What can the Knicks and Mike Miller get out of the last 27 games of the season?
Kevin Knox II of the New York Knicks after a basket in the first half against the Memphis Grizzlies at Madison Square Garden on Jan. 29, 2020. Credit: Jim McIsaac
The Knicks will return to practice Wednesday afternoon from the All-Star break that allowed nearly the entire team to vacation since they weren’t highly represented in Chicago for the weekend.
Even RJ Barrett, the lone Knicks player invited, played in the Rising Stars Challenge on Friday night and then departed the next day for a few days in the Florida sun. But when the sun and sand are shaken out, when the fishing poles are put away, the Knicks are back for the final 27 games of the season.
The Knicks remain the 17-38 team that left for this brief respite. But if they seem to be running out the string, it’s not quite that simple. The Knicks already have made changes, switching coaches in December and removing Steve Mills as team president last month.
Now, they have Leon Rose coming aboard as team president, a source indicating it could become official at the end of this month. At that point, the agent-turned-executive can begin rebuilding the franchise to his liking. While Steve Stoute, brought on by Madison Square Garden executive chairman James Dolan to help with a rebranding of the franchise, went on ESPN and announced that a new coach would be on the way after the season, those changes aren’t taking place yet.
Interim coach Mike Miller remains in place while rumors already have surfaced of coaches close to Rose. Kentucky coach John Calipari openly pronounced that he would help Rose any way he could but would not coach the Knicks. Jay Wright of Villanova was speculated on and shot down already. Former Knicks employees Jeff Van Gundy and Tom Thibodeau, part of the NBA coaching fraternity, will not express any interest in a job with a coach still in place.
The roster remains the same other than the trade deadline deal that sent away the team’s most productive player, Marcus Morris. The question remains, though, what Miller can get out of the rest of the schedule.
The Knicks have given the bulk of the playing time other than Barrett to the seven free agents signed last summer. The Knicks' future may be contingent on their seven first-round picks in the next four years. But the three lottery picks in the last three years have yet to produce the sort of results the team can build around.
Barrett has shown potential, but Kevin Knox, last year’s No. 9 overall pick, has seen his minutes and production diminish in his second season. He has averaged just 18.3 minutes and 6.8 points per game this season, down from 28.8 and 12.8 last season. Those numbers have dipped under Miller, including just 14.8 minutes and 4.0 points over the last 10 games. Frank Ntilikina, the 2017 lottery pick, has played more than 14 minutes just once in the last four games.
At this point last season, the Knicks benched or bought out some of the veterans on expiring contracts, a tactic that might help set Rose up to know exactly what he has when he is in place.
Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
