Mike Vorkunov had John Hollinger on for an excellent discussion for The Athletic (subscription required and recommended) about possible Knick trades.
I adore this take by Hollinger, when Vorkunov noted that he thinks that the Knicks should try to get into the 30s this year as “how many times can the Knicks play that game?” (“That game” being intentionally losing – I dunno, Mike, maybe more than the one time that they did it?). Hollinger replied, “Let me clarify: I see no harm in winning games next season. The Knicks don’t have any reason to aspire to overt awfulness, especially given the flattened lottery odds and the fact that the Knicks can probably do plenty of losing without making any extra special effort.
My point is more that they should be maximizing odds of having a legitimately good team three years down the road. If they manage to go 36-46 or something next season, that’s nice, but in the big picture it’s completely irrelevant. What matters a lot more is if they can be a 50-win team three years from now. Given this franchise’s history, I think it’s fair to worry that they’ll lose sight of the long-term goal if they sniff any short-term quasi-success.”
Awesome.
Less awesome is this deal involving Mitch:
Robinson, the No. 8 pick, the No. 38 pick and Bullock for the No. 2 pick, Poole, Looney and the better of Minnesota or Golden State pick in 2021 (top-seven protected, except that if both are in top seven, they get the lesser of the two picks, and if one is top seven and the other is outside top 20, the Knicks may defer to Golden State’s 2022 unprotected first-round pick instead)
I get the argument, but noooooooo thank you.