New York Knicks

2021 record: 57-25

Season Highlight: Going from 23 wins in the 2019-2020 season to 57 wins in the 2020-2021 season! The Knicks rebounded from the 14^th seed in the East to the 3^rd in one year! That�s tough to do in a league filled with very talented teams and GMs.

Season Lowlight: Losing in the first round of the playoffs to the 6^th rated Bulls. This team I�m sure had some higher aspirations for their season after the success they found in the regular season. Unfortunately for New York, the Bulls were seeded lower due to their stars� lack of availability. As fate would have it, the Bull got healthy at the right time and their punishing starting lineup was at full strength. With Anthony Davis at the shooting guard, the Knicks had no answer and they fell 4-1 and sent home.

Best Trade:

The Atlanta Hawks send Dario Saric to the New York Knicks. The New York Knicks send Rudy Gay to the Atlanta Hawks. The New York Knicks send Nikola Vucevic and Mason Plumlee to the Sacramento Kings. The Sacramento Kings send DeAndre Jordan and Khris Middleton to the New York Knicks.
The Atlanta Hawks send a 1st-Rounder (Por) to the New York Knicks. The New York Knicks send a 1st-Rounder (NY) and 2nd-Rounder (Bkn) to the Atlanta Hawks.

The New York Knicks trade -25 GM points.The Sacramento Kings receive 25 GM points.

This was a great move by the Knicks. They added the best player in the trade in Middleton for basically Vucevic and a late 1^st. Brilliant.

Worst Trade:

The Cleveland Cavaliers send Spencer Dinwiddie to the New York Knicks. The New York Knicks send Lonnie Walker to the Phoenix Suns. The Phoenix Suns send Eric Paschall to the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The New York Knicks send a 1st-Rounder (Por) and 2nd-Rounder (Mia) to the Cleveland Cavaliers. The New York Knicks send a 2nd-Rounder (Tor), 2nd-Rounder (Bkn) and 2nd-Rounder (Pho) to the Phoenix Suns. The Phoenix Suns send a 1st-Rounder (GS) to the New York Knicks.

The Cleveland Cavaliers trade -5 GM points.The New York Knicks receive 5 GM points.

It�s not that this is necessarily a bad trade but unfortunately, it�s the timing of the trade. This transaction happened Nov 22 and Dinwiddie tore his ACL on December 27^th, rendering him out for the season. Smokey, not one to sit and lament, rectified this situation by dealing out Dinwiddie a few months later for Jonas Valanciunas. So, the �worst� trade wasn�t too terrible after all.

Other Notable trades:

The Golden State Warriors send Monte Morris to the New York Knicks. The New York Knicks send Chris Clemons to the Golden State Warriors.
The Golden State Warriors send a 1st-Rounder (Phi) to the New York Knicks. The New York Knicks send a 1st-Rounder (GS) to the Golden State Warriors.

This one might sting. The Knicks gave up a lotto pick for Monte Morris who didn�t produce a whole lot for them last year.

 

 

The LA Lakers send Jonas Valanciunas to the New York Knicks. The New York Knicks send Spencer Dinwiddie to the LA Lakers.
The LA Lakers send a 2nd-Rounder (LAL) to the New York Knicks. The New York Knicks send a 1st-Rounder (LAL) to the LA Lakers.

 

Here�s the makeup trade with Dinwiddie from before. New York did have to give up a 1^st but they moved off of Dinwiddie and pulled in Valanciunas who was recently extended. Nicely done.

Free Agency:

Deandre Jordan � In the NBA, Jordan was bought out and signed a cheaper deal with the Lakers. Knicks might try to retain him but I think there will be quite a few hefty bids for his services.

Alize Johnson (Restricted) � A favorite of the GM, Johnson will outwork anybody for a rebound. Traits like that will keep him in this league.

Star:

I know I�m supposed to only pick one but really, this honor belongs to both DeAaron Fox and Brandon Ingram. They both played 70+ games with career years. BI with 24 points per game and Fox with 28 points per game were major reasons why this team got as far as they did and had the bump in wins that they experienced. This duo is locked up for the long term so Knicks fan have a lot to be excited about.

Bum:

DeAnthony Melton � Maybe I�m being too hard on the guy but when the team gives up a guy like Jarrett Allen the year before, big things are expected of you. He did raise his points per game from the season before but perhaps I�m just left wanting more.

Looking Ahead:

This team will look to remain in the playoff hunt but they might take a step back as smokey has moved on from Khris Middleton. Middleton was traded away in the offseason to Minnesota. That�s a very talented player that got moved so the team will take a bit of a hit from that. As stated earlier, they still have Fox and Ingram and they�ll be looking for big things from their new acquisition, Quickley. I see them challenging for a 4-6^th seed playoff spot this coming season.

Lineup:

DeAaron Fox

Immanuel Quickley

Brandon Ingram

Larry Nance Jr

Jonas Valanciunas