The Grip - FRI 2.1.19

Never give the Knicks the benefit of the doubt

February 01, 2019

Friday, Feb 1st, 2019

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Written while listening to The Pharcyde's Oh Shit

Cap space. Never used. For sale.

When you’re the New York Knicks, you don’t get the benefit of the doubt. You get the weight of James Dolan, sexual harassment lawsuits, general ineptitude, two-bit nostalgia, and bad, bad PR spins. As Gil Scott-Heron would say, you do not get to plug in, turn on and drop out; you get dragged through the mud for turning your franchise’s only player worth his weight in MTA cards into a salary dump. And rightly so.On Thursday afternoon, just hours after leaking that Kristaps Porzingis “left the Knicks with the impression that he prefers to be traded” -- a face-saving last-second stunt so shallow it almost sprouted legs and kicked Charles Oakley out of Madison Square Garden again -- the New York Knicks traded their most promising young player since Patrick Ewing to the Dallas Mavericks for, again, cap space.They also picked up two muddled future first-round draft picks, Dennis Smith Jr. -- who they could have just drafted instead of Frank Ntilikina in 2017 -- and some expiring contracts, all to open up enough space for two max salary contracts this offseason while also tanking to try and add a player like Zion Williamson.But who are they hoping to sign, exactly? Kevin Durant, the man who is supposed to leave the closest thing to basketball nirvana for…?Kyrie Irving, who told a Boston Garden crowd earlier this year he wanted to resign with the Celtics?[READ: Kyrie Irving's free agency is influencing deadline moves]The logical thing here would be to assume the Knicks know something none of us do in regards to Porzingis' ACL injury and New York's free agency outlook this summer, but what in the last two decades has delivered legitimacy to that thought?It must be that New York Knicks mystique.The same chicanery-stained aura that’s won a single playoff series since 2000, hasn’t ever landed a free agent better than Allan Houston, hasn’t signed a first round draft pick to a second contract in 25 years, traded away Patrick Ewing for Luc Longley, tried to court LeBron and ended up with a caved-in Amar’e Stoudemire instead (there’s a reason he was available!), pitted Carmelo Anthony and Phil Jackson against each other (hint: no one won), inked a sad soul named Big Snacks, tried to reunite the 2011 Bulls before it was en vogue, hired Jackson when his heart, head, soul and surgically repaired knees were already retired in Montana, and, now, traded a 23-year-old franchise player for the cap relief needed to go big game hunting.There likely won’t be much to show for all that money they’ll throw around this summer, though, not if 70 years of historical precedence and retail therapy have anything to do with it; maybe a maxed-out Kemba Walker and some fermented karma.[READ: Kevin Durant? Kyrie Irving? Kawhi Leonard? The Knicks have their sights set sky-high now]There is some poetic justice for Porzingis, anyway, who Jackson wasn’t even interested in, never even scouted, and wouldn’t have even drafted if not for the 76ers scooping up Jahlil Okafor the pick before. At the very least, he gets to play for a real NBA team now, and not a ponzi scheme exploiting legacy real estate on the burial ground of a once-great mecca. 

How this whole thing went down, explained in Woj Tweets

1:44 P.M. 1:46 P.M.2:54 P.M.3:14 P.M.3:50 P.M.Are we supposed to believe that Porzingis went from being concerned with the Knicks to being traded ... in two hours and six minutes?No. This is premeditated murder.Frank Isola said it best:5:48 P.M.

Grip readers react

We asked a bunch of Knicks fans and Grip readers what they thought of the trade.  

Jeff, from Brooklyn, who is in the market for some new gear:

Let’s go get Mavs jerseys.

David, from Queens, whose life has steered into masochism:

I kind of wanna see how deep this ship can sink. It’s fascinating at this point.

Mickal, from The Bronx, who brings up a good, if slightly off subject, point:

The Mavs are like an Aryan race of the past, current and future.

Julian, from Brooklyn, who once bought an Iman Shumpert jersey, but will not be fooled again:

Unreal man, ballsy move that if it works out, could be very smart but more likely will crash and burn.

Mike, from Long Island, who is on the verge of tears:

I am on the verge of tears.

Dumbass things the Knicks have done since 2010, ranked

8. Stumbling into Linsanity -- the most organic thing to happen to the Knicks since Jeff Van Gundy almost got socked in the face -- then immediately letting him walk for $6 million a year to the Rockets7. Acquiring Carmelo Anthony for four starters and two future first-round picks when they could have just waited and not taken an anvil to all of Penn Station for three extra pointless months of .500 basketball6. Hiring Phil Jackson to make every personnel-related decision five years and three DMT hits too late5. Phil Jackson’s decision to, while frollicking with cows in thong sandles on his Montana ranch, give Joakim Noah a call and, with a straight face, offer a broken-down player $72 million over four years4. That time they kicked Charles Oakley, one of the few Knicks players of the last 50 years who didn’t make you want to stab yourself in the eye(s), out of Madison Square Garden3. Hiring Derek Fisher, who was playing in the NBA playoffs a few months before the announcement, to be the Knicks’ coach; hiring Kurt Rambis to be the interim coach; hiring Jeff Hornacek out of the lost and found bin; firing David Fizdale in 2021 because there will be no one else to blame2. Parlaying a 54-win season into a trade for Andrea Bargnani, who might not be the worst first overall pick ever but is certainly the blandist1. Trading away Tim Hardaway Jr. only to resign him to a four-year, $71 million contract that they would eventually have to attach to Kristaps Porzingis to trade,  just to -- and we’re entering the future now -- strike out on the first-, second-, third-, fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-best free agents of the 2019 class

Knicks fans are reacting the same way now as when they drafted Porzingis

  Quick Hits

Believe it or not, there was some actual basketball played last night...

 Concrete Reads

  • The Knicks Took a big swing by trading away Kristaps Porzingis. Will it be worth it? [Sports Illustrated]

  • Hope Is a dangerous thing for a Knicks fan [The Ringer]

  • The Knicks say Kristaps Porzingis wasn't on board with their plan, which is definitely not just a magic 8-ball [Deadspin]

  Podcast Pick

The Porzingis trade WTF emergency pod [The Ringer]

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