The New York Knicks Are on a Fast Track to Nowhere

The direction of most NBA teams is clear. The directions are not always urgent or successful. In Dallas, some are reflected. You can see them even if you squint. There are others that are complicated by surprise or disappointment.

There are a few organizations that do not have a concrete course.

One of them is the New York Knicks.

It has been clear for a long time. On the heels of another loss, this one a 145-135 Sunday defeat at the hands of the Oklahoma City Thunder that evoked effusive boos from the Madison Square Garden crowd, it's clear that it's not a coincidence.

Fred Katz @FredKatz

Lots of boos here at MSG as the Thunder close out a win over the Knicks.

This was the epitome of the Knicks loss, a confluence of everything that remains wrong, both fixable and absolute, with a nod to their dichotomy.

They scored 48 points in the first quarter on 20 of 31 shots. New York led by as many as 13 in the 12-minute frame.

The Knicks were down by 28 points by the end of the second quarter. In the third, Gilgeous- Alexander scored 21 of his 37 points. Oklahoma City went 13 of 18 on its triples over the course of 24 minutes.

The team that entered Sunday 25th in points scored per possession and 29th in three-point accuracy is doing well.

Ian Begley @IanBegley

Knicks allow 145 points in regulation in a home loss to OKC. That is the highest opponent point total allowed by a Tom Thibodeau-coached Knick team. OKC hit 55 percent of its 3-point attempts (17-for-31. The Thunder entered play today ranked 29th in 3-point field goal percentage

It's not usually all-revealing to lose one loss. Over the course of an entire regular season, let downs occur. Many of the same issues that have plagued the Knicks all year were present in this loss.

Since 2022-23, teams have been allowed to bomb away from deep without much resistance. The primary offenders are exactly who you think they are.

The Raptors and Wolves allow a larger share of opponent shots to be three-point shots. The Knicks are 27th in the country in the number of times they surrender long-range attempts.

They limit looks at the rim because they don't need to shoot inside for quality shots. They don't crash the defensive glass. The wart is new. The Knicks big is the only one who places higher than the 38th percentile.

Oklahoma City did not win the fast break battle on Sunday. It's a small miracle. The Knicks are in the bottom half of both transition frequencies and points allowed per possession. They are last in points allowed per possession after a turnover.

Tim Bontemps @TimBontemps

Tom Thibodeau says he’s disappointed by the “up and down nature” of the last few games for the Knicks. New York gave up 143 today and lost to the Nets Wednesday by 27.

It's not the end of the world if you're sitting a hair below.500. This presumes that the Knicks are built to be better and that their biggest obstacles are coaching, injury concerns or work in progress chemistry.

To be the answer, you have to be a coach. After the Knicks' loss to the Atlanta Hawks, I called for their head coach to be let go. The vested interests in the situation were not happy about it. I don't change my mind about it. My issues with him are not new.

Stubborn roster mismanagement has been his default since his coach of the year campaign in 2020-21, and it was on full display Sunday.

At the 9:58 minute mark of the third quarter, he picked up his fourthFoul. Thibs took him out for Fournier.

The floor never came back to him.

Tommy Beer @TommyBeer

Second-half minutes played in the Knicks loss to OKC Sunday:RJ Barrett: 2Evan Fournier 14Fourth Quarter mins:RJ Barrett: 0

Fournier: 12

Thibs' answer when asked about the decision was dull.

Ian Begley @IanBegley

Asked about RJ Barrett playing two minutes in the second half, Tom Thibodeau said, "We just got behind by so much that we were just looking for life. And that group that was in there (after Barrett subbed out) gave us a little bit of a spark. So that's what we went with."

I don't say this lightly, but that isasinine logic.

Fournier wants the Knicks to sign Victor Wembanyama. He is the only one who can answer the question overBarrett.

Fournier went 0 for 3 in the second half. He was a plus six during this time. The second most important person isBarrett. You don't put him on the bench for a chance to win a game against the Oklahoma City.

Jonathan Macri @JCMacriNBA

As perhaps the preeminent Thibs supporter on this app for the last year, I’ll say that this would raise alarm bells for me if I was in the front office.

(And it’s not bc RJ was good. He wasn’t. But this feels like a coach grasping for straws & might be losing his grip on things) https://t.co/G10RGnvDdJ

SpellingBarrett for a bit amid foul trouble is debatable. He didn't turn in the most complete season.

His performances are littered with drives to planned destinations unknown and frustratingly inconsistent defense, and he was 2 of 10 when Thibs took him out on Sunday. He played well over the previous seven games.

Dan Favale @danfavale

rj barrett the first five games:—18.2 pts—2.2 ast—48.4 2p%—14.3 3p%rj barrett the last seven games:—21.5 pts—3.7 ast—53.0 2p%

—42.9 3p%

To Thibs' credit, he did a good job of chasing down Quentin.

He did not.

