Tanking makes so much sense for the New York Knicks, even after their recent three-game winning streak. They own their own draft pick. They have kiddies, including rookie Frank Ntilikina, they can play. They aren’t trying to win, necessarily, even though they are trying.
Just imagine going into next season with a core of Ntilkina, Kristaps Porzingis and a top-five prospect. Aces, right?
Only one problem: Porzingis might be too good for the Knicks to go this route.
As one Eastern Conference executive told ESPN.com’s Ian Begley:
“If they wanted to tank games for the draft this season, his play may not let them,” one Eastern Conference executive says.
This point is fair. After all, if Porzingis is the megastar everyone expects him to be, he should be able to ferry the Knicks toward something resembling respectability. Anything less, even given the personnel around him, and he’ll find himself under Devin Booker’s microscope.
Finding evidence to support this theory is slightly difficult. Porzingis ranks in the top five of scoring and is shooting with career-best efficiency, but the Knicks are getting outscored by 3.5 points per 100 possessions with him on the court, according to NBA.com. That’s an improvement over their collective net rating, but it doesn’t put them in line to win 35 games.
And that’s the point: The Knicks won’t be good or great with Porzingis as the fulcrum. One player cannot make that much of a difference when he isn’t charged with creating offense for others. But he is talented enough to help them steal some victories they otherwise wouldn’t get. Remove him from the equation, and they’re easily a sub-25-win team.
And since the late-20s and mid-30s are the worst places to be in the win column, don’t be surprised if the Knicks wind up giving Porzingis some extra rest in the second half of the season.
