For every story, there is a beginning, middle, and end. The New York Knicks are currently at the beginning of their long journey of being a respected basketball franchise. It’s still very early on in the rebuild but at least they’re out of the prologue (Remember Krisnots Betryalgis). While they are still looking for the franchise’s bonafide superstar cornerstone, they at the very least have a 26-year first-time All-Star as well as a handful of young guys who look to be high-level NBA contributors for many years to come.
This is more of a fun read that looks back at some of the events that led to this point in the season and less about the Xs and Os of players and potential moves to be made. Let’s take a break from the playoff talks and the trade rumors to take a look at how the Knicks somehow have exited the All-Star break a winning team. We’re Knicks fans, let’s appreciate this season (we haven’t done that in a while) for what is and dive into why the fan base is so optimistic about the team.
Any team that attempts to be competitive has a moment where they realize they just don’t have what it takes to be an NBA champion. The New York Knicks realized this in 2017 when they traded Carmelo Anthony to the Oklahoma City Thunder for Enes Kanter, Doug McDermott, and a second-round draft pick. At the time this was an underwhelming haul and in retrospect, it still is a very light package for a team’s cornerstone player and their perennial all-star. Carmelo was just 32 years old and coming off his 7th straight All-Star season with the team and averaged 22 points a game.
The silver lining is that this was the real first step to building the young core the Knicks currently have. That lowly second-round draft pick ended up becoming the steal of the draft when they selected Mitchell Robinson with the 36th pick in the 2018 draft. He is currently viewed as the Knicks center of the future and is a big reason why the Knicks have the 2nd rated defense in the league (shout-out Nerlens Noel). His presence on the court has caused opponents to be wary when driving to the rim and allows his teammates to trust that there is a second line of defense if their assignment gets past them.
There is still the debate of what to do with Robinson after this season, his next contract has been a point of controversy amongst the front office and fan base, but he has no doubt proved he is an NBA caliber player worthy of an extension. Assuming the Knicks resign him, that gives them one part of the core in place. Let’s see how the rest of the young team was assembled.
Knicks are going from the laughingstock of the league to a respectable franchise.</h3>
<p>For every story, there is a beginning, middle, and end. The New York Knicks are currently at the beginning of their long journey of being a respected basketball franchise. It’s still very early on in the rebuild but at least they’re out of the prologue (Remember Krisnots Betryalgis). While they are still looking for the franchise’s bonafide superstar cornerstone, they at the very least have a 26-year first-time All-Star as well as a handful of young guys who look to be high-level NBA contributors for many years to come.</p>
<p>This is more of a fun read that looks back at some of the events that led to this point in the season and less about the Xs and Os of players and potential moves to be made. Let’s take a break from the playoff talks and the trade rumors to take a look at how the Knicks somehow have exited the All-Star break a winning team. We’re Knicks fans, let’s appreciate this season (we haven’t done that in a while) for what is and dive into why the fan base is so optimistic about the team.</p>
<h2>The Knicks’ Rebuild Begins</h2>
<p>Any team that attempts to be competitive has a moment where they realize they just don’t have what it takes to be an NBA champion. The New York Knicks realized this in 2017 when they <a href=https://dailyknicks.com/2021/03/17/new-york-knicks-road-respectability/"https://dailyknicks.com/2017/09/23/knicks-trade-rumors-nyk-serious-talks-okc-carmelo-anthony/">traded Carmelo Anthony to the Oklahoma City Thunder</a> for Enes Kanter, Doug McDermott, and a second-round draft pick. At the time this was an underwhelming haul and in retrospect, it still is a very light package for a team’s cornerstone player and their perennial all-star. Carmelo was just 32 years old and coming off his 7th straight All-Star season with the team and <a href=https://dailyknicks.com/2021/03/17/new-york-knicks-road-respectability/"https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/a/anthoca01.html" ref="nofollow">averaged 22 points a game</a>.</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">New York has agreed to a deal to send Carmelo Anthony to OKC for Enes Kanter, Doug McDermott and a draft pick, league sources tell ESPN.</p>
<p>— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) <a href=https://dailyknicks.com/2021/03/17/new-york-knicks-road-respectability/"https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/911637746124558336?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%22>September 23, 2017</a></p></blockquote>
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<p>The silver lining is that this was the real first step to building the young core the Knicks currently have. That lowly second-round draft pick ended up becoming the steal of the draft when they selected Mitchell Robinson with the 36th pick in the 2018 draft. He is currently viewed as the Knicks center of the future and is a big reason why the Knicks have the <a href=https://dailyknicks.com/2021/03/17/new-york-knicks-road-respectability/"https://www.nba.com/stats/teams/defense/?sort=DEF_RATING&dir=-1%22 target="_blank" rel="noopener">2nd rated defense in the league</a> (shout-out Nerlens Noel). His presence on the court has caused opponents to be wary when driving to the rim and allows his teammates to trust that there is a second line of defense if their assignment gets past them.</p>
