It’s hard to say when exactly the Knicks officially became the go-to NBA punchline for jokes about institutional incompetence. Probably right around the time the Clippers actually got good, while the Knicks followed up a few playoff seasons with uninspiring mediocrity at best, Phil Jackson-led chaos at worst.
Plus, James Dolan is still there.
Which is how we find ourselves, in the summer of 2017, with the Knicks operating sans-GM, for all intents and purposes, while making the kinds of decisions that could leave the next actual GM very little wiggle room. Things like maybe trading Carmelo to the Rockets or Cavs, which while perhaps being the prudent basketball move, could be a bullet the next GM might want saved for him.
Or, hey, here’s one:
Story with @Ianbegley: Restricted free agent Tim Hardaway Jr., has signed a 4-year, $71M offer sheet with New York.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 7, 2017
Let’s just, uh, ponder that one, shall we? Tim Hardaway Jr. just signed a $71 million dollar offer sheet with the Knicks. Now, it’s obviously a different NBA, and with the salary cap where it is, midlevel players are going to get contracts for more money than we’re used to seeing. But this… this is a rotation player, at best, signing for near-star-level money, given where he’s at in his career.
Heading into his fifth season, Hardaway is essentially a volume scorer, a shooter with a questionable percentage from three, and definite liabilities in the rest of his game.
Tim Hardaway, Jr. really improved in Atlanta. He's now a legit 7th/8th man in the regular season and unplayable in the playoffs.
— Bret LaGree (@hoopinion) July 7, 2017
The odds of this being a good outcome for the Knicks are so, so slim. It seems unlikely the Hawks will match; they’d talked a big game about matching any offer for Hardaway, but who saw this coming?
Here's the test for ATL:
"Someone offered $18M a year for Hardaway with a trade kicker and player option. Want to match?"
"HAHAHAHAHA No" https://t.co/qnmmz16Qna
— Andy Glockner (@AndyGlockner) July 7, 2017
The @nyknicks almost made it to 7…
…almost. pic.twitter.com/IXWGvvqkMX— R?b Perez (@World_Wide_Wob) July 7, 2017
If the Hawks let him go to New York, and he somehow does end up justifying the contract, which has what looks like an infinitesimally small chance of happening, it will still have been an incredibly stupid decision. It gets even dumber when you remember that the Knicks drafted Hardaway originally, then after enduring two fairly abysmal seasons, somehow got a first round pick from the Hawks for him anyway.
The entire transaction cycle really captures the essence of the Knicks on this one:
Tim Hardaway Jr. was traded for Jerian Grant who was traded for Derrick Rose who was renounced so NYK could sign Hardaway Jr. for $71M.
— Bobby Marks (@BobbyMarks42) July 7, 2017
Way to go, Knicks. It’s caused some obvious, and understandable consternation among supporters.
Here’s more from former SI/The Cauldron writer/basketball book author/Knicks fan Andy Glockner:
I've been sitting here for 20 mins, stunned. Can any of you come up with a legitimate question to which the answer is "4/71 for THJ"?
— Andy Glockner (@AndyGlockner) July 7, 2017
Worth repeating: Over the past 16 seasons, the Knicks are 50 games worse than Sacramento.
— Andy Glockner (@AndyGlockner) July 7, 2017
There has to be some Fan Release Clause when your team is so consistently dumb and terrible, and your new local team is fun and exciting?
— Andy Glockner (@AndyGlockner) July 7, 2017
The future doesn’t exactly look great either, unless Dolan is somehow forced to sell a la Donald Sterling, or lucks into an executive who knows what he’s doing and gets the latitude to make it work.
So, yeah. If Knicks fans want to turn elsewhere at this point, it’s hard to blame them.