Couple of thoughts about the Knicks at this point of time..
1. Maximize the Knicks salary cap by:
(a) Letting Enes Kanter go after this season. His 4 year contract is up at the end of this season and he is a defensive liability (similar to Melo). Need a center that can actually play 2 ways. Mitchell looks promising so far. He's raw and I think he has potential to be a superstar. (almost 20 million frees up if Enes is gone)
(b) Trade Courtney Lee this year. Hopefully there is a team that needs his talent. He obviously is not part of the development so it would be wise to trade him and free up some salary cap. Perhaps some draft picks would be nice to take if no players are offered for trade. (almost 12-13 million frees up if traded)
(c) Trade Ron Baker if possible. He hasn't shown as much efficacy as a PG/SG compared to the other 5 guards. (almost 5 million frees up if traded)
(d) Perhaps trading Lance Thomas is also a good idea as he is not part of the developing process. However, I don't mind keeping him as he appears to be a good veteran player that has a team friendly personality. He is a good 2 way player that can teach the current young forwards many things. (if he's traded, then a little over 7 million is freed up)
2. Assuming at least the top 2 points are accomplished (letting Kanter and Lee go), the Knicks will have 30 million in free cap space. This would allow the Knicks to sign a max contract player. We can only dream but KD or Kawhi would be a nice addition to play alongside KP.
3. Pleasant surprises:
(a) Tim Hardaway Jr - Initially a shocker when he got the 72 million/4 year contract, he is now showing that he is worth that amount. In fact, I feel that he is comparable to players that are getting paid more than 18 mill/year. His stats avg so far this year are - 23.4 ppg, 42% FG, 35% 3PFG, 2.8 apg. His defensive ability is getting better too. Hopefully, he continues to play at this level or better.
(b) Mudiay - At the beginning of the season, his utility was low as both a scorer and contributor. Since coming back from the injury, he has been performing a lot better and overtaking the starting position over Ntilikina. Scoring better, making plays and defending. It's only been a few games since he's came back, but I sure would love to see him continue playing at this skill level.
(c) Trier - The undrafted rookie that is performing like a veteran, unafraid to take shots. Definitely a steal for the Knicks.
(d) Mitchell Robinson - As mentioned above, he has appeared very promising on both ends of the floor. He actually plays defense unlike Kanter and is looking more impressive than the first round pick, Knox, so far. Hopefully, Knox shows up soon as well.
4. Road to Zion? The Knicks currently have the 4th worst record in the league, not too far away from the worst. If they continue losing games and end up with a possible first pick in the NBA draft (nostalgic to the Ewing draft year), then having Zion play alongside KP and a possible Durant/Kawhi would be a dream for many Knicks fan. At the least, it should bring the Knicks back to the playoff race.
Overall, though it may hurt seeing the Knicks play this year, I think the future is looking bright. We can only hope Peery/Mills make the right decisions unlike the past decisions made by Phil, Thomas and Dolan.