Knicks NBA Picks
The New York Knicks enter this season with a new team president and a new head coach. Team president Phil Jackson has spent the offseason crafting a new vision for the Knicks, his vision. He brought in one of his long-time players to help carry out that vision in new head coach Derek Fisher.
2014/15 N.Y. Knicks
Eastern Conference
2013-2014 Record: 37-45
Odds to win Title: 50/1
Odds to win Conference: 25/1
Odds to win Atlantic Division: 3/1
Posted win total: 40.5
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Top Newcomers
The team’s most significant offseason acquisitions came in the front office, with Jackson and Fisher joining the program. Fisher was just playing with the Oklahoma City Thunder a year ago, and now takes over as a rookie head coach, but will be flanked by a veteran group of assistants.
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The team made a big trade with the Dallas Mavericks that saw the likes of Tyson Chandler and Raymond Felton make the move out to Texas, while veterans Jose Calderon and Samuel Dalembert came back in return. Both figure to see big minutes with little competition for starting roles.
The team also brought in small forwards Cleanthony Early and Thanasis Antetokounmpo in the draft. Early is an athletic three who could see time at power forward after a strong senior season at Wichita State.
Top Players
Forward Carmelo Anthony is one of the top players in basketball at the moment, if not the best scorer in the game. His presence alone shouldn’t be enough to carry this team into the playoffs, but that certainly wasn’t the case last season. There could be an adjustment period working in Phil’s triangle offense, and some kinks to work out with a rookie head coach, but Anthony figures to again lead the league in scoring.
Power forward Amar’e Stoudemire figures to see an increased role, with Jackson recently outlining a plan that would see STAT on the court for 32 minutes a game. As for Andrea Bargnani, Jackson has been more critical of his play, questioning aloud whether he should be attempting as many three-pointers as he does.
Strengths
The players may be new to the triangle offense, but Jackson has brought in many of his top assistants from his days as coach of the Los Angeles Lakers, starting with Kurt Rambis and going on down the line.
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The team has some young guards, though they may get in each other’s way. Iman Shumpert and Tim Hardaway Jr. are both listed as shooting guards, though they do have the ability to play on the floor together in a smaller lineup. J.R. Smith also presents a viable scoring option off the bench.
Weaknesses
The front court is looking awfully thin. Dalembert having little competition at center certainly isn’t a good thing after Tyson Chandler really proved his worth to the team a year ago. Andrea Bargnani can’t be counted on to assert himself under the boards, and Amar’e Stoudemire’s body likely won’t hold up for 82 games at 32 minutes per.
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There are some good young players behind each of the veterans, but those veterans each have long injury histories, so it’s going to be tough to know what to expect from this roster on a night in and night out basis.
4* FREE NBA Prediction: 42-40
The Knicks entered the 2013-14 season coming off their first Atlantic Division title in almost two decades and laid an egg, losing 13 of their first 16 games. There’s some promise entering this season with a group of talented veterans, and the East still seems beatable, even if that just means backing into one of the last two playoff spots.
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