The New York Knicks just finished another abysmal season, finishing with the league-worst record of 17-65. However, despite their failure to be competitive, head coach David Fizdale believes that everything that happened this season was what the organization expected right from the beginning.
In his appearance on ESPN's The Jump, Fizdale claimed that the outcome of the season was part of the Knicks' plans all along.
“It was everything I thought it would be. Our fans were fantastic; I don't know if I've gotten through the year if they weren't. It's tough. You're hardwired to win, but we got great kids, they came to work everyday, they battled, and they got a lot better; and it was just according to plan, just how we wanted it to go,” said Fizdale.
David Fizdale undoubtedly did a great job developing the Knicks' young players, especially Mitchell Robinson. However, it's arguable that they had the season they wanted. After all, they traded Kristaps Porzingis during the trade deadline and obviously decided to go young by acquiring Dennis Smith Jr. in the process.
The Knicks put themselves in a great position to sign a couple of top-tier free agents in the summer. Their record also puts them in the best position to land the no.1 pick in the 2019 NBA Draft. Nonetheless, it's questionable if the Knicks really planned to tank all along.
Tanking has been a controversial topic in the NBA over the past couple of years, as a lot of people do not approve of losing on purpose just to fast track a team's rebuild through the draft. Some changes pertaining to the draft rules have already been made, one of which is that the three worst teams in the league will get equal opportunity to land the top pick.
Only time will tell how the 2018-19 season would affect the Knicks, but at least they seem prepared to whatever happens.
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