NBA Power Rankings: Preview the Los Angeles Lakers and the rest
By Corey Rausch
. . New York Knicks. 27. team. 27.
Dearly Departed: Damyean Dotson, Wayne Ellington, Taj Gibson, Moe Harkless, Bobby Portis
New Additions: Obi Toppin, Immanuel Quickley, Omari Spellman, Nerlens Noel, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Austin Rivers
Win Projection/Prediction: 21.5/Over
There will always be room for New York Knicks jokes as long as James Dolan is the owner. Before getting into those, it’s fair to say this was a mostly acceptable offseason. While his ceiling may be lower than many other players drafted after him, Obi Toppin was the best player in college basketball last season and should look good from day one. New York did not make any catastrophic free agency decisions either.
The lack of quality starting point guard is glaring. Ditto for coach Tom Thibodeau and his win-now mentality. This team is far from ready to win but there are some interesting pieces. The previously mentioned Toppin will be a highlight reel in transition and could potentially lead this rookie class in scoring. Mitchell Robinson will likely be his new coach’s favorite player if he can ever stop fouling.
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The development of RJ Barrett is easily the most important thing for the franchise this coming season. After a rough three month stretch in the middle of his rookie season, he had his best month going just before the shutdown. Barrett averaged 18.7 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.7 steals per game in March on shooting splits of .448/.333/.758. He only played 30.7 minutes per game which will likely look low in comparison to the way his new coach likes to play his best players.
The most back-handed way to compliment this team is that this year they are likely to only be normal bad as opposed to the butt of the league’s jokes. It is a small improvement, but for a team looking for the quick fix for decades, baby steps are a nice change.