The Knicks Are Already Hinting at Tanking Next Season

Yesterday Hall of Famer and New York Knicks legend Walt “Clyde” Frazier, currently a broadcaster on the MSG Network, said he doesn’t see star Kristaps Porzingis returning from injury next year.

First James Dolan, now Walt Frazier.  I don’t know about you guys, but this seems like the perfect way to tank without actually saying it.  For PR reasons since the league is watching, holding Porz out for the entire year is the perfect play to vault the Knicks back to relevancy.  While they do have a couple of nice, young pieces to build around including this year’s pick, they still are far away from contending unless they can pair another star with 3-6-Latvia.

And for all the Knicks fans holding out on hope that they are going to sign LeBron James this off-season … stop it! The Knicks have not made the playoffs in five years, Porzingis is injured, they mistreated his bff Melo, and most importantly, $$$.

The Knicks are looking at almost $100 million in cap commitments this off-season.  James has a player option next season for $35.5 million. That means that in order for the Knicks to match his salary in the deal, they have to make a ton of moves, and send desirable assets to the Cleveland Cavaliers in order to get them to agree.  This is too far-fetched, and exactly why holding Porzingis out is the right long-term move for the organization.

The 2019 Draft is already looking good, with the prize being Duke commit R. J. Barrett.  If the Knicks could add another lottery pick to this year’s lottery pick with KP, and free up some cap space for the 2019 Free Agent class that could include Jimmy Butler, Klay Thompson, and Kawhi Leonard, they would be in great position. Even if they strike-out on those big free agents, they would still have a terrific young nucleus that David Fizdale could mold.

With all these KP hints coming from within the organization, it looks like the Knicks brass are on the same page.