National Basketball Association

New York Knicks: NBA Scouts Preview Upcoming Season

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

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In an article by Sports Illustrated, anonymous NBA scouts gave their previews for the 2016-17 season. What did they have to say about the New York Knicks?

There have been many takes and previews on the New York Knicks for the 2016-17 season. Some have been positive and some have been negative.

The ESPN Summer Forecast has New York finishing with 40 wins. Based off ESPN’s real plus-minus (RPM), the Knicks are expected to finish with 35 wins, according to Kevin Pelton of ESPN Insider.

Former Knicks head coach Jeff Van Gundy thinks New York could finish around 45-to-50 wins, as he stated that on The Stashed’s “33rd & 7th” podcast with Anthony Donahue (h/t Ian Begley of ESPN).

In a recent article published by Sports Illustrated, anonymous NBA scouts listed their previews heading into the 2016-17 season.

Here’s what they had to say about the New York Knicks.

“If they stay healthy, they could win 48 or 50 games. That’s a big if. Carmelo Anthony has had knee issues. Joakim Noah has had injuries in the last couple of years. And with Derrick Rose, there’s always the possibility he’ll go down too. . . . Everyone talks about Noah and Rose, but Courtney Lee was a big pickup. He’s a lockdown defender and a better three-point shooter than people think. . . .

Rose is still as quick as John Wall, he can make everyone around him better and he’s not a bad perimeter shooter, but he needs to change the way he plays. He tries to challenge bigs, and as a result he gets knocked down and hurt. He needs to play a little smarter . . .

Melo can flat-out score. He’ll take bad shots sometimes, but he can defend when he wants to, and he can rebound. He’s got help now. His priority should be winning—not scoring titles. . . .

You might be able to squeeze out a decent eight-man rotation, but if guys get injured and others have to step up, then they really start to drop off.”

The main issue that has been associated with the New York Knicks is health. That starts with the key cog, Carmelo Anthony, who has missed 52 games over the past two seasons.

Most notably, Anthony missed the second half of the 2014-15 season following left knee surgery. He rebounded the following season by playing 72 games.

While Anthony’s numbers have slowly declined the past couple of seasons, he’s starting to get his teammates move involved. He scored more than two points (2.4) less per game while finishing with his highest assist per game average (4.2) last season.

The Rose-Anthony-Porzingis trio worked well in the only game they played together during the 2016 preseason. Rose looked like an explosive player in his lone preseason appearance. He was cutting to the basket and kicking it out on some occasions.

All three players finished in double digits in the first game.

As stated above, Courtney Lee was a big pickup. All of the attention was directed to the other acquisitions, like Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah. Lee doesn’t do the eye-popping things, but he does the little things that matter the most.

He’s a solid perimeter defender. Opposing players shot 41.8 percent from the field with Lee as the primary defender in 2015-16.

From 15 feet or greater, opponents are connecting on just 34 percent of their shots when Lee is the primary defender.

The most underrated part of his game is his 3-point shooting. While he isn’t relied upon for offense, Lee can knock down a 3, if need be. Jeff Hornacek has even given him the green light when it comes to shots from three-point range.

Per the anonymous scouts on SI:

Kristaps Porzingis will eventually be one of the best players in the league. He can stretch the defense on pick-and-pops, which is hard to guard when you have a guy that’s 7’ 3″ and can shoot like he can shoot. . . .

Entering his second year in the Association, the anonymous scouts are saying Kristaps Porzingis will eventually become one of the best players in the league. He’s a 7’3″ forward who can work in transition like a guard. Porzingis and Brandon Jennings have worked well in that area, which has led to easy attempts for the forward.

Having Jennings and Porzingis work well in transition like that will be beneficial to this team.

“The pace we’re at right now, I love it,” Jennings said after the Knicks second preseason game against the Brooklyn Nets (h/t Ian Begley of ESPN).

Last season, New York finished last in the league when it came to transition points per game (8.4).

Porzingis will be difficult to guard on pick-and-pops, as he possess a 7’4″ wingspan. It will be difficult for the opposition to get a hand on his shot.

While he isn’t an elite 3-point shooter, he can knock down those shots. He’s felt more comfortable with those shots, which was on display in the preseason opener against the Houston Rockets. The Latvia native drained five 3s in the game and was dynamic in the third quarter.

Along with that, the Knicks forward has carried over similar production and effort on defense. One of his priorities during the offseason was adding strength to his core and lower body, so he could be more effective in the post and could absorb contact.

In the preseason, Porzingis averaged 1.8 blocks per game.

[New coach] Jeff Hornacek was a good choice. New York isn’t an easy place to go. You’re strapped with what Phil Jackson wants to do. But Hornacek is his own person. He’ll play some triangle, but he’ll also do other things—spreading the floor, pick-and-roll, trying to create more possessions. It’s hard to win when you have only 80 or 90 possessions. The triangle is just too methodical . . .

It may be a little difficult working under Phil Jackson when he’s looking to run the triangle. It seems like Jackson is giving Jeff Hornacek a little more freedom to run his offense.

“Phil’s been great. He’s not trying to take over and make us do anything. He’s given us the leeway,” Hornacek said (h/t Ian Begley of ESPN). “There are some things that we do that aren’t the triangle stuff [such as] our early [offense]. Quite honestly, we thought he would say, ‘Let’s not do that.’ Or, ‘Let’s not do that option.’ But he hasn’t said that at all.”

For as much criticism as the Knicks have been getting for running the triangle, the team will still run it next season. Maybe not as much as before. Jeff Hornacek has stated that the guys, “Don’t like to run [the triangle].”

Former Knicks guard Chauncey Billups added his thoughts about the Knicks by stating New York has a very bad system

By hiring Hornacek, it was expected that the Knicks would attempt to run a fast-paced offense. On some occasions during the preseason, Brandon Jennings has pushed the pace to help get easy buckets, which is something the Knicks are hoping he brings to the table this season.

On one occasion, Jennings dished a shovel pass to Courtney Lee, who drained a shot from downtown.

Not only did the Nets not have enough time to set their defense, but Jennings put Lee in a great situation, as Lee strives with the catch-and-shoot attempts.

Last season, he shot 40.3 percent off the catch-and-shoot.