It’s time to deliver some relevant basketball
SAN ANTONIO — Back in the day, you were taught not to dwell on the things you didn’t have, but to make the most of what you’ve been given.
While that type of thinking might be a bit archaic in today’s world of high expectations, it could be the theme to the Knicks’ 20192020 season, which begins here Wednesday against the Spurs.
It still feels like a punch to t he gut that the Knicks didn’t land Zion Williamson, injured knee and all, in the draft and failed to land a free agent named either Kawhi Leonard, Kyrie Irving or Kevin Durant. To not have any of that happen is a bummer when an entire year is tanked with hopes of striking gold in the offseason.
Netting RJ Barrett from Duke with the third-overall choice and adding free agent Julius Randle shouldn’t feel like a consolation prize, but when the roster includes seven other news faces, it’s hard to determine whether the Knicks are entering a new era or enduring more of the same losing culture that has haunted the franchise for most of two decades.
This season can’t be the fantasy basketball others have been, a smokescreen of hopes that pingpong balls would bounce their way and freedom of choice would work in their favor. The
Knicks and their head coach, David Fizdale, will be judged by their own merits this year, which is why they must give us a season that’s at least worth watching. Please. There’s pplenty of anticipation around the country about the start of the NBA season following what some called the most interesting offseason in league history. Irving and Durant wound up in Brooklyn. Leonard went to the Clippers after winning an NBA championship in Toronto. LeBron James has a new partner with Anthony Davis joining the Lakers, and big things are expected from Eastern Conference teams like the Sixers, Bucks and Celtics. The Knicks aren’t part of the hype.
Any optimism centers around Barrett and the hope he can be the kind of player the Knicks can build their franchise around, a leader on and off the court who sets a standard for work ethic and expectations. That might be a lot to put on a 19-year-old, but the Knicks are in desperate need of cultivating their own homegrown superstar because they can’t seem to lure one from another team.
Barrett passes the eye test. He’s versatile, fearless and can handle the media having played at Duke. But nothing is a given. The Knicks are still waiting to learn whether Kevin Knox, the first-round pick in the 2018 draft, will emerge into a legitimate impact player and we’ll see if Mitchell Robinson can show significant improvement in his second season and whether Frank Ntilikina can be more than a defensive stopper. That’s what this season is about: Getting the most out of what the Knicks have and not hunger for what’s on someone else’s menu.
Blending nine new players into a cohesive unit in a month isn’t easy. Minutes had to be de l - eg at ed with a purpose during preseason even if some players didn’t feel they were getting t heir proper share. It will take at least another month of games before Fizdale gets a handle on who can do what and when.
But this season can’t dissolve into another waste of an 82-game schedule.
The Garden will always be packed for games because it has become a tourist destination. Visitors go to games, buy their finger foams and jerseys, and take enough selfies to remember being a Knicks fan for the day. Meanwhile, those whose allegiance to the team spans decades are hoping for a consistent pattern of competitiveness that adds more interest in the regular season than what might happen in the offseason.
Barrett needs to perform at a level commensurate to where he was drafted, and Randle needs to put up the same type of numbers he has produced throughout his career. Somebody needs to emerge at point guard, and Fizdale has to figure out a rotation that keeps everyone involved and productive. It’s time to forget about what’s going to happen in the offseason and focus on the regular season.
I asked Barrett soon after the draft if he had big enough shoulders to carry this franchise back to prominence. At f irst he seemed startled and talked about it being a group effort. But after all the rhetoric about landing Zion and signing max free agents, the Knicks are forced to build off what they have instead of selling their fan base on fantasy basketball. That starts Wednesday against the Spurs.