Photo: Kathy Willens/Associated Press

The daunting fact that the New York Knicks remain stuck in the league’s mediocrity stands as a pressuring situation for several free agents.

An anonymous agent told Brian Wacker of the New York Post that players are scared to take the challenge of saving the Knicks, with the club still searching for consistent success.

“It’s almost become a thing around the league; is there a sense of urgency or is it just like every other year? Guys like [playing] there, but at least when it comes to free agents, there’s a lot of, is someone gonna come save the Knicks? That scares some guys off.”

Despite being a glamorous, big-market franchise, the Knicks haven’t found any relative success yet since the Patrick Ewing era in the 90s – wherein the club reached great playoff heights and even managed to enter the 1994 and 1999 NBA Finals.

The one, recent megastar player that they proudly featured was Carmelo Anthony, whom they acquired back in the 2010-11 midseason. Amid the scoring brilliance of the future Hall of Famer, the Knicks still didn’t get over the hump with their 6 ½ years of partnership. 

Now, the Knicks can only hope that Jalen Brunson, Julius Randle, and emerging sensation RJ Barrett can take them out of their peculiar place. They also have a boatload of future draft picks that they can utilize to acquire a legitimate franchise cornerstone.

Closing Friday’s match against the Chicago Bulls, New York now holds a 16-13 record, en route to the East’s sixth-best position. While it may be considered that the current season is still too early, optimism is glowing that they might go higher and be back to the postseason arena.