If there’s one thing fantasy basketball owners should know, it’s that a team coached by Mike D’Antoni is a team to embrace. While his attention to offense and disregard for defense bring up valid concerns about the New York Knicks‘ real-life success, it’s pretty much gold for fantasy basketball purposes. There are two players driving the bulk of this team’s fantasy appeal, and in this type of offense there’s always the possibility of plug-and-play success for guys who fill in for injured players, especially in the backcourt. Still, as currently constructed, the Knicks do have some potential issues that diminish their fantasy luster, though not by much.
Depth chart:
PG: Chauncey Billups, Toney Douglas, Anthony Carter*
SG: Landry Fields, Iman Shumpert, Andy Rautins, Roger Mason*
SF: Carmelo Anthony, Shawne Williams*, Bill Walker
PF: Amar’e Stoudemire, Jared Jeffries*, Shelden Williams*, Renaldo Balkman, Derrick Brown**
C: Ronny Turiaf, Josh Harrellson, Jerome Jordan
* unrestricted free agent
** restricted free agent
Relevant fantasy players and their projected draft positions/per-game stats:
– Carmelo Anthony, SF (Rd. 1): 45% FG, 80% FT, 2 Threes, 27 Pts, 7 Reb, 3 Ast, 1 Stl, 0.5 Blk, 2.8 TO
– Amar’e Stoudemire, PF/C (Rd. 2): 50% FG, 80% FT, 24 Pts, 7.5 Reb, 2.5 Ast, 1 Stl, 1.8 Blk, 3 TO
– Chauncey Billups, PG (Rd. 4): 42% FG, 90% FT, 2.2 Threes, 16.5 Pts, 3 Reb, 5.8 Ast, 1 Stl, 2.5 TO
– Toney Douglas, PG/SG (Rd. 10): 40% FG, 11 Pts, 1.5 Threes, 2.5 Reb, 3 Ast, 1 Stl, 1.5 TO
– Landry Fields, SG/SF (Rd. 11): 47% FG, 80% FT, 1 Three, 9 Pts, 6 Reb, 2 Ast, 1 Stl, 1.5 TO
Sleeper:
Shumpert
Most likely to surprise:
Douglas
Most likely to disappoint:
Billups
Category specialists:
– Threes: Anthony, Billups, Douglas
– Blocks: Stoudemire
Things to consider:
– Billups’ health
– How the crowded backcourt shakes out
– The glaring lack of a reliable center
Team’s statistical NBA ranks from 2010-11:
– Pts: 2nd
– FGM: T-7th
– FGA: 6th
– FG%: 19th
– FT%: 2nd
– 3PTM: 2nd
– Reb: T-19th
– Ast: 15th
– TO: 10th
– Stl: T-8th
– Blk: 4th
– Pace: 2nd
– Offensive Efficiency: 5th
– Defensive Efficiency: 21st
Throughout the season, be sure to leave your questions, comments, concerns, trade offers, roster problems and more in the comments below.
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