Not Another Power Ranking: #28 New York Knicks

Folks, we did it, we’ve gotten to trilogy status. I welcome you all to the third installment of the 30 part series, where we breakdown the teams in order from worst to first.

Today, we have ourselves a doozy on our hands. A team that has been critiqued by nearly everyone, and whose struggles continued even into the offseason, despite the help of the Zen Master. This basketball team would be the New York Knicker(bockers).

Now, as always, let’s take a look at NYK’s depth chart, per RealGM.

2015-2016 Knicks Depth Chart

The Good

As much as the Knicks are ridiculed for their many issues, they do possess two things that many teams cannot say that they have. These two pivotal pieces are their eight-time All-Star and 13-time NBA champion leader, Carmelo Anthony and Phil Jackson.

Carmelo Anthony’s ability to score immensely is something that is beyond dispute. Melo has averaged 25.6 points per game during his career with NYK, where he even was able to take home the league’s scoring title in 2013.

Phil Jackson, the Zen Master, the Teacher of the Triangle offense, whatever you want to call him, knows his basketball (He’s got a sizable amount of hardware to account for it). As President of the New York Knicks, Jackson’s role has not been as impactful as it was during his coaching tenures with the Chicago Bulls and the Los Angeles Lakers.

However, President Jackson has begun to assemble some help for his scoring machine Melo. New York was able to acquire both Robin Lopez and Arron Afflalo, two players who can play an important role.  If they act in the same fashion they did with their previous teams, it will give Melo and the rest of the Knicks some much-needed assistance on both sides of the ball.

The Bad

New York’s greatest strength of Carmelo is also in a way their greatest weakness, as they have little to no offense to show aside from No. 7.

Despite appearing in only 40 games last season with the New York Knicks, Carmelo Anthony still was somehow the leading scorer for the 2014-15 Knicks through the 82 games that the team played. That is absurd. In no scenario should this even be close to being true.

The Knicks were second to last in offensive rating of the 30 NBA franchises. A team cannot rely on one player to contribute to their scoring.  One of the players on the current Knicks roster that has the best hopes of being a consistent scorer will likely be Arron Afflalo ( I will not humor a Kristaps Porzingis immediate impact scoring machine scenario).

And My Hot Take

If the boys in blue and orange want to begin to move out of the NBA basement, they must do TWO main things.

Number One: Don’t Build Around Melo, Build With Him

In my mind, the biggest mix up people have with Carmelo Anthony is that they put him in the same category and breath as players like LeBron James and Steph Curry. Melo certainly can score with these two NBA MVP’s, but doesn’t possess the same well-rounded game both King James and the Baby Faced Assassin have showcased through their respective careers.

Instead of forcing Melo into being an all-around centerpiece player that he hasn’t demonstrated he can be on a consistent basis. The Knicks need to primarily use Melo as the offensive machine he is and install fixtures with him that will create a more complete ball club.

Number Two: Kris-stop asking so much of Porzingis (I’m sorry)

Would this really be an article on the Knicks if this Lanky Latvian’s name was not the focus of at least one area?

The Knicks need to understand that Rome was not built in a day, or not even an 82 game regular season. If NY wants the best possible results from their number four pick in this year’s draft, they must allow Porzingis to come into his own and grow both physically and as a player in a way that best suits him and his play style.

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