You can knock the 10-45 Knicks on a lot of stuff as they tied the longest losing streak in franchise history Saturday at 16 with a 104-99 Garden loss to Kawhi Leonard’s Raptors.
But don’t knock them on their uncanny ability to pack the Garden, nor their due diligence regarding Kristaps Porzingis’ trade value. Knicks president Steve Mills had his henchmen in high gear once the calendar turned to 2019 and their 7-foot-3 Latvian turned disengaged.
The Knicks were surprised Porzingis’ stock had dropped so much since the days leading into the 2017 draft.
Twenty months ago, the Celtics offered a boatload of young assets, and the Suns were prepared to ship Devin Booker and swap a draft pick that would have placed the Knicks in position to draft Lauri Markkanen — former team president Phil Jackson thought the Finnish big man was built sturdier than Porzingis and would become more durable.