The New York Knicks are tired of being a punch line for so many bad jokes about the fact their team is an embarrassing 10-41 and dead last in the NBA standings and shows no signs of improvement.
But their fans can always fantasize about a future that includes Duke’s freshman phenom Zion Williamson and free agent all-stars Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant.
The New York Post ran pictures of all three on the back page the other day with references to a dream team that could challenge for an NBA championship and the city has been abuzz with stories about tanking the rest of the season in order to give the Knicks their best chance to get the 6-7, 285-pound Williamson in the lottery. Fans has started a “Stop Trying to get Zion.’’ Campaign. With changes to the lottery, the worst three teams all have a 14 percent chance of landing the first pick overall.
And Knicks fans at the Garden cheered Irving during pregame introductions Friday before he dropped 23 points and had 10 rebounds and six assists when Boston battered New York, 113-99.
Williamson has more than lived up to the hype, torching St. John’s for 29 points on 13 of 17 shooting, grabbed 6 rebounds and had 5 steals and 2 blocks as the Blue Devils blew by the Red Storm, 91-61, Saturday at Cameron Indoor Stadium. For his part, Williamson said in the locker room, ‘It would be dope to play with KD and KD any team that drafts me I’ll be ready to work.’’
The Knicks are doing all they can to make that impossible dream come true. This week, they traded away frustrated 26-year old center Kristaps Porzingas and nearly half their team to Dallas and now have $75 million in cap space to pursue to max free agents this summer. They held on to their younger players Kevin Knox, Mitchell Robinson, Allonzo Trier and Noah Vonleh on the roster to surround Williamson with youth if they are lucky enough to win the lottery.
Williamson is just too good for college basketball.
Williamson would be an instant bigger than life star if he played at the Garden. He already has 2.3 Instagram followers and is a regular on ESPN Sports Center, which loves to showcase his freak athleticism and spectacular dunks. He could potentially earn more than $1 billion over the course of his NBA career.
And second-ranked Duke (19-2) is rapidly emerging as the team to beat in March Madness. The Blue Devils made life easy on itself when freshman point guard Tre Jones, who could be the best defender in college basketball, held St. John’s guard Shamorie Ponds—an All-American candidate who scored 33 points on St. John’s last year in an upset at the Garden—scoreless in the first half and to just 11 points in the game. There is so much talent on this team. Forward RJ Barrett, who could be the second pick in the draft, had 15 points and 14 rebounds while freshman forward Cam Reddish finished with 16.
