Knicks News: Kevin Knox Calls Idea of Rooting for NY to Tank 'Kind of Stupid'
While the opportunity to land the No. 1 pick in the 2019 NBA draft is one of the few beacons of hope for New York Knicks fans, rookie Kevin Knox would prefer if the fanbase wasn't so open in rooting for the team to lose.
Speaking with reporters Monday, Knox took issue with the idea of outwardly cheering the Knicks to tank for draft position, per the New York Post's Marc Berman:
"Yeah, a lot of fans, they always say some dumb stuff. You see it all the time with the tanking and want us to lose, stuff like that. It's kind of stupid. They're not really true New Yorkers. Real Knicks fans know that we're trying to just take this year to just develop us young guys and then next year hopefully make a push."
Knox's position is understandable. He and his teammates aren't stepping onto the court with the intention of losing every game.
At the same time, the Knicks front office essentially signaled it's looking toward the offseason when it executed the Kristaps Porzingis trade. By moving Porzingis, Courtney Lee and Tim Hardaway Jr., New York will have almost $74.6 million to spend this summer, per Spotrac, which will be enough to sign two max-level free agents.
The Knicks recently used a picture that included Kevin Durant, who can opt out of his contract in the summer, to help sell season tickets for next season, to which Twitter user @Paul_HQ first drew attention:
New York owns the worst record in the NBA (10-45) as well. Should it remain there by the end of the season, it would have a 14.0 percent chance of getting the No. 1 overall pick and a 52.1 percent chance of landing in the top four, per Tankathon.
The team could either use its first-round pick to add a young star to complement a star-laden roster, or the pick could be a trade chip to get Anthony Davis or another marquee name. If the Knicks are going to be terrible, then they might as well be terrible enough to hopefully have Zion Williamson fall into their laps.
And for what it's worth, Knox isn't exactly giving New Yorkers a reason to get excited about the present. The 19-year-old is averaging 12.6 points and 4.2 rebounds while shooting 36.7 percent from the field and 34.2 percent from beyond the arc. Knox ranks dead-last in ESPN.com's real plus-minus (minus-6.65).
