Leon Rose’s Knicks have come very far, but there’s still room to grow

There comes a point where the revamping becomes a rebuilding, when the rebuilding becomes a retooling. And then, at the last, when all that’s required are finishing touches. That’s when you have the team you move forward with.

For better.

For worse.

Sometimes, it’s important to remember just how fundamentally hopeless things seemed around the Knicks on the afternoon of March 2, 2020 — and it’s not a terrible thing to ease the camera back a little bit and get the complete wide-angle shot of what we’re talking about.

The Knicks beat the Rockets at Madison Square Garden that night, to improve to a ghastly 19-41 on the season. But earlier that day, Leon Rose had been appointed the team’s president. As would prove to be his habit from that day forward, Rose eschewed a welcoming press conference and instead chose the writing of an open letter to Knicks fans.

This was the money-shot quote: “Nothing about this is easy or quick so I ask for your continued patience. What I promise you in return is I will be honest and forthright. We will develo+p a plan that makes sense both to jump-start our short-term growth and ensure our long-term successes.”