Big Changes Knicks Must Make If They Miss NBA Playoffs

The clock is working against the New York Knicks.

They have less than a month to salvage something from an otherwise disastrous 2021-22 NBA season.

Back in mid-January, they were hovering around .500 and could entertain dreams of a productive, potentially transformative finish. A top-six seed wasn't out of the question, and a Play-In Tournament invitation felt like the floor.

Or so it seemed. But the 'Bockers have backtracked ever since, going 6-19 in their last 25 games and possibly playing their way out of everything. Even getting to the Play-In would require closing a 5.5-game gap and leapfrogging two teams over the next three-plus weeks.

In other words, it's more likely than not that this team will miss out on any kind of postseason play. If that happens, big changes could be coming to the Big Apple.

Upgrade at Point Guard

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The Knicks have needed an upgrade at point guard forever.

Despite pumping multiple assets into the position in recent years, that itch still needs a good scratching. The Kemba Walker experiment was a mess, Derrick Rose can't stay healthy, Alec Burks isn't a point guard and the young players either aren't ready or can't earn Tom Thibodeau's trust.

New York needs to swing big here. Maybe that's a bold trade for Damian Lillard. It could be a free-agency splurge on Jalen Brunson. Perhaps the ping-pong balls bounce just right and Jaden Ivey falls in their laps.

The point is the Knicks must do something. This position is as important as any in basketball, and New York will struggle to collectively level up without a floor general to bring the roster together.

Shed Some High-Priced Veterans

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It might have made sense to splurge on this roster when it had just delivered a .569 winning percentage and snagged the East's No. 4 seed.

But after a season like this, those vets look collectively overpaid and routinely in the way of player development.

Of the seven Knicks averaging 24-plus minutes, only two are under the age of 27: RJ Barrett and Mitchell Robinson. The latter, by the way, is headed for unrestricted free agency and not at all a lock to stick around, so it's possible someone else enjoys the fruits of any developmental progress he has made.

This roster needs restructuring. That doesn't mean a total teardown is required—though, that could be the most interesting option on the table—but the payroll needs thinning and the young players need more room to breathe. If someone wants to sell the farm for Julius Randle, the Knicks should let them. If not, they should be shopping any combination of Kemba Walker, Alec Burks, Evan Fournier and Nerlens Noel.

Find a New Coach

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To be clear, this is not a prediction.

Knicks president Leon Rose does not plan to make a coaching change, per B/R's Jake Fischer.

In that same report, though, there has been "some internal support" to split from Thibodeau, and Knicks governor James Dolan has given the front office the freedom to act as they see fit. It's like New York can't be sure Thibodeau is the problem but also can't rule it out.

The Knicks should just pull the plug. Sure, he's the reigning Coach of the Year and pulled a lot of the right strings last season, but even then his team's defense and hustle couldn't compensate for his offensive shortcomings. Other than maybe Barrett, the young players on this roster aren't improving and a lot of the older ones aren't doing enough to justify the workloads given to them by Thibodeau.