In Robin Lopez, New York secured a building block of an eventual good team*. By signing Arron Afflalo, they made a low-risk, mutually beneficial commitment they could eventually keep, replace, or trade, perhaps with equal ease. In failing to, say, sign Marc Gasol, or add a maximum-contract big man AND a top-tier wing, the Knicks confirmed that New York is not Mecca, Phil Jackson is not a shaman, and anyone who expected anything but a healthy, gradual rebuild was mistaken.
All of this is okay with me, and I've been pleased since midnight Wednesday to see the Knicks work methodically and sensibly, and not get hysterical when the snubs most of us expected came to pass.