Knicks could be following in footsteps of Nets

The Knicks ventured to Brooklyn for the first time this season for a test at Barclays Center. But when the Knicks and Nets last engaged in a real fight that meant something, the game was lost before the Knicks even put their sneakers on, losing a free-agent chase without even getting a shot.

That was the summer of 2019, when the Nets had deals in place with Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, the prizes of the free-agent class that had led the Knicks to shed salary cap space and even their own young star, Kristaps Porzingis, to rid the roster of onerous contracts that got in the way of the star pursuit.

Brooklyn didn’t hold any of the allure of the Knicks at that time, lacking stars and attention. But what the Nets had at that time was respectability. Led by coach Kenny Atkinson, the Nets overachieved at nearly every position. With little star power, the Nets had become a slightly better than .500 team and made the postseason. It was enough to lure Irving and Durant, who have been followed since by James Harden and Blake Griffin.

"I think every year is different," Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said. "When you look historically how teams have been put together, every team is put together a different way. One year won’t carry over into another year, particularly when you have free agents that decide that they’re going to go somewhere.

"In today’s modern NBA this is part of it. You can see players whether it’s through all-star games or team USA, where they’re all talking to each other, this is what happens. When you get those type of players to commit to play with each other it makes it attractive for other players to want to go there. And every team is different. When you study how each team is put together there’s a lot of different ways to do it.

The Knicks have always chased the headlines, trying to find a way to grab stars, and more often than not have come up empty. But this season with a new front office they brought in a star on the sidelines, picking Thibodeau as head coach. And after years of dysfunction the Knicks have now mimicked the path that the Nets paved, overachieving with a roster that had little expected from it.

He has helped turn Julius Randle into an All-Star, overseen RJ Barrett ascending after a questionable rookie season and gotten more than could be expected from Elfrid Payton and rookie Immanuel Quickley.

At his introductory news conference, Thibodeau said, "You go step by step. You don’t skip over anything. The first thing is you lay the foundation, develop a plan and then work the plan. The steps are incremental. You don’t make major jumps without going through each step. So I think the first step is to establish the work ethic and how we want to play."

The Knicks have done that, bringing a 20-19 record into Monday’s game that had them in seventh place in the Eastern Conference playoff race. Randle has become the centerpiece of the team, although that comes with questions, too. He has always put up numbers, but never did exhibit the other intangibles that he has displayed this season, taking up a leadership role in the locker room and on the court.

But is it enough to count on as that No. 1 piece? The Knicks still have plenty of salary cap space as they decide how to handle his contract. But Thibodeau, after the team didn’t land a star this past offseason, made it clear what he thinks the next step is.

"I think it’s critical, when you look at every team in the league, particularly the playoff teams, and there’s a lot of different paths to getting stars," Thibodeau said earlier this season. "Sometimes it’s the development phase. … So some guys continue to get better year after year. Sometimes you have to do it through trades, sometimes it’s free agency. But I think you have to be very aggressive in seeking out those opportunities. They just don’t happen by accident."

By Steve Popper

steve.popper@newsday.com@StevePopper

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.