GREENBURGH, N.Y. –- Bodies are dropping all around Derek Fisher.
The New York Knicks' head coach, in the midst of a nightmarish rookie season, barely has enough people to practice right now. Deep down, Fisher knows there will very likely be more nights when he won’t have his superstar available.
Carmelo Anthony has missed three games with a lingering knee injury and is listed as doubtful to play against the Milwaukee Bucks on Sunday at Madison Square Garden.
Fisher says the team and Anthony have not yet discussed the possibility of shutting the star down for the season. But the coach admits it’s a possibility if the balky knee continues to be a problem.
The season has already gotten away from the Knicks. They’ve lost 10 straight games and 20 of their past 21. Let that sink in for a moment.
Amazingly, at 5-30, the Knicks were only 10 games out of the eighth and final playoff spot in the East, as of Saturday afternoon. But forget about the playoffs. At this point, the Knicks are more of a threat to the Philadelphia 76ers and Minnesota Timberwolves –- two teams in complete rebuilding mode –- for the worst record in the NBA.
That’s why the Knicks should shut Anthony down eventually. If not in the very near future, they should at least rest him for a week or two -- like the Cleveland Cavaliers are doing with LeBron James –- and then let him play in the All-Star Game, if possible.
Anthony deserves a chance to rep New York when the brightest stars come to play in his hometown. After that, they should put him on ice for the rest of the season.
Even if Anthony says he can’t make his knee any worse by playing, it certainly isn’t going to improve by playing. So why risk your $124 million centerpiece? Anthony will really earn his contract if and when Phil Jackson can add another star or two to the mix.
What about Carmelo getting more comfortable with Fisher and the triangle? Truth be told, he won’t be playing in the triangle with these players when it really matters. Jackson needs to break this group up and add more and better pieces, so Anthony will have to adjust to playing in the triangle next season, anyway.
Besides, Jackson and Fisher need to evaluate players such as Cleanthony Early, Tim Hardaway Jr., J.R. Smith, Shane Larkin and Cole Aldrich in the triangle more than seeing Anthony get cozier with the system.
Business-wise, shutting Anthony down won’t make fans happy about spending premium bucks for their tickets. But if the bottom line is winning -- and not keeping seats filled -- the Knicks need to protect their most expensive investment.
When Jackson took over as team president, one of the first goals he mentioned was to provide the players with a support system and improve the team’s overall health.
“The idea of developing a culture is an overwrought word in the NBA right now,” Jackson said at his introductory press conference last March. “But that’s the cache that brought me here. That there are things I believe that players should have, that is important for them. They should have the security of knowing they are going to be supported by the organization and coaching staff. It is a very tenuous world as it is to be a player. So putting yourself on the line, you need to have that support. That is something we want to build for them. We want to build some things that are very important to basketball players -- developing a health record in which injuries are limited.”
The Knicks’ health has been a disaster of late. There's no need for Anthony, 30, to keep playing through pain and have that catch up with him down the road.
To be sure, without Carmelo, there is even less reason to watch the futile Knicks. Witnessing Friday’s 97-81 loss to the Detroit Pistons was downright brutal.
Want to punish somebody? Make them watch the Knicks play a game without Anthony, Amar'e Stoudemire, Hardaway Jr., Iman Shumpert or Samuel Dalembert. At one point in the third quarter, the Knicks trailed 75-46!
Could the Knicks still make a deal before the trade deadline? Sure. But you want Jackson to rebuild, not reload. What good is window dressing on a dilapidated and condemned house? Landing a star in a trade at the deadline to give Anthony help for a miracle run to the playoffs seems even unlikelier than the Knicks going on a tear and making the playoffs with this group.
If anything, the one shining light in this debacle of a season is the Knicks still have their first-round draft pick. The more they lose, the better the odds of landing the likes of Jahlil Okafor, Karl-Anthony Towns or Emmanuel Mudiay in the lottery.
It’s hard to say what kind of impact anyone from this summer's draft will have, but having a healthy Anthony able to mentor that rookie will be better than having Anthony still recovering from this injury. If he eventually needs surgery -- something he hopes to avoid -- delaying it doesn’t help the Knicks.
At the moment, the Knicks are keeping their options open and hoping Anthony will feel better next week. He has already shown he will play through painful shoulder and knee injuries. He has nothing to prove when it comes to his toughness.
Frankly, unless a miracle on 34th Street happens, the Knicks don’t have anything left worth his fighting through pain for this season -- no matter how many millions James Dolan has in his bank account.