Coming off a 17-win season, the New York Knicks are off to a 3-4 start so far in 2015-16. They’ve already suffered three double-digit defeats, then lost three games in a row before a narrow victory over the Los Angeles Lakers and their head coach has proven to be little other than incompetent during his tenure in the Big Apple. And yet, even with all this Knicksian activity going on, there are plenty of reasons to be optimistic about this team.
That’s not to say New York is on the cusp of becoming an Eastern power. That’s not to say the return of Arron Afflalo will drastically change things, or even that they’re a playoff team. But after finishing with the second-worst record in the league last year, there was really nowhere to go but up.
That being said, this really isn’t just about how bad the Knicks were last year; it’s about all the encouraging evidence they’ve put forth so far this season. Don’t let their record fool you, because there are plenty of reasons to stop avoiding the Knicks like the League Pass plague they were last year.
This franchise still has a long way to go to restore its former glory, but here’s a look at five reasons long-suffering Knicks fans have for being optimistic in 2015-16.
Next: No. 5