The Knicks have ushered in a new era for their fans. You are familiar with the Glory Era, which yielded the only two banners presently hanging at the Knicks’ end of Madison Square Garden. Surely you know of the Patrick Era, a decade worth of close-but-no-rings frustration that spanned the ’90s.
Undoubtedly you recall the Dark Era, that two-decade realm when even the presence of a procession of Hall of Famers (Isiah Thomas and Lenny Wilkens, Phil Jackson and Larry Brown) couldn’t stop the franchise’s free-falling descent into drek, and you have recently been buoyed by the Era of Hope, engineered by Tom Thibodeau and Leon Rose.
But this is a new one.
This is the Era of Tasseography.
By definition this is the divine practice of identifying symbols and interpreting messages in the patterns of particles at the bottom of a cuppa, and also the process of picking up on subtle clues combined with intuition and experience.
More colloquially, we call that “reading the tea leaves.”
And slowly, this is becoming an obsessive hobby for Knicks fans. So far they seem perfectly pleased, for the moment, to see how far this likeable band of ballers can carry themselves this year after blending together nicely a year ago to the tune of 47 victories and a playoff win over the Cavaliers — who visit the Garden Wednesday night after the Knicks clobbered them Tuesday in Cleveland, 109-91.
For the moment.
But even the most optimistic Knicks fan understands that there remains a vacuum on this roster, and that is the superstar, the alpha dog, the foundational centerpiece. The Knicks have an array of guys who would be perfect secondary and tertiary options to a Giannis/Jokic/KAT/Embiid primary. But securing that North Star is elusive.
Thus, the tea leaves.
And so far, those leaves have revealed nothing. Giannis Antetokounmpo just re-upped with the Bucks, so that’s off the table for now. Karl-Anthony Towns’ star has dimmed somewhat over the last year. The only way to pry Nikola Jokic out of Denver would be through hypnotism. Even Donovan Mitchell’s time as a Knicks dreamboat seems to have passed.
So most of those tea leaves are focused on Joel Embiid.
It is a good focus. It is a wise focus. Embiid is the reigning MVP of the league. He is still, for the next few months anyway, on the right side of 30. He would make the Knicks an instant contender, even with the boatload of players and assets that would have to head south on the Turnpike in order to bring him north. And there is clear mutual (if muted) interest, along with the long-standing relationship between Embiid and his former agent, Leon Rose.
And now the 76ers have finally parted ways with James Harden, and here is where Tasseography turns turbo. Will the loss of a fellow star sour Embiid on staying in Philly? Will the loss of a disgruntled pain in the neck make Embiid more eager to stay in Philly? Are the Sixers going to be able to make a second move to resupply their lineup with firepower? Can the pieces they pick up work well together?
The tea leaves right now look like the maple and oak leaves covering your front lawn.
The Knicks?
Here’s one pity: for years the Knicks have been a vastly unattractive destination for stars because of a losing culture and a chaotic organization, two problems fostered in the owner’s suite that festered throughout Penn Plaza. They would sell, sell, sell, and the likes of LeBron James and Kevin Durant and the rest would run as fast as they could in the other direction.
Which leads to another pity: generally, the sense is the Knicks are finally what they’ve always wanted to be. There is stability thanks to Thibodeau. The owner has stayed quiet for a few years. Jalen Brunson not only did what so many before him didn’t — signed on the dotted line — and has helped create an atmosphere of hope that the big names want.
But the big names haven’t lately been available.
And Embiid isn’t available. So the Knicks must wait and see if Embiid can develop chemistry with his new teammates, and whoever might arrive later. They must see what the next few months look like for the Sixers — do they go 30-10 over their next 40 games? 10-30? 20-20? Even if the best-case scenario happens and the Sixers start to listen, Philly would almost certainly demand an overpay to ship a legit franchise player to a division rival.
(And not to be a dark storm cloud here, but there’s also this question: can Emiid stay healthy? That’s always a relevant question with him.)
The Knicks ought to still win plenty of games in the meantime. The Garden will still be the place to be on game nights. But the game on the floor is only part of the story these days. To paraphrase the noted basketball philosopher Sting:
“A star fall/A phone call/It joins all/Tasseography”
