New York Knicks Fantasy Basketball Preview

Are things beginning to turn in the right direction for the New York Knicks? A successful offseason has the arrow starting to point upwards for the NBA’s second-worst team a year ago.

Carmelo Anthony returns from a season-ending surgery on his left knee to take his place as the centerpiece for the improved Knicks. He should make for a solid early second-round pick in standard league drafts this year.

In free agency, the Knicks hauled in under-the-radar players, but look to be much improved as a result. Robin Lopez heads east after a stint with the Portland Trail Blazers, and should be a solid center pickup this year for fantasy. Arron Afflalo, Kyle O’Quinn, Kevin Seraphin, and Derrick Williams should all see an uptick in value with the Knicks after joining the team this offseason.

From last season, Andrea Bargnani (Nets), Cole Aldrich (Clippers), Jason Smith (Magic), and Alexey Shved (Russia) failed to re-sign with the team. Most of the fantasy value of that group was born out of opportunity on a bad team, so it doesn’t look to hurt the Knicks in any regard. Tim Hardaway is another notable absence from this team after being traded to Atlanta during the draft.

The Knicks can boast a pair of intriguing rookies from this year’s draft class: Kristaps Porzingis (4^th overall) and Jerian Grant (19^th overall). I’ll touch on Porzingis further down in this column, but Grant makes for a decent late-round flier in deep leagues.

Derek Fisher returns as the head coach, and it will be worth watching how the offense functions in his second full season. There are new pieces that should make the triangle more functional, and a cohesive offense would greatly raise the ceiling for everyone on this squad.

Here are the bounce-back, bust, and deep league sleeper candidates for the New York Knicks:

Bounce-back Player To Watch: Jose Calderon

I might be the last person on Earth who still believes in Jose Calderon; besides Jose Calderon, of course.

ESPN has Calderon projected as the 43^rd best player eligible at point guard, and 166^th player overall. In standard leagues he will be on the waiver wire, or a last round selection at best. As such, I don’t advise drafting Calderon right now, but he is someone who you should keep on your watch list.

The reason for streaming or taking a flier on Calderon is for one category: three-pointers. He will still provide solid assists and a handful of points, but the point guard is a career 41.2-percent shooter from beyond-the-arc. The Knicks must find a way to utilize that skill, even in their broken version of the triangle.

With health – Calderon was limited to 42 games last year – the three-pointers will come. He is still the best passer in New York (sorry, Nets), and his steady hand distributing the ball should allow him ample playing time, even ahead of the more dynamic Jerian Grant.

Arron Afflalo is a solid bounce-back candidate as well, but I feel very confident that Calderon can emerge as a solid three-point specialist and/or streaming option at point guard.

Bust Candidate: Kristaps Porzingis

Kristaps Porzingis will eventually be a fantasy basketball monster for the New York Knicks. It’s easy to look at his tools and see a six-category contributor (he is seven-feet-tall with three-point range), plus his status as a top-five draft choice adds some confidence in his potential.

I will be the first to admit I knew nothing of Porzingis before draft season started. I poured over DraftExpress videos, watched his interviews, and made sure to catch his summer league games. He looks like he will be a fantastic piece for the Knicks, and an excellent fantasy basketball prospect as a result.

You can take the above paragraph as me officially jumping on the Porzingis bandwagon; just not this year.

Porzingis is skilled, but skilled isn’t adding any weight to his 7-foot frame. He will need a year in the NBA to add muscle to survive in the paint at a reported weight of 244 pounds.

If the Knicks want to use Porzingis as a four or a five, he will see limited minutes. Robin Lopez, Kyle O’Quinn, and Kevin Seraphin should all see their fair share of run down low, with Carmelo Anthony eating up a ton of minutes at power forward.

Where Porzingis could make a big impact right away is as an outside threat, probably as a small forward, which would pull him farther away from the basket. While he could see more minutes this way, it does take something from his fantasy value if most of his work comes on the perimeter.

When it comes down to it, I believe this will be a developmental year for Porzingis. The Knicks fancy themselves as a playoff contender – everyone in the East should – and while the rookie will contribute, I am not sure I see him getting a full workload this year.

I am still all over Porzingis in deep leagues, but standard leaguers can probably find better options early in the season.

Deep League Sleeper: Kyle O’Quinn

One of my favorite signings of the offseason: Kyle O’Quinn to the New York Knicks.

As a starter at center for Orlando at times last year, O’Quinn averaged 12 points, 5.7 rebounds, a block, and nearly a steal per game. While he will still be a backup – this time to Robin Lopez – the opportunity to seize minutes in a new situation makes him worth looking at.

O’Quinn was markedly better as a center than he was as a power forward, per ESPN, which does put a damper on his prospects with Lopez around. However, one interesting aspect to O’Quinn’s game is his ability as a passer, which could help him carve out a role if the Knicks do run the triangle.

In his career, O’Quinn sports an 11.6-percent assist rate (percent of field goals assisted on while on the floor); Lopez has a career assist rate of 3.8-percent. Passing bigs thrive in the triangle, and while nobody will be mistaking O’Quinn for Pau Gasol anytime soon, he will see more run if he proves to be an offensive catalyst.

In deep leagues, I am targeting O’Quinn in the last few rounds of drafts. He carries solid value on his own, and should become a must-own player if Robin Lopez misses any time.

Next: NBA: Complete Offseason Grades For All 30 Teams

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