From here, plenty can go right ... and wrong

Dread. Dread is the only rational response to the Knicks.

The Knicks lost more games than any other team in the league, and were rewarded with the No. 3 overall pick in this summer's draft, ending months of anxiety as a 14% chance at the top pick (and a 60% chance of landing at No. 4 or 5) came to a merciful, predictable end. Zion Williamson will not be a Knick. What else could go wrong? Well, it's the Knicks. Nearly everyone in basketball believes Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving will sign with the Knicks this offseason. The Nets have come up as possibilities, but the only other time so many people have been so certain of an outcome so far out from the date, LeBron James was on his way to the Lakers. James Dolan has reportedly promised the run of the joint to the stars. What could go wrong?

There's more. League sources told the Daily News' Stefan Bondy that the Knicks also plan to go after Anthony Davis, and planned to do so regardless of where their pick fell in the lottery. At No. 3, that almost certainly means R.J. Barrett, Williamson's co-star at Duke who had been the top prospect in his class coming into the year. He'd be a logical fit next to Durant and Irving. Slotting him into a package that might return Davis — and reunite Barrett and Williamson in New Orleans — is a dicier proposition.

Trading for Davis with eyes on both Durant and Irving signing would take a tremendous leap of faith, since the team would need to sign Barrett and wait until August to make the salaries work. That's a lot of time for the Pelicans to decide to take another offer. Trading the pick or his rights outright, forgoing their two max salary slots in order to lock in at least a year of Davis is no less risky, since it would leave the Knicks high and dry if Durant didn't follow through on promises (allegedly) made. What could go wrong?

There are only so many moments in which 10 or 20 years can be decided for a franchise, and they almost always come down to luck.

In fairness to the team's management, there's practically no outcome that could consecrate the ground the team will cover over the next season. It could land Durant, Davis, Irving and win the rights to Steph Curry in a game of pinochle and the only question among the jaded would be who gets hurt first. Only a championship will clear out the stink. And who could bear the stress of following this franchise into the playoffs?

Still, it's a start. Maybe even a reason to hope. It's been decades since the Knicks had anything resembling that. Kristaps Porzingis certainly didn't deliver it on draft night, and his growth into one of the best young players in the league came as the franchise was saddled with bad contracts and worse players. Carmelo Anthony came to town as the rest of the playable roster left.

The Knicks went all-in on failure with their eyes on this summer, and the first piece has fallen into place. It could have gone worse. After 20 long years of losing and disappointment and blundering and, eventually, numbness, that counts for something. Now fans settle into the long wait for the next thing that can go wrong.

Free agency opens midnight, July 1.