A strong finish couldn’t save the Knicks’ season. And now, they may be losing their most talented player should Carmelo Anthony elect to opt out of his contract.
1.) Final Record (37-45)
Grade: C-
The Knicks truly tried to make it interesting down the stretch, winning 16 of their last 21 games, but their pathetic 21-40 start was too much to overcome. One of the streakiest teams in the league, the Knicks had seven different streaks of four or more consecutive losses or wins, including both a nine-game losing streak and an eight-game winning streak. The eventual ninth-place finishers in the Eastern Conference, the Knicks were the butt of jokes for the majority of the year and next year doesn’t look much brighter. The team has no cap flexibility unless Carmelo Anthony or Amar’e Stoudemire opt out (the latter would be giving up a $23 million player option, so that’s not happening), so they will very likely be going forward with the exact same team as last year. They still owe players like Andrea Bargnani more than $10 million, and all of their assets would net less than they’re worth in a trade scenario with the exception of, maybe, Carmelo Anthony. Iman Shumpert, Tyson Chandler, Stoudemire and others missed time with injuries, once again failing to prove that the Knicks’ oft-injured players can survive a full NBA season.
2.) Reality vs. Expectations
Grade: B
Preseason rankings all pretty much agreed where the Knicks would be prior to the season – just outside the playoffs or a high seed – and they ended up there eventually. The beginning of the season was a surprise as they were actually worse than expected, but they then outplayed their expectations down the stretch. In other words, this team alternated failing to meet expectations and exceeding them in a way that they ended up right about where we expected them to finish.
3.) Players
Grade: B-
Carmelo Anthony – B+
Melo averaged 27.4 points per game, 8.1 rebounds per game and 3.1 assists per game, as he cruised to yet another great scoring season that may have been better than most think. Melo averaged his highest field-goal percentage since coming to New York with a 44.9 percent rate and even notched a new career best from downtown (40%). Despite shooting such a high percentage, he also took 24.4 percent of all shots taken by the Knicks, up from a 22.0 percent rate last year. The former third overall pick had the best rebounding performance of his career while primarily playing PF, a trend that has been ongoing as he’s gotten older. This year’s Knicks squad probably had the worst supporting cast since Carmelo arrived and he still managed his best shooting percentages since arriving while still scoring 27.4 points per game. Melo has the option to terminate his contract following this year, and despite all of Phil Jackson’s public posturing, it appears Anthony has better options elsewhere.
J.R. Smith – B
Smith once again provided boosts to the team as a scorer, averaging 14.5 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists per game on 41.5 percent shooting. This season can be seen as somewhat of a letdown in terms of pure scoring numbers, as he averaged his lowest scoring numbers since the 2011-12 season, in which he only played the last 35 games after a stint in China to begin the year. Despite this, he had his lowest usage rate (an estimated percentage of plays he “uses” while on the court) while still recording his highest true shooting percentage (a percentage that takes into account 3’s increased value over 2’s, as well as free throws).
Tim Hardaway Jr. – B
The rookie out of Michigan was both the youngest player on the roster (21), as well as the most prolific, playing in 81 games this season. The youngster played 23.1 minutes per game while scoring 10.2 points per game on 43 percent shooting. If he can work on his 3-point game (an uninspiring 36 percent this year), he could be a great piece for this team going forward.
Iman Shumpert – C+
Shumpert had yet another season that began with optimism but ended up being more of a what-could-have-been than anything else. His scoring numbers and some shooting percentages dropped for the second straight year.
4) Coaching Staff
Grade: C+
Mike Woodson did what he could for this team, and even made them a top-eight defense, but could not get enough out of this team to save his job. Phil Jackson will no doubt bring in a former assistant or player of his as the next coach. It’s looking ever more likely that former player will be Derek Fisher, as Jackson has already been in illegal contact with the current Thunder point guard.
5) Front Office
Grade: A
The addition of Phil Jackson to the front office was undoubtedly a good decision, but so far it hasn’t gone all that well for him. Steve Kerr spurned his old coach to go to Golden State, but adding Phil will pay off going forward. He will surely bring the “Triangle Offense” with him, a system which has the potential benefit some of the structure-needy players the Knicks have added.
6) Overall
Grade: B
The Knicks have very little assets, very little cap flexibility in the next couple years, and a star who may leave town rather than wait for things to improve. They made the right decision with the Phil Jackson hire, and it will help them, but the next year or so, like this year, will be hard. Turning over a roster without losing is next to impossible and the Knicks will have to do so in order to get rid of overpaid players and those who aren’t going to fit going forward (Phil’s looking at you, Raymond Felton).
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