Knicks 2020: 5 Good Reasons to Watch (Another) Bad Knicks Season

So, the 2019-2020 regular season is upon us. There is no KD, no Kyrie, there was no number one overall pick. No marquee free agents, no game-changing reversals of fortune, no runaway media hype train. There was a lot of power forward mockery, though, and plenty of lolknicks tomato-throwing after KD and Kyrie jilted us, and Zach Lowe did say the team sucks a number of times. In other words, same old Knicks, right?

Wrong.

Any fan as demented as me (and I know there are many) who has been following this diarrhea circus of a basketball franchise closely over the last five miserable years knows that things are on the upswing at 4 Penn Plaza and that, even though this year will probably culminate in a draft lottery watch party at a Manhattan bar that gives out free hot dogs, there is still plenty to watch for.

 If you’re not one of those people, this article is for you.

Here are 5 good reasons to watch another bad Knicks season:

General Mystery

I mean…this image is a mystery all it’s own.

 When you really look at it, this Knicks team is almost brand new. 7 free agent signings that all stand to get some minutes, two rookies fresh out of the 2019 draft, and 6 players in either their second or their third year in the league. That’s the squad.

Even the players who have been around since last season are liable to look notably different than they did in the last go around, provided they move forward in their development. That makes for what’s likely to be a messy start to the season and possibly a general mess heading into April.

 It’s really hard to say, but it’s pretty obvious that this roster is more talented than last year’s and they at least in theory shouldn’t be giving us a 17-win stinker to suffer through once more.

Also, none of this horrific, unspeakable, asinine, bullshit. Try and remember that when things get dark.

25-win stinker? Sure, that’s possible, but that would be nearly a 50% increase in win total from last year and I think we may have to just shut up and call that success for now.

 My personal prediction is somewhere higher than that, though. I think this team will grab 30-something wins, some of which will be absolutely thrilling, which would be a significant improvement from last year on pretty much all fronts.

Here’s another one just for fun.

The Rooks

This one feels like it was taken by one of their mom’s on a day trip to the city for Iggy’s 9th birthday.

Let’s be real: RJ Barrett is the most exciting aspect of this coming Knicks season and his play could be a determining factor in whether or not this team can make things even close to interesting.

If the preseason was any indicator, things aren’t looking too shabby in that regard. Barrett looked every bit the part of the third overall pick, getting to the rim with strength and smarts, cutting and getting himself open, rebounding well, and displaying flashes of playmaking prowess. He does not look like a 19-year-old at all. He has size and strength and the on-court presence of a far more seasoned player. His outside shooting is worrisome but there’s hope that that can develop and in the meantime this kid looks to have many of the tools necessary to contribute to winning at the NBA level. In short: it looks like we may have bagged one.

Barrett projects to be a day one starter and an immediate contributor. He’ll likely have the occasional struggles with inefficiency and general on-court confusion that all rookies must fight through, but that shouldn’t keep him from being one of the most precocious neophytes the Knicks have had in decades. There’s even a path toward Rookie of the Year, particularly when you consider that Zion is already missing time to begin the season. Let us pray.

Oh and don’t forget Iggy Brazdeikis who showed out in the Summer League but will likely have to show out in the G-league in order to see meaningful minutes on this team. The dude looks pretty promising and the front office has shown a knack for late-round miracle work, but there just isn’t enough minutes for the young fella to get his feet wet. So hey,  there’s even a reason to tune into the Westchester Knicks this season.

The Point Guard Position

This aspect of the upcoming season will probably be a lot less joyful than watching RJ Barrett play, but it is going to be critical to the future success of the team.

There are three point guards liable to start on opening night: Elfrid Payton, Dennis Smith Jr., and Frank Ntilikina. Not one of them of them looked like the man for the job during preseason. Ntilikina shot a rotten 28.6%, topped only by his competition: Payton a rancid 25% and DSJ a gruesome 17.6%. Those were the three worst conversion rates on the entire team by a wide margin.

Yes, blah blah blah, it’s preseason, they’re rusty, it doesn’t even count, they’ll get it together…

Say whatever you want to try and wipe away the stench of those numbers but that has to be at least somewhat alarming to any Knicks fan with hopes of a watchable season.

Frank and DSJ are entering their third year and remain a pair of unknowns, but Payton has an actual track record to go by that tells us he will:

A.    Turn things around and contribute at least a little something on both ends of the floor.

B.    Continue to suck ass at shooting.

I’m about to call the fucking cops on that shooting form.

And that’s the biggest problem with all these guards: they just can’t shoot the damn ball.

