New York Knicks

New York Knicks: Just How Good Can The Knicks Become?

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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Coming off a 118-112 victory in the Staples Center against the Los Angeles Lakers, how good can the New York Knicks become?

For the majority of the NBA season, answering that question has been difficult. The New York Knicks have only played 24 games together. However, with every game that passes, we get a clearer glimpse of what this Knicks team can become.

The Knicks are currently 14-10, which is good enough for the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference. The Charlotte Hornets are the No. 3 seed with the same 14-10 record, but have a better conference record.

The Knicks have a lot on their plate this week. They’ll continue their west-coast trip at the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday night and will have their biggest test yet on Thursday night at Oracle Arena against the Golden State Warriors.

New York will conclude its road trip at the Denver Nuggets on Saturday before returning to Madison Square Garden for a trio of home games against the Indiana Pacers, Orlando Magic, and Boston Celtics.

Obviously, until the Knicks show that they can compete against the NBA’s elite (Cleveland, Golden State, San Antonio, and Toronto), they won’t be given much credit. However, that doesn’t mean that the other 26 teams the Knicks play against are irrelevant. Against those other 26 teams so far this season, the Knicks are 14-8.

Granted, the Cavaliers came into Madison Square Garden last week and pummeled the Knicks, resorting to partaking in the water bottle challenge while the game was still in play.

Truth be told, when the Cavaliers are healthy and hitting on all cylinders, there’s only one team that can beat them in a seven-game series: Golden State. Sprinkle in Derrick Rose not being present in last week’s matchup due to back spasms, and I don’t feel all that bad about the loss.

Barring a catastrophic injury to one of these teams, we can pretty much write in the Cavaliers and Warriors as the NBA finalists for a third year in a row. Outside of these two mega teams, I believe the Knicks stack up very well against the rest of the league.

Why?

Derrick Rose is getting more comfortable running the Knicks’ offense, and even he would say that there’s still a lot of room for improvement. This is a point guard driven league and it seems that the Knicks have finally found their guy.

If Rose can stay healthy, raise his assists to about 7.0 or 8.0 game, and find consistency with his midrange jumpers, the Knicks can be lethal on the offensive end.

It was apparent, both against the Cavs and the Sacramento Kings, that the Knicks desperately needed Derrick Rose. Without him, the Knicks’ backup point guard becomes Sasha Vujacic, which is bad news.

With him, the Knicks’ backup point guard is Brandon Jennings—a candidate for Sixth Man of the Year.

It's true! Kristaps is the first since 1983 https://t.co/d7cxlrRNjZ https://t.co/FN7XS0flKB

— Basketball Reference (@bball_ref) December 12, 2016

As those numbers display, Kristaps Porzingis is the key to this Knicks team. On any given night, against any opponent, Porzingis will likely cause a matchup nightmare. A 7’3″ stretch 4 who can hit 3s and create offense off the dribble is something we have never seen in this league.

Being that he is just 21 years young, Porzingis is merely scratching the surface of what we can ultimately become. Unfortunately, Carmelo’s Anthony’s window of opportunity of winning a championship as a No. 1 option is beginning to close, so Porzingis has to develop as fast as humanly possible.

The New York Knicks will go as far as Kristaps Porzingis takes them.

Melo and Joakim Noah have to lead this team with experience, but Rose and Porzingis have to lead this team with production. Rose is 28 years old (the same age as Stephen Curry, by the way) and Porzingis is 21.

Any deep playoff run will go through them.

The Verdict

With the talent the Knicks currently have on the roster, in conjunction with their depth, I see no reason why they shouldn’t finish as the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference. LeBron James has a stranglehold on the Eastern Conference, much like Michael Jordan did in the 1990s.

The Toronto Raptors have an incredible back court of Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan, and will likely hold onto the second seed. Then, you have the Knicks, Bulls, Celtics, and Hornets fighting for seeds No. 3 to No. 6.

The Knicks should finish 51-31, good enough for 3rd seed in the Eastern Conference.