Fans have an obsession with tanking for a high lottery pick, thinking it is the correct strategy for all rebuilding clubs. When Knicks GM Scott Perry met with the media Saturday in Chicago, he sent a message to fans — and his players.
No tanks.
Team president Steve Mills and Perry aren’t focused on gaining another high lottery pick. They’d prefer the Knicks overachieve and play games with playoff meaning in April.
In another words, be different than their two most recent opponents in the Bulls and Hawks, who own the league’s two worst records and are expected to be 1-2 in the lottery seedings come May.
“I don’t think that’s healthy for any culture,’’ Perry said of tanking. “I think if you try to institutionalize losing, that’s hard to get out of your building.’’
After their discouraging performance in Chicago, the Knicks pulled out a Garden cliff-hanger against Hawks in the fourth quarter, 111-107, moving to 13-13.
All the right young core guys did well in crunch time — Ron Baker, experiencing a sophomore jinx but finally making his first big imprint on a game this season with 31 scrappy minutes; rookie Frank Ntilikina hitting a big 3, collecting three steals, hitting a late free throw; Kristaps Porzingis reversing a recent downward spiral with 30 points; Doug McDermott piling on 23 points.
According to a source, Mills and Perry are aware Porzingis needs to see signs of progression if he is going to stay here long-term. A 25-57 finish won’t have the 7-foot-3 Latvian enthused about committing this summer when he gets a chance to sign a rookie contract extension.
Mills and Perry have courted Porzingis’ brother/agent Janis Porzingis so they know their urgency.
Porzingis wants to be in the playoffs for the first time. His first two NBA seasons have been over by March 1.
“I don’t believe in it either,’’ Porzingis told The Post regarding tanking. “Every season you have to go with the expectations of making the playoffs. That’s the way to get better. If you do make the playoffs, that experience, you can’t change for nothing. Every player should as soon as you start you career. The sooner you get that, the more you’re prepared for the future. I’m really looking forward to making the playoffs.’’
If the Knicks don’t make the playoff — and chances are they fall short with Tim Hardaway Jr.’s potential extended absence with a lower leg injury — at least the players would have grown from being in a playoff hunt. That’s more than can be said about the Hawks, Bulls and incoming Lakers. The Knicks host LaVar Ball’s son Tuesday.
“Fans were guessing we’d be worse than we are now,’’ Porzingis told The Post. “The way we’re playing, it’s something achievable.’’
Mills and Perry set low expectations entering training camp, but by no means did they wish the Knicks would jockey with the Bulls and Hawks for worst in the East.
Their urge to dump Carmelo Anthony appeared to be a sign of dropping to the bottom. But the new regime — and the fired Phil Jackson — just wanted to be done with Anthony because he didn’t fit their new identity as an organization emphasizing defense and passing.
Knicks coach Jeff Hornacek is trying to win, otherwise young building block Willy Hernangomez would be the center backup, not Kyle O’Quinn.
“We’re always looking to win the game,’’ Hornacek said. “Sometimes you want to give guys looks and opportunities, but that’s from practice where they earned it. It’s a little bit of a fine balance but ultimately we’re trying to win games and putting out guys who might give it to us.’’
If the Knicks lose Porzingis, who will be a perennial All-Star if not superstar, the franchise faces a hopeless future.
So if the Knicks do fall out of the race by February’s trade deadline, Perry will have a lot to think about in potentially unloading someone with trade value such as Courtney Lee.
“It’s part of my daily grind,’’ Perry said of those decisions.
Perry would rather not have those conversations with teams in February. Perry prefers to still be in the race — the only surefire way of ensuring Porzingis sticks.
https://nypost.com/2017/12/11/only-one-way-for-knicks-to-keep-kristaps-porzingis-around/
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