Knicks= Win now or bust?

Hey guys, first time posting but long time trolling here at P&T. As most of you are I too am very frustrated with the way the Knicks have been playing this season. Which leads to this post! I’m not going to complain or be drastic with my rationale but I am just trying to paint a picture of where the Knicks are going in the future.

The Knicks are haunted by a long list of awful trades. Most of which is Isaiah Thomas’ fault. Just off the top of my head:

• Trading the rights to Nene to Denver for Antonio McDyess/Frank Williams

• The trade for Stephon Marbury that cost us 2 first round picks and also McDyess who was finally starting to play

• Mike Sweetney, Tim Thomas, 2 First Round Picks, 2 Second Round Picks for Eddy Curry and a first round pick. (Granted that pick we got back turned into Ill Will)

• Penny Hardaway/Trevor Ariza for Steve Francis

• Jordan Hill/2 First Round Picks for Tracy McGrady (really?)

That’s all I can remember off the top of my head, and I actually liked the Marbury deal at the time and the first year of him playing. Dude was a beast but screwed everything up with his terrible ego. It’s times like this where we look back and should consider ourselves lucky to have a starting front court of Byson/Stat/Melo with youngins’ Shump, Landry, DWTDD, Jorts, and Baron Davis waiting in the wings. We have come a long way from the Isaiah Thomas dark days. Or have we?

The Knicks are once again failing to live up to expectations placed upon them, some of them unrealistic. But with our ‘Big 3’ staying above .500 should not be this big of a problem. Not to mention there is NO more salary cap room. Stat signed a 5 year/$100 GUARANTEED contract last season. Melo signed a 3 year/$65 Mil contract extension last season, and Chandler signed a 4 year/$64 million contract this offseason. We are committed to these players for at least the next 2 years barring another bizzare trade. I am not going to be over drastic with these claims, I am simply stating the facts right now. Perhaps Baron Davis can become that guy we need this season and make everything click. And I really hope he does. But regardless of how this year plays out, what about the future?

Consider this: with so little cap space, filling out the roster for the bench is hard, and even harder to find consistent contributors to come off the bench and produce. What are we looking at after this season? What if Baron Davis only plays this year as a Knick? Who then becomes the starting point guard next season? Where do we begin to fill our holes and make this team better? The Knicks are in a win-now mind-set, and rightfully should be while they still have Stat and Melo on the roster for the time being. The most popular way to fill your needs on the cheap is the draft. Okay so that should be easy, look how rookies have been contributing all over the league so far, and not just Shump. Whats the problem here? The Knicks are STILL being haunted by those trades that have been mentioned above. We are without a first round OR second round pick this year( Tracy McGrady trade, the 2nd round pick I believe belongs to the Suns). As far as my research goes, we still have a 2013 first round pick (I could be wrong) but are without a 2nd rounder. Our 2014 AND 2016 first round picks both go to Denver for Melo. I know that is awhile down the road but just something to consider.

My intention is not to be negative or cause alarm. I am just trying to look at the situation. I am a Knicks fan and enjoy when my team is a factor every single year. Will the Knicks still be able to be contenders 2-3 years from now? Or is too much put into this season? I think it is the latter, in my own opinion. Of course nobody knows what the future holds or what the next shake-up to the team might be. But the team, as is at the moment, is not built to win in 2 years from now (and apparently from our play this season, not even built to win now)