The New York Knicks spent the last year trading Kristaps Porzingis to create cap space, whiffing on all the big-name free agents they hoped to attract with that room and then putting together a hodgepodge collage of one- and two-year contracts to surround the few valuable pieces they have.

They’re 2-8, and after a surprise press conference with president Steve Mills and general manager Scott Perry after Sunday’s awful loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers, there’s writing on the wall.

But it’s not about their front office. Per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Malika Andrews, Mills is starting “to lay the internal groundwork for the eventual dismissal of coach David Fizdale.”

I would say that’s a shock, considering Fizdale is in his second year with the franchise. But a backwards move like this is nothing shocking when it comes to the Knicks.

It’s not Fizdale’s fault that the previous regime couldn’t see eye to eye with Porzingis, who has resumed looking every bit like the star he was in his limited Big Apple time. It’s not his fault that the marquis names took their talents elsewhere, including over the Brooklyn Bridge. And it’s certainly not his fault that he was saddled with a roster that any coach would struggle with, one that includes a plethora of power forwards, disappointments and iffy fits.

Yet he might be the one to take the fall? Really?

Who out there believed this was the roster that would compete in the East? No one should have. It’s supposed to be a year of development for RJ Barrett — who actually looks like he’s living up to the billing of being the No. 3 overall pick in the 2019 draft — Kevin Knox, Mitchell Robinson and Frank Ntilikina. The Knicks were going to be bad no matter what, although they could have taken that route by taking on bad contracts in exchange for first-round picks. It would have produced the same result with long-term dividends.

But here we are. And the kicker is part of that ESPN report:

“Rival coaches and executives see a mismatched Knicks roster slow of foot, without legitimate NBA guard play, but Mills is selling (owner James) Dolan on a poorly coached team that is underachieving at 2-8 to start the season, league sources said.”

As it seems to always be with the Knicks, it goes up the ladder. If it’s Dolan who’s demanding the franchise compete NOW and Mills has to save his job by throwing Fizdale under the bus, that’s what’s ultimately crushing any chance at putting together a winner in New York. This will keep happening — the Knicks will create cap space, no one notable will be sold on joining all this dysfunction, coaches will be axed, front offices will be remade, lather, rinse, repeat. There’s no process to trust.

This is not on Fizdale. It barely has anything to do with him — he’s just a pawn for an owner who has repeatedly failed to figure any of this out.