The (New) New York Knicks

By Keith Allison - Flickr: Carmelo Anthony, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=29829656

Phil Jackson transformed a team. Now, the hype around the Knicks is big. Even though Derrick Rose isn't the best player currently, he sure has a really big name when it comes to basketball, so are the Knicks all hype, or are they for real.

First, let's take a look at the players they added and the players they lost.
They added: G-Justin Holiday
                    G-Derrick Rose
                    C-Guillermo Hernangomez
                    F-Mindaugas Kuzminskas
                    G-Courtney Lee
                    G-Brandon Jennings
                    C-Joakim Noah
                    G-Sasha Vujacic
                    F-Lance Thomas
With these guys added, you also throw in Carmelo Anthony, Kristaps Porzingis, and Kyle O'Quinn

They Lost:   G-Jose Calderon
                   C-Robin Lopez
                   G-Jerian Grant
                   F-Derrick Williams
                   G-Arron Afflalo
                   G-Tony Wroten
                   And also possibly Lou Amundson, Langston Galloway, Kevin Seraphin, and Cleathony Early

With this being said, you can obviously see this is a different team. As of right now, they have only kept 4 of last years' players.

To start off, I'd like to propose the question of this team's health. How will they be health wise. Because out of the past 5 seasons...
Carmelo Anthony has missed a total of 99 games
Brandon Jennings has missed a total of 95 games
JoaKim Noah has missed a total of 104 games
Derrick Rose has missed a total of 163 games

All 4 of these players have proven to be injury prone in the last 5 seasons. But these injuries haven't just lead to missed games, they've also lead to a decrease in performance.
Carmelo Anthony went from averaging 28.7 PPG to averaging 21.8 last season
Brandon Jennings went from averaging 19.1 PPG to averaging 6.9 last season
JoaKim Noah went from averaging 12.6 PPG to averaging 4.3 last season
Derrick Rose went from averaging 25 PPG to averaging 16.4 last season

I'm not convinced that this team can win. Not with these 4 guys constantly having injury problems in the last 5 years. Can this team win with a guy like Kyle O'Quinn starting or Sasha Vukacic? This team could very well turn into the Memphis Grizzlies of last season or the 2012-13 Lakers. They don't have enough depth to insure them if injuries were to strike.

As you can see, this team is very, very questionable. Number one, we don't know how productive these 4 guys will be. Number 2, we don't know how healthy they'll be. And with more teams becoming more competitive, it's going to be hard if a couple player become injured.

The (New) New York Knicks

"Kristaps Porzingis" by Ed - AIMG_1464. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

The New York Knicks have an improved roster. No doubt. I mean, if your roster has Louis Amundson as your starting PF, that isn't too good. You won't win many games. But now it's looking a lot better. There is still a lot of work to be done but just take a look at it.

PG- Jose Calderon (starter), Jerian Grant (bench), Sasha Vujacic (res.)
SG- Arron Afflalo (starter), Langston Galloway (bench), Cleanthony Early (res.)
SF- Carmelo Anthony (starter), Lance Thomas (bench), Thanasis Antetokounmpo (res.)
PF- Derrick Williams (starter), Kevin Seraphin (bench), Louis Amundson (res.)
C- Robin Lopez (starter), Kristaps Porzingis (6th man), Kyle O'Quinn (res.)

Not a bad roster, is it? They have a strong bench and some great role players. And with Carmelo comming back they could easily make a spot in the Eastern Conference Playoffs.

However, I think that the Knicks will be a new beginning for some players. Derrick William will hopefully live more up to the potential that they said he had as he was drafted number 2 overall by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the 2011 draft. After not really improving much, he was sent to the Sacramento Kings where he had also not improved and now the Knicks have signed him this off-season.

Arron Afflalo is a guy who knows Carmelo Anthony from when he played for the Denver Nuggets. They will be great to watch playing together. And backing him up will be Langston Galloway. His rookie season was great until it was shortened by injury. With him coming off the bench, the Knicks bench will have no trouble in the scoring department.

Kristaps Porzingis and Jerian Grant will look to be developing and learning along the way. They might not be starters or star players but they will have important roles for the Knicks to have success this upcoming season.

