The Knicks aren’t vaulting from 37-45 to a top-4 slot next season unless they make “The Donovan Mitchell Trade of the Century.”

More likely, the Knicks will jockey for a humbling position in the play-in tournament (seeds 7-to-10 in each conference).

That could make next season a bit of a Garden gap year as the Knicks try to figure out whether they are closer to the promising 41-31 team of 2020-21 or the melancholy 37-45 club they were this season.

No matter where they land in the standings, the Knicks will have considerable cap space in 2023 if they let their expiring contracts actually expire.