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With Mike Miller, the Knicks head coach presumably for the rest of the season, an interesting two months leading up the trade deadline awaits the franchise. While Miller tries to win as many games as he can to prove he is a viable NBA head coach, the organization is in a dangerous period where the front office is also trying to save their jobs.
Steve Mills’ best skill has been surviving the shark-infested waters of Madison Square Garden. Since coming in as general manager under Phil Jackson, and later taking his job as team president, Mills has presided over some of the worst and most disappointing seasons in franchise history. After promising his offseason haul would lead to a better product and more wins, the team has looked worse than a far less talented 2018-2019 roster.
Miller was probably selected by Mills to be head coach for a few reasons. Since neither Mills nor Perry deemed it important to talk to the media after the coaching change, there’s no other choice but to speculate what those reasons are. Other than the fact they think Miller is a competent head coach, Mills also likely chose Miller because he will listen to what the organization tells him to do.
Miller was deeply ingrained in the Knicks’ player development program as he ran the Westchester Knicks for four seasons. He worked closely with the front office and adjusted how he played in Westchester to match what the Knicks were doing in the NBA. He is going to do what Mills tells him to do.
Brad Penner/USA TODAY Images For a team destined for the top of the lottery for the third straight season, it makes sense the team should concentrate on prioritizing minutes for their younger players rather than the veterans on the team. Fans will likely be disappointed when they continue to see the players on one-year contracts getting minutes. Miller probably has a mandate to win games, which will take precedence over player development, at least for now. In other words, don’t expect Kevin Knox, Alonzo Trier or Ignas Brazdeikas to see their minutes increase in the immediate future.
How James Dolan allows Miller and Perry to handle the trade deadline will also be very telling. It will be a dangerous couple of months leading up to then, with Mills desperate to do whatever it takes to improve the roster to the point where they win more games for him to save his job.
Trading younger players under team control with the potential to improve should be off the table, as should trading future draft picks, whether they’re first or second rounders. DeMar DeRozan should not even be a consideration for the Knicks in a trade scenario or as a free agent addition this summer. But does Steve Mills see it that way? He has preached patient long-term team building, but will that change now that his job is on the line? No one knows.
It will be interesting to see if Dolan even allows Mills to make a move like that if he is truly considering the hire of a new president after the season is over. If Mills does make a lot of “win now” moves that impact the future, it might be a sign that Dolan plans on allowing him to stick around, which would disappoint many Knicks fans.
What the Knicks should be doing at the trade deadline is to continue to gather assets. If any other teams want a Knicks veteran and are willing to move a future pick for them, whether a first or second rounder, it is a move they probably have to make. The only player likely to garner any significant interest is Marcus Morris.
The Knicks should also be willing to take on contracts that extend into the 2020-2021 season for any of their expiring deals if it means getting a better asset back. The free agent class in the summer of 2020 is poor and the Knicks cap space is less valuable than a draft asset they could get back in return in any trade like that.
The next two months are critical and dangerous for the Knicks franchise. They can continue on their current and proper course, to build slowly through the draft and prioritize the future, or they can look for short-term fixes. With Steve Mills trying to save his job, anything is possible, which should scare the heck out of Knicks fans.