How the surprisingly strong Knicks have given themselves the chance to be picky in future superstar pursuits
Five teams have traded for All-Stars since the beginning of the 2022 offseason: the Atlanta Hawks (Dejounte Murray), Minnesota Timberwolves (Rudy Gobert), Cleveland Cavaliers (Donovan Mitchell), Dallas Mavericks (Kyrie Irving) and Phoenix Suns (Kevin Durant). What do those five teams have in common? Since Dec. 4, all of them have been worse than the New York Knicks. OK, that might be a bit unfair. Durant has only played three Game s in Phoenix, after all. But since that mythical date when the Knicks shortened their rotation to nine and committed to their young players, New York has been among the best teams in the NBA . Only the Nuggets, Bucks and 76ers have won more Game s. Only Denver has a better net rating. The Knicks have the NBA 's third-best offense and eighth-best defense since that date. You've surely heard this story before. After all, weren't we here just two years ago, when a surprising Kni...