7 Problems the NY Knicks Must Solve Before the End of the Season
As the New York Knicks continue their brutal, often unwatchable, trek toward another early vacation, it's easy to forget they still have something to play for: the right to not stink as much.
Mathematically speaking, the Knicks remain in the Eastern Conference playoff bubble. Fewer than five games separate them from the final two seeds with almost one-third of the schedule left to play.
Reasonably speaking, New York is toast. Five other teams, all with better records, are competing for the same two slots, and the Knicks haven't registered consecutive victories since Dec. 20 and 22.
Rather than looking at the rest of this year through postseason goggles, New York should use this time to chase baby steps. There are a ton of problems that need tending, and it's best to hash them out before season's end—not so the team can complete a surprise playoff bid, but so it has a better idea of where it stands entering this summer.
That Phil Jackson-Carmelo Anthony Thing
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Team president Phil Jackson wants to move Carmelo Anthony. That much is clear knowing Anthony's availability isn't borne from convenience but a position of incomprehensible desperation, if begrudging resent.
Jackson was—and, perhaps, still is—considering a proposal from the Los Angeles Clippers built around Austin Rivers, per the New York Daily News' Frank Isola. That's not a package you accept for a perennial, albeit hopelessly flawed, All-Star with plenty of offensive juice left in the tank.
Anthony's no-trade clause explains the tiny net Jackson has cast in hocking one of his two best players; it doesn't justify selling so low. Nor does it validate the thinly veiled shade he's thrown through the media and on Twitter.
If his goal is to leave Anthony feeling alienated and jilted enough to demand an exit, Jackson has failed. His antics have only strengthened Anthony's "resolve to remain with the franchise," according to Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical.
"Nothing came to my table for me to look at," Melo said, per the Record's Steve Popper. "Until that time comes, then they don’t need for me to even talk about the trade clause...I never thought I would be anywhere else."
Common ground isn't out of reach for the Knicks' two most prominent figures. They need to have a sit-down—an authentic one—during which they have an unfiltered discussion about the future. And if Jackson wants Anthony out, he needs to say as much. If recent developments are being misunderstood (related: lol), then we can all get on with our lives.
New York doesn't need to provide a resolution to Anthony's status before the Feb. 23 trade deadline. He isn't ruining the team's accidental tank. Jackson can revisit the trade front over the offseason, when potential suitors have more flexibility to absorb big contracts.
For now, Melo and The Zen Master have to find a way to be on the same page—or at least in the same book.
The Frontcourt Pileup
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As if Joakim Noah's four-year, $72.6 million contract needs to look any worse, the Knicks have unearthed a diligent gem in 22-year-old center Willy Hernangomez. He is a brilliant passer, strong defensive rebounder and, generally, the team's smartest player.
The issue: Hernangomez does nothing to simplify New York's overcrowded frontcourt rotation. Including Kristaps Porzingis and Kyle O'Quinn, the Knicks will have four notable bigs upon Noah's return from a hamstring injury—each of whom is best suited at the 5.
Stashing Porzingis and O'Quinn at power forward has been New York's answer to this logjam, and it isn't working. The 7'3" Porzingis is chasing around mobile 4s and being asked to defend in space too often.
Dudes that tall and long aren't supposed to pester glorified wings almost full-time. Spot switches are fine, but Porzingis should be allowed to spend more time hovering around the rim, where he ranks as one of the five best high-volume guardians in the game.
Giving the Unicorn more spin at center also figures to address some of the Knicks' offensive discombobulation. He's a bigger mismatch at the 5, and Anthony would get more looks at the 4.
Whatever the defensive trade-off, the Knicks will have to suck it up. They're scoring 122.1 points per 100 possessions in the 208 minutes Anthony and Porzingis have played without any other bigs, according to NBAWowy. That mark plummets when subbing in Hernangomez (92.9), Noah (107.4) and O'Quinn (116.2) without turning the Knicks into a viable defensive unit.
Preserving Porzingis' wiry frame as he builds more of an NBA body makes sense, but center will end up being his long-term position. He needs more burn there now, and that leaves O'Quinn as the odd man out.
No one is trading for Noah's cap-sheet atrocity, and Hernangomez is too valuable to move. Shopping O'Quinn for a pick while using Noah and Hernangomez as backup 5s who sparingly play with Porzingis is New York's most logical play—unless it finds a way to dump Noah over the summer.
Staggering the Unicorn from D-Rose and Melo
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Pairing Kristaps Porzingis with Carmelo Anthony last season was fine. The elder statesman actively sought out his apprentice, and the duo posted a positive net rating on a cruddy Knicks team devoid of them.
Introducing Derrick Rose into this partnership has been a nightmare. He's emphasized scoring over deferring in a contract year, and that, by default, has winnowed down Anthony's willingness to dish helping hands when he gets the ball.
Porzingis' role is fast-becoming a casualty from this tug-of-war. His usage rate (24.0) is down since last season (24.6) as he ebbs into spot-up duty, and a smaller share of his field-goal attempts are coming within three feet of the basket—the offshoot of chucking more threes but also of playing beside two ball-dominant household names past their primes.
Head coach Jeff Hornacek has countered these ill effects by pulling Porzingis from the first quarter earlier and then re-deploying him within all-bench units. The returns are good—so good, the Knicks need more of these combinations (via NBAWowy):
Playing Porzingis with a bench mob doesn't always allow him to see more time at center—that's a roster-makeup issue. But he's more likely to thrive beside Kyle O'Quinn or Willy Hernangomez when he has high-effort defenders such as Justin Holiday and Lance Thomas in front of him.
Granted, this is a short-term problem. Porzingis should be more at home in the starting five once the Knicks let Rose walk this summer.
Until then, he needs to be awarded the freedom that comes with playing among the reserves.
