The Knicks are bad. We know this. They have been bad for most of the last 20 years. We know this too. But there are different levels of bad. A team can be bad and be entertaining. A team can be bad, but have intriguing young pieces and hope for the future.
Then there are teams like the Knicks: a team that is bad and due to poor management offer their fan base little hope or entertainment. The sad thing is, the Knicks don't have to be that team. They have young players on the roster that their fans want to see play. They just aren't playing. It leads to a complacent fan base. It leads to apathy. That's where I, and a lot of other Knicks fans are with the current iteration of this team.
Despite their utter incompetence over the past 20 years, Knicks fans have stuck with this team. Whether it was sexual harassment lawsuits, punched fire extinguishers, trading a first round pick for Andrea Bargnani, Larry Brown, 17 win seasons, Eddy Curry, trading the best young player the team drafted since Patrick Ewing or "how's it goink", Knicks fans showed up and cared.
Even the most diehard fans, complacency and apathy are starting to set in. It's the worst thing that can happen to a team. I sat there last night as the team attempted a desperate and dramatic comeback in the final seconds and there was no emotional investment in the outcome. Last night, Bullock, Payton, Morris and Randle all played at least 28 minutes. Dotson, Ntilikina, Smith and Knox all played fewer than 19.
Why? Wins led by a bunch of players that won't be here beyond this season are irrelevant. They do not help. If anything they hurt the team's draft position with no long term return for the franchise. Wins might help Steve Mills and Scott Perry keep their jobs at the end of the season, but it helps nothing else.
Are the Knicks young players future stars? Probably not. Guys like Dennis Smith Jr., Kevin Knox, and Frank Ntilikina might not ever be more than backup players, or worse. Ignas Brazdeikis might be nothing more than a G-League player. But with all of them 21 years old or younger there's chance they can become something useful if given a chance. There's a chance playing them shows something that justifies the promise everyone saw in them.
There is none of that upside in playing the veterans on the roster. Some are still trying to make excuses for the team, claiming they are showcasing veteran players for trade. While that may have been the case for someone like Dennis Smith Jr against the Hornets, especially since he hasn't played much, is coming off an injury, and has had an awful year, it does not apply to the other veterans on the roster.
Marcus Morris is a known quantity. Playing him only risks injury, which could prevent a trade for a future first round pick. Everyone knows what Elfrid Payton, Bobby Portis, and Reggie Bullock are. Playing them is not increasing their trade value despite what some people are trying to sell.
It was recently revealed that the Knicks hired the same agency that re-branded the Nets, Translation, to do the same with the Knicks brand. It won't matter. You can throw out new uniforms, catchy slogans and other public relations garbage but it is not going to matter until the organization is managed competently.
Steve Mills and Scott Perry have pledged publicly, multiple times, they are taking a long-term approach with a real rebuild around youth and player development. Every way they have managed the team this year says they aren't. The only possible explanations are that they lied, changed their plans, or are so incompetent they don't know how.
They'll have a chance at the trade deadline to show that perception is wrong. If they deal Marcus Morris for a first round pick or any of their other veterans for future assets it will be a step in the right direction. If they adjust their lineups and start playing their young players more minutes after the deadline things will change.
Knicks fans don't need a good team to root for. They've had one or two over the last 20 years and stuck around. They just need some hope. They need to be able to watch a game and see some kind of glimpse of the future possible being better. Right now, the only thing this current group is bringing out in the fan base is complacency and apathy. It needs to change.
Follow John on Twitter at @Schmeelk. Check out his podcast, "The Bank Shot" on WFAN.com, RADIO.COM and other popular podcast platforms.
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