Metropolitan sports fans may not like it — especially when it comes to a blue-court team — but the New York Knicks’ fall fate may depend on an Eagles.

A 4-5 record in the NBA is nowhere near the disaster in the NFL, but the Knicks’ every passing effort brings the team closer to an uncomfortable new normal if planned developments don’t materialize.

With its latest showing Lost to Indiana Pacers 132-121New York looked maddeningly mediocre in a difficult week. While other losing East contenders took the negative headlines, the Knicks dropped three of four after going through a brutal opening stretch to face their brethren in last spring’s conference semifinals.

What’s really frustrating about the Knicks’ early woes is that none of them are immediately fixable, and the solutions rely heavily on patience and guesswork: Precious Achiuwa, Cameron Payne, and Mitchell Robinson will eventually return. A team that features just four players from the opening night roster in 2023 is more than capable of building chemistry.

Other ideas look the Knicks in the face but avoid eye contact. Tyler Kolek It was impossible to ignore.

Kolek was one of the most intriguing picks on the second day of the NBA’s newly launched draft last June: New York moved up several floors in the draft elevator to acquire his services; Big East level during his time at Marquette.

Minor and bothered by a late oblique injury, Kolek was clearly a project choice; He was more likely to make an impact with Westchester’s Knicks than Manhattan. Kolek’s choiceBut there has been an interesting shift in draft focus for the Knicks.

He was a luxury pick, with the Knicks embracing the idea of ​​taking the so-called best player available rather than filling any immediate need. Kolek’s arrival was a reward of sorts after the Knicks treated previous draft picks as spectators and traders. Of course, there was an understanding that Kolek was always going to be a project pick, but he was someone who filled the Knicks’ needs both now and beyond.

So why don’t the Knicks trust Kolek now?

Kolek has responded more or less well to the limited challenges the Knicks have presented him with so far: He’s shooting over 69 percent from the field, posting a 135 offensive rating, and averaging nearly 30 points per game per 100 possessions. Most of that work was done on mop-up duty, but Kolek served as Payne’s de facto replacement while he dealt with hamstring issues.

There’s a reluctance to use Kolek, though, and that’s coming back to bite the Knicks early: He played 16 minutes against Milwaukee on Friday, but was followed by a two-minute performance in the aforementioned loss to the Pacers. The Knicks played a total of eight men in Sunday’s loss: Indiana, on the other hand, played nine men who played at least minutes… and this was a game with veteran depth stars like Andrew Nembhard, Aaron Nesmith and Obi Toppin on the sidelines.

No one said Kolek would be a fixture in the Knicks’ rotation, and it’s entirely fair to push him back into student mode once New York gets its entire roster back. Kolek made it clear that he was willing to accept such an assignment, knowing that watching Jalen Brunson for a year would carry more weight than the nights he spent in White Plains.

But for now, the Knicks need Kolek and he should be happy to accept it. An immediate test could be beneficial to what the Knicks are trying to build and help them get closer to a relatively massive goal.

New York is already losing ground in the early race for first place in the Eastern Conference standings. It certainly helps that everyone outside of Cleveland and Boston is aggressively mediocre going forward, but it would be wise for the Knicks to improve their standing in the East.

Despite finishing second last season, few believed it would be a tough challenge for the Beantown champions as they finished 14 games behind. Yes, the NBA season is a long marathon, but a team like the modern Knicks needs to get as many wins as possible if it plans to make a big statement in the NBA newsletter.

With that in mind, the Knicks opted for a gamble on newfound familiarity: The “Nova Knicks” arc was partially abandoned, and they also tried to stockpile former Phoenix Suns players like Payne, Mikal Bridges, Marcus Morris and Landry Shamet. The Karl-Anthony Towns trade shook things up, with the Knicks trying to move forward with star power alone. Towns has responded to the challenges he faces, but those left need to step up, too. Kolek did this early, and now it’s time he was rewarded for it.

With that out the window, why not embrace relative, productive unpredictability like Kolek?

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