The Knicks are Back?

Breaking the mold...

Davis Goldstein

November 2012

The New York Knicks boast the oldest roster in the NBA this season and the oldest roster in NBA history. General manager Glen Grunwald came under heavy fire this offseason when he put together this roster and added so many seasoned veterans. However, could these additions prove to be the missing pieces in New York? Through the first three games of the season it certainly is looking like it is making a huge difference but we won’t know the real results of this strategy until a lot further into the season.

What is most interesting about this “old movement” that the Knicks are using this year is that it goes completely against most other NBA teams strategies. The Oklahoma City Thunder are certainly the model of how to rebuild a franchise, and how did they do it? They did it through a series of great draft picks, and development of talented young players. They didn’t bring in marquee veteran players, they simply paid their dues and waited to contend, and now they are arguably the best team in the NBA (prior to the Harden trade). This strategy is widely used these days with pretty much every NBA team not in contention, and many that are in contention also. The Knicks young players are, count them, Iman Shumpert. One player under the age of 27 on an entire NBA roster. When it’s put that way, it seems that the Knicks are all in on this season and if it does not work out, then the Knicks have another long rebuilding process ahead.

Do I think that the Knicks will win the championship this year? No, it seems very unlikely that the Knicks can beat the young and tested Miami Heat (average age of 29 vs. the Knicks at 32) in a 7 game series to take the East. However, thus far, and it is very very early into the new season, the Knicks look like a completely new team. Carmelo Anthony is playing defense and offense with the same level of intensity, and guess who this has rubbed off on by some miracle? JR Smith! JR Smith and defensive prowess in the same sentence, maybe the Mayans are right about the end of the world. However, it remains to be seen how Amar’e Stoudemire will gel with this rotation the Knicks are currently using and if this sudden infatuation with defense can continue, but if all goes well and everything that is expected from the Knicks actually comes to fruition, then expect the Knicks to be serious threats to the Heat in the East this year.

But for the purpose of this article let’s just say that the Knicks do not reach their goals this season, then what happens? Well the Knicks have 6 contracts coming off the books after this season, which leads one to believe that they could make a serious push for Chris Paul or, dare I say it, Dwight Howard. There is hope in 2012 for the Knicks but don’t be hesitant to look forward either.

-D