The NY Knicks have pulled off some trades this summer and now names like Pablo Prigioni, Iman Shumpert, Amar'e Stoudemire, JR Smith, Shane Larkin and Andrea Bargnani could be options to move after Wayne Ellington, Raymond Felton and Tyson Chandler were traded and Phil Jackson could look at deals with those players to give more support to Carmelo Anthony this season.
The Knicks pulled off their big move by keeping Anthony and now they have him on a five year deal along with new head coach Derek Fisher. According to ESPN.com, the Knicks are open to making moves and they have shopped Prigioni along with Shumpert and Smith and those deals could help to break up the logjam at the guard position in the backcourt.
The team traded Ellington and Jeremy Tyler to the Kings to give the roster more versatility and now Jackson may look at doing that again. Early reports after the Chandler trade had Larkin being shooed, but the Knicks may opt to keep the second year player over someone like Prigioni, who is on the wrong side of his 35th birthday now. Jackson likes Jose Calderon as the point guard and Larkin could end up as his backup over Prigioni if he is moved.
Carmelo Anthony said recently that it was unlikely that the Knicks will win a championship this year, but for once that isn't necessarily a bad thing. The team has Jackson, Fisher and Anthony in on five year deals and that means the Knicks have the chance to build an actual contender after years of false starts and false hope. Knicks fans are very impatient usually but in this case they need to show their basketball IQ, because Jackson has the chance to build something and if everyone is patient it could be a championship down the line.
The Knicks added some depth at the forward position and moved another big man in Jeremy Tyler and they got Quincy Acy and Travis Outlaw from the Kings and that gives Fisher some players to use behind Carmelo Anthony and Stoudemire. Last season the team started off 3-13 on the season and ended up missing the playoffs and now they have the chance to get things right this season and there is no reason why the team can't make the playoffs this time around.
The Knicks won just 37 games last season, but they kept their major free agent in Carmelo Anthony and now they have the chance to build around him. Outlaw adds more versatility to the roster and more deals could keep coming, while Acy comes in after averaging 2.7 points and 3.4 rebounds per game last season. The Knicks now need a new leading rebounder and assist man after losing Chandler and Felton and now Anthony comes back and should obviously be the leading scorer again.
The east has tough teams with LeBron returning to Cleveland and the Miami Heat signing Luol Deng, but the Knicks still should be in the mix for the postseason. The Knicks have a solid roster and they are definitely better than last season and that gives Anthony the chance to try and lead his team back to the playoffs.
