FanHouse Preview: Knicks

FanHouse previews all 30 NBA teams in advance of the 2009-10 season.

The Knicks have slowly climbed their way out of salary cap hell -- but all that got them is a season in NBA purgatory.

Instead of making moves toward actual improvement, the Knicks are blatantly looking past this season to next summer when they hope to strike it rich with the famed free agent class of 2010. But while Donnie Walsh's long-term strategy may eventually pay dividends, it offers little hope in the interim that the Knicks might rise above last year's fifth-place finish in the Atlantic.

More NBA '09-'10 Previews
Kings Will Struggle Not to Be Awful
Players to Watch: Spencer Hawes | Danilo Gallinari

Consider their competition: the Celtics are a virtual lock to repeat as division champs, and the 76ers could return to the playoffs if Elton Brand returns to form; the Raptors would like to join them after fortifying their roster with a handful of free agents; and even if the Nets spin their tires in the win-loss column this year, at least they're doing it with a clearly-established young nucleus.

The Knicks, on the other hand, consist of an odd collection of expiring contracts (including Larry Hughes, Al Harrington, Darko Milicic and Chris Duhon), previous mistakes (namely Eddy Curry and Jared Jeffries) and promising but flawed youngsters.

Two guys you might think are building blocks, David Lee and Nate Robinson, spent all summer dangling in the wind before signing one-year deals shortly before training camp -- potentially paving the way to leave via unrestricted free agency next year.

New York's offense, while prolific, is hardly efficient: they ranked fourth in the league in scoring but 17th in offensive efficiency. You know what might have helped? A franchise point guard.

Unfortunately, after missing out on Ricky Rubio and Stephen Curry in the draft, the Knicks passed on Brandon Jennings and, despite lengthy negotiations, they decided against signing the surprisingly affordable Ramon Sessions. Instead, Duhon will continue playing far more minutes than any sane basketball fan should ever choose to watch.

To be fair, while the Knicks aren't headed for marked improvement, at least they're not getting worse -- Milicic may be a punchline, but he's a stout interior defender on a team that desperately needs defense; Danilo Gallinari remains intriguing after a wasted rookie season; Jordan Hill, the ninth-overall pick in the 2009 draft, is certainly raw but has the physical tools to someday evolve into an Amar'e-type player in Mike D'Antoni's system.

But no matter how optimistic you may be, there's no denying that this roster is constructed to bide time, not contend. All that's left is figuring out which players will be around when Walsh attempts to sign the biggest pieces of the puzzle next summer.

Last Season By the Numbers

Record: 32-50 under Mike D'Antoni. Fifth in the Atlantic Division, 14th in the Eastern Conference.

Offense: 108.1 points per 100 possesions, 17th in the NBA. 12th in shooting, 12th in turnover rate, 27th in offensive rebounding, 28th in free throw rate.

Defense: 110.8 points per 100 possessions, 23rd in the NBA. 28th in shooting defense, 17th in opponent turnover rate, 20th in defensive rebounding, 7th in opponent free throw rate.

Top Performers: Al Harrington led the team in scoring at 20.7 points per game. Fellow holdovers Nate Robinson and David Lee scored 17.2 points and 16 points per game, respectively. Lee averaged 11.7 rebounds per game. Chris Duhon averaged 7.2 assists per game. Lee (19.0), Robinson (18.9) and Harrington (16.4) were the only rotation players with above average PERs.

All statistics via Basketball-Reference.com.

Player to Watch

FanHouse's Matt Moore and Tom Ziller preview one player to watch from each team. Here's a snippet of Ziller's post on Knicks forward Danilo Gallinari.

The Knicks' future basically boils down to two players: Danilo Gallinari and Major Free Agent Acquisition To-Be-Named-Later. Guys like Wilson Chandler and Jordan Hill -- and maybe even David Lee -- will have roles on the next good Knicks team. But the timeline for that team's arrival and the heights to which that Knicks team can go rests on Gallinari's development and the acquisition talents of the Donnie Walsh front office. The Knicks seem to be aware that Gallinari is the one player who needs to stay, and who needs to develop. He'll shoot as much as he wants in Mike D'Antoni's offense. Assuming he's healthy, he'll play huge minutes. He will own either the small forward or shooting guard position for this season and beyond.

Until next July 1, The Rooster is The Franchise. And that's a huge boon for him, given that he needs to prove himself and everyone else that last year was not a fluke.

See Ziller's full post on Gallinari.

Offseason Tracker

IN: Jordan Hill (draft), Toney Douglas (draft), Darko Milicic (trade).

OUT: Quentin Richardson (trade).

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

10-06-2009 @ 12:37PM

darktico said...

Expect to see both Wade and King James here next year. King because it is happening and Wade cause Miami did absolutely nothing to keep Wade. They both want a ring and they will get it in NY.

10-26-2009 @ 5:12PM

pontera2 said...

They lowered the salary cap in the nba which sucks so now theyll be lucky if they lebron

10-06-2009 @ 1:35PM

d57fan said...

wow, what a surprise...another clueless poster who has no understanding of salary caps or anything else, probably. Basketball isn't like Baseball where the self-entitled New York team can just buy whatever players it wants, moron.

