Written by: Bobby Engelhard

Twitter: @wingspansports (follow for all your sports information; we follow back)

First off, fuck Jeff Hornacek. I say this because that is basically what Joakim Noah, Kristaps Porzingis, and Willy Hernangomez have said about this guy already. This guy is the worse strategic NBA coach I have ever seen and his players hate him on top of that. To make it even better, he has stunted the growth of our young players. We have a young center in Willy Hernangomez asking for a trade and Joakim Noah being sent away from the team after wanting to kill Jeff Hornacek. This quote by Kristaps Porzingis says exactly how dumb he thinks Jeff Hornacek is: “It’s pretty much we’re doing the same thing over and over again. Maybe teams know what we’re doing.” Enough is enough. He must be fired ASAP, but that is a story for another day. Due to his horrendous coaching, the Knicks are now out of the playoff race and should focus on the future. They are currently four games behind the 8th seeded 76ers. With only 28 games to go with and only seven of them against teams under 500, the season is over from a playoff standpoint. The trade deadline is this Thursday at 4pm and I would advise strongly in moving many of our players. Let’s go over who should stay and who should go and what I would expect for these players.

Trade these guys and someone is getting assaulted

Kristaps Porzingis Frank Ntilikina Willy Hernangomez Any Draft picks in 2018 or 2019

Kristaps Porzingis is the cornerstone to this team moving forward. At the age of 22, he is already an All-Star and is only going to get better. People love to get on him, but in reality how many other guys at the age of 22 or younger would you prefer to have on your team? The answer is probably nobody, so Kristaps Porzingis is here to stay. I feel Frank Ntilikina is also a building block on this team, and once we get a competent coach, we will see him blossom. Dennis Smith Jr is averaging 29 minutes a night for the Mavericks whose team is in a similar position to ours. Dennis Smith Jr is allowed to grow and learn and play because his coach Rick Carlisle is a real NBA coach. Frank Ntilikina should be treated the same way so he can get better. Willy Hernangomez has been in the news lately because it was reported he asked to be traded. I do not blame him as he should without a doubt be playing. He has the tools to be a very effective big man and needs to be unleashed. The other problem is his trade value is not very high because of the Knicks brain-dead coach refusing to play him. What is the point of trading Willy Hernagomez for a second-round pick when the goal of draft picks is to get young talented players? I wouldn’t even think about trading a first round pick for this year or next. Most likely we will be in the lottery this season and I want to save next years pick to potentially trade with other assets for a star player.

Willing to trade but only if fleecing somebody

Tim Hardaway Jr. 2020 and beyond first round pick

Tim Hardaway Jr. is definitely part of the solution here in New York. Hardaway Jr., at 25, is a solid shooter and can put the ball in the basket. He is still growing as a player and I think his contract now looks like a steal based off his potential. I would have no problem moving Tim Hardaway Jr. in the right deal. The right deal for me would be a combination of drafts picks and young promising players. Examples of deals I would pull the trigger on for Tim Hardaway Jr would be this:

Knicks receive Kelly Oubre Jr, Marcin Gortat and 2018 second-round pick from Wizards for Tim Hardaway Jr.

Knicks receive Davis Bertans, Rudy Gay, 2019 first round pick, 2018 second-round pick for Tim Hardaway Jr.

I’m not saying these are trades other teams would make, but that would be the type of package I would want in order to move Tim Hardaway Jr. at this point in time.

Any future first round picks beyond this year and next need to bring me back a legit young player who is already established but has even more upside. An example of someone would be Julius Randle from the Lakers. I would much rather save this ammo for the future so that when we are good enough to be a playoff team ,we can add another star caliber player.

Guys who must be traded to better the future

Enes Kanter Courtney Lee Kyle O’Quinn Lance Thomas Jarrett Jack

Everyone on this list has some uses to a NBA team, but none of them make sense on a team that is going to miss the playoffs and has a young team. These guys either are blocking younger guys or are not going to be around for future success anyway, so might as well cash in the chips now. Enes Kanter would have great value to a contending team needing help on the interior. I think you can get a first round pick back for him pretty easily. Enes Kanter has been a good Knick, but he is a free agent a the end of the year. No sense holding on to him when we could resign him in the off-season (something I would not do). Courtney Lee could get a late first-round pick if the right deal is struck. He is a perfect cog for a winning team to plug in. His contract is reasonable and he is a winning player. Courtney Lee is a good player, but his career time line and the Knicks’ timeline do not mesh, so he should go. Kyle O’Quinn has a great contract and is a solid per minute player, so he is ideal for a bench role on a good team. One deal I would like to see for Kyle O’Quinn would be him for Patrick McCaw on the Warriors. Due to Kyle O’Quinn’s contract and value, he is a player who can bring us back a young player on a good team that gets no minutes and is expendable to them, but has some upside. Lance Thomas and Jarrett Jack probably have very little value and I would take any type of pick back for them. To me, just getting Jack off the team so Trey Burke and Frank Nkitlina can play more is a huge positive. Our current coach is too stupid to figure that out when given the option.

Michael Beasley and Doug McDermott I would also move if we can get something back, but I cannot imagine them garnering much attention. These two guys I would be interested in resigning for next season, however. Michael Beasley has found a home it seems and is finally showing his potential on a pretty consistent basis. We need shooters on this team moving forward, like McDermott, and he is a gritty player so I would welcome him back. As far as Joakim Noah, I would play him and try to regain some value to him and maybe try to do something about moving him in the off-season. Either way I think Noah if given some minutes can be productive so I do not see the reason to banish him at this point. I also would not consider the stretch provision on him because I do not want the cap hit over the next five years. Trey Burke looks good in limited time and I would love to see him get more minutes so we can get a better idea of what he can be for us next season and beyond.

We will see what our new GM Scott Perry and Steve Mills are made of come this Thursday. Let’s hope they do not ask Jeff Hornacek for advice.