Fansided

NBA Powerless Rankings: What to do what to do what to do

By Matt Rutkowski

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK - JANUARY 23: The Oklahoma City Thunder stand for the National Anthem before the game against the Brooklyn Nets on January 23, 2018 at Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Layne Murdoch/NBAE via Getty Images)
OKLAHOMA CITY, OK - JANUARY 23: The Oklahoma City Thunder stand for the National Anthem before the game against the Brooklyn Nets on January 23, 2018 at Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Layne Murdoch/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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OAKLAND, CA – JANUARY 23: Kristaps Porzingis
OAKLAND, CA – JANUARY 23: Kristaps Porzingis /

4. The New York Knicks

Do you remember? Do you? It was Nov. 22. The Knicks were 10-7 after beating the Toronto Raptors, who are from Canada and are fine at basketball. Frankie Ntilikina was defending everything like Sarah Huckabee Sanders. Tim Hardaway Jr.’s contract maybe wasn’t terrible. Ron Baker’s hair annoyed me slightly less than it did now.

Above all that, Kristaps Porzingis was Zinging more than ever. 30+ point games were the norm while pulling down about eight rebounds. He was on Taps of the world. The body of Krist’s work was enough to have him near the top of the MVP conversation.

Well, things have fallen off a bit since then. Injuries happen, and Tim Hardaway Jr. missed about 328 games. Kyle O’Quinn is still Kyle O’Quinn, and that’s a massive positive no matter what aspect of like you’re trying to investigate, but that only gets you so far.

The Knicks are six games below 0.500, and now they have to figure out if they want to try and double down on their first exciting season in years, or if they hang back once more and try to get a high draft pick.

They weren’t picked to be doing this well before the season, so the fans could handle it. Maybe. I don’t know how the mind of a person from New York works. I assume it works really well.

On the other hand, the playoffs were so fun that one time they made it until J.R. Smith hit someone in the face. Is the allure of a non-face-hit playoff run worth more than whatever they could get back in a trade?

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