Biggest Takeaways from New York Knicks' 2016-17 NBA Season

Mercifully, the 2016-17 NBA season is over for the New York Knicks, and it was another bad one.

After a preseason filled with hype about how the Knicks would finally get back to the postseason, the 'bockers didn't play a relevant game after the All-Star break and finished with the fourth-worst record in the Eastern Conference, a full 10 games out of the No. 8 seed.

They didn't just lose; they're a bad team. Looking at the "four factors" of winning at NBA.com, the Knicks are 25th in effective field-goal percentage (49.6), 28th in free-throw-attempt rate (.239), 16th in turnover percentage (14.0), fifth in offensive rebound percentage (26.6), 14th in opponents' effective-goal percentage (51.1), 16th in opponents' free-throw-attempt rate (.278), 25th in in opponents' turnover percentage (13.0) and last in defensive rebound percentage (25.9).

That means there is only one area out of eight in which they are in the top 10, two where they're above average and four where they're bottom five. That's not a team you can tweak here and there to make better; it's a terribly constructed roster in need of an overhaul.

If you want an overall takeaway from this year, that's it. There's no great, piercing logic or discernment here. The Knicks are terrible. But how they got to be that way after they looking like they could take steps toward the playoffs last season is worth breaking down in more detail.

1. The Knicks Lost the Derrick Rose Trade

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In the preseason, it seems that Knicks Twitter was higher on this the Derrick Rose trade than pundits were.

The post-mortem analysis, though, is universal: The Knicks lost another trade to the Chicago Bulls.

For those who have forgotten or blocked out the details, the Knicks got Derrick Rose and Justin Holiday for Jose Calderon, Jerian Grant and Robin Lopez. The Bulls later dealt Calderon and a second-round pick to the Los Angeles Lakers to acquire the cap space needed to sign Dwyane Wade.

Looking at the four players who played with their new teams, though, Grant had 2.02 real plus-minus wins, according to ESPN.com, and Lopez had 1.81, a total of 3.83. For the Knicks, Rose had 1.06 and Holiday had 2.28, a total of 3.34. So on the first year alone, the Bulls got more wins out of the trade than the Knicks.

And the upside of the trade for the Knicks was supposed to be the immediate payoff.

What makes things worse is Rose tore his meniscus—which was as predictable as sunrise—to end the season. He's in the last year of his contract, and so is Holiday. So not only did the Bulls get more out of the trade, but the Knicks have nothing left to show for it.

It was a poorly thought out "win now" move that resulted in losing and at a time when the Knicks need to be more concerned with building than winning.

2. The Joakim Contract Is Horrible

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In another bizarre move, New York, bidding only against itself, went out and dropped a four-year, $72 million contract in Joakim Noah's lap—a move that was only necessary because it gave away Lopez in the deal to get Rose.

Christopher Reina of RealGM wrote about that after the signing:

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Unless Noah becomes his 2014 self again in 2016, the Knicks had a better center on a better contract in Robin Lopez already signed, which would have allowed them more space to pursue free agents both this year and next that also fit in better with [Kristaps] Porzingis' timeline. I'll enjoy certainly seeing Noah and Rose joining Carmelo [Anthony] and Porzingis at MSG but I'm skeptical that we'll look back on this move as being a prudent one if the Knicks are starting from scratch around a 24-year-old Porzingis.

"

As it turned out, Noah didn't have a good season. He averaged 5.0 point and 8.7 rebounds in 46 games before having to bow out for the year with arthroscopic knee surgery. On top of that, he was also suspended for 20 games for inadvertently violating the league's substance-abuse policy. Now Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical is reporting Noah needs rotator cuff surgery, which will require six months of recovery.

Wojnarowski reported Noah will be asked to complete the last 12 games of his suspension when doctors deem him healthy enough to be activated next season. Based on that timeline, he may not suit up again until December.

3. It's Time to Move on from Carmelo Anthony

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Carmelo Antony knows what's up. "I see the writing on the wall," he told Mike Vorkunov of the New York Times. "The writing—yeah, I see it on the wall. You don't know what writing is on the wall, though, but I see what writing is on the wall."

Though he never explicitly stated what that means, it's doubtful he was referring to reading John Wall’s tattoos. Rather, it suggests his time in the Big Apple might be coming to an end.

There are many reasons to suspect that, and Anthony agrees. ESPN.com's Ian Begley reports:

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New York spoke to multiple teams about trades involving Anthony before the February trade deadline, and Anthony said Wednesday that he had seriously considered waiving his no-trade clause before the deadline.

'There was a point in time when I didn't think I would be back here,' he said.

