The New York Knicks made a last-minute addition to their roster, signing Ivan Rabb to a two-way deal and adding to their glowing collection of power forwards after signing four of them in the offseason:
Forward Ivan Rabb is finalizing a two-way NBA contract with the New York Knicks, league sources tell @TheAthleticNBA @Stadium.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) October 23, 2019
The Knicks signed Julius Randle, Bobby Portis, and Taj Gibson, and then they enticed Marcus Morris to sign a one-year, $15 million offer after he initially agreed to two-year, $20 million offer from the San Antonio Spurs. If those four power forwards weren't enough, they also drafted Ignas Brazdeikis, and he's a player who can play that position as well.
If the chain of ineptitude wasn't enough, Knicks brass responded with how versatile their players are, with all four of their power forwards in the 15-man rotation able to play other positions.
Let's entertain that thought for a second: Randle, Portis, and Gibson can play at center, and Morris can play the small forward slot. But with teams trending toward smaller lineups, it leaves very little possibility for more than two of them to be on the court at the same time, despite committing 50.6% of their 2019-20 salary cap into their power forwards, according to Spotrac.
Plus, don't forget that the Knicks need to nurture the development of promising young center Mitchell Robinson, so he'll be soaking up frontcourt minutes as well. Even Kevin Knox is a guy who can play the 4.
Rabb is a nice young talent, but the sheer comedy of the Knicks going in this Daryl Morey-like quest to amass talent without concept for fit or position is what has made this franchise a sad laughingstock through the course of the last few years.
The former Cal product will reunite with former Memphis Grizzlies coach David Fizdale, as the report below indicates, but the chances of him having any playing time under him are minimal, if not nonexistent:
With a "potential opportunity" after he chops through what, another two-way power forward and four others in the 15-man roster? Suuuuuure thing, man.
— Bruno Manrique (@TheSportsLede) October 23, 2019
New York is now confused between the ideal of developing young players like Dennis Smith Jr., Kevin Knox, RJ Barrett, and Mitchell Robinson and playing a slew of veterans they signed this offseason as a way to ameliorate the fury of Knicks fans after striking out on their previous star-level targets.
Moves like these show a complete lack of vision and one that players have now been observant about, as Kevin Durant indicated in a recent offseason interview.
As long as the front office keeps collecting power forwards, there is very little chance of a star even toying with the idea of coming to The Big Apple.
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