Carmelo Anthony will look to be making the playoffs after coming off an injury. He will be taking on the main scoring load but he will finally have some other players to give the ball when he needs some help with scoring. And if everyone is healthy I would expect the Knicks to at least come close to making the playoffs this season. With Jose Calderon working with Robin Lopez on the pick and roll, with Afflalo coming off screens, and with Derrick Williams going up for some high-flying dunks, this should be a fun year for the Knicks. And they should do well as long as they don't have Louis Amundson starting.

Thanks for the season

The teams that are done and will not enter the playoffs are the Hornets, Pistons, Magic, 76ers, Knicks, Suns, Jazz, Nuggets, Kings, Lakers, Wolves

More will be decided tonight. I want to give a shout out to the best plays from these teams.

Hornets: Kemba's multiple buzzer beaters this season.

Kemba was probably the most clutch guy this season. He hit multiple shots to win and tie the game. Gotta love Kemba. Good bye Hornets. We will miss those close games.

Pistons: Reggie Jackson Trade. Ever since Reggie Jackson came to this team, it has been great. I will admit. I miss Singler, but you have to love what Jackson has done. Ever since he came to the Pistons, he has averaged 17.4 PPG, 35% from 3pt, and 9.1 APG. Just throwing this out, those are numbers that John Wall is pretty much averaging. Bye Pistons, we will miss Jackson's new numbers.

Orlando Magic: Elfrid Payton's hair. Wait! That was an April Fools Day joke! He sure fooled NBA article writer Lang Whitaker. Good Bye Orlando Magic. We will miss all the jokes and laughs you have given us.

Philadelphia 76ers: We will miss the stats you have given me. You ranked 1st in steals and second in blocks. You also ranked 1st in turnovers though. Still, thanks for the stats. But really, don't trade off anymore of your players for future draft picks. It gets a little old. We will miss you 76ers. We will miss your crazy defensive stats you gave us.

New York Knicks: Knicks winning against the Hawks. That was pretty good. You have put up some fights. Not to mention your fans are probably booing you for lessening your chances at the #1 draft pick. Still, you had some great games. Most bad, but there were some good ones. And thanks for finally taking Lou Amundson out of the starting line-up. We will miss you New York Knicks. For your wild win over the Hawks.

Phoenix Suns: That Trade deadline wouldn't have been crazy without you. You traded off Miles Plumlee, Isaiah Thomas, and Goran Dragic and changed your team completely. Wow, this was one of the most interesting trade deadlines of all time, and we owe most of it to the Suns. Them and Sam Hinkie, who makes no sense at all. Why is he a GM?! We will miss you Suns. Thanks for the trades we will miss so much.

Utah Jazz: Thank you Jazz for upsetting a lot of teams and going to make a playoff run, even though you were already eliminated. You put all your effort but just could 't make it. I would also like to make a shout out to Gordon Hayward for leading his team and making the Cavs go home with a frown on their faces
We will miss the Jazz and that face LeBron had after Hayward made that shot.

Nuggets: I don't know that I will miss much from this team. Sure, Gallinari had 47 points, but that's the best that has happened. We will miss you Nuggets, I guess.

Kings: All three coaches. Let's face it, they will have a new coach next year. It's just what the Kings do. They love finding new coaches. C'mon they had three this year. I know that their arena isn't that good (more like horrible). But you can't tell me that it hasn't been fun seeing a variety of post-game conferences from a variety of coaches. We will miss you Kings. And all three of your coaches too.

Lakers: Steve Nash. He is gone. Never played a game for the Lakers this regular season. And now he is gone from our lives. Never got a ring. Just two MVP trophies. We will miss you Steve Nash. And so will the Starters. Good bye Lakers, and good bye Steve Nash.

Minnesota Timberwolves: The worst team had given us some great plays. And by great plays I mean Dunks. From Zach LaVine to Andrew Wiggins to Anthony Bennett, we have seen some great dunks.

Thanks Zach for the Dunk Comp.

Thanks you Wolves for the worst season and turning it into a dunk festival. We will miss you Wolves and we will miss the highlight dunks from you.

As the Regular season closes. These teams are done til next season. So I ask that everyone dedicates this moment to these teams and all they have brought. Whether it's Mo Williams 52 points or Payton's Triple-Double. They made the NBA season just that more special. Besides, without them, we would have no regular season. It would just be the playoffs and the playoff teams. We will miss all these teams, and we will miss the Regular season.