6 Reasons New York Knicks Fans Should Keep Hope Alive

New York Knicks fans, you have three options. Scream to the heavens, columnists and strangers on the subway that the Knicks will be terrible until the day you die, may that day come soon. Glow with faith that the Knicks turn this season around, make the playoffs, and then some. Or calmly view this season as the manure that will make the next more fruitful.

As New York tumbles to a 5-23 record, the urge to collapse on your knees and curse the very stars in the sky becomes harder to resist. However, there are still reasons to believe that things will get brighter soon.   

They're in the East

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The New Orleans Pelicans are in eighth place with only a 12-12 record. The Knicks could still leap over them into the playoffs.

While you're drowning your sorrows at your office Christmas party in New York, consider the plight of Minnesotans. First, it's even colder there. Second, their Minnesota Timberwolves have a better record than the Knicks (5-19), but are very last in the Western Conference. They could still sneak into the eighth seed in the playoffs, but the top seven Western teams are so strong that they seem out of reach. (The San Antonio Spurs are 17-9 and they're only seventh in the West.)  

Meanwhile, only five of the teams in the East even have a winning record. The Knicks may be 16 games out of first place in the Eastern Conference, but they're only seven games out of the playoffs. That's not an insurmountable deficit, considering there are still 17 weeks left in the regular season.

A strong run by New York and a collapse by someone else in the East could propel the Knicks into that eighth seed.

The Draft Picks Are Going to Be Sweet

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If the Knicks' season ends as badly as it's begun, Duke's Jahlil Okafor could be theirs in the 2015 draft.

Historically, the Knicks' top brass have had two annoying habits: trading away draft picks, and paying big for aging stars past their prime. They owe draft picks to other teams all the way out to 2019. 

Yet, if the Knicks complete the season as they have begun it—second-worst in the league—they can get a top-three pick and grab great young talent before it's been used and abused elsewhere. 

One thing the team could use is size. A No. 2 draft pick could bring them Duke's precocious freshman center, Jahlil Okafor. Or they could tap the neighborhood talent and recruit Kentucky's 7'0" center, Karl-Anthony Towns, who hails from Piscataway, N.J. or Syracuse's 6'10" power forward, Chris McCullough, from the Bronx. 

Derek Fisher Is Getting Feisty

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Knicks head coach Derek Fisher is getting feistier with refs and players alike.

Tuesday night, the Knicks' starting five started the game with the focus and energy of hungover frat boys, and quickly fell way behind the Dallas Mavericks. So, less than seven minutes into the first quarter, Knicks head coach Derek Fisher pulled out his starters...all of them, all at once.

While Carmelo Anthony, Amar'e Stoudemire, Jose Calderon, Quincy Acy and Tim Hardaway, Jr. huddled on the bench trying to figure out what was going wrong, Shane Larkin, Pablo Prigioni, Travis Wear, Jason Smith and Samuel Dalembert hit the hardwood and slowly brought the Knicks back into the contest.

As the New York Daily News' Justin Tasch said, "Derek Fisher had finally had enough, or at least it seemed like the first time he had on the surface."  

Fish made his displeasure abundantly clear without making a loud fuss on the sidelines. He told reporters, per Tasch: 

"

Emotions during the game are already high enough. Often times, that’s when you see confrontations between players and coaches. There are ways to be confrontational to let guys know how you feel without being angry and out of control. But as time goes on, the more I’m here, the more you’ll see.

"

Fisher becoming more comfortable with his new power will only help his team in 2015; if not in January, then in October.  

They Might Trade Away Some Trouble-Makers

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The Knicks' J.R. Smith and Amar'e Stoudemire are used to being on the trade block.

New York has an unfortunate number of inconsistent backcourt players and consistently so-so frontcourt players. Any one of them might be on the trade block.

As Bleacher Report's Howard Beck wrote Monday, "The Knicks will probably keep Carmelo Anthony for now. But rival executives say that everyone else at the Garden is available, possibly even the ball boys. J.R. Smith is the most likely to be exiled, if the Knicks can find a taker."

For the record, I'm a J.R. Smith fan. Yet, J.R.'s occasional juvenile antics have labeled him as a trouble-maker, and his inconsistent shooting has made him one of the most loved and hated men in New York. Yet, the shooting performances and defensive efforts of Iman Shumpert and Tim Hardaway, Jr. have also wobbled up, down and all around this season. Any one of them might be swapped for someone more reliable.

As for the frontcourt, there might not be any takers for the most expensive items, Amar'e Stoudemire and Andrea Bargnani, because their contracts are huge and their injury histories just as big. However, both of those are expiring contracts, which makes them less daunting. Stoudemire has been the Knicks' best player all year—making him more valuable to the Knicks and more attractive to other owners.  

Some of the lower-ticket frontcourt items might pique interests of teams looking for depth. Derek Fisher gives everyone on the roster significant playing time. Undrafted rookie forward Travis Wear, for example, would never have gotten big minutes from another coach. Not only do the good performances of Wear, Cleanthony Early, Cole Aldrich and others help the team when the starters make a mess of things, it gives the Knicks a chance to trot out and show off all their tempting assets.

They Won't Have to Face Tyson Chandler Again

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Tyson Chandler slamming on Samuel Dalembert would have looked better to Knicks fans last year.

Trading away Tyson Chandler to the Dallas Mavericks was not necessarily a disastrous maneuver. In fact, New York, without Chandler, protects the rim better than nearly every team in the league. And Phil Jackson is still happy with the trade, tweeting Wednesday "I'm OK with the Dallas deal. Tyson fits there and our three players, Jose, Sam, and Shane are on the court."

Nevertheless, playing against the Mavs is painful for Knicks fans. Having Chandler, gussied up in a Dallas jersey, hanging from the rim, dangling in front of us like a forbidden fruit, does add insult to injury.

Fortunately, the Knicks' two match-ups with the Mavs are over and done. So, unless the Knicks and the Mavericks meet in the NBA Finals, New York fans won't have to re-open that wound again until next season. 

Money Is Coming off the Books

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Andrea Bargnani's big contract expires this year.

Action Jackson & Co. have left themselves plenty of wiggle room to acquire star free agents in the offseason.

Amar'e Stoudemire's and Andrea Bargnani's contracts expire in 2015. The Knicks declined Shane Larkin's option. They're not making any promises to Iman Shumpert, Quincy Acy or Travis Wear, who all become restricted free agents at the end of the season. Samuel Dalembert, Cole Aldrich and Jason Smith become unrestricted free agents.

That doesn't necessarily mean that LaMarcus Aldridge and Marc Gasol will come running into the open arms of Phil Jackson, but it could mean that money won't be the deciding factor.

No, Knicks fans, you may not experience the same breath-taking ecstasy that Golden State Warriors fans are feeling this season. Yet there are still reasons to be hopeful for the future.

Enjoy them while they last.