There is a reason for that. His conditioning is not up to par. He has been out of the rotation because of his foot injury. He won't get reps outside garbage time because the Knicks are so good. And also because he could be injured. Why is he situational rather than just out?

Fred Katz @FredKatz

I'll be honest. It's my job to know and understand these things, but I just don't totally get this Quentin Grimes situation. He's available. He's played today. He's healthy. Couldn't tell you why they're not trying him on SGA.

The Knicks' preferred mode of operation is not transparency. There isn't invention behind lineups and rotation.

Remember when he played Obi Toppin and Randle in the same game against the 76ers? The Knicks were a plus 14 during that time. How did they come back from behind to win the game? The duo didn't play against the Oklahoma City team.

I need to spare the plus-minus. It was skewed by the loss to the Celtics. It's too small to be conclusive. To make it conclusive, it is on Thibs.

Robinson is out with an injury. If you want to make sure Toppin never ends up logging less than eight minutes in a game, explore the pairs for crying out loud. His court time is not available during Robinson's absence. This doesn't make sense.

Thibs should be criticized for not doing something else.

Most of the attention is given to Toppin-Randle, but nearly 90 percent of the possessions have still come with them. Thibs can't play more than two of his kids at once.

The Strickland @TheStrickland

If you're like me, you probably saw Cam and Quickley defending their asses off amidst the chaos and thought, "what would the two of them look like next to RJ? How could they help him?"

The trio of IQ-Reddish-RJ has played 4 minutes together this entire season. Think about that.

Self-discovery matters because of this stuff. The Knicks aren't a contender. They're not a play-in team right now. Plumbing lineups and developing kids should be at the top of the list.

Leon Rose and his decision-makers have not done enough to justify keeping their jobs.

They might have a problem with how Thibs coaches. The ones who assembled it were the ones who rushed to extend Randle after an outlier 2020-21 campaign, who gave Fournier three guaranteed years, and who continue to give Thibs a depth chart that allows him to overindulge his commitment to veterans.

I can call for Thibs' job, as an armchair idiot. This ends with him losing it.

Thibs is only one of the problems. He might be the biggest problem. The Knicks don't need another coach to rescue them from their current position.

They have the best player in the game. He's great. It's only possible when your best player is a top-50 guy.

New York wants to trade for a goose. According to Shams Charania, "executives around the league believe that the Knicks are kind of hoarding" their first-round picks and "just waiting for that next megastar to become available"

This theory makes fine powder out of a record already broken down. The front office has a plan to acquire a star. The star who wanted to play in New York was not acquired by them.

It's not a matter of whether or not the farm was the right place for him to live. The Knicks were close to getting a first-round pick. New York may be better off than we think. There was a trade that was close to title contention. The Knicks were not mediocre and draining their asset pool could have locked them into a bubble of prosperity.

New York was prepared to give up a lot just to get into the playoffs. Mitchell was the first of many stars. I wish you good luck with that. The trade market for superstars is not a good place to acquire more than one.

Mitchell and Gobert got their draft-picks in Cleveland and Minnesota. You should have at least one star in place before you go all-in for another.

The Knicks don't have someone like that. Evan Fournier is the closest they get to a blue-chip cornerstone, and he is not a lock to play over Thibs.

New York is different from other not- good teams. Josh Giddey is one of the people who have Oklahoma City's timelines. The Houston Rockets have a time line. The Magic have at least one of their own. The Pistons have theirs as well.

It goes on and on. You don't have to believe in the long-term viability of these young cores. Their teams are built around maximizing their development. The Knicks have not done that for their young men. They haven't placed the team in a position to find that pole-star prospect.

When you're in the star-acquisition game, skirting an actual rebuild is not a bad idea. The Knicks do not seem to be married to that.

There are five players in the league who would have vaulted them into contention, but none of them are on the verge of being dealt. The Knicks don't seem to know they won't be able to land a star during free agency. Red-carpet names aren't leaving via the open market anymore, and we're pretty sure New York's front office hasn't amassed all those first-round picks to draft and develop.

It could be forgiven if the Knicks were more focused on exploring the hand they have now. The people are not. We wouldn't be talking about a meltdown that wanted for rhyme and reason.

Is New York getting back to normal? Is it possible to open it? Is the Knicks focused on the chase for superstars? Are you worried about figuring out the rest later? They might want to have a monopoly on the nine through 11 seeds.

The inability for New York to answer these questions is longstanding and frustrating. It's not new.

The direction of a franchise is mirrored in how it is built.

The Knicks are an organization that doesn't know what it's doing or where it's going.

Statistics courtesy of NBA.com, Basketball Reference, Stathead Cleaning or the Glass and accurate entering Friday's games are the only ones included. Spotrac has salary information

The NBA is covered by Dan Favale. Don't forget to follow him on social media, and subscribe to the Hardwood Knocks show co-hosted by Grant Hughes.