The New York Knicks aren’t going to the NBA’s restart in Orlando, but they could be part of a secondary “bubble.”
Some non-playoff NBA teams are understandably anxious about the long layoff players will have until the 2020-21 season starts. According to Sam Amick of The Athletic, a few of these teams are voicing their desire for the league to put together a secondary “bubble” for these teams to compete. Amick is reporting that the New York Knicks are hesitant about this idea and it makes sense why.
“The Knicks, sources say, have expressed reservations about participating, in part because they have a roster with several soon-to-be free agents who might decline to take part (as many as eight players potentially),” Amick wrote. “If accommodations could be made to help a team like the Knicks fill its roster by way of G League players, however, then that could be an X-factor of sorts.”
The Knicks are in a strange position with this potential scenario. On one hand, guys like RJ Barrett, Mitchell Robinson, Kevin Knox, and Frank Ntilikina would benefit greatly from playing during this long layoff. On the other hand, the Knicks have team options on a number of veterans, and playing in these (more or less) meaningless games would be a major risk.
The idea of adding a G League provision where teams can move G League players up to the main roster would make a whole lot of sense.
New York would be able to get a real look at Kenny Wooten after the high-flyer put on a show with the Westchester Knicks this past season. Not to mention, the Knicks just picked up two-way player Jared Harper and Theo Pinson from the Brooklyn Nets.
Possible Rotation
Starters
PG — Frank Ntilikina
SG — RJ Barrett
SF — Kevin Knox
PF — Julius Randle
C — Mitchell Robinson
Bench
Dennis Smith Jr.
Ignas Brazdeikis
Jared Harper
Kenny Wooten
Theo Pinson
Obviously, the Knicks would want to bring more than 10 guys and a few of the veterans on team options could decide to play, but this roster plus a few more G Leaguers would be a fun squad to watch, even if the team is playing in a glorified summer league.