<p>There is still the debate of what to do with Robinson after this season, his next contract has been a point of controversy amongst the front office and fan base, but he has no doubt proved he is an NBA caliber player worthy of an extension. Assuming the Knicks resign him, that gives them one part of the core in place. Let’s see how the rest of the young team was assembled.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background: #007BC1" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://dailyknicks.com/2021/03/17/new-york-knicks-road-respectability/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> The Infamous Trade </a>
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<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-108099 size-full" src=https://dailyknicks.com/2021/03/17/new-york-knicks-road-respectability/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_1067,w_1600/https%3A%2F%2Fdailyknicks.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2020%2F04%2F1182431413.jpeg" alt="Knicks" width="1600" height="1067" srcset="https://dailyknicks.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2020/04/1182431413.jpeg 1600w, https://dailyknicks.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2020/04/1182431413-768x512.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px"><div class="fs-center-img">
<p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:1600px;">RJ Barrett, Kristaps Porzingis, Knicks. (Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images)</p>
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<h2>Knicks: Kristaps Porzingis is Traded</h2>
<p>Remember him? We all try not to. Tingis Pingis was supposed to be New York’s savior. His first three years on the team had fans raving at the potential of the 7’3 unicorn from Latvia who could shoot three’s from Curry range while blocking shots like he was Rudy Gobert. Unfortunately for Porzingis, and the Knicks at the time, he tore his ACL in the midst of what would’ve been his first All-Star appearance. The fan base was heartbroken. That 2017 season was very reminiscent of the feelings we have this year, in that we had a first-time PF all-star on the team and it looked like it was the beginning of a new area in the Big Apple.</p>
<p>We all know how that turned out. Porzingis was infamously traded for a package headlined by Dennis Smith Jr. (RIP), and two Dallas Maverick first-round draft picks. While the rest of the trade were filler players at the time, Tim Hardaway jr. has been a vital part of Dallas’ success and it had media blasting Knicks for trading away 2 starter level NBA players, one being a young star, for a bust in DSJ and 2 complete unknown commodities of first-round picks.</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">With the Derrick Rose trade being finalized. </p>
<p>The Kristaps Porzingis Trade tree V3 is updated! Take a look below to see how the trade has evolved since back then.👇 <a href=https://dailyknicks.com/2021/03/17/new-york-knicks-road-respectability/"https://twitter.com/hashtag/NewYorkForever?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%22>#NewYorkForever</a> <a href=https://dailyknicks.com/2021/03/17/new-york-knicks-road-respectability/"https://t.co/SpLSO36z1b">pic.twitter.com/SpLSO36z1b
<p>— BenchWarmerPost🏀 (@BenchWarmerPost) <a href=https://dailyknicks.com/2021/03/17/new-york-knicks-road-respectability/"https://twitter.com/BenchWarmerPost/status/1358519519359172608?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%22>February 7, 2021</a></p></blockquote>
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<p>Boy were they wrong. Courtesy of the <a href=https://dailyknicks.com/2021/03/17/new-york-knicks-road-respectability/"https://twitter.com/BenchWarmerPost" target="_blank" rel="noopener">BenchWarmerPost</a> via Twitter, the chart above shows just all the fruits of the Porzingis trade. We will dive into the rest of these transactions as we proceed with the article, but this KP trade isn’t some cut and dry loss for the Knicks. That trade has opened a plethora of opportunities that the Knicks have capitalized on and is the main reason why they are in the position they are currently in.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background: #007BC1" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://dailyknicks.com/2021/03/17/new-york-knicks-road-respectability/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> The "Other" kid from Duke </a>
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<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-111786 size-full" src=https://dailyknicks.com/2021/03/17/new-york-knicks-road-respectability/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_2147,w_3200/https%3A%2F%2Fdailyknicks.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2017%2F07%2F1157432823.jpeg" alt="Knicks" width="3200" height="2147" srcset="https://dailyknicks.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2017/07/1157432823.jpeg 3200w, https://dailyknicks.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2017/07/1157432823-768x515.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 3200px) 100vw, 3200px"><div class="fs-center-img">
