The New York Knicks are preparing to be major players in this year's offseason. They have a large chance of landing one of the top three picks in this year's draft, and they also have cleared enough cap space to sign two players to max contracts.

The Knicks have only won 11 out of their 59 games, and although they are not saying it, New York is tanking for the rest of the season.

While that doesn't look good for the franchise or for the NBA, former Louisville coach Rick Pitino says the Knicks are doing the right thing if they are indeed tanking. He also said that it's the only way for them to find success.

“It’s risky but [it's] the only way out for them. The gamble is worth it,” Rick Pitino told Adam Zagoria of Forbes.

“The rules have changed with the lottery. The Knicks have floundered the other way trying the opposite the last decade. It's time to do it the right way [with] cap space [and a] decent draft. The other way had no chance of succeeding.”

The Knicks, however, have began tanking a couple of years ago. In fact, it's probably one of the reasons why they always land a top 10 pick the last couple of years. It looked like the team struck gold when they landed Kristaps Porzingis back in 2015, but they eventually traded him to the Dallas Mavericks a couple of weeks ago because Porzingis is no longer happy with the team's direction.

Now, the Knicks are back to square one. They have an opportunity to land Zion Williamson via draft, and guys like Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving via free agency.

The question now is, will their plan succeed?