better position in the NBA Draft.

This is what the league standings would look like in descending order if the season ended today.

Image via Tankathon.com

Of these teams, Brooklyn, Phoenix, Los Angeles, Orlando, Philadelphia, and Sacramento were all sellers by the trade deadline. Three teams, Dallas, New Orleans, and Portland, were buyers. The rest of the teams in the lottery either didn’t make a trade (Minnesota, New York, and Miami) or made lateral moves (Charlotte and Milwaukee). Of the remaining 24 games, 14 are against teams that would qualify for the playoffs if the season ended today. Additionally, 12 of the 24 games are away, 10 of which are in the Knicks’ next 15 games. Considering that the Knicks have played much better at home (14–15) than on the road (9–20), those 15 games could be the final nails in the coffin for New York’s season.

With the 18th-easiest remaining schedule, the Knicks must give significant minutes to their less experienced players if they want to increase their chances of securing a top-5 draft pick. For reference, the lottery teams with easier remaining schedules are Philadelphia (20th), Phoenix (21st), Mavericks (25th), Brooklyn (25th), Orlando (26th) and Portland (29th). If the Knicks can finish the season at least three games worse than every team below them in the standings, New York will finish with the fourth-worst record and can only fall to as low as seventh in the draft.

The Knicks would also be wise to make Kristaps Porzingis a focal point in the offense. There will come a time in perhaps the not-so-distant future where Carmelo Anthony is no longer a Knick. Once that happens, Porzingis must be ready to take the reins and be a hub offensively. If guys like Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah, and Courtney Lee aren’t the future of this team, why give them extended minutes and jeopardize any chance of landing a better draft pick? A lineup consisting of Sasha Vujacic, Baker, Ndour, Porzingis, and Willy Hernangomez to close out games would be perfect if the Knicks are interested in tanking and developing players. And sure, Vujacic is no spring chicken, but he’s a veteran who can facilitate and help instruct the younger players while sharing the court with them.

Did the front office screw up by not trading anyone?

Mike Colon

Although they were one of the teams most often mentioned in trade rumors leading up to the NBA trade deadline, the New York Knicks ultimately decided to stand pat. The fan base may be upset, but a quiet deadline may actually have been a blessing.

For starters, let’s quickly address some of the elephants in the room. First up: Carmelo Anthony. He was never realistically going to be traded anywhere, continuously reiterating his desire to remain with the Knicks. As far as the other players are concerned, it’s no secret the Knicks couldn’t wait to rid themselves of point guard Derrick Rose, who was nearly dealt to the Timberwolves for Rubio; Minnesota backed off the “straight-up swap.”

As ESPN Radio’s Robin Lundberg pointed out, Phil Jackson has received the short end of the stick in every deal he’s made since taking over as team president in 2014, with the Tyson Chandler and JR Smith and Iman Shumpert trades serving as prime examples. With a man as incompetent as Jackson in charge, New York standing pat is a sigh of relief, not a failure as some are depicting.

Plus, considering the fact the Knicks’ best option is to tank for the remainder of the season, why attempt to tweak the perfect formula to getting a high draft pick? The best (or saddest) part about this season is that the Knicks are not purposely trying to lose. They are just that bad, and with a loaded draft class this year, why not continue to stink?

The Knicks, similar to the 2014–15 season, are picking the perfect time to be bad. This summer’s draft should bring the team a legitimate and more well-rounded point guard than someone like Rose, who will clearly be making his exit from the Big Apple after this season.

The Knicks’ trade deadline had a theme to it: suffer now, succeed later.

What does this mean for the Knicks this off-season?

Drew Steele

By staying put at the trade deadline, it is still unknown whether or not the Knicks will finally commit to rebuilding around Kristaps Porzingis or take another shot at making the playoffs and having Porzingis and Hernangomez develop on a competitive, winning team. That was the goal of last off-season and as of right now, it has clearly failed. So, the question becomes: what are the team’s options in the off-season?

Much has been made about the Knicks finally having cap space and cap flexibility moving forward. The Knicks can have a maximum of about $25 million in cap space heading into the offseason (this figure does not include the cap hold figures for rookies), per Spotrac. If the Knicks do not add any significant contracts this offseason both in length and value, the team is looking to have even more cap space heading into the 2018, 2019, and 2020 off-seasons, especially if Anthony decides to opt out of his contract in in the 2018 off-season. With the only truly bad contract on the cap being Joakim Noah’s, the Knicks are quite solid in terms of financials.

However, there is a slight caveat to this. The Knicks are heading into the offseason with 10 players on the roster, assuming that the team is picking up Porzingis’ team option; they can make that nine if they decide to not pick up Marshall Plumlee’s team option. Of those 10 players, Courtney Lee is the only guard under contract. The Knicks, once again, are going to have to address the guard position.

Image via Spotrac.com

Ideally, the Knicks take a guard in the upcoming draft. Whether they pick sixth as their FiveThirtyEight projection has them (see link above) or currently eighth where Tankathon has them, the Knicks are in prime position to take one of Frank Ntilikina, Malik Monk, or De’Aaron Fox, according to the latest mock draft from Draft Express. However, the Knicks still need to fill out a few more guard spots. Hopefully, the team re-signs Hyundai Sonata extraordinaire Ron Baker (The Shot Maker) to a reasonable deal, as he has shown some flashes of being a competent second ball handler and defender coming off the bench. Assuming Lee isn’t going to be traded, still uncertain at this point, though, given that Jackson and Mills primarily make trades in the offseason, that leaves a critical guard spot open.

Does the team throw the rookie point guard into the fire that is starting for the New York Knicks, or do they have that rookie as a backup and sign a stopgap point guard? This is one of the downsides to the Rose-Rubio trade falling through. Rubio was under contract until the 2019 off-season for roughly $15 million per year. With contracts continuing to rise to the cap increase last offseason, signing a point guard for what Rubio is making may be difficult. With the top name point guards like Steph Curry and Chris Paul absolutely and unequivocally not signing or considering the Knicks as a free agent destination, that does leave the Knicks with many options. Hell, would players like Jeff Teague and George Hill even consider playing for the Knicks? Maybe if they are overpaid, but that’s something the Knicks need to avoid.

Looking at the list of point guards available this off-season, there aren’t too many options. The way the Knicks aggressively shopped Rose to the Timberwolves, it is doubtful that the team brings him back. Would Brandon Jennings be willing to come back given the dysfunction of the organization? Are Patty Mills and Darren Collison options? Do the Knicks bring back Langston Galloway? Is there a professional playing in Europe that may want to come over like Sergio Rodriguez did this past year?

All of these questions suggest there is too much uncertainty heading into the off-season. The Knicks should begin to start acting like a “small market team” and rebuild via the draft. Another gamble of making a move for the playoffs would only delay the rebuild even more and continue to perpetuate the stigma of being an incompetently managed organization.

Unfortunately, all we can now is wait.