No matter what they do, the New York Knicks will be bad next season. And given Carmelo Anthony’s uncertain future, Kristaps Porzingis’ tumultuous offseason and the team’s current lack of a team president, they will probably be dysfunctional as well.
The only question for general manager Steve Mills (or whoever gets hired to serve above him) is how the Knicks will be bad and dysfunctional. And for the sake of everyone involved, we desperately hope the answer involves Dion Waiters.
Waiters, coming off a career year in Miami (45 percent shooting!), is a free agent, and reports are that the Knicks are among the front-runners for his services.
From the dominoes waiting to fall department: Knicks continue to speak with Dion Waiters. Lakers meeting tomorrow on Waiters/Rondo etc
— Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne) July 4, 2017
Was told in Orlando that Knicks very much in play for Waiters.
— Ira Winderman (@IraHeatBeat) July 4, 2017
Waiters in a Knicks uniform would be too perfect. Waiters loves the spotlight, and the Knicks have plenty of spotlight. Waiters is the league’s top “irrational confidence” scorer, and the Knicks are the league’s top “irrational confidence” franchise. Waiters thrives in chaos, and the Knicks exist in a constant state of chaos.
For a while there, around the time Isiah Thomas was calling the shots, the Knicks’ failures were characterized by scoring guards hoisting low-percentage fadeaways. From 2005-07 the Knicks had Stephon Marbury, Jamal Crawford and Steve Francis all competing for shots. In 2007-08, Nate Robinson showed up. Larry Hughes and Tracy McGrady stopped by a little later. The most exciting thing to happen to the Knicks in 20 years involved shoot-first point guard Jeremy Lin going on a scoring rampage. Good times, right?
If Waiters signs with the Knicks, you know he’ll have a six-game stretch in which he averages 26 points a game and hits a buzzer-beater, and you know New York will flip out and treat him like some sort of messiah. The tabloid back pages will be great. Someone will coin the term Waitersanity.
Sure, the Knicks will then go back to losing, and Waiters will probably wear out his welcome, but it will all have been worth it. With Phil Jackson gone, the Knicks need to turn up the dial on disarray and discord. It’s time to get Dion Waiters to New York, ASAP.