Worst Landing Spot: New York Knicks

The New York Knicks can come close to a max contract in this upcoming free agency period but also have the goods to land a sign-and-trade for Zach LaVine if needed. The bright lights of the Big Apple are thirsting for a scorer of his pomp and magnitude.

Unfortunately, his situation in New York would be similar to the one he’d land in Orlando, except with an exponentially heavier burden of expectation.

Unlike the Orlando Magic, the Knicks made the playoffs recently when they made a surprising run into the postseason in 2020-21 in Tom Thibodeau’s first year at the helm. Then, they proceeded to massively underwhelm the next season and missed the Play-In Tournament altogether.

This summer, the New York Knicks will have to decide whether they want to continue to try to build a title contender around their current core of RJ Barrett and Julius Randle or if they’re better off tearing it down and rebuilding.

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The correct answer would be to restart around Barrett and the other upstart young prospects that the Knicks unearthed like Obi Toppin, Immanuel Quickley, and Quentin Grimes.

LaVine doesn’t seem ready to lead a playoff team on his own and trying to drag one with as much baggage as the New York Knicks have seems like a suicide mission. He’d be crushed under the great expectations thrust upon him with only a collection of unproven young players and disappointing veterans to try to help carry that weight.

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No matter how appealing playing in Madison Square Garden full time might seem, LaVine needs to avoid this current iteration of the Knicks at all costs.