<p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:3200px;">RJ Barrett, Knicks. (Photo by John Lamparski/Getty Images)</p>
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<h2>RJ Barrett is Drafted and the Knicks Wiff on Free Agency, or did they?</h2>
<p>The biggest result of the Porzingis trade, besides showing the other players in the league that the team couldn’t keep its homegrown star happy, was that it opened up the Knicks to have 2 max slots for the upcoming free agency. The groundwork was in place, Zion was the potential number 1 pick, and the Knicks had one of the top 3 best odds of landing the first overall pick. The dream was that the Knicks were going to luck into the first pick, draft Zion, and convince two of the many superstars in free agency to join the team, presumably Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving.</p>
<p>That didn’t happen.</p>
<p>Not only did none of those things happen, but they were also universally considered a loser by media and fans alike for that off-season. The Knicks ended up with the 3rd pick in what was a 3 player draft that supposedly had a drop-off after the Big 2. They ended up drafting RJ Barrett, missing out on immediate stars Zion Williamson and Ja Morant.</p>
<p>While that was a tough pill to swallow, there was still free agency. The allure of playing in the Mecca and bringing the Knicks back to relevancy was a dream that sold itself. With Lebron, Kyrie, Butler, Durant, Kemba, etc. all possible free agents there was bound to be a star or two with the grittiness and willingness to take on the challenge of making the Knicks relevant again.</p>
<p>That didn’t happen either.</p>
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<p>Stephen A Smith memes were born. Players the team signed were laughed at and the whole league seemed to find the Knicks a joke once again. Instead of Durant and Kyrie, the Knicks wound up with Julius Randle (wait for it) and what seemed like 15 other power forwards. They signed an absolute fan favorite in Elfrid Payton (sike) and what seemed like an endless number of role players for other team’s benches. Players like Bobby Portis, Wayne Ellington, and Reggie Bullock. All fine players, but when you hope for Zion, Durant, and Kyrie, and end up with Wayne Ellington and Julius Randle, you can see how the disappointment arises. It was so bad that the Knicks front office even <a href=https://dailyknicks.com/2021/03/17/new-york-knicks-road-respectability/"https://lastwordonsports.com/basketball/2019/08/09/the-real-apology-knicks-fans-deserved/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">apologized for how bad of a job they did</a>. This led to some changes in the front office, such as………</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background: #007BC1" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://dailyknicks.com/2021/03/17/new-york-knicks-road-respectability/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Goodbye Steve Mills </a>
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<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-107635 size-full" src=https://dailyknicks.com/2021/03/17/new-york-knicks-road-respectability/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_985,w_1600/https%3A%2F%2Fdailyknicks.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2020%2F03%2F1210652668.jpeg" alt="Knicks" width="1600" height="985" srcset="https://dailyknicks.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2020/03/1210652668.jpeg 1600w, https://dailyknicks.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2020/03/1210652668-420x260.jpeg 420w, https://dailyknicks.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2020/03/1210652668-768x473.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px"><div class="fs-center-img">
<p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:1600px;">Leon Rose, Knicks. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)</p>
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<h2>Knicks: Steve Mills is Fired and Leon Rose is Hired</h2>
<p>And hello Leon Rose. Remember Steve Mills? Steve Mills was bad.</p>
<p>Like <strong>really </strong>bad.</p>
<p>After his departure in 2009, he rejoining the Knicks in 2013 as the Executive vice president and general manager until he was promoted to president of the organization in 2017 after Phil Jackson’s (barf) firing. If you look closely at the dates here, the 2012-2013 season was the last time the Knicks made the playoffs, Mills was rehired the next season and they haven’t seen the playoffs since. Obviously, this wasn’t all him, shoutout Phil Jackson, but his presence was always a dark spot in the front office and was closely associated as a favorite of the best owner in sports aka James Dolan.</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Knicks have signed Tim Hardaway Jr. to a four-year $71 million offer-sheet. <a href=https://dailyknicks.com/2021/03/17/new-york-knicks-road-respectability/"https://t.co/vhl9wwr2XW">pic.twitter.com/vhl9wwr2XW
<p>— The Knicks Wall (@TheKnicksWall) <a href=https://dailyknicks.com/2021/03/17/new-york-knicks-road-respectability/"https://twitter.com/TheKnicksWall/status/883162941599735813?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%22>July 7, 2017</a></p></blockquote>