Smith supposedly put up thousands of shots this summer with coach Keith Smart but you wouldn’t know it by watching him play this preseason. Yes, he was coming off a back issue and looked more spry by his second and final game, but he still shot 2/12 from the field and did little to prove he’s evolved as a marksman. One can only hope that the major player acquisition from the KP trade taps into his obvious talent and has a breakout year, but so far he’s little more than a massive question mark.

Then there’s Frank. Lovable, infuriating Frank. He has moments where you begin thinking he could be the guy, like that 4th quarter against the Hawks this preseason, when he put Trae Young in a stranglehold and helped the team rally back in the 4th quarter. Then your dreams disappear into uninspired turnaround jumpers and stretches of absolutely nothing on the offensive end.

Thus far, the guy just can’t score.  

There were a couple of moments this preseason where he showed some progress: a tough traditional three point play here, a bold drive straight to the rack there. His handle also looks better, and he’s picked up on the aggressiveness, too. I don’t necessarily have the stats to back this up, but I felt the ball seemed to move better when Frank was running point. Perhaps that’s confirmation bias, though. I mean, it would be nice to see the Knicks own draft pick blossom into a legitimate starter. If all these little upgrades can’t turn into tangible results, though, Frank may struggle to even see the floor let alone play meaningful minutes.

Verdict: Payton likely starts based on his level of experience. Smith and Frank will have to trade off back up duties until one asserts himself over the other.

The Young Guys

Will Mitchell Robinson continue his unexpected ascent into the upper echelon of shot-blocking defensive stoppers? Will Kevin Knox put those beefy new biceps to use and put in a more efficient sophomore season? Will Iso Zo keep getting buckets?

These questions and many more will be answered if you choose to tune in to what ESPN is predicting is another sub-30 win season for New York. If you’re a fan of the mere fact that this team actually has a handful of interesting, talented young kids for once, then this is reason enough to watch.

Predictions:

Mitch will tantalize with his freakish knack for stopping shots, but he’ll also need to sort out his propensity for fouling the shit out of everyone in a ten foot radius while he does so. He’ll do this, but not before getting into foul trouble shortly after opening tip a few more time.

Knox already looked to be much more in control in the preseason. He will no doubt put up a more efficient season, but he will also have to battle for shots up until a trade deadline move frees up some space for the young man to work.

Iso Zo will in fact continue to get buckets, he’ll even win a few tight games almost by himself, but he’ll also jack some ghastly shots that will have you throwing your shoes and other nearby valuables at the television screen. This cat may be who he’s going to be as far as player archetypes go, but there are few cooler roles in the NBA than fearless 6th man who was born to get buckets.

Oh, and Dot will probably keep it up, too. Sorry, Dot, I don’t really have much more to say about you, man. You’re just kind of…not too bad.

The New Guys

If you won’t say it I will: the Knicks absolutely shit the bed on their free agency plan A this season. KD and Kyrie are now across the river and all 47 Nets fans now fancy themselves Kings of New York. Even in spite of KD’s achilles injury and Kyrie’s track record as a Flat Earther and locker room hand grenade, that still stings. Bad.

But it’s not all bad: the front office went out and scored a number of team friendly contracts for players with actual marketable skills. They’ve been mocked by the media for supposedly signing every power forward on the market, but the front court was barren and not one signing was for a player who hasn’t been known to play multiple positions. It wasn’t the worst offseason in Knicks history, not even close. The roster does not have any aces, but it also lacks jokers; every player from 1-15 stands to bring something useful to the table.

Right? Like, come on, none of these dudes are scrubs. You’ve gotta give us that, right? Am I doing the delusional fan thing again? Shit, I don’t know.

Look for players like Julius Randle or Marcus Morris to have career years without Anthony Davis or Kyrie Irving to steal much of their shine. That’s not necessarily a dream scenario, especially if it comes at the expense of valuable shots and minutes for the young guys who the Knicks are supposedly developing. Both players certainly like to shoot, but that doesn’t mean they’re total blackholes; Randle has shown some nice passing skills and Morris has contributed to a team that made it to game 7 of the ECF. Neither of them is a disreputable teammate.

Don’t get too comfy with any of these new faces, though, as every last one of them outside perhaps Randle is liable to be traded by the deadline. One thing the the lolknicks gang has failed to recognize is that having 17 power forwards means you can test them out, take your pick of the litter, and then shop the rest for whatever they’re worth. Now, that means relying on the front office to pull off a winning trade, and that’s sort of worrisome, but at least the option is there.

The mere idea that the team can shapeshift mid-season is something interesting in and of itself.

So hey, tune in or don’t, but this Knicks season will be an interesting one for fans who can find pleasure in the little things. And, truth be told, this team is so brand new that anyone who tells you they know how it’s going to go down, is a god damn liar. Still, 34-48 sounds about right to me.

Hey, that’s double last years wins and not a single player looks like this: