Schmeelk: 5 Goals The Knicks Should Have This Season
By John Schmeelk
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The Knicks are in a genuine rebuilding situation. The front office has been very careful not to even bring up the playoffs. There have been far more references to "a process" than there have been to winning a significant number of games.
That doesn't mean 2017-18 will be a lost season that won't be very important to the team.
Here are the real goals in order of importance that the Knicks should have this season, which would improve the possibility of long-term success:
Develop Young Players
The headliner here is Kristaps Porzingis, but the list is a lot longer than just him. Can Porzingis be the best player on a playoff team? Willy Hernangomez is going into his second season and needs to prove he can be the type of defensive player than can be a starting center and play with Porzingis over the long haul. The situation is the same for Enes Kanter.
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Tim Hardaway, Jr. has never been a number one perimeter option before. Frank Ntilikina is going to get thrown right into the deep end of the pool after not playing a lot in the preseason. Damyean Dotson has shown two-way promise, but will have limited playing time. Even someone like Doug McDermott, in the final year of his rookie contract, is trying to convince someone to pay him next summer. If the Knicks win more games and spoil their draft pick because their young players do well, that is a price worth paying.
Find Out What Kind Of Coach Hornacek Is
Jeff Hornacek has already led the Knicks for a full season, but because of Phil Jackson's influence we don't really know what kind of coach he is.
What are his offense and defense going to look like? Can he get his players to play hard on a consistent basis? So much of the discord last season was blamed on Jackson, but Hornacek was there, too. Steve Mills and Scott Perry need to figure out if he is part of the problem or part of the solution. It won't necessarily be wins and losses that are the final evaluation tool, either.
Develop A Defensive Philosophy
It doesn't matter who the coach is or what the plan is, because the Knicks are probably going to be a bad defensive team this season. They don't have enough players that excel at that end of the floor. That doesn't mean they can't begin to establish some kind of consistent ideology as to how they want to defend every night.
It might not work, but they need to at least show some idea or a plan on defense. Guys like Joakim Noah, Courtney Lee, and Lance Thomas can help in this area.
Feature Veterans For Trades
The Knicks could make Noah the centerpiece of their entire offense and they would never be able to move him because of his onerous contract. It is a different story with Lee, Thomas and Kanter. Those three could all have value for good teams trying to make a playoff run. If they can play well enough, the Knicks may be able to get some sort of future assets for them come the trade deadline.
Kanter will be the most difficult to move from that group due to his salary and deficiencies on defense. Kyle O'Quinn has a reasonable contract, but I don't think he is a good enough player to get anything of significance in return if the Knicks opted to move him.
Get A Good Draft Pick
This is the last one on the list, but not because it isn't important. This cannot be the goal of either a head coach or a player on an NBA team. The Knicks are going to try to play as hard as they can to win games. Odds are pretty good, however, that no matter how hard they try, they won't win all that much.
They won't tank. They're just not very good. Heading forward, the Knicks are better off picking in the top three in the draft and getting another talented piece to add to their core. It will be the bonus at the end of the season that makes up for what will probably be a lot of ugly basketball.
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