There is already some promise within the ranks of the New York Knicks, and we’re still about five months away from free agency.
While Knicks fans hold their breath on a summer that could yield enormous signings like Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, or Kawhi Leonard, some current members of one of the league’s worst teams are showing that there might be something brewing at Madison Square Garden.
One would be grasping at straws to find more than a handful of positives during this Knicks season. New York sits at the very bottom of the Eastern Conference with a 13-48 record. Only the Phoenix Suns have a worse mark this season.
Almost inexplicably, though, the Knicks have rattled off three wins in their last four games, by far the most successful spell of another lost season that has them in the running for the top pick in the 2019 NBA Draft.
Throughout this recent run — and even in the few weeks before — two Knicks, in particular, have begun to stand out, indicating that first-year head coach David Fizdale is going to have some in-house talent to work with next year and beyond.
Guard Dennis Smith Jr. was the biggest tangible piece of the Kristaps Porzingis trade, though that could change depending on what the two future first-round picks from the Dallas Mavericks turn out to be.
It’s more than a year late, but the Knicks finally got a talent that many believed they should have selected eighth overall in the 2017 draft. Instead, the Knicks took Frank Ntilikina, who is still proving to be a big-time project.
After a solid first campaign in the NBA that saw him finish fifth in the Rookie of the Year voting, Smith fell out of favor in Dallas thanks to the emergence of Luka Doncic, making him expendable for the Knicks’ taking.
The 21-year-old has been playing some of the best basketball of his career since arriving in New York, averaging 15.4 points and 6.5 assists per game in his first 10 appearances.
It’s provided some stability to the Knicks’ backcourt, which saw its fair share of shuffling during the first half of the season. A log jam at the 1 saw Emmanuel Mudiay, Trey Burke, and Frank Ntilikina all jocking for playing time, though Mudiay’s development under Fizdale was admirable.
After Burke was sent to Dallas as a part of the Porzingis deal and Mudiay went down with a shoulder injury, Smith came in and simply ran away with the job which now looks as though it will be his to keep for the long haul.
At the opposite end of the lineup, center Mitchell Robinson is starting to flourish amidst a wild ride. After opting not to go to college, the 20-year-old fell to the 36th pick in the 2018 draft where he possessed the raw intangibles to become a force near the basket.
Following a shaky start to his rookie season, Robinson has become a defensive stalwart near the hoop. Despite averaging just 18 minutes per game, he ranks third in the NBA with 2.2 blocks per game, trailing only Myles Turner and Anthony Davis.
The past two games, both Knicks wins, have shown just how high Robinson’s ceiling can be. Following a 15-point, 14-rebound, and five-block effort in a 130-118 win over the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday, Robinson went off for 17 points, 14 rebounds and six blocks on Tuesday night in a 108-103 win over the Orlando Magic.
He’s just the third rookie in the past 25 years to record two-consecutive double-doubles with five or more blocks. The other two were Hall-of-Famer Yao Ming and future Hall-of-Famer Tim Duncan.
That’s not bad company.
Sure, it might be premature to say that the Knicks might have just found their starting point guard and center for the next decade, but it’s not a ridiculous notion to expect big things from either Smith or Robinson moving forward, especially if the Knicks make some big moves this summer.
