Knicks Determined To Stick To Long-Term Plan

The Knicks have a plan in place, one that doesn’t involve taking shortcuts or making decisions that don’t align with long-term goals. Team president Steve Mills reiterated that the franchise won’t deviate from that blueprint, as Marc Berman of The New York Post relays.

“We’re going to build this team the right way,” Mills said when asked during a “town hall” forum with some of the team’s season holders if the Knicks would trade for any notable 2019 free-agents-to-be. “We’re not going to trade assets that we can get on our own later. … We’re not taking shortcuts. We’re not going to trade our draft picks. We believe New York will buy into a plan.”

Kyrie Irving has long been rumored to be on the team’s radar. Jimmy Butler seems destined for a new team, as he’s meeting with the Wolves today to discuss his future with the club. Kemba Walker, a New York native, is also scheduled to be a free agent. The Knicks believes it’s too early to know which star would be the best fit.

“Our main focus is the ’18/19 season,” GM Scott Perry added. “As much as we talked about having cap space, we are trying not to get too far ahead of ourselves. This team requires our undivided attention. I understand fans drifting to the future. Part of my job and Steve’s job is to stay grounded. We’ll deal with that class next summer when that arises.’’

The Knicks haven’t made the playoffs since the 2012/13 season and Mills understands that fans, especially those from the Big Apple, are getting impatient.

You have a reason to be skeptical,” Mills said to the season-ticket holders. “All we can do is by demonstrating what we do. We’re sticking with the plan. Since Scott’s been aboard, we’ve been true to what we said we’d do. I’m a New Yorker. I don’t want what happened in the past to happen again.”

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