The New York Knicks put together an objectively impressive campaign in 2019-20.
Despite many writing them off as doomed to miss the playoffs yet again, Julius Randle and Co. buckled down, played hard and finished as the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference.
Although the lasting image of Trae Young eliminating the Knicks from the postseason in the first round and subsequently dancing on their grave is brutal, by any objective measure, last year was a success.
The big question now is: where does the organization go from here?
“We’re gonna be aggressive as far as knowing what’s going on and as far as being on top of things and looking at opportunities,’’ team president Leon Rose said recently, per the New York Post.
“But at the same time, we’re going to be prudent and disciplined in decisions that we make that are going to take into account positives and negatives, short term, long term, all those factors in a decision-making process.”
At the moment, if the Knicks do make a move, three names seem more likely than any others: Karl-Anthony Towns, Damian Lillard and Zion Williamson.
Towns has made his frustration with the Minnesota Timberwolves clear. The Kentucky-CAA link has been cited frequently as a potential catalyst in him eventually landing in the Big Apple.
If not Towns – Lillard is another intriguing option. The Knicks have made their trade offering to the Portland Trail Blazers for his services – now it’s just a matter of whether the Blazers bite.
The Bucks owner’s daughter decided to bring 2021 in with a bang by stripping all her clothes off. https://t.co/UgzhEEna4o
— Game 7 (@game7__) January 7, 2021
Finally, don’t sleep on Williamson. His team has been quietly flirting with the Knicks for a while now. Although he is saying all the right things publicly — where there’s smoke, there’s fire.
At some point in the foreseeable future, sooner rather than later, the Knicks will add a superstar. Who will that superstar ultimately be? Time will tell.
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A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
