July 1st can’t come soon enough. After last year’s 32-50 record, I felt the only place Mike D’Antoni’s Knicks could go was up. How wrong I was. Despite double-double machine David Lee becoming the Knicks first All-Star in nearly a decade, it was not a season to be proud of. An ever-changing rotation, along with inconsistent defense, and poor point guard play for most of the year led to an extremely disappointing 29-53 finish. Going into the season, Knicks faithful believed not only that this could be the season we could return to the playoffs, but that we could actually sniff .500 ball. Once again, oh so wrong.
In retrospect, this team was doomed from the start. Coach D’Antoni’s 7 seconds or less offense can be an extremely successful system… when run by the right point guard (ie. Steve Nash). The Knicks had no such guard on the roster. For much of the year, Chris Duhon held the reins at PG. And boy was it messy. After starting a franchise worst 1-9, the Knicks never seemed to have what it takes to be a contender, let alone challenge in the playoff race. After the dismal start, the closest the ‘Bockers got to mediocre was in January, when they sat five games under .500 at 15-20. It seemed like nothing but a freefall from there.
There was a light at the end of the tunnel however, and that light is now brighter than ever. July 1st may go down as the most important date in Knicks history. That is, of course, if we can land a certain superstar out of Akron, Ohio, and the sidekick of his choosing. And this Friday, that light got a little brighter when the NBA announced that next year’s salary cap is projected to be about $56.1 million, which is still nearly a $2 million drop off from this year’s cap. But, in comparison to the $50-53 million cap that teams were expecting due to the down economy, Donnie Walsh’s job may have just gotten a bit easier. Now, as opposed to previously expected, the Knicks will have roughly $33-34 million of cap space as opposed to the $30-31 million expected at the beginning of the season. Since the annual salary of a max contract player is $16.6 million, the Knicks will now truly have enough space to sign two max level free agents. Such a thought was only made possible after trading for Tracy McGrady’s massive expiring contract (and giving up essentially 3 first round draft picks in the process- in 2011, 2012, and 2009 first round pick Jordan Hill). Needless to say, being able to grab LeBron James and either Dwyane Wade or Chris Bosh would be an absolute coup. Nonetheless Donnie Walsh plans on doing just that, although he’s never mentioned any specific names, only that he will do his best to sign the best players available.
But as for this season, despite the record, there were a few bright spots. For one, Danilo Gallinari has proven he’s the real deal on both ends of the court, and will make a suitable sidekick, let alone 3rd option to any superstar(s) that the Garden can snag. After Mike D’Antoni called him “the best shooter he’s ever seen” in the preseason, Gallo’s stroke didn’t disappoint: finishing second in the league in 3-pointers made with 186 while shooting 38% from behind the arc, nailing 2.3 3’s per game; in the meanwhile earning him an invitation to the 3-point shootout in Dallas during All-Star weekend. The Rooster, as he’s known in his native Italy, was also surprisingly impressive on the defensive end. On several occasions, Gallo asked coach D’Antoni for the responsibility of guarding the opposing teams top scorer, whether it be LeBron, Carmelo Anthony (which he was quite successful at), or Kobe Bryant. Although he didn’t always win these battles, he put up a good fight more often than not, and showed that European ballers can be tough defenders too.
Speaking of defense, notwithstanding D’Antoni’s general disregard for that side of the ball, the Knicks best defense came from maybe the most unlikely of sources: a rookie. Frosh point guard Toney Douglas out of Florida State takes pride in his defense, but we didn’t get to see just how special his tenacity is until coach inserted him in the rotation towards the end of the season. Douglas set the defensive tone on a regular basis, motivating his teammates to demonstrate the same effort. And surprisingly, Douglas was also able to take a firm grasp of coach’s high-octane offense as well, showing his skills as a scorer and a distributor.
Thankfully, both Gallinari and Douglas are two of the only four players with guaranteed contracts for next season (the others being scrub Eddy Curry and young wing Wilson Chandler). So, barring any unexpected trades, we can look forward to watching them both flourish and mature before our eyes in the coming years. But in regards to this season, I think we can safely say the T-Mac experiment was a failure on the court, but his $23 million expiring contract will prove to be quite valuable when the summer comes around. Although the other piece we received in that 3-way deal, Sergio Rodriguez, played respectably at times, I doubt we’ll see him in a Knicks uniform again.
The best acquisition of the year though was one of the least expected. After shipping Nate Robinson to Boston primarily for what was thought to be sharp shooter Eddie House (who never played a ton in New York), the afterthought of said trade, who was thrown in to make contracts match up, was former Kansas State star Bill Walker, who lit it up in his few months at the Garden. Walker surpassed the 20-point mark on five different occasions, recording his career high of 28 points on the last day of the season against Toronto. During his time in New York, Walker averaged just over 13 points per game, after sitting at the very end of a deep Boston bench to start his career. Although Walker’s contract isn’t guaranteed for next year, the Knicks do have the option of hanging on to him, depending on what else happens over the summer. But based on his impressive production with the team, they would definitely like to be able to keep him around.
Once again, it was not a good year on paper. 29-53 is not a record to strive for by any means. But realistically, we knew it was a rebuilding year going in, with only a slim chance at the playoffs. And those chances were null and void by January. Regardless of team record, the Knicks showed a lot of fight in them, and that every once and a while, they could not only light it up on offense, but they could make some critical necessary stops on defense (despite D’Antoni’s general on court philosophy). Granted, it was a disappointing season, but the Knicks future looks bright with the likes of Gallinari, Douglas, potentially Bill Walker, and maybe, just maybe an ever improving David Lee; who is about to get paid the big bucks no matter what team he ends up on. The only thing we can hope for is that some certain superstar(s) joins this young, talented bunch in rebuilding a proud, but struggling franchise. Only time will tell.
