storyteller
Veteran
The Knicks drafted project players, young players that were extremely raw but had skills that could be developed into something special.The GM's just didn't put together remotely the environment for any young players to develop. Fisher, Hornacek, Fizdale and Miller were perpetually coaching for their lives with a bunch of vets playing for their contracts in the locker room. You had young guys jockeying from bad coach to bad coach, system to system and bench to bench while 1 year players like Enes Kanter played for next year's pay day or made a scene in the locker room.
This doesn't absolve the selections of Knox or Frank. But none of the young cats progressed at the NBA level; the ones fortunate enough to do G-League stints came back with improvements but that's it. If anything, most guys regressed. Not even just the DSJ's and Triers either; even some older cats like THJ and Burke showed up with spark that faded and are showing promise again elsewhere.
These were poorly constructed teams with bad coaching and terrible development. The last thing they shoulda been doing was focusing on age and upside when they weren't prepared to refine the kids' tools. Those were bad picks for sure, we still don't know if we want Frank around and his extension is coming. Knox hasn't even managed to be a rotation level player yet and he's approaching year three. But the one benefit of those selections were that these cats were super young. Frank's still younger than some projected lottery picks. Knox is even younger. The new management has brought in some straight up development gurus for the coaching staff. We were just starting to see a few only positive signs of development from Mitch, RJ and Frank late. I think structure was taking hold. I have hopes Thibs, Payne and Bryant can get better results.
Don't get me wrong though, the clock is ticking because of their contracts. With the shortened season, Frank and Knox have both got serious uphill battles. I like Frank's chances based on the fact that he's got some NBA value skills already. Knox really looked lost but he's got some more time before a solid decision has to be made. It's not ideal but I'd like to see what the post Mills era looks like. These cats are still young and this team won't be ready to compete without a ton of good breaks for at least another season anyway.
This doesn't absolve the selections of Knox or Frank. But none of the young cats progressed at the NBA level; the ones fortunate enough to do G-League stints came back with improvements but that's it. If anything, most guys regressed. Not even just the DSJ's and Triers either; even some older cats like THJ and Burke showed up with spark that faded and are showing promise again elsewhere.
These were poorly constructed teams with bad coaching and terrible development. The last thing they shoulda been doing was focusing on age and upside when they weren't prepared to refine the kids' tools. Those were bad picks for sure, we still don't know if we want Frank around and his extension is coming. Knox hasn't even managed to be a rotation level player yet and he's approaching year three. But the one benefit of those selections were that these cats were super young. Frank's still younger than some projected lottery picks. Knox is even younger. The new management has brought in some straight up development gurus for the coaching staff. We were just starting to see a few only positive signs of development from Mitch, RJ and Frank late. I think structure was taking hold. I have hopes Thibs, Payne and Bryant can get better results.
Don't get me wrong though, the clock is ticking because of their contracts. With the shortened season, Frank and Knox have both got serious uphill battles. I like Frank's chances based on the fact that he's got some NBA value skills already. Knox really looked lost but he's got some more time before a solid decision has to be made. It's not ideal but I'd like to see what the post Mills era looks like. These cats are still young and this team won't be ready to compete without a ton of good breaks for at least another season anyway.