"

Begley added that while Anthony stated he would like to stay with the Knicks, he also wants to win. "If everybody's committed to [winning], I'm committed to that too," Anthony said. "I want to win, and hopefully everybody else has that same type of mindset."

And that's the problem. The Knicks commitment should not be to winning so much as rebuilding. How can they commit to doing something they just can't do? They don’t have the cap space or the talent to draw a max free agent.

According to Spotrac, New York is $3.8 million over next year's cap after holds. Even if it renounces all holds and exceptions, the team can only get to $22.6 million below it—and that's not even factoring in its draft pick.

The fact is both the Knicks and Anthony would be better off if Anthony went elsewhere. Making a trade might not be that easy, though, because the value of his play isn't on par with the value of his $26.2 million salary at this point.

Still, with the escalating cap, the Knicks should be able to find a taker for him, and it should be one of their top priorities this offseason, even if it means getting less back for him than they think he's worth.

4. Phil Jackson Is a Questionable General Manager

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We've seen enough to recognize that as great of a coach as Phil Jackson was, he's just not a good general manager. That's OK. Being the greatest at one thing is still pretty good. Jackson doesn't have to be good at everything.

What puts his failure into perspective the most is how he undoes the things he did well. For example, he traded Tim Hardaway Jr. for the draft rights to Jerami Grant but then dealt Grant as part of the package to get Rose.

A year after he signed Lopez to a reasonable four-year, $55 million contract, he dealt Lopez as part of the Rose package.

Those were two good moves for which there is absolutely nothing to show. And Hardaway is balling pretty well for the Atlanta Hawks, just to rub salt in the wounds.

When Jackson drafted Kristaps "the Unicorn" Porzingis, rather than build around him, he inexplicably built a team that almost prevented Porzingis from succeeding, adding another ball-dominant player in Rose to pair with Carmelo Anthony.

He also refuses to adapt.

The best offense the Knicks could run is one revolving around a high pick-and-roll point guard and Porzingis working together, but Jackson seems committed to running the triangle, which is flawed thinking for a team trying to rebuild and add free agents.

 As Matt Moore of CBSSports.com eloquently argued in February.

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The triangle offense has been blasted by every player who has been in it outside of Chicago and L.A., and those two teams won titles behind Michael Jordan, Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant. Even if you want to say it used to be an effective, brilliant system, the game has fundamentally shifted, as have players' attitudes. No one buys into the triangle anymore. Even if they're wrong to do so, what does it matter? Deal with the reality, which is that the triangle has not been successful in today's NBA.

"

The Knicks being the Knicks, though, continue Knicksing (a verb meaning "doubling down on stupid"). Ian Begley and Ramona Shelburne reported for ESPN.com: "Sources familiar with the situation told ESPN that the Knicks and Jackson quietly picked up their option on the remaining two years of his contract this spring."

The two could have parted ways, per the terms of the contract, with both parties having an option to end the relationship after three years. But apparently, that's not going to change this summer.

5. It's Time for the Knicks to Finally Learn How to Rebuild

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Since they’re stuck with Jackson, Knicks fans should be hoping that he learned something from his first three years as an executive and commits more to rebuilding than winning.

Yes, it sucks going three straight years without making the playoffs. But the question isn't whether New York can make the playoffs next year: It can’t. The question is, how long will the team go before it makes them again?

And the longer this group kicks the rebuilding can down the proverbial road, the longer it will take it to get there.

You would think after nearly two decades of failed "win-now" moves, the Knicks would have learned that. It's a history that goes back before Jackson.

After the Rose trade, Kenny Ducey of Sports Illustrated reflected on the five worst trades in Knicks history, and they all occurred this millennium.

And the Rose trade probably belongs on that list now too.

Read the story of The Tortoise and the Hare, James Dolan. Remember, slow and steady wins the race. See Golden State if you don't believe me.  

If there is a bright side for New York, it's that the one thing Jackson has done well is draft. So if he does gather the mindset to rebuild, there is that potential.

The "reach" for Porzingis has turned out to be a genius pick.

Willy Hernangomez, though, technically taken 35th overall by the Sixers in 2015, was a Jackson pick acquired via a draft day trade. Hernangomez was second among rookies this year in win shares at 3.4, per Basketball Reference, and he seems like a rotation piece going forward.

Undrafted rookies Ron Baker and Mindaugas Kuzminskas also showed flashes of NBA potential, but they still have some growing to do.

Jackson does have an eye for young talent. If he can learn on the job, there is still hope for the Knicks, but not if he stays more committed to proving the triangle can work than he is to building a winning team.