Hear me out on this...
What this team has lacked in the last 20 years of their organization is any kind of long term vision plan for success. That's why we have been a borderline mediocre/terrible team stuck in basketball limbo for two decades! Management has always tried to win now with no clear vision for the future. The quick fix never works, as we have witnessed time and time again. It gets you absolutely nowhere.
Now in terms of having long term vision, if we look at the current landscape of the league, we are NOT winning any time soon, regardless of what we do or who we draft this year.
Golden State is set up to be champions for the next 5 years with their current roster. The Celtics, who are in our division, are a loaded team with even more assets who are only getting better. In other words, we CANNOT compete....now. So what do you do if you're a GM with vision? You acknowledge it and set up a long term plan for eventual success. Concede that it's not going to happen in the next 2-3 years.
That's where trading KP comes in. If you can get more assets--meaning a top 3 lottery pick this year, a first rounder next year and a good player, you definitely consider it. Because what you want to do is stockpile assets for the future. If it nets you an additional lottery pick this year in a loaded draft class, and an additional 1st rounder next year, how is this a crazy idea? We are not winning now, anyway!
I love KP, but I'm not going to lie, his behavior at the end of the season turned me off. Even if management sucks, you are a player in your second year who has not done or won anything in this league yet, so skipping out on exit interview meetings with a GM with multiple rings and going overseas and playing for your national team without permission is unacceptable. I'm sorry. Now...I would NOT trade him unless the deal was too good to be true, but I would not be entirely adverse to trading him like many are. It should be about the Knicks, the true rebuild and the future. It's time we start looking long term and build a proper foundation for success.