Photo: Anthony Gruppuso/USA TODAY Sports

Better Alternative

I mean, did you see Kanter and O’Quinn play last night? Both are solid guys but both are also familiar coming off the bench for a reason.

Tweaking with Lineups

This is a farfetched idea mainly because it is so damn stupid. But just to give Hornacek the benefit of the doubt, maybe he knew this game was over before it started. The Thunder are the third best team in the league. Their big three is eerily reminiscent of those LeBron Heat squads. Maybe Hornacek didn’t want to waste Willy. Yeah, nevermind, this idea sounds even more stupid now. Let’s move on.

Light a Spark on Defense

If you take a look at Willy’s numbers from above, one of those things is not like the others. His defensive rating sticks out as the one number that leaves you pondering a bit. Willy is many things on the basketball court, but a monster on defense is not one of them. It is the one part of his game that if he corrects, he can transform into a true force to reckoned with.

This is the only logical reason Hornacek chose not to play him against OKC:

The decision becomes less logical when you see Kanter getting sautéed and O’Quinn not doing much to relieve it. If those are the alternatives, then why the hell freeze him out?

Not only is Willy younger at 23 years old, but he is also more talented on offense and better on the boards. He is also on an extremely team friendly contract. He is on the books for two or three more seasons with a cap hit under $2 million. That’s an edited 2K contract.

Oh, and I almost forgot the most important reason: he plays extremely well with his friend Porzingis.

Cold War with Porzingis

That transitions us to the petty side of things. Lost in all the Knicks news this summer was a report of Hornacek and Porzingis not getting along. When Porzingis infamously skipped his exit meeting, it was an assumed shot at Phil Jackson. Incorrect. Porzingis was upset with someone that would be in attendance, but that man was Hornacek.

According to reports, Hornacek pulled Willy aside and asked him to tell his buddy KP to “stop playing like a pu — y”. This led to Porzingis shutting down his relationship with Hornacek and taking off for Latvia a little earlier than expected. Hornacek sent a couple texts to his star over the summer to mend the fence, but Porzingis left him on read. That’s the last we really heard about it, which leads me to believe there is still no love lost between the two.

Hornacek and Porzingis could have a similar relationship to Jon Snow and Alliser Thorne in Game of Thrones. For those unfamiliar, Thorne was an old ranger who knew Jon was his best ranger, but simply did not take a liking to him. In addition to humiliating Jon any chance he got, he also took his frustrations out on Jon’s friend, neighborhood nerd Sam Tarly. Thorne eventually went after Jon, which ultimately led to Thorne being hung for treason.

Has Willy become the Sam Tarly to Porzingis’ Jon Snow? I believe so. Hornacek knows he cannot touch Porzingis. Jackson lost his untouchable status trying to push KP out over the summer. So instead, he is going after his best friend on the team. Freezing Willy out is his way of sticking it to Porzingis. Will Porzingis step in and call for Hornacek’s head? I know I want Hornacek’s head on a spike already.

Hornacek Wants Out

Maybe Hornacek simply wants out. He’s seen the dysfunction and the toxicity of working in James Dolan’s cesspool. The one player worth coaching for does not like him and the feeling appears to be mutual. Why stick around?

He spent his first season being force fed the team president’s offense and still has to deal with Kurt Rambis being on his bench. I don’t blame him for not wanting to stick around. Not playing Willy (and to lesser degree Frank Ntilikina) is a more subtle approach, but continued rotation mismanagement could be nice way to walk away and still keep all his money. In his two years at MSG, he knows Dolan does not have an issue paying guys not to work. I must say I do not fully blame him.

Willy Attempted to Bag Abby Hornacek

This is the most farfetched of the bunch and one most likely to get me duffed by Hornacek. The things I do for The Knicks Wall.

Jeff Hornacek has an attractive daughter named Abby. She works for ESPN and even hosts her own sports talk show. Willy is also young and in the sports business. His buddy Porzingis has already shown a propensity to slide into the DMs. I think it’s safe to assume Willy has slid into his fair share as well.

Maybe, just maybe, Willy was scrolling through IG (Note: Abby and Willy do not follow each other on Instagram or Twitter) and Abby caught his eye. Maybe he respectfully slid into the young Hornacek’s DMs asking her out to dinner but was kindly rejected. And maybe the older Hornacek found out about it.

Mix his already transferrable hatred towards Willy (via Porzingis) with this, and you get a pretty pissed off dad/boss. I highly doubt this was the case, but in the NBA nothing is off limits.