The New York Knicks entered the offseason with dreams of landing both Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. Then, reality struck, and they ended up with Julius Randle and Elfrid Payton.
To say that this summer was an unmitigated disaster for the Knicks would be putting it lightly, as they didn't land a single max free agent in spite of having more cap space than any other team in the league.
Basically, New York cleared over $70 million in salary by trading Kristaps Porzingis in order to sign a bunch of middle-of-the-road (or worse) players who won't even be getting the Knicks out of the cellar, let alone vaulting them into contention.
So, here are the three biggest takeaways from what was a horrific offseason in the Big Apple.
3. They May Have Misinterpreted Some Things
Back in February, people around the Knicks were acting like it was a foregone conclusion that they would land both Durant and Irving, but now that both guys signed with the Brooklyn Nets (of all teams), you have to wonder if they ever gave serious consideration to the Knicks at all.
Now, to be fair, Irving does not exactly seem like the most stable guy in the world, but based on everything he has said since signing with the Nets, it seems like he had Brooklyn on his mind all along, and if we are to believe that Irving and Durant were always going to end up playing together, then so did Durant.
So what exactly made the Knicks think that Irving and Durant were going to choose them? They either received false information from somebody or they just assumed that the allure of Madison Square Garden (more on that later) would be enough to land those two stars. Either way, lines got crossed somewhere.
2. They Panicked
It seems obvious that once the Knicks learned they weren't going to sign any big-name stars, they went into panic mode and just started throwing money around at the first names they saw.
Randle. Payton. Taj Gibson. Bobby Portis. Wayne Ellington. Marcus Morris.
Not only do the timelines of those players not match up, but the fit is also weird. With the Knicks already having Mitchell Robinson, why did they feel the need to sign three big men who are all going to be demanding significant playing time? Heck, even Morris is a power forward.
The worst part of all is that, outside of Morris, these guys were all signed to multi-year deals, so it's not even like all of these players are going to come off the books next summer.
1. “The Mecca” Means Nothing
Can the Knicks stop pretending like the fact that they play at Madison Square Garden actually means anything? Obviously, it doesn't.
Year after year, New York continues to strike out in the free agent market, which can only mean one thing: no one wants to play for the Knicks.
No one cares that it's New York. No one cares about the Garden. All players are seeing is a dysfunctional front office that has won just one playoff series in 17 years and has quite possibly the most inept owner in the sport.
Sure; back in the '90s, playing for the Knicks meant something. New York was actually a good team back then, and Charles Dolan was quite a bit more in tune than James Dolan.
But that was a long time ago. Now, the Knicks are bottom feeders, and banking on free agency is not going to get them out of the basement. The sooner they accept that, the better off they'll be.
But who are we kidding? They're probably already expecting Giannis Antetokounmpo to sign there in two years.
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