New York Knicks Should Focus On The 2017 NBA Draft

With the New York Knicks struggling with a record below .500, the goal should switch from getting a playoff spot to the highest pick possible in the NBA Draft.

When discussing the NBA season, we’re past the point of talking about waiting for teams to get it together.

With players signed this past offseason eligible for trades and the All-Star break looming, the New York Knicks have a record of 18-22 and it’s time for them to strongly consider aim for the highest draft pick possible.

The expectations were supercharged after this offseason–raiding the Chicago Bulls for Joakim Noah and Derrick Rose, snagging Courtney Lee to man the shooting guard position and Brandon Jennings as a low-risk backup point guard option.

Those noticeable acquisitions alongside Carmelo Anthony and Kristaps Porzingis were supposed to fix the Knicks.

Related Story: 25 Best Players to Play for the New York Knicks

So far, the results haven’t been pretty. The 18-22 record is good for 11th in the Eastern Conference. New York’s minus-2.9 point differential is good for 23rd in the league and despite Porzingis’ rise as a defender, the Knicks are still in the bottom 10 in defensive efficiency.

When you take a deeper glance, you see a team without an ideal direction. Porzingis is the future of the Knicks, but the roster is set for contention around Anthony. The Noah deal — a disaster when it happened — keeps an anchor at the same position Porzingis should man.

Rose and Jennings are merely stop-gaps at the position and there’s no good young talent on the roster, making its future bleak at best.

Throw in the NBA’s new CBA making it difficult to acquire stars in free agency — let alone make it to free agency, thanks to the financial incentive in extensions — and it’s time for an overall direction change.

After giving up their 2016 first-round pick, the Knicks are finally in good standing with their draft picks, owning all of their future first-round picks … at the time of writing.

Sorry, I had to throw that in. You never know when the Knicks will throw in a first-rounder in some random trade.

The Knicks have an easy path to racking up losses with several players hurt. Noah has been dealing with an injury, Porzingis missed the Bulls game with an Achilles injury and Anthony has been dealing with a severely injured shoulder.

Two of the highest-paid players on the Knicks and the future superstar, but for whatever reason, Anthony and Noah continue to battle it out and play.

The Knicks are bad enough on their own to lose enough to land in the low lottery, but the true, franchise-changing talent is at the top of the draft. Regardless of keeping Anthony or not, the Knicks need players who can grow and develop into what you need for cheap.

Players under contract who can develop and assume larger roles as players leave.

Several players fit the criteria for the New York Knicks. At point guard, you have Washington’s Markelle Fultz, UCLA’s Lonzo Ball, and North Carolina State’s Dennis Smith Jr.  — three guards with varying skills.

All three would solidify the Knicks’ need for a point guard while providing a long-term pick and roll partner with Porzingis. It’s a much better alternative than re-signing Rose.

Despite the success of Ball and UCLA, it is Fultz that remains the grand prize. Washington is an awful team around him, but Fultz has shown an explosive offensive game with elite playmaking.

While a long shot now, a combination of Fultz and Porzingis could set the Knicks up for the next decade.

More from Hoops Habit

• 7 Players the Miami Heat might replace Herro with by the trade deadline
• Meet Cooper Flagg: The best American prospect since LeBron James
• Are the Miami Heat laying the groundwork for their next super team?
• Sophomore Jump: 5 second-year NBA players bound to breakout
• NBA Trades: The Lakers bolster their frontcourt in this deal with the Pacers

If point guards don’t tickle your fancy, the New York Knicks, just like the rest of the league, could use another wing player who can space the floor and defend multiple positions.

Before packing up for Australia, Terrance Ferguson was projected as a 3-and-D prospect with size to defend three positions. Indiana’s OG Anunoby has an expanding floor game and his monstrous 7-foot-4 wingspan could allow him to defend four positions.   

Anyhoo, the Knicks are in an odd position with their roster. I like some of the role players, like Lance Thomas, Kyle O’Quinn and Justin Holiday — No. 1 free-agent priority Justin Holiday, by the way — and obviously having a young, two-way superstar in Porzingis is great.

I still hate the Noah contract, but statistically, he’s been fine. It just doesn’t fit. Anthony is on the way down as a player and Noah, with three years left on the books, is clearly on the way down.

With all of that in place, the Knicks should try to tank and acquire another star prospect to pair with Porzingis. From there, if the Knicks can acquire a top-five draft pick and hit, it becomes a bit clearer in what the Knicks should do and which direction they should build around.

Next: NBA Injuries: 20 Stars That Deserve Career Do-Overs

Until then, the Knicks will continue to build around Carmelo Anthony and his window of contention and this will continue to be the result.