I’ve heard this logic from many regimes that have attempted to take short cuts to bring the New York Knicks back to prominence. From Scott Laden to Phil Jackson, Knicks’ executives have long told us that New York is too big of a market and too demanding to accept a complete rebuild. I wonder what they would think seeing Knick fans all over social media quickly fall in love with the young players that are in Las Vegas.
What it takes for a proper New York Knicks rebuild:
A proper rebuild does take commitment and patience. At the start of his reign Phil Jackson showed signs of having the fortitude to pull it off. He was quickly enticed into making foolish win now decisions that set back the progress he had made by drafting Kristaps Porzingis. He did manage to hold on to one of  the most valuable things in the NBA, all of the Knicks’ future first round picks.
That brings us to the modern day Knicks’ front office duo of Scott Perry and Steve Mills. They inherited a roster filled with a  bad contracts and disgruntled fading stars (Hi Carmelo). They made noises about building around youth and nurturing the young players that were already on the roster. Fans as a whole were apprehensive after years of incompetence. There’s still a lot of work to be done, but so far they have been true to their word.
The drafting of Kevin Knox over older and more polished prospects showed the front office’s commitment to youth. One of the youngest players in the draft; it would have been easy for the Knicks front office to avoid what many people considered a project player that may not contribute immediately. They did the same again with the second rounder Mitchell Robinson. Robinson did not play organized basketball in over a year after withdrawing from Western Kentucky, but the Knicks brass saw massive upside in the player and decided to take a home run swing in the second round. Time will tell if it was the right decision, but the early returns look promising for the pair of players.
With the departure of Lebron James to the Lakers, a power vacuum has opened up in the Eastern Conference. The Knicks might be well positioned to become one of the teams who joins the fray for Eastern Conference supremacy in the near future. With a core of Kristaps Porzingis (22), Kevin Knox (19 in August) Frank Ntilikina (19), and Mitchell Robinson (20) the Knicks have assembled an intriguing group of young players who are versatile on both defense and offense. With the ability to create space for one (or two with the right trades) max free agents this coming summer, the Knicks might be an interesting destination for the best free agents available for the first time in a decade. With a little bit of luck and hard work, it seems like the Knicks rebuild may last shorter than many fans had anticipated.