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<p>He made countless bad moves in his tenure. He signed Tim Hardaway to one of the worst contracts in sports at the time and he was the right-hand man to Phil during the free agency period that brought in the likes of Joakim Noah and Courtney Lee. He also orchestrated the Porizingis trade that at the time was mocked league-wide. Besides the Marcus Morris signing that he flipped into the Clippers late 1st, and in turn Immanuel Quickley, there is nothing but negative thought associated with his tenure with the team. In February James Dolan had enough and fired him.</p>
<p>Something had to change, the team needed a widely respected executive that would be able to change the culture and have a trickle-down effect on the team. That man’s name was Leon Rose. In March 2020 Leon Rose was hired to be President of the New York Knicks. Any fan can tell you the impact that the man of few words has had on the franchise. While there haven’t been any big signings, Rose has performed a plethora of shrewd moves that has positioned the team to be successful in the short and long term.</p>
<p>Whether it be turning <a href=https://dailyknicks.com/2021/03/17/new-york-knicks-road-respectability/"https://www.hoopsrumors.com/2020/11/knicks-to-move-davis-to-timberwolves-for-spellman-evans-pick.html#:~:text=According%20to%20the%20Wolves%2C%20the,of%20ESPN%20(via%20Twitter)." target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ed Davis/cap space into 2 second rounders</a>, somehow <a href=https://dailyknicks.com/2021/03/17/new-york-knicks-road-respectability/"https://dknation.draftkings.com/2020/11/18/21570352/2020-nba-draft-results-immanuel-quickley-timberwolves-thunder-ricky-rubio-trade" target="_blank" rel="noopener" ref="nofollow">trading up in the draft while acquiring better draft picks</a>, or basically stealing Derrick Rose from the Pistons. There is a league-wide belief that the Knicks have a competent front office, and this is because of the performance of Leon Rose to this point. While the Knicks haven’t signed or traded for a star player, they did manage to snag the steal of the 2020 draft.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background: #007BC1" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://dailyknicks.com/2021/03/17/new-york-knicks-road-respectability/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> IQ and Obi-One </a>
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<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-114834" src=https://dailyknicks.com/2021/03/17/new-york-knicks-road-respectability/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_1135,w_1600/https%3A%2F%2Fdailyknicks.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F1299370443.jpeg" alt="Knicks" width="1600" height="1135" srcset="https://dailyknicks.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1299370443.jpeg 1600w, https://dailyknicks.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1299370443-768x545.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px"><p class="wp-caption-text">Immanuel Quickley, Obi Toppin, Knicks. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)</p>
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<h2>2020 Draft: Knicks Select Obi Toppin and Immanuel Quickley</h2>
<p>To the contrary of Steve Mills, Immanuel Quickley is good.</p><div class="widget fs_ads"> <div class="fs_ad_widget-ad" style="margin:0 auto; width: 300px;"> <div class="fs-ll-ad" data-ad-type="minutemedia_slideshow_inline_300x250__desktop__tablet" data-vendor="minutemedia">
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<p>Like <strong>really</strong> good.</p>
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<p>The Knicks walked away from the 2020 draft with Obi Toppin out of Dayton and Immanuel Quickley from Kentucky with the 8th and 25th picks respectively. While the jury is out on Toppin, the league has taken notice of the sophomore out of UK. Whether it be with what is already become his signature floater, his step-back threes, clutch 4th quarter performances, or being recognized by stars around the league; it’s evident that the Knicks found themselves an absolute gem in Quickley.</p>
<p>With the success of Quickley, Obi Toppin’s slow start has been put on the back burner of the news cycle and he hasn’t received the type of backlash from the media and fanbase he would if Quickley wasn’t on the team. To be honest you have to feel for the kid. He was projected as an NBA-ready offensive talent that would be a mirror of John Collins and was being compared to Amare Stoudemire in pre-draft analyses.</p>
<p>He was drafted as the future replacement of Julius Randle, and that’s looking less and less likely that that will ever happen. Obi has only played more than 20 minutes twice this season and hasn’t had enough run to ever get in a rhythm or show what he could do with significant minutes.</p>
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<p>While Toppin is certainly not a lost cause, he has only 370 career minutes played to this point and it feels like Julius Randle plays more than that on a nightly basis, there need to be signs of improvement on his end. He does need to show strides justifying why he was considered a steal the 8th overall in the draft and was universally regarded as a homerun pick by the Knicks. Even if he doesn’t end up the cornerstone piece the team envisioned when he was drafted, with the Knicks hitting on Quickley, this draft will be looked at as a success regardless of how Obi Toppin turns out.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background: #007BC1" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://dailyknicks.com/2021/03/17/new-york-knicks-road-respectability/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> The All-Star and COY Candidate </a>
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