10-06-2009 @ 2:50PM

Giles said...

Maybe by here he means someplace like Houston in the regular season, the Harlem Globe Trotters in the summers. That might be believeable. The Globbies have always been the winningest team in New York. Wilt, whom they claimed was a Loser, won as many championships by himself as the entire Knicks franchise has one. Bunch of Losers. Could change, but won`t change next season. And the Knicks won`t sign Ming, LeBron, Dwayne, etc., in 2010. They already get plenty of endorsements without have to freeze their oversized tushies in Manhattan. About all the Knicks will get in 2010 wil be cap room, and some Rucker all stars.

10-06-2009 @ 3:11PM

richcantwell109 said...

You guys just don't get or don't want to get it. Stern wants NY to be in the mix, just like he did when we "somehow" got Ewing. The salary cap only means they would have to pay the luxury tax. That wasn't a problem for Dolan when Isaiah was spending money, why would it be a problem now? I don't know about the D. Wade stuff, but that wouldn't suprise me either. I really beleive LBJ's future has been pre-determined by the NBA with Lebron's approval.

10-06-2009 @ 5:46PM

armando moral said...

knicks knicks knicks.....SUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!

10-07-2009 @ 10:57AM

raidenbk6701 said...

Gallinari sucks. He is gonna suck. He was a terrible draft and will not help the Knicks. David Lee and Nate Robinson are the only two guys the Knicks should keep around. Send everyone else packing. Get some decent role players by trading away Harrington and go get you one of those big free agents in the 2010 free agent class. We need a shooting guard so D.Wade is enticing. I would more so have D.Wade here then Lebron because he would be less of a media circus. He will still be a media circus but less than Lebron. Jordan Hill I would develop, let Gallinari come off the bench with limited time and draft a point guard next year that you can develop into a good player.

10-07-2009 @ 2:14PM

belizeanme said...

Go KNICKS! I guess I'm the last KNICKS fan. I've been waiting for them to win for years and years, and I still haven't given up on them. I love it when teams that have been written off acutally win, despite the nay sayers. Maybe The KNICKS will have another tough season, or maybe they'll be full of surprises...

10-07-2009 @ 5:43PM

In all seriousness, what the Knicks need to do to get into contention for a change is to stop selling themselves and their fans on the notion picking up two or three has beens will be a quick fix, and start building thru the draft. SuperStars like James have to turn down more endorsements than they can accept, even if the play in the 50th market, Salt Lake City. Which is why Karl Malone left only to hang out with Shaq in his 18th season, while John Stockton played all 19 seasons of his career in Salt Lake. I wish all the teams well, but they`ll have to start making sensible basketball judgments for a change to do well on court, and most teams don`t. Most owners lose money and sell, most GMs and coaches are fired, sooner, rather than later. Frank, at five years, a former student manager turned assistant coach turned head coach, is the longest running coach in the east, and he`ll be out at the end of the season, even if the team wins, like Paul Silas was let go by Cleveland when their new owner figured he was a good enough coach, but had been hired by the last owner, so had to go. I don`t feel sorry for inept management, but I feel sorry for the fans, always having to wait until next year, which never comes.

10-08-2009 @ 3:06PM

usnavair said...

richcantwell, that isn't how the luxury tax works. They can go over the luxury tax to resign their own free agents or to acquire players through the trade (with certain conditions), they can't just sign whomever they please and go over the cap.

Personally, I think either D. Lee or Nate are going to go coupled with Eddy Curry or Jared Jeffries if the Knicks are out of real contention by March - and maybe even if they are still in it in March if they aren't really strong. I like David Lee, but he's a player that isn't going to get much more valuable from a trade standpoint in a cap-crunch environment than he is this year and the Knicks already have a lot of redundancy in the frontcourt, particularly if they are looking to bring in LeBron and Bosh or Wade or whatever they wind up doing.

Ming would be the dumbest acquisition ever. He's never healthy, he has a huge contract and the Rockets play better without him...

10-08-2009 @ 4:00PM

Thank you, I don't mind saying I didn't know that. I also appreciate a response without all the NY Knick bashing.
Knick fan forever (regardless)RC

10-26-2009 @ 6:47PM

I sympathise with the New York fans. Of course they`d love to get James. But there aren`t 150 of him, he can`t start at all five positions for all 30 teams. The Knicks have Harrington, Jefferies, Lee, Chandler, and Robinson. Not a single all star, though Lee is a decent candidate. The big name free agents have had one thing in common, they`ve never gone to New York. They aren`t going to start next summer. The Knicks need quality guys they can really get. The Knicks start four forwards and a point guard, that has advantages, not just disadvantages. If the Knicks learn their defensive/rebounding rotations, if means four guys who can take turns, two hitting the board, and two early releasing. They can front the post aggressively, with quicker weak side cover. It worked for Golden State a couple of playoffs back against Dallas. But teams don`t win fantasizing about the big names that don`t want them, they have to work with what they`ve got. Sigh. As the old song asked, When will they ever learn?