New York Knicks has run out of number one in the draft for another summer. They had it difficult, with the sixth worst balance in the NBA behind them, but easier than in the past with the laws of probability a little more equal in the lottery after the changes made by the League since 2019. However, nothing . Water. The current even delayed them a little further on the list, up to the eighth position, making the unfortunate franchise brand more visual and palpable in this 21st century.
Because being with the Knicks these last 20 years has not been easy. New Yorkers have only accumulated regrets despite being one of the founding franchises of the NBA, the only one along with the Boston Celtics that has never changed cities, the most valued organization in the championship, according to the Forbes list (about 4,000 million dollars) , in the capital of the world and with the pavilion, Madison Square Garden, the most iconic of the sport. But none of that goes when the captain of the ship doesn’t know where north is.
James Dolan, owner and high priest of the Knicks since 1995, has only brought sadness to the New York fans, who ask for his head day in and day out, and he has led the franchise to the sinkhole of history in this 21st century. Add 14 coaches since lost Finals in 2000, the last they have played in 20 years, and only five playoff appearances. Only once did they go through the first round with a cumulative nine victories and a very painful sweep (4-0) in 2004: against their Brooklyn neighbors, at that time still in New Jersey.
Seven seasons to forget in New York
The problem has been amplified in these last seven seasons. The period from 2014 to 2020 has been a real disgrace. It has equaled the worst mark in the franchise, from 1960 to 1966, of years without entering the final rounds with seven consecutive absences with six different coaches. Thibodeu will be the seventh with an increasingly muted profile after triumphing in the Chicago Bulls with a stony game on defense and not lifting the Minnesota Timberwolves an inch in the last three seasons. In this parenthesis of time, New York has not reached 50% of victories, with a maximum of 37 wins (back in 2013-14) and an all-time low of only 20.7% of games won (17-65) twice: 2014-15 and 2018-19.
The evils within the organization have been transmitted abroad. The light of the city that never sleeps has been turned off for the stars who have calibrated their worth in free agency. Stoudemire is the only one that has stung in the last decade. LeBron James went from them to take all his talent to South Beach and Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant (“They are no longer cool”) Gave a near fatal slap to the Knicks after landing last summer in New York, but in Brooklyn and not in Madison.
The bad luck of the draft
The draft hasn’t helped either. It has only had three number one in its history and the last was Patrick Ewing in 1985. The other two were in 1965 and 1966. In the last eight appearances, they have had six first rounds, with two top-5s: Kristaps Porzingis (4 in 2015) and RJ Barret, with the 3 in June 2019 when everyone was pining for zion williamson at the end of the Regular Season with the worst balance in the entire NBA. The probability again played a trick on them. The fear now is that the Barret, Knox and Ntilikina, the last three elections, have been failures.
None have evolved in a colossal way within a flawed environment and with an organization that spends money without looking back and without paying attention to the pedigree of the player they sign. Thus, Julius Randle signed a contract for 63 million dollars for three seasons and Bobby Portis for 15 a year. He took on the inflated contracts (at the time) of Derrick Rose (21 million) and Joakim Noah (17) to part with them in the blink of an eye. Outcome? They are the franchise that has spent the most on luxury tax. A continuous madness that seems to have no end that faces the next season with crossed fingers to stop being a walking joke through the streets of New York.
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