The NY Knicks are coming into the season with high expectations after missing the playoffs last year and after signing draft pick Cleanthony Early, the team may look at trade deals with Iman Shumpert, Amar'e Stoudemire, JR Smith or Shane Larkin, as the team may want to clear some space for free agents in the future like Marc Gasol or Andrew Bynum while also breaking the logjam in the backcourt.
According to ESPN.com, the Knicks are open to trading Shumpert and Smith this offseason and the team also likely would trade Stoudemire if they could, but no one wants that massive contract right now. The team has a glut of players at guard and after getting Larkin in the Dallas Mavericks trade with Tyson Chandler and Raymond Felton, he is a player that could move again. The team is planning on keeping Jose Calderon and he likely will be the starter and now Phil Jackson has some decisions to make.
The Knicks are a much better team with Smith playing well, but he was terrible last season and did not live up to the year before when he averaged 18.1 points, 5.3 assists and 4.5 rebounds. The team loves Tim Hardaway Jr. and is not planning on moving him at all and he may start getting more minutes, while Shumpert appears to be trade bait along with Smith. Shumpert is a great young talent and is an ace defender and the Knicks would be wise to keep him, but someone is going to lose minutes in this rotation.
Derek Fisher is looking to get the team into a new system and he wants to get the defense better as well, although the team did rank in the top 10 in points allowed per game last year. At small forward the team has Stoudemire, Andrea Bargnani, Carmelo Anthony, Jeremy Tyler as well as Cleanthony Early as options and they just signed the rookie to his deal.
According to ESPN.com, the team signed Early to a two year deal and now he comes in looking to play well for the Knicks. Early was the 34th pick of the 2014 NBA Draft from Wichita State and he comes in after averaging over 10 points in the summer league while playing in four games in Las Vegas. The Knicks are also reportedly looking at signing back Toure Murry to a deal and he played at the same school and this comes as he has interest from the Miami Heat and LA Clippers this offseason.
The Knicks started last season 3-13 and missed the playoffs a year after winning 50 games and the division and now they have to find a way to get off to a better start. Anthony is back on a five year deal and now he will be the centerpiece for the team and this comes as Jackson comes in and he also brought in Derek Fisher to build back the franchise. Anthony needs some support and the Knicks should be better than last season and should have enough to make the playoffs. The Paul George injury makes it tough for the Pacers and that could open things up for a team like the Knicks.
