The New York Knicks feel that they have a championship roster put together after losing in the playoffs last season to the Indiana Pacers and now that they have traded for Andrea Bargnani from the Raptors, coach Mike Woodson sees a legitimate number two scorer behind Carmelo Anthony.
The Knicks need another quality player to take care of the scoring behind Anthony and while Bargnani was a bust during his years in Toronto, he has shown that he has the talent to be an elite scorer in this league in the right situation. Bargnani was once the first overall pick in the NBA draft and while he never lived up to expectations in Toronto, he has the chance to start over now in New York. The Knicks originally sent Steve Novak, Marcus Camby, Quentin Richardson, a 2016 first-round pick and second-round picks in 2014 and 2017 for Bargnani and now he has the chance to bring his skills to the Garden.
Last season Bargnani dealt with injuries and averaged 12.7 points, 3.7 rebounds and 28.7 minutes in 35 games and ended up missing 46 contests during the year. Bargnani said that he is healthy heading into this season and while he wasn't an elite player over the past few years, the Knicks don't need him to be that and with a career average of 15.2 points per game, he should fit into the rotation for Mike Woodson nicely. Bargnani has a nice shot and flow and last season he scored at least 20-points eight times and if he can improve his long range shooting, he could be a very nice weapon for the Knicks.
The Knicks signed Metta World Peace and brought back Pablo Prigioni and JR Smith as well as Kenyon Martin and while the team is a bit on the older side, they are experienced and now have some playoffs under their belts after last season. Adding a player like Bargnani can help take the pressure off of Anthony and that could enable him to have an even better season than he did last year. Bargnani won't have to play too many minutes if he is still a little banged up and he should be able to contribute way more than he did last season.
Clearly he has talent after being a number one overall pick and now that he has a new home the pressure will be off a bit, even with the Knicks having championship expectations. Playing with Melo will give him plenty of chances to score in bunches and he could actually end up being a matchup nightmare for teams depending on where the Knicks play him. Either way, the trade was a plus for both sides and now Bargnani could be the key to a title for the team.