New York Knicks head coach David Fizdale finally said on Tuesday what the basketball world already knew.
After putting up the worst season in franchise history with a lackluster roster and their best player recovering from a torn ACL before a dramatic trade at the deadline, Fizdale simply said that the 2018-19 campaign “went according to plan.”
That’s quite a plan, but it was seen by many as an essential move for the organization’s rebuild.
The Knicks went 17-65, two games worse than the Cleveland Cavaliers and Phoenix Suns, who hold the second-worst records in the league. Normally, New York would have had the best chances of securing the No. 1 overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft. However, changes made by the league now have the three-worst teams in the league even with a 14-percent chance to pick first.
Talk about bad timing.
Regardless, the Knicks still have a good chance to pick up a generational talent at the draft, whether that be Zion Williamson and RJ Barrett of Duke, or Ja Morant of Murray State.
Then comes the long-awaited free agency period that could yield the likes of Kevin Durant or Kyrie Irving, which would throttle the Knicks into contention in the Eastern Conference next season.
Those are plenty of hypotheticals to hinge a plan on, but the Knicks have executed the first part of it perfectly after such a heinous season.
