In a perfect world, the Knicks might have stuck to the plan set in motion a year ago when Leon Rose took over as team president, setting a course for a methodical rebuild of the franchise with no steps skipped over.
If that was the path for the Knicks, they’d be still back near the bottom of the standings, ready to use their first-round pick to possibly jump into the top five in the draft where league officials see potential franchise-shifting talents. But the Knicks are in the midst of a battle for playoff positioning — 4 1/2 games ahead of the 11th-place Raptors, a team that is fielding offers to strip some of the immediate talent from their roster.