2018-2019 Finish: 33-49

Season Highlight: In what was such an atypical season for the consistently great New York Knicks, it is hard to find a season highlight that compares in magnitude to some of their lowlights. They finished 12^th in the East and missed the playoffs by 16 games, so they weren’t really close at all throughout the year. A highlight could be Mo Bamba, who was thrown into the furnace with the absence of Dwight Howard. Bamba rebounded and blocked everything that came his way and he showed that he has what it takes to be a piece that the Knicks build around.

Season Lowlight: The Knicks fraternity said goodbye to their long, long, long time General Manager in Tim/dunadan. The circumstances of his exit are still murky in a situation that saw the NLL-founder vanish from the league and his Knicks. For a team that was already struggling to find consistency and a star player who was playing terribly, this was the straw that broke the camel’s back. The team has talent and has pieces that should have worked well together but all they could muster was a disappointing season with little-to-no reason to celebrate for the majority of the season.

Thanks for all of your contributions, Tim.

Best Trade: Their wasn’t too much movement in terms of trades for the Knicks, with the team becoming much of a ghost ship upon the departure of Tim.

The Memphis Grizzlies send  Juan Hernangomez to the New York Knicks. The New York Knicks send  Collin Sexton to the Memphis Grizzlies. 
The Memphis Grizzlies send a  1st-Rounder (SA), 1st-Rounder (Mem) and 1st-Rounder (Det) to the New York Knicks. 

This was the most recent trade for the Knicks, and was done by the new GM, but I think it’s a great deal. Sexton has shown quite a lot of flaws during his first season and while that is to be expected, adding a young player and three first rounders is an impressive haul.

Worst Trade: As I previously mentioned, the Knicks kept their six-shooter in the holster for much of the season. If I was to identify any of their trades as the worst, I would call it ineffective or poor, as I don’t think they risked enough in any deals to have a ‘worst’ deal:

The Brooklyn Nets send  Eric Bledsoe to the New York Knicks. The New York Knicks send  Grayson Allen to the Portland Trail Blazers. The Portland Trail Blazers send  Terry Rozier to the Brooklyn Nets. 
The Brooklyn Nets send a  1st-Rounder (Det) to the Portland Trail Blazers. The New York Knicks send a  1st-Rounder (NY) and 2nd-Rounder (Min) to the Portland Trail Blazers. The Portland Trail Blazers send a  2nd-Rounder (Orl) and 2nd-Rounder (Pho) to the Brooklyn Nets. 
The New York Knicks use their trade exception over $ 15,000,000. 

Bledsoe is easily the best player in the deal, but did they really need another guard who needs the ball to be truly effective to play with Harden, who is the most dominant user of the ball in the league? In hindsight, no, but at the time, the deal looked to be a deal in the right direction for the Knicks, who had title aspirations. However, in reality, Bledsoe never really clicked with Harden and bounced in and out of the starting lineup, never being fully utilised or effective. They sent out a young prospect, a first rounder and a second rounder for their troubles and added a big contract to their payroll. Due to the Knicks woes, the pick ended up being good and was used on Jarrett Culver.

Other Notable Trades: There really weren’t too many…

The Boston Celtics send  Darren Collison and Dakari Johnson to the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Minnesota Timberwolves send  Etwaun Moore and Cameron Payne to the New York Knicks. The New York Knicks send  Pau Gasol to the Boston Celtics. 
The Minnesota Timberwolves send a  1st-Rounder (Min) to the Boston Celtics. The Minnesota Timberwolves send a  2nd-Rounder (Min) to the New York Knicks. 

The Knicks did well in this deal, able to ship out an ailing and swiftly declining Pau Gasol for some younger guards (despite Cameron Payne not sticking in the league). They didn’t need Gasol at all with Howard and Bamba, so made a lot of sense.

The New Orleans Pelicans send  Kyle Korver to the New York Knicks. The New York Knicks send  Etwaun Moore to the New Orleans Pelicans. 

The Knicks shipped out one shooter for another, here.

Free Agency: Most of the Knicks roster is accounted for, but they still have a few impactful free agents whose futures are up in the air with the New York Franchise.

Bobby Portis (RFA) – Portis has shown great flashes of scoring potential when he isn’t throwing fists. He is strong and savvy inside and out and can be a matchup problem for opposing defenders. With his rights held by the Knicks, it’s almost a certainty that he stays.

Dwight Howard (UFA) – Disappointing Dwight, as I will refer him to, is uncertain about what he wants to do, with a role still there on the Knicks team. However, part of him wants nothing to do with the Knicks medical staff that botched his buttocks issues throughout the year. Maybe stays, maybe goes.

Al-Farouq Aminu (UFA) – Aminu, a great role player in the league, was shown greener pastures and didn’t look back. He won’t be with the Knicks next season and will test the free agent market.

Allen Crabbe (UFA) – The Crabbe in name and in nature, the one-dimensional player is mostly known for having one of the worst poison pill contracts going around to date. The Knicks don’t want him.

Kyle Korver (UFA) – Korver would be a great vet to keep around for the Knicks, but he has lots of value around the league to all contending teams. He will likely leave.

Patrick Patterson (UFA) – Patrick Patterson has a great reputation as a vet around the league but he is actually not much chop as a basketballer, any more. He won’t get a new deal from the Knicks.

Star: It is hard to go past James Harden, who is one of the most enigmatic and talented offensive players in recent history in the league. However, for whatever reason, he never was able to ignite his team during the 2018-19 season, and while he got his fill, the Knicks sunk to one of the worst finishes in history and had culture issues to boot.

Goat: Dwight Howard. What was even wrong with him this season? He was always two weeks away from playing, but never did. The team moved Pau Gasol because Dwight said he was good to go, but he never showed. This left rookie Mo Bamba to fend for himself and any live, undersized body on the roster to back him up.

Draft Grades: Bol Bol (pick 18), Kevin Porter Jr (pick 21), Dylan Windler (pick 24)

A real mixed bag at the draft table, with the allure of Bol Bol being a 2k uniform too much to pass up at pick 18. At this stage, with Bol Bol being put on a 2-way contract, the pick seems to be a pretty bad one. Can his body even stand up to the rigors of professional basketball? Kevin Porter Jr has some talent and will be an NBA player and I can say the same for Windler, although both have their flaws.

In conclusion, they could have someone contributing to them right now at 18 but instead they have someone in the G-League.

D

The Future: As it stands, the roster is part vet, part youth and it’s hard to get a read on teams like that. Harden remains one of the best players in the league, and maybe the new Knicks GM can find a better chemistry with his players. Bamba, Sexton will be better for the run last season, but in a loaded Eastern Conference, I can’t see them doing any better than they did this year. Maybe they scrape to 40 wins, but lots of the roster just doesn’t look dangerous.