The New York Knicks have not been to the NBA Finals since 1999 and have not been much of a factor in the playoffs since then, either. New York has seen a litany of high-priced free agents come in and out of the doors at Madison Square Garden over that span, only to disappoint.
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This offseason, it was expected that president Phil Jackson would follow the same tact and go for the quick fix, but Jackson threw the masses a curve and went with building a team over the long haul. In that vein, Jackson was able to acquire Jerian Grant in the NBA Draft from the Atlanta Hawks for Tim Hardaway Jr. before signing Aaron Afflalo and Robin Loopez to reasonable deals.
The moves have actually drawn praise from NBA on TNT analyst Charles Barkley, one of the men usually leading the charge when bashing the Knicks, per ESPN.
"“I actually disagree with all the criticism that people are giving the Knicks. I think the Knicks should be on national television this year. They actually got NBA players,’’ Barkley, a TNT analyst, said Wednesday night on NBA TV’s show to reveal the NBA schedule.“Robin Lopez is an NBA player, Arron Afflalo is an NBA player, [draftee] Jerian Grant is an NBA player. That’s three NBA players that they did not have last year. And they’re going to get Carmelo [Anthony] back. [First-round draft pick Kristaps] Porzingis is going to be a good player, maybe not right now, but he’s going to be a good player.”"
This is a fair piece of analysis for a team that normally deserves criticism. The Knicks are finally looking to add quality players without an $100 million price tag, something of a change of course for this once-proud franchise.