Two things utterly fascinate me about the Knicks. First, what is it like to be a Knicks fan right now? Anyone out there willing to come clean? Are you excited about this team? Are you excited about Zach Randolph? Do you hate Isiah Thomas? Are you beaten down to the point of resignation?
Second, it’s commonly said that Isiah Thomas runs the Knicks like a fantasy team, yet the Knicks’ roster looks like a fantasy graveyard. Listed below is where the Knicks roster currently stands (last season’s rank in parenthesis, followed by the ranking when turnovers are included). You have to admit, this would be one of the worst fantasy teams ever.
Zach Randolph (43, 65)
David Lee (62, 46)
Jamal Crawford (74, 113)
Stephon Marbury (76, 95)
Quentin Richardson (110, 87)
Eddy Curry (151, 298)
Nate Robinson (177, 163)
Renaldo Balkman (214, 192)
Fred Jones (224, 232)
Jared Jeffries (247, 248)
Mardy Collins (327, 364)
Malik Rose (329, 359)
Kelvin Cato (384, 366)
Jerome James (386, 399)
Randolph Morris (447, 444)
Wilson Chandler (R)
Demetris Nichols (R)
Believe it or not, David Lee was the Knicks’ top fantasy player last year, averaging 11 points and 10 rebounds (with great FG and FT percentages) in just 29 minutes a game. Yes, the Knicks best fantasy player played less than 30 minutes a game. Oh, and he came off the bench about 75% percent of the time. David Lee did such a great job in limited time for the Knicks that Isiah Thomas…
a) Signed Lee to a $100 million contract?
b) Named Lee as the starting PF for next year’s team?
c) Invited Lee up to his office and sexually harassed him?
d) Traded for Zach Randolph?
If you said (d) (or possibly c) you are correct. After a stellar second season (abet one where he only played in 58 games), Lee will again be relegated to the bench while backing up Randolph. It’s a fools’ errand to try to predict what Thomas will do with this mess of a rotation, but… Lee, who is 6-9, is really not cut out to play center, and while he can play small forward depending on the matchup, the Knicks already have four or five small forwards. So, Lee will pretty much be stuck backing up Randolph, who averaged close to 36 minutes a game last season. Even if Randolph only averages 30 minutes a game, Lee would be struggling to see 20. As sad as it is, unless something drastic happens with this lineup (injuries or nuclear annihilation) I don’t see David Lee as a viable fantasy option.
Randolph on the other hand, should continue to do what he does well - score and rebound. His points per game might see a slight dip as he’ll be competing for shots with Marbury, Curry, Jamal Crawford, and whoever else is out on the floor at any given time. But he’ll have plenty of rebounding opportunities playing alongside…
Eddy Curry. I’m certainly happy that Curry, despite his medical problems, was able to have a solid season for the Knicks, averaging 19.5 points on 58% shooting and 7 rebounds in 35 minutes a game. I’m surprised he ended up so low on the player rater at 151, but it’s likely due to the fact that Curry contributes nothing else in the other categories. 0.8 assists, 0.4 steals, 0.5 blocks, 62 percent from the line is not going to cut it as a starting fantasy center. Now that Randolph is with the Knicks, there’s also a chance that Curry could regress back to his pre-2007 rebounding numbers. Do you want a center who averages 5 rebounds a game? I’d avoid Curry.
Stephon Marbury (the term “Starbury†now only refers his interviewing abilities) had a truly horrific start to the season. He was wildly inconsistent from game to game. Marbury picked things up towards the end of the year (he had a nice stretch from February to the beginning of April), but still had his worst season since he entered the league, finishing with a career low in assists (5.5) and his worst shooting percentage since 1999. KnickerBlogger says there are three issues with Marbury’s performance last season: 1) while still relative young (30) he’s been in the NBA since he was 19 and logged crazy minutes over his career, 2) his role as a point guard was adversely affected by another “me first†guard in Steve Francis, and 3) he was not suited for the offensive scheme that Isiah Thomas implemented.
While the Franchise is gone, Marbury’s age and the Knicks offense remain issues. We’ve entered a new era for Marbury, one where he is better suited to be a second or third option – an efficient scorer and a guy who can set up his teammates. Expect a slight bump in his assists this season, but his scoring stats have likely reached a plateau. This may be the year we see Marbury as a PG2, and you know, we just might all be happier that way.
