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Are the Knicks built to win an NBA title?

Roar Guru
4th November, 2013
13

With the Eastern Conference getting a lot tougher over the NBA summer, how does this affect the New York Knicks’ title chances?

The Knicks didn’t exactly sit on their hands over the summer either, trading for Andrea Bargnani, acquiring Metta World Peace via amnesty, adding Beno Udrih and Cole Aldrich and drafting Tim Hardaway Jr.

Does this make them a contender in the East?

The short answer is yes, but can they translate that into a genuine title run?

Things look good on their roster at first glance but dig a little deeper and it gets worrying if you are a Knicks fan.

Carmelo Anthony is your team’s superstar, which is great except he is a volume shooter who relies heavily on outside shots and lacks focus on the defensive end.

From there the drop off to their next best players is substantial as they don’t have a reliable number two option who can be consistent enough game in, game out.

Tyson Chandler is great on defence but struggles to get points on the board unless it’s a put back or alley-oop.

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Raymond Felton has the potential to score 20+ but can just as easily go missing during a game.

Bargnani is a big gamble considering they traded away their best three point shooter and critical floor spacer in Steve Novak, a 2016 first round pick and two later second round picks.

I’m still not convinced a new home is what he needs to get his career back on track.

Throw in the athletic but raw Iman Shumpert and the shooting exploits of J.R. Smith and this team will either frustrate or delight you.

That kind of flashy game is exactly what fills Madison Square Garden with fans every night the Knicks take the court and, in the end, that is the problem with this team.

The fans demanded a big name star to partner their new signing Amar’e Stoudemire (an entirely different mistake) but the player they got was Carmelo Anthony, a player who has a reputation of failing in the first round of the playoffs.

When Amar’e inevitably broke down with injury (as everyone predicted), they had very little cap space to go out and attract key pieces required to win a championship.

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Instead they have sacrificed their future by giving away draft picks – check out the debits section for their future draft picks – for players who can draw crowds based on their reputations (Carmelo Anthony/Metta World Peace) or simply aren’t enough to make them a legitimate contender (Andrea Bargnani).

While they may look good on paper and will put up a few good wins for the fans at the Garden, I fear this team will be nothing more than a fifth seed in the East.

Their current roster has been built to entertain the masses but when it comes down to the nitty gritty of the playoffs they will fall short yet again.

If that happens, expect Carmelo Anthony to be seriously considering his future in New York.

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