 | CONNELL GRANGE SUPPLY WHERE THE CUSTOMER IS STILL THE COMPANY |
|
Printable Page
06/01 14:07 CDT Big market, small market, same NBA Finals stage: How the Knicks
and Spurs got here so differently
Big market, small market, same NBA Finals stage: How the Knicks and Spurs got
here so differently
By BRIAN MAHONEY and TIM REYNOLDS
AP Basketball Writers
NEW YORK (AP) --- Getting to the NBA Finals proves that the New York Knicks and
San Antonio Spurs have made plenty of smart moves along the way.
You need a star, like a Jalen Brunson or a Victor Wembanyama. They need some
help. They need the right coach.
But this finals matchup, which starts Wednesday in San Antonio, also shows that
there's no one way to get all those things done. Of the 10 players that the
Spurs are most likely to have in the regular rotation for this series, six were
drafted by San Antonio. Of the 10 most likely to appear for the Knicks, only
one was drafted by New York.
It's Biggest Market vs. Smaller Market. Shopping vs. Drafting. Knicks vs. Spurs
isn't just a clash for the NBA title, it's a clash in styles as well --- with
Knicks President Leon Rose seeming to constantly tinker until finding the right
mix, and the Spurs building through the draft instead.
"I've said it before, I'll keep saying it: Leon and his staff have done a
freaking fantastic, fantastic job," Knicks coach Mike Brown said.
Whether it was LeBron James, Kevin Durant or some other megastar, there was
always hope that someone would eventually come save the Knicks --- who are in
the finals for the first time since 1999. They missed the playoffs 16 times in
the 27 seasons that followed, including a nine-year stretch (and it wasn't that
long ago) where they failed to win a single playoff series. Whatever the
approach was, it wasn't working.
Constructing a championship contender takes good luck --- the Spurs know that
part well, with a slew of good lottery fortunes including the one that landed
them Wembanyama in 2023 --- but also good leadership. It takes bold decisions,
such as committing more than $100 million to a former second-round pick in
Brunson who had largely been a backup in Dallas, or trading a whopping five
first-round picks to land Mikal Bridges, who has never even been an All-Star
but has become an integral part of this Knicks run.
"It took a long time for us to get here," Spurs forward Keldon Johnson said.
"It took a village."
The Knicks can say the same. They just took a different route.
Rose was hired in March 2020. He was a longtime agent, and James was one of the
players once on his talent roster. Rose's arrival was right near the end of a
typically turbulent season in New York, when the coach (David Fizdale) had been
fired early in the season, and later the president who fired him (Steve Mills)
was also ousted.
One of Rose's first moves was to hire the coach who would set the
organization's standard and culture --- Tom Thibodeau. And Thibodeau won,
though evidently didn't win enough. So, the Knicks turned to Brown this season,
another example of the constant tinkering.
The Spurs, meanwhile, embrace continuity. They haven't had a coaching search in
more than three decades; Gregg Popovich named himself coach in 1996 and when he
had a stroke in November 2024, Mitch Johnson replaced him on an interim basis.
Johnson got the job full-time last spring, and it was never a question that the
Spurs were going in that direction.
"This team," Johnson said, "has now been pretty damn consistent for a long
time."
Not the Knicks, who became a league laughingstock.
Hall of Famers such as Isiah Thomas and Phil Jackson were given the keys to the
franchise, only to crash it. Jeff Hornacek lost more than 100 games in two
seasons, and Derek Fisher (96) and Fizdale (83) would have if they'd gotten to
finish their second.
Free agents such as Joakim Noah flopped. High draft picks (Frank Ntilikina,
Jordan Hill, Kevin Knox) were busts, and even when the Knicks got something
right, such as drafting Kristaps Porzingis, they were so dysfunctional that he
wanted out. They were a league-worst 17-65 in 2018-19, throwing lineups on the
floor that included the likes of Emmanuel Mudiay, Lance Thomas, Noah Vonleh,
Damyean Dotson and Allonzo Trier.
The summer before Rose arrived had been another massive miss in free agency for
the Knicks. Durant and Kyrie Irving not only passed but went together to
Brooklyn, and suddenly it seemed the Knicks weren't even the biggest deal in
New York. It was similar to 2010, when the Knicks positioned themselves to sign
two stars but watched James and Chris Bosh team up with Dwyane Wade in Miami.
The Knicks wanted to be the team playing the Heat in big playoff matchups back
then. They watched the Spurs play that Heat team twice in the NBA Finals
instead.
That Spurs era ended --- Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili all retired ---
and the rebuild started. The ping-pong balls gave them Wembanyama, who made all
things possible.
But many other moves, while not as flashy, were savvy.
Consider: in 2023, Philadelphia waived Julian Champagnie to sign Mac McClung
before the dunk contest at All-Star weekend. McClung has appeared in 17 NBA
games, while Champagnie made 18 3-pointers in the Western Conference finals.
Advantage, Spurs.
"Everybody says it's all Victor, and don't get me wrong, he's unbelievable,"
former Milwaukee coach Doc Rivers said earlier this season. "But that's a team
they've put together. It's not just Victor. It's a team."
The Knicks tried other flashy moves, like the 2019 summer where they got Julius
Randle in free agency and RJ Barrett with the No. 3 pick in the draft. They
eventually got turned into other moves; Barrett and Immanuel Quickley were
dealt to Toronto in 2023 for OG Anunoby and Randle was part of the package that
brought Karl-Anthony Towns from Minnesota to New York in a blockbuster on the
eve of the 2024-25 season.
Along the way, Josh Hart --- who had already played for three other teams ---
was acquired in a 2023 trade in which Rose sent out Cam Reddish, a former
top-10 pick who isn't even in the NBA anymore. For Anunoby, who had been
playing in the same division, it was clear that the Knicks were building
something.
"Definitely progression," Anunoby said, adding, "getting better and better each
year."
Rose doesn't talk about it. Staying out of the spotlight, he hasn't done
interviews with Knicks reporters for five years and declined comment through a
spokesman for this story.
But here the Knicks and Spurs are. The Finals. Different paths, same goal.
"I'm glad that this year we're seeing ourselves start to mature," Towns said,
"and round out what the vision was from Day 1."
___
Reynolds reported from San Antonio.
___
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/nba
