The New York Knicks’ tape has to become a nix tape.
Hopefully, this will exist on only one level, so that it doesn’t have to emerge on two separate fronts.
What does this mean, as we evaluate New York at the end of a lottery-bearing season?
The answers are not that complicated.
No lengthy preamble is needed: The Knicks have the worst owner in the NBA. James Dolan is worse than Vivek Ranadive in Sacramento, and if you’re worse than Ranadive, you’re worse than all of them. Everyone knows the Knicks sorely need new ownership, but in the absence of a change, they’re stuck.
Within this context, the franchise has to do what it can to make use of both Carmelo Anthony — closer to the autumn of his career than his summer — and Kristaps Porzingis, who is just beginning to step into what could be a long and fertile springtime in New York.
Dolan’s not going anywhere, so it falls upon Phil Jackson to make the right decisions for the Knicks. He certainly scored when he drafted Porzingis. It’s the best decision Phil has made in his brief (to this point) tenure. However, Phil bailed on coach Derek Fisher at a relatively early point in time, and the Knicks are still wrestling with the consequences of that left turn.
Fisher was a flawed coach, but in January, the Knicks were playing better than at any previous stage in the post-Mike Woodson era. The move was confusing enough on its own terms, but Phil clouded the issue even more by saying that the playoffs were a genuine aspiration even in the wake of his decision, which came down just before the All-Star break.
Given that the Knicks have not fared well since interim coach Kurt Rambis took over the team, it’s hard for anyone outside the organization to see how Rambis is the long-term answer. If Phil makes this decision — and reports indicate he’s strongly considering the move — it would certainly seem to hamper Melo’s efforts to recruit free agents to Madison Square Garden. The bigger problem: New York would have a crappy coach, regardless of whether Melo successfully recruits anyone of note.
What is this “nix tape” the Knicks must use? It’s very simple:
Phil can’t hire Rambis. Period. Fin.
If Phil intends to hire Rambis, James Dolan has to fire Phil. He must.
Plenty of people who follow (and love) the Knicks have thought for some time that Melo has needed to be shipped in exchange for a package of younger assets. Whether you agree with that approach or not, this much has to be said: If Melo’s going to stay, these final few years of his able-bodied career need to give him and the Knicks the best possible chance of succeeding.
Hiring Rambis runs squarely against that basic and universally shared goal. This is why the answers to the Knicks’ problems are not THAT complicated. Saying no to Rambis is the first “nix tape,” but if Phil wants to move forward, Dolan must create a second one.
I guess it’s time to kick back — if you don’t like the Knicks — and munch away:
