2019-20 New York Knicks

2018-19: 17-65
Draft picks: 3,55

Signed for next season ($36m): Lance Thomas (not guaranteed), Frank Ntilikina, Dennis Smith Jr, Kevin Knox, Alonzo Trier, Henry Ellenson, Damyean Dotson, Mitchell Robinson
I think Lance Thomas will be bought out to make room for free agents, while the rest will make a fine 2nd string (or trade bait for non-free agents).
Since Ntilikina is the next highest salary, I would expect him to get involved in any deal they make this summer.
Smith still has time to blossom, I'd give him all the minutes next season.
Knox can't be as bad as he looked last season, I'd give him all the minutes.
Trier looks like a really great 2nd string PG, he's the 6th Man candidate.
Ellenson is a big kid who is reasonably smart and has okay hands. Fine 2nd string guy, he's probably getting 5-15 minutes next year.
I still kinda like Dotson, not a big star, not a lot of minutes, but a decent defensive rotation big man.
Robinson is a potential star (and there's nothing better going on in NYK), give him all the minutes.


This summer's free agents: Deandre Jordan, Mario Hezonja, Emmanual Mudiay, Noah Vonleh, Luke Kornet, John Jenkins, Kadeem Allen, Isaish Hicks, Biully Garrett
I think they bring back Jordan, started taking a lot of criticism in Dallas but I never understood why, I think he's still an effective presence down low. I can see Vonleh coming back, too, if the money is low enough. The rest I think will be elsewhere next year.


Next year's lineup:
Wow, all year long the talk was of the Knicks landing Durant and Kyrie and Zion and then they'd be awesome forever. Well, Zion is not coming, Durant won't be around next year and Kyrie seems to wanna play in Brooklyn instead; and, just for good measure, Demarcus Cousins reinjured his leg and Kemba Walker is said to be headed to the Lakers. So, uh, what do the Knicks have left?

I'll go ahead and throw out a pointless trade idea right here:
Knicks get PG Mike Conley (2yrs/$32.5m next year); Grizzlies get #3 pick, Frank Ntilikina (2yrs/$4.8m next year, team option the year after that)

If I'm the Grizzlies, I'm all about sucking next year, let's get the process working! Their competition for next year is gonna be the pre-season top 5 Memphis Tigers, so the Grizzlies may as well start scouting that badass recruiting class. The Grizzlies can take Ntilikina back as a warm body to replace Conley (and not win games) and to sweeten the deal for the Knicks (to help dump salary).

The Knicks are all about the free agents now, they don't really need that #3 pick--Zion and Morant are one thing but beyond that, they'd be better off with someone like Conley. They can start with 2 years of Conley, give 5 years to Durant, re-sign Jordan (say, 2yrs/$30m?) and still have a ton of space to build around that trio. Personally, I'd aim for Patrick Beverley, Willie Cauley-Stein and Paul Millsap and maybe even Austin Rivers (though I'm guessing JJ Reddick or Tobias Harris or Trevor Ariza would be the sexier targets). Oh well, they'd still have a ton of money even after adding Conley and Durant if they went this route.

That #3 pick gives them a shot at a currently unavailable big star which is a much better get for the Knicks than another rookie that sucks up attention and doesn't get it done (*). The strategy is thus: find a team with one last good star that is ready to start tanking. I don't think that gets them Blake Griffin (Pistons), Chris Paul (Rockets), or Kevin Love (Cavs). But the Grizzlies are gonna suck anyway, sparing Mike Conley seems like the humane thing to do, and getting on to the re-build may as well start now. And Conley, Durant and Deandre with all those youngsters is a good start in the East.

Bringing back Deandre Jordan gives them something like a star to lure others in with. The young players (Smith Jr, Trier, Knox, Dotson, Robinson,even Ellenson could be useful) are a little raggedy but still has promise as a supporting cast. They can still go try for Durant (seemed like a foregone conclusion all year long, now I don't see it happening) and then just try to tank out another year before Durant joins the team. If Durant signs, then they go for another year of short term deals with also-rans of recent drafts: Stanley Johnson, Frank Kaminski, Justin Patton, Jake Layman, Elfrid Peyton, etc. Then aim for another draft pick and a new raft of free agents because they'd still have a pretty flexible roster next summer.

But, man, they thought they were getting Durant and Kyrie and Zion and now they got...what do they got?


(*) Let's be honest: the Knicks, like the Cubs, don't actually need to be any good to make a shit ton of money and suck up all the media chatter. And that whole 'building from the ground up' approach just takes forever, why not go for the gusto? Well....the reason most teams don't do that is because that approach virtually never works. But this is the Knicks, it doesn't matter what they do, they're gonna get all the attention and sell out games even if they're starting Geno Smith at PG.