Bondy - NYDN
The bubble is not easy to absorb for Knicks fans. It?s a reminder of the mistakes, the losing, the reasons their team is in the middle of a nine-month layoff (at least!).
Kristaps Porzingis is the low-hanging fruit and the most glaring of the organization?s recent flubs, with Steve Mills presiding over a trade that backfired like a 10-cent beer night in Philadelphia. Now Porzingis is averaging 30 points and 10 rebounds in Orlando, while the Knicks are waiting for permission to hold a voluntary minicamp under their eighth coach in the last eight years. But we?ve already dissected the Porzingis disaster. There?s more for the Knicks to regret from the bubble. Mills and Phil Jackson have created ghosts of Knicks past.
Michael Porter Jr., the latest emerging young talent on the Nuggets, was available New York in the 2018 draft, and was such the fan?s choice they chanted his name inside Barclays Center. Normally fans are wrong about these things (see their excitement for Jimmer Fredette and Jahlil Okafor), but Porter Jr. is an exceptional talent whose biggest question mark was always his health. The Knicks, like every other team, understood Porter Jr. would require at least a year off to recover from his injured back, which dropped him in the draft from a surefire top-5 to No. 14. New York had a year to burn because Porzingis was coming off ACL surgery, but used its ninth pick on Kevin Knox ? another project with less upside ? and proceeded to lose a league-high 65 games.
Porter would?ve been worth the wait.
The 10th and 11th picks that year ? Mikal Bridges and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, respectively ? are both shining in the bubble. Knox, 20, is still very young but has triggered more concerns than excitement. His defense and offensive efficiency remain underwhelming. His trade value is low. Porter Jr., on the other hand, reeled off games in the last week with 37 points and 12 rebounds, then 30 points with 15 boards, then 27 points with 12 boards. He joined Blake Griffin and Trae Young as the only rookies since 2000 with back-to-back 30-point double-doubles. The Knicks haven?t had a player ? forget about a rookie ? with consecutive 30-point double-doubles since Carmelo Anthony in 2013.
It?s too early for final judgements and Knox will always have the physical tools of a versatile wing, but adopting optimism for Knicks? decisions against the evidence is like testing expired milk. It looks perfectly fine and you want to believe it didn?t sour, but deep down you know it stinks, and yet you can?t stop from smelling the milk, even though, in the end, you?ll probably get a little nauseous.
On that same Denver roster, the Knicks can mourn another soured opportunity. In Phil Jackson?s first draft of 2014, the Zen Master used his 34th pick on Cleanthony Early, who was last seen playing in Saudi Arabia and France. He totaled 56 NBA games and only six came after he was shot during a robbery attempt outside of a Queens strip club. Seven spots after the Early selection, the Nuggets took Serbian star Nikola Jokic.
On that same Denver roster, the Knicks can mourn another soured opportunity. In Phil Jackson?s first draft of 2014, the Zen Master used his 34th pick on Cleanthony Early, who was last seen playing in Saudi Arabia and France. He totaled 56 NBA games and only six came after he was shot during a robbery attempt outside of a Queens strip club. Seven spots after the Early selection, the Nuggets took Serbian star Nikola Jokic.
Three years later, Jackson was intrigued by Donovan Mitchell but instead selected Frenchman Frank Ntilikina. Another mistake. The Jazz have a star playmaker while the Knicks? point guards have been about as effective as a Kanye West intervention.