The rest of the lineup? You got me. Mardy Collins ended the season as the starting shooting guard and really had a nice stretch of games in April, but Jamal Crawford was injured at the time. Crawford will probably end up starting at the 2 to begin the season. He brings some decent scoring and some threes with him with a good free throw percentage and a crappy field goal percentage. He also averaged 37 minutes a game last year - an indication that Thomas just loves him for some reason. Crawford is also an injury risk, so make sure you have a viable backup option if you happen to have Crawford on your team.
Collins may backup Crawford, but it’s more likely that Quentin Richardson or Nate Robinson will. Richardson only played in 49 games last season and he seems better suited to play limited minutes off the bench. Robinson was MVP of the summer league, but he appears to have hit a ceiling on the Knicks. Again, courtesy of KnickerBlogger:
Robinson played 21.4 min/g under Larry Brown, and 21.2 min/g under Isiah Thomas. It seems that two coaches, who had very different views & philosophies, saw Robinson in the same light. If Nate wants to shed his role as spark off the bench, he’ll need to shed his image as a circus act crammed into a basketball uniform.
At small forward, the Knicks have a man they pay a lot of money for, Jared Jeffries, and a man they don’t pay a lot of money for, Renaldo Balkman. Care to take a guess on which one will start? Neither was a useful fantasy guy last season, although Balkman had a decent run last spring (9 points, 7 rebounds, 1.3 steals, and 0.6 blocks per game from March 3rd to April 7th). Balkman also has much more upside than Jeffries, who lacks much of an offensive game and whose defense is far overrated (the Knicks were 3 points worse on defense when Jeffries was on the court according to 82games). Balkman may not be draft worthy, but keep an eye on his minutes. If he becomes the starter, pick him up.
Finally, the Knicks have a super-sleeper in Demetris Nichols. They wanted him to play the season in Italy, but he refused, so he comes to the Knicks as a big (6-8) shooter off the bench. He won’t get much playing time on this crowded roster, but the Knicks have a lot of players with a propensity to get hurt (Crawford, Richardson, Jeffries), so he’s at least one reason to keep an eye on the Knicks this season.
GMTR Draft Position (10 team league)
Zach Randolph - 5th
Stephon Marbury – 8th
Jamal Crawford – 9th
David Lee – 11+ (sadly)
Eddy Curry – 13+ (big leagues only)
Renaldo Balkman – watch
Zbo is deserving of that 5th rd pick (even though I’m not excited about trying to draft him since moving to a fantasy dumping ground).
I would take Crawford before Marbury because Jamal is capable of putting up monster numbers from time to time (he’s a good bench tie break player)
It’s sad about David Lee. he did everything right and still got pissed on.
I think Curry will still go in rd 10 due to his points and the fact that he is a starter. I’m not gonna waste a pick on the Curry Line but he will get picked.
Comment by HoopStarBasketball.com — August 31, 2007 @ 7:14 pm
I’m not sure about Curry in the 10th. I will admit that I let emotions get in the way of my picks sometimes (like I would have trouble picking Randolph in the 5th even though that’s where he belongs). But Curry had his best season since… I can’t remember when and he still finished the year as a bench player at best. The scoring looks nice, but he really doesn’t contribute in any other categories.
Comment by Patrick — September 1, 2007 @ 7:56 pm
What’s it like to be a Knicks fan? Not terrible - maybe I’m a fool, but I think the Knicks can win 44-47 games and make the playoffs as the 8th seed in the East.
As for fantasy: Crawford is a solid sleeper. He’ll probably start, and last year put up solid numbers as a starter - he was ranked #60 in Yahoo’s standings when he went down with his injury. He can average around 18ppg, high FT%, gets around two 3PTM a game, and 1.5 spg. And he can contribute, thanks to his solid interior passes to Curry, around 4-5 apg. That’s not bad for a 2-guard; he’s a decent utility player.
Solid post.
Comment by stopmikelupica — September 3, 2007 @ 5:07 pm
Thanks for checking in. I am honestly interested in how Knicks fans feel right now because I think they are in the same situation that the Celtics were in before they got Garnett. There is some talent on the team, for sure, but it doesn’t really fit into any kind of plan, and the chemistry suffers as a result. It’s been pretty frustrating to watch the Celtics - they seemed to be trying hard enough to keep people interested, but not hard enough to actually be trying to win a championship.
Comment by Patrick — September 3, 2007 @ 8:39 pm