The New York Knicks officially begin the discussions regarding the team's future after officially being eliminated from playoff contention.
The final buzzer sounded Wednesday night with not only a 105-88 defeat to the Miami Heat at Madison Square Garden but on any New York Knicks playoff hopes.
The Knicks were officially eliminated with the loss and now face the realization that all signs must point towards their future. Veterans and young players will be closely evaluated by team president Phil Jackson the last few games some with more questions than others.
Carmelo Anthony is the team captain and one of the veterans on this roster spoke with reporters after the game with plenty of confusion regarding his role moving forward.
"I don't know my role to be honest, I'm just here to help those guys and keep those guys kind of positive and motivated. At this point I think my role is to be there for those guys during this time. Help them along the way. In a game or in practice and in a lot of other ways just to be there for them.
"I don't think me going out there trying to score 30 or 40 every night, playing that way, is going to help them out, For them, I think at this point it's just getting the experience and letting them go out there and play and do that right now."
#CarmeloAnthony discusses helping the young players develop #Knicks pic.twitter.com/yx3TFejXhc
— Ed Easton Jr. (@EdEastonJr) March 30, 2017
Anthony has been the subject of trade rumors all season long and will most likely be talking about all offseason.
The Knicks are showing a commitment to their younger players such as Kristaps Porzingis, Willy Hernangomez and the future draft pick that many are predicting to be in the top five.
The most talked-about veteran the last couple of days has been Joakim Noah, who recently was hit with a 20-game suspension for taking a banned over-the-counter substance.
The former Defensive Player of the Year began serving the suspension Wednesday night after being cleared physically able to play by the NBA. A very apologetic Noah returned to practice on Tuesday to speak with reporters and explain his action fans, teammates and Knicks organization.
"I want to just start by saying I made a mistake. It was a tough year for me, for this team. I want to start by apologizing to my teammates, to the Knicks, to the organization, I let a lot of people down. It was a mistake. And I gotta learn from it and bounce back. This is a tough moment and I'm going to learn from it.
"I tried to take a supplement to help me with everything that I was going through. I've gone through a lot of injuries and I tried to take something to help me and it backfired. So I know it didn't come from a bad place. I was working with the league on this for a while. I think the punishment of 20 games is severe. But it is what it is and I gotta bounce back."
#JoakimNoah talking about his #NBA suspension with the media after #Knicks practice yesterday pic.twitter.com/aXb3U7p4hj
— Ed Easton Jr. (@EdEastonJr) March 29, 2017
Noah will be back next year after serving the suspension in the team's first 12 regular season games. The question as to whether he will reclaim the starting center role is still up in the air as head coach Jeff Hornacek continues to see promise in Hernangomez.
Hornacek continues to talk about pride for the current Knicks these last few games and avoiding the "tanking" conversation with reporters.
"When you're not in the playoffs, everyone wants to get the best draft pick you can. It's hard, Players don't want to lose, coaches don't want to lose. So we're going to go out there and play, and sometimes it can maybe work out for you. You just play and maybe that's the good karma. You get a good ping pong ball."
Head coach Jeff Hornacek recapping the #Knicks loss to the #Heat #NYKvsMIA #NBA pic.twitter.com/FrXoFC0uq6
— Ed Easton Jr. (@EdEastonJr) March 30, 2017
The Knicks will begin the process of researching potential free agent additions and top draft picks as soon as possible.
The poor trend continues for the team as they have yet to qualify for the playoffs under president Phil Jackson.
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