The 2015-16 NBA Season starts soon, preseason hoops are in full swing, and playoff prognostications have begun in earnest. Since season previews can get bogged down by team-specific minutiae, and we cover every basketball team, we’re providing our readers reasons why you should care about all 30 teams in the Association.
DIME MAG’s 2015-16 NBA Season Previews
Most people don’t expect the Knicks to do anything this year except bungle the triple-post offense enough to make some fun “look how bad the Knicks are” vines. Sure, there’s some excitement over rookie(s) Kristaps Porzingis and Jerian Grant, but the vast majority of fans outside New York are just hoping the team justifies the predominant world view that Carmelo Anthony is a selfish superstar. He’s not, but people prefer simple explanations that require only surface-level thinking. If you can remember “this is water,” then you should remember — like every team — New York’s struggles don’t start and end with their star.
We still think Melo scores better than anyone else in the world, and if you just laughed at the double entendre then you probably laughed at the premise of the piece, anyway. Shame. But the Knicks are much more than Anthony, something even Phil can agree with.
New additions Arron Afflalo and Robin Lopez are huge upgrades over last season’s D-League stand-ins. Actually, the addition of Kevin Seraphin and Kyle O’Quinn make the frontcourt spots New York’s biggest strength, a weird thing to write in today’s NBA. Sasha Vujacic is back in the the league, too, backing up Afflalo and making Phil happy since he knows which way to cut after a pass to the elbow. (All Triangle offense jokes are bad, so don’t blame us — we’re just trying to inject some levity into this here preview.)
With Derrick Williams at power forward, Melo gets to avoid the pounding he’s had to endure when the Knicks “went small,” and it’s also a chance for us to debate blonde-dyed dreads. For the record, we like them, but we also liked Scott Pollard’s nail polish.
Plus, there’s something endearing about Anthony remaining firmly a Knick, despite the very real possibility he might not compete for a title over the course of his current deal. That’s OK, this team might just squeeze into the playoffs, and their first-round pick is more intriguing than anyone they’ve selected since Danilo Gallinari in 2008.
That’s something, at least.
New York City and Kristaps Porzingis
Anthony’s little brother is gonna hear some abuse this winter. He’s a thin European who didn’t look so great in preseason. Knicks fans aren’t the most patient bunch.
There is less chill to New York than frozen denizens might like to imagine, and it’ll be hard for KP to stomach some of the the Post and Daily News headlines, especially considering “Kris” — which he prefers — doesn’t like that Zinger nickname.
Except, Kris is in a better place than when he first found out he was joining New York in June. New York’s head of basketball ops and star player purportedly weren’t keen on his selection with the No. 4 pick, made all the more hilarious because Phil, you know, runs the freakin’ basketball side of the team. But KP seems to have impressed coaches and teammates during training camp, and Melo definitely has his back after initial rumors said otherwise.
He certainly impressed us when we spent time bed shopping with him in Newark. That wasn’t a typo. The bed shopping rendezvous happened the week before the NBA 2K16 launch party at Marquee. We were lucky enough to get an invite, but while we saw other rookies at the soiree, KP wasn’t one of them. When we asked his people where Kris was, we were told he was in bed, getting ready for 5000 calories and hours in the weight room he had scheduled next day.
This is why we like him, and this is also why we fear the NYC media will squash KP’s wide-eyed glee for the game. Let’s hope he improves fast enough to sate the city’s impossibly high standards. KP isn’t Willis Reed, or Clyde Frazier or even Dave DeBusschere, but he could be the salve for what’s seemed to ail them since Isiah Thomas took control: no real discernible future.
Plus, Stephen A. Smith isn’t a fan, which is as good a reason as any to root for him to succeed.
Could they actually be a playoff team? What does that say about the East?
During the basketball dregs of mid August, Carmelo Anthony told a Puerto Rican newspaper that he didn’t expect to win a championship in 2015-16. Approximately seven weeks later and after spending more time with the rebuilt New York Knicks, though, the 31-year-old seemed to have changed his tune.
“Sh*t, we’re competing,” Anthony replied on media day when asked about his team’s chances to hoist the Larry O’Brien Trophy come June. “People might not believe that, but we’re definitely competing for that.”
You’re right, Melo. We don’t believe you. The Knicks have nothing resembling realistic championship hopes this season. But considering the ragtag group of re-treads and no-names who played with you last season, that blind optimism is certainly understandable – and even commendable.
Barring a rash of catastrophic injuries sapping the league of multiple top-tier talents, a team led by Anthony, Robin Lopez and Arron Afflalo will never be much better than early round playoff fodder for a legitimate contender. A quality supporting cast might matter more today than it ever has, but the NBA is still driven by superstars, and New York has just one. There’s a clear ceiling on Derek Fisher’s squad for now, and it’s still lower than most orange and blue clad fans across the globe can appreciate despite an obvious lift compared to recent history.
But real, lasting contention is almost always forged over multiple years of growth. As long as 2014-15 marks the low point of the Knicks’ blueprint for legitimacy, something resembling mediocrity for the next two years should be deemed acceptable – especially when there exists a world in which they could be a tad bit better.
Some league analysts believe the Eastern Conference is the Cleveland Cavaliers then everybody else. We’re not quite comfortable going that far; the Atlanta Hawks, Washington Wizards, Chicago Bulls and Toronto Raptors, in particular, have very realistic expectations of a top-four playoff seed. But it’s hardly difficult to understand why many are so down on the East aside from LeBron James and company. Every potential playoff team is facing major questions this season, including the solid but unspectacular quartet above.
Considering those variables, is it crazy to believe New York could take advantage of them falling the less fortunate way and easily grab a postseason berth? Perhaps, but likely not to the degree you’re thinking.
All indications point to Anthony bouncing back from an injury-plagued 2014-15 to reestablish himself as a dominant offensive player. The Knicks’ dismal defense should be stingier by the addition of Lopez alone, and Afflalo seems perfect for the Triangle offense and should be extra motivated by the specter of hitting the free agent market again next summer. Jerian Grant has impressed on both ends in the preseason, Kristaps Porzingis will make positive contributions in his rookie year, and both Kyle O’Quinn and Derrick Williams look like potential free agent steals.
Again, that’s not a group of players that can win at the highest level. The jury is still very much out on Fisher’s credibility on the sidelines, too. But New York’s busy summer has given Anthony an acceptable supporting cast, and playing in the East means this team could fare better in the win-loss column than its still underwhelming level of talent suggests.
Would that mean championship contention? No way. But a sense of belief, genuine or otherwise, can breed success in team sports, and Anthony is trying to instill it in the Knicks. And if he can do it, New York could be better than anyone is anticipating in 2015-16 while continuing to position itself for a much brighter future.
