A Mad Men guide to the 2018-19 NBA Season

“I’m glad this is an environment where you feel free to fail.” — New York Knicks

It’s ok. You can admit it. When you read the quote and saw the team, you’re first thought was “Ha…that’s funny because they’ve sucked for most of the last two decades.”

And who could blame you? Outside of New York, the Knicks are still the team owned by James Dolan, and will be the organization that can’t shoot straight for as long as that’s the case.

In the Big Apple though, they’re…well, they’re still owned by Dolan, and they’ve still been mostly bad for some time now. That said, if you’ve been paying attention to New York’s offseason (and unless you’re a Knicks fan, why would you), you’d have noticed the powers that be are finally taking a different approach.

New coach David Fizdale has already admitted he’ll give his young players every opportunity to fail as long as they’re playing the right way. He’s hired a staff heavily focussed on development, a notion that compliments two draft picks in Kevin Knox and Mitchell Robinson that will need every ounce of room to grow, not to mention holdover Frank Ntilikina. Kristaps Porzingis will be encouraged to take his sweet, sweet time in returning to the court. There are no misgivings about the upcoming season. If the young players progress, the train is moving in the right direction, regardless of the win total.

It’s an environment everyone in the Mecca should enjoy while they can. When the clock strikes midnight on July 1, 2019, expectations will be ratcheted up for Scott Perry & Co. If they fail to deliver when that time comes, the patient approach the organization has been preaching will truly be put to the test.