Defensive Rebounding
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It's official: The Knicks are the NBA's worst defensive rebounding team. They are grabbing 74.1 percent of available defensive boards—0.8 percentage points behind the 29th-ranked Boston Celtics.
Reactions to the Knicks' shoddy efforts on the boards tend to single out Kristaps Porzingis. He lacks the strength to box out burlier bigs, and his defensive rebounding rate (17.5) should be higher when he's a 7'3" skyscraper. But that's only part of the problem—one that's not going away so long as Porzingis is expected to defend perimeter beings.
The Knicks need more help from their backcourt bodies, not one of whom is an exceptional glass-crasher.
Among 123 qualified guards, they have just one player who grades out as a top-65 defensive rebounder (Justin Holiday, 17th). Courtney Lee, their most-used guard, ties with the Houston Rockets' Eric Gordon for 94th place. Derrick Rose, second-most used, joins five other players in 80th place.
There's not a lot the Knicks can do in this department. Neither Brandon Jennings (69th) nor Rose is strong enough to improve upon his standing, and they have below-average rebounders on the wings in Mindaugas Kuzminskas and Lance Thomas.
Lineups that feature Ron Baker and Holiday tend to corral more defensive boards, so it might be worth playing them at the expense of Jennings and Rose.
Mid-Range Obsessions
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Jeff Hornacek's arrival was supposed to signify a move away from the slow-paced, mid-range-heavy offensive sets that became synonymous with New York over the previous two seasons. And in some ways, it has.
The Knicks are shooting more threes and playing faster, while pick-and-rolls are more second-cousin than complete stranger. But what remains is the remnants of an unsightly mess bogged down by long twos, inadequate decision-making and the absence of off-ball movement:
New York once again leads the NBA in mid-range attempts. That's the risk of building an offense around Carmelo Anthony, who has jacked more mid-range jumpers than anyone in the league. It's also the byproduct of depending on Derrick Rose, who can't shoot threes.
But that doesn't make it acceptable—particularly when this still-antiquated shot selection is coupled with crummy execution.
Too many of the Knicks' attempts come late in the shot clock despite their uptick in pace, and they're an unimpressive 16th in turnover rate (14.1). When they force turnovers of their own, they place 26th in points scored per possession, according to Inpredictable.
Something has to give. And since the Knicks don't have the talent to forge a consistent offensive identity, they might as well start with trading out even more of their mid-range shots for three-point opportunities.
Help Defense
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Five teams allow more points per 100 possessions than the Knicks, which feels about five squads too many. That's how bad they've been: You watch them, they bomb the eye test, and you're shocked they aren't statistically worse.
Stingy defensive stands like the one against the San Antonio Spurs on Feb. 12 are anomalies—or, in this case, they're more about the other team clanging wide-open bunnies off every part of the rim.
Detrimental still, the Knicks don't have the personnel to reinvent themselves. They can't even wrap their heads around help defense, as Bleacher Report's Sara Peters wrote:
"Hence, the opponent's star three-baller is wide open behind the arc, or an automatic finisher like DeAndre Jordan is perfectly positioned for yet another lob, while two Knicks bump into one another, confused.
New York could use players who have the instincts to know when to roll and cut off that drive to the hoop after someone gets beat on a pick, or when to stay on their man, or when to run into the backcourt and help Brandon Jennings hound a point guard into an eight-second violation.
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Injecting defensive resolve into a squad headlined by Carmelo Anthony and Derrick Rose—the team's two least valuable stoppers, according to NBA Math—is out of the question. Anthony doesn't have the chops to stick with rival small forwards these days, and Rose is an even less active participant on the defensive end.
Jeff Hornacek hasn't shied from shaking up the rotation in the fourth quarter, which is when the Knicks defense has been almost good, placing 11th in points allowed per 100 possessions. His best bet is being more preemptive with these changes and yanking those exhibiting minimal effort early on.
The James Dolan-Sized Elephant in the Room
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James Dolan has always been among the least popular NBA owners and, thus, a potential free-agent deterrent. But he vaulted himself to new levels of infamy after Knicks legend Charles Oakley was arrested at Madison Square Garden for an altercation with security personnel during New York's Feb. 8 loss to the Clippers.
The arrest was followed by a tone-deaf team statement, which was followed by another, which was followed by a ban from the arena, which was then followed by Dolan giving an insufferable interview with ESPN New York 98.7 FM's The Michael Kay Show.
Commissioner Adam Silver eventually stepped in to help lift Oakley's ban from MSG, but all is not hunky-dory now.
In a recent interview with SI.com's Maggie Gray, Oakley compared Dolan to former Clippers owner Donald Sterling, who was forced to sell the team after a recording of him making racist comments surfaced. In an ESPN Radio interview, Oakley also point-blank refused whatever apology Dolan offered (via the New York Times' Scott Cacciola and Mike Vorkunov).
With all these optics at play, how are the Knicks supposed to court free agents now?
"When you look at what's going on now with the Melo situation in their organization and now how you do a legend in Charles Oakley, I don't know a free agent that would want to go there," Draymond Green said on his Dray Day podcast (via Ian Begley of ESPN.com). "I don't know someone who would really want to go there."
Nothing is going to change overnight, but the Knicks cannot expect this to blow over in time, either. Dolan needs to roll out the reddest of carpets and extend the sturdiest of olive branches in Oakley's honor. And he needs to do it soon.
Then, and only then, might the Knicks be able to salvage outside perception in time to be more than a free-agency afterthought this summer.
Dan Favale covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter (@danfavale) and listen to his Hardwood Knocks podcast co-hosted by B/R's Andrew Bailey and Adam Fromal.
Stats courtesy of Basketball-Reference.com or NBA.com and accurate leading into games on Feb. 16.
