What Could Leon Rose Be Thinking?

While we wait to see whether the Dallas Mavericks grant the New York Knicks permission to "speak" with Jason Kidd concerning their head coaching vacancy, and whether, if it's granted, the two teams can agree on compensation, another even bigger story has emerged that, if true, threatens to undermine everything this organization has built up over the last three seasons.

As you're probably aware by now, it was recently revealed that the Knicks attempted to acquire Kevin Durant from the Phoenix Suns at the trade deadline last March. Obviously, the deal never went through, but according to Brian Windhorst of ESPN, the Knicks are still in the market for KD's services, along with several other teams, it should be pointed out.

The Suns have been a huge disappointment over the last two years, and this season failed to make the playoffs. Going into the 2025-26 season, they are $11 million over the second apron with only ten players signed. To put that in perspective, the Knicks are $8 million under the second apron with eleven players signed. What that means is that the Suns are in what is commonly referred to as cap hell with a bad team that will be severely restricted from making improvements to the roster. This is unsustainable.

The 800 pound gorilla in the room, however, is Durant's contract, which is an astonishing $54.7 million. Any team looking to add him to their roster would have to send an equal dollar amount the other way. There's only one player on the Knicks who fits that bill, and that's Karl-Anthony Towns. The 7-0 center, who Leon Rose traded Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo for last September, is due to earn $53.1 million next season. Ideally, the Suns would like to get more than just one player in exchange for KD, but that would mean the Knicks would have to package two players in the deal, further shortening an already short bench.

Let me just go on record right now as saying that this trade, if it were pulled off, would be one of the worst in franchise history. As talented as KD is, he does not get the Knicks any closer to an NBA championship; indeed, he could move them further away from it. Let me explain.

For starters, Towns has gotten a lot of criticism for the way he performed in this year's playoffs, almost all of it undeserved. True, there were a few games in which he was a non-factor. But overall, he was a net positive for this team. In the Pacers series, he practically owned his counterpart, Myles Turner, the only Knick that can say that, by the way.

During the regular season, KAT averaged 24.4 points, 12.8 rebounds, 3.1 assists per game, while shooting 52.6 percent from the field and 42 percent from three. The only center in the NBA with a better slash line was Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets. You don't trade players like that; you surround them with complimentary talent, which is what Rose should be doing.

If the Knicks were to trade KAT, they would have a gaping hole at the five spot that would have to be filled by Mitchell Robinson, who has a history of getting injured, and Ariel Hukporti, who is, as yet, still an unproven player. And in return, they would get an aging forward who has, at most, maybe another two seasons left in the tank before he calls it a career.

What could Rose be thinking even entertaining such a deal? This has James Dolan written all over it. I was willing to give the Knicks owner the benefit of the doubt over the Thibodeau firing, but if the Knicks are actually stupid enough to pull the trigger on this trade, then this will be yet another example of him screwing up this franchise, just like he did with the Rangers four years ago when he fired John Davidson and Jeff Gordon because he was unhappy with the pace of the rebuild. The man thinks he knows something about sports. The fact is had it not been for his father Charles, old Jimbo wouldn't be a flee on a donkey's ass.

Let's hope sanity prevails and Rose directs his attention to where it belongs: hiring a coach that can take this team to the next level, and fortifying a depleted bench so that his best players don't look like rag dolls by the fourth quarter. Regarding the latter, the Utah Jazz have let it be known that they are fielding offers for Walker Kessler. Deuce McBride, Hukporti and the 2026 and 2032 first round picks might be enough to get it done. I'd much rather have Kessler backing up KAT than either Hukporti or Mitch, wouldn't you? And with the savings from Robinson's contract, whom I assume they wouldn't need anymore, the Knicks could find a way to bring back DiVincenzo, thus reuniting the Nova Four.

That makes a helluva lot more sense than trading for a fading star, doesn't it?

Bittersweet

In the end, it wasn't as close as the final score suggested. The New York Knicks, a team that captured the hearts and minds of an entire city, was rudely shown the door by an admittedly superior Atlanta Hawks team.

It is axiomatic that regardless of which sport you play, your success is determined by how well you covert on your scoring opportunities. In baseball, if you're a batter at home plate and there's a runner on third base, your job is to drive him in. In football, if you're a quarterback and you have a receiver open in the end zone, your job is to get the ball to him. In hockey, if you have the puck on your stick and you have a clear shot at the goaltender, your job is to put the puck in the net. And in basketball, when you have an open shot, your job is to put the ball through the hoop.

In this best of seven series, one team understood that and that team wasn't the orange and blue. Indeed, the Knicks shooting over the five games was brutal, especially their star player, Julius Randle, who shot 51 percent against the Hawks during the regular season but an abysmal 30 percent against them in the playoffs. 

You can make this about Trae Young all you want - and let's be honest, he's a very easy player to hate - but Young wasn't responsible for the bricks the Knicks were throwing up. I don't care how good your defense is, you still gotta make your shots if you expect to win and the Knicks simply didn't make enough of them when it counted.

So now that a 41-31 season, which was good enough for 4th best in the Eastern Conference, has come to a premature end, the question begs what do the Knicks do in the offseason? Let's face it: whether they beat the Hawks or not, this team was never a serious threat to go past the second round. That's because the Milwaukee Bucks, Brooklyn Nets and Philadelphia 76ers are all considerably better and are legitimate contenders for the title. The Knicks are at best two players away from that being the case. Clearly Leon Rose and Scott Perry have their work cut out for them.

The first thing they have to do is decide who to keep and who to send packing. Regarding the latter, it's clear the experiment with Elfrid Payton has run its course. Payton was a virtual non-entity down the stretch and forced coach Tom Thibodeau to start 32 year old Derrick Rose at point guard in game three against the Hawks. The extra minutes took their toll on Rose who looked exhausted by game five, and a Knicks' bench that wasn't exactly overstocked to begin with was left badly depleted. This team has to sign a legitimate point guard that can run the floor and distribute the ball.

Because the Knicks opted to go with one-year deals going into this season, several of their players including Reggie Bullock and Rose are now free agents. That means if management wants to retain them, they will have to pony up some serious bucks.

Rose is a no-brainer. Had it not been for him coming off the bench, this team most likely would not have made the postseason. The other star on the team, Randle, thankfully is signed through next season, but his flaws were exposed during the Hawks series. He may have been the most improved player in the NBA this season, but a first option offensive threat he is not. The Knicks not only need someone who can score from the perimeter but someone who can score from the paint. In short, they need their own Trae Young.

Players like that don't grow on trees, so it will be up to Rose and Perry to find one and convince him to move to Manhattan, the same way the Nets' Sean Marks convinced Kevin Durant to move to Brooklyn. Lest we forget, two years ago, the Nets were only 42-40. Anyone who tells you they saw this team coming together in 2019 is a fool or a lier. In today's NBA, contenders aren't grown, they're assembled. If Marks could do it, there's no excuse for Rose and Perry at least not trying.

As with all things pertaining to the Knicks, the wild card here is Dolan. If past is prologue, you can expect him to try and fuck up this rebuild the same way he did the last one in 2013. But for the moment, let's assume his new-found discovery of a frozen substance known as ice keeps him preoccupied long enough for this rebuild to be completed. The Knicks will have sufficient cap space this summer to make a splash or two in free agency. In other words, fans have every reason to expect that next year's Knicks will be better and more durable than this year's Knicks were.

The bottom line is that the future at the Garden looks bright. It sucks losing, I know, but this management team appears well equipped to address the team's needs. They have their coach and they have a strong nucleus of good role players. If they find the missing pieces, a championship may not be all that far away.

Stand up, New York!