New York Knicks: 5 reasons to be excited for 2019-20 NBA season

Veteran Leadership.

Watch any game from last year and it quickly becomes apparent — this team needed more veteran leadership. Too many times the players got inside their own heads, allowing themselves to surrender when the going got tough.

With the additions of Taj Gibson and Marcus Morris, the Knicks have added two old-school type guys, enforcers who will not allow their teammates to just rollover.

Morris is a capable offensive threat also, having finished last season with 13.9 points, 6.1 rebounds and 1.5 assists on 44.7 percent from the field, 37.5 percent from deep and 84.4 percent from the line.

He was one of the most reliable players on the Celtics roster last year and will be a welcome addition to a Knicks team sorely lacking in leadership.

Gibson is not as effective as he once was but still played in 70 games for the Timberwolves last season, starting 57 of them.

He posted 10.8 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 1.2 assists during that time, finishing in the 82nd percentile among forwards for his mid-range shooting with a success rate of 45 percent.

A consummate professional, Gibson will be a welcome addition to a young locker room playing in the pressure cooker that is New York.

He will provide solid bench minutes during the season, but his biggest impact will be his mentorship, his ability to keep the rookies and sophomores eye on the next game.

Then we have Reggie Bullock, the 28-year-old sharpshooting wing. His arrival instantly improves the team’s offense, a career 39.2 percent three-point shooter he will provide spacing a potency this year.

Ignoring his short spell on the Lakers last year, Bullock ranked in the 83rd percentile in corner 3s and the 81st percentile in 3-point makes.

Bullock is also a steady hand on defense, only committing fouls on 2.4 percent of plays he is involved in, and grabbing 3.9 percent of the available defensive rebounds off of free throws.

Having made his name in Detroit. Bullock will is well placed to contribute to this young roster which holds such low expectations this year, while also being a likely catalyst to propel them into a possible run at a low playoff seed.

Wayne Ellington and Elfrid Payton are two other notable additions to this roster along with Julius Randle, all of whom can provide in their own way. Payton assisted in 31.9 percent of his teammate’s shots last year, which was good for the 80th percentile league-wide.

He does still need to work on cutting down his turnovers though, losing possession on 16.6 percent of his ball-handling opportunities.

Payton will bring the best out of multiple guys on this roster, most prominently shooters such as Barrett, Bullock, and Ellington. Ellington will have his chance to impress but may find his minutes hard to come by though, as the team is now filled with multiple shooters who can fill his position.

Shooting 37.3 percent from deep last year, Ellington will be a valuable rotation player when he does see the floor, operating at the shooting guard position or filling the wing in a 3-and-D role.

Randle is the biggest addition to this roster outside of the rookie Barrett, coming off a solid season with the Pelicans. Ending the year in the 95th percentile for usage rate with 27.1 percent of their players ending with Randle.

Randle also displayed a nice passing touch, assisting on 15.5 percent of his teammate’s shots when on the floor — good for the 85th percentile amongst bigs.

Having seen a huge jump in his three-point-scoring, up 12.2 percent to a respectable 34.4 percent from deep. Randle can now be a force both inside and out, pulling down 8.9 rebounds for his career so far, also hitting 52.4 percent of his field-goal attempts also.

Having all these new faces who have been around the league for a while, will help increase their robustness and enable them to be a tougher opponent on a nightly basis. All welcome additions to this teams rebuild regardless of how long they are in New York.