The Knicks did one smart and awfully savvy thing in advance of Thursday afternoon.
It may have been Josh Hart agreeing to his $12.9 million player option that made the transaction wire, but in the time since Hart and the Knicks agreed to extend the deadline on this decision earlier in the week it is only logical to presume some discussion was given to the fact that by opting-in, Hart is now eligible for a big-money extension in August.
That’s good for Hart, and for the Knicks. What’s even better for the Knicks is that frees up the $12.4 million mid-level exception, which adds to Leon Rose’s options as free agency kicks off for real Friday at 6 p.m. Maybe that means adding to the #Knicksanova flavor of the roster and signing Donte DiVincenzo, who officially opted out of his deal in Golden State Thursday.
(Next up from the Villanova conveyor belt: Bill Melchionni, E-Z Ed Pinckney and Jay Wright. We josh because of Josh — and Jalen, and maybe Donte too.)
You know what isn’t funny?
Like, even a little bit funny?
An item that electrified social media late in the 4 o’clock hour Thursday, following James Harden’s surprising decision to opt in to the final year of his deal in Philly for $35.6 million, with the understanding that he and the Sixers will work together and make a deal to send Harden elsewhere.
The Clippers quickly emerged as a possible suitor, which makes some sense as the Kawhi Leonard/Paul George window closes, with a new building in Inglewood looming.
What made zero sense was what followed at 4:53 p.m., when ESPN’s ace NBA newsbreaker Adrian Wojnarowski — not a reporter exactly known for randomly slinging spaghetti against walls — reported the Knicks were expected to be engaged in talks for Harden, too.
No. That’s not funny at all.
This isn’t the place to litigate Harden’s career at large, merely the fit he would be for the Knicks. And that answer is simple: it would be a moronic decision to bring him here.
Forget his age (34 in August). Forget his career-long inability to come close to matching in the postseason his many Hall-of-Fame-worthy regular-season glories. Hell: forget the fact that New York has already seen — and quickly grown tired of — his act during his brief stay as part of the alleged Big 3 in Brooklyn.
It’s really this simple:
The Knicks’ best player is Jalen Brunson. At his best — and at the Knicks’ best with him — the ball is in his hands a preponderance of the time. He is the foundational piece around which the Knicks’ future has been built, and in his first year bearing that burden he delivered in spectacular fashion. Madison Square Garden adores him. On merit.
Harden’s game is a ball-centric game. At its worse that’s a euphemism for “selfish,” but even at its best it means that he’s the nexus of any offense in which he operates. And that just won’t work here. Not with Brunson. And not without causing a fundamental shift in the way the Knicks conduct their business.
Also: Harden was clearly incompatible with Doc Rivers in Philly; now we’re expected to believe he and Tom Thibodeau — a close Doc ally — are going to get along like Hope and Crosby? When there are no fewer than five hilarious compilations that come up on Google when you type in “bad Harden defensive GIFs?”
It’s madness, is what it is, and it would almost be unworthy of the contempt except if that reporter reported that news … well, it’s out there somewhere. That doesn’t mean it’s out there in Leon Rose’s thinking, and there is nothing about the way Rose has conducted his business that tells you that this deal for this player is the one.
One saving grace? If the Knicks are involved, but only as a conduit to conduct a three-team trade. And if that means the Knicks are able to land one of their offseason wish-list names, George, then the fever dream of Harden slipping a Knicks jersey over a business suit will have been worth the hassle and stress. And you can simply delete the previous seven paragraphs.
At the end of all this, all Knicks fans can have is faith that Rose — who has if nothing else shown an affinity for patience, if sometimes to a frustrating fault — realizes just how ludicrous the notion of Harden at Penn Plaza would be.
It has to be a discouraging time to be a GM on the hunt for a star, the coming free-agency bazaar promising zero in the way of needle-moving difference makers. Keeping Hart keeps the Knicks whole. Adding DiVincenzo would make the Knicks better. Paul George? Hell, what’s NBA July for if not to dream?
James Harden? That’s no dream in any form or fashion. Not for the Knicks, not for the Garden. Not ever.