- Commissioner’s statement on Ventura, Marte
- Ronnie O’Sullivan: Masters champion ‘felt so vulnerable’ in final
- Arron Fletcher Wins 2017 WSOP International Circuit Marrakech Main Event ($140,224)
- Smith challenges Warner to go big in India
- Moncada No. 1 on MLB Pipeline’s Top 10 2B Prospects list
- Braves land 2 on MLB Pipeline’s Top 10 2B Prospects list
- Kingery makes MLB Pipeline’s Top 10 2B Prospects list
- New Zealand wrap up 2-0 after Bangladesh implosion
- Mathews, Pradeep, Gunathilaka to return to Sri Lanka
- Elliott hopes for rain for Poli
New York Knicks Complete 2016-17 Season Preview
- Updated: September 28, 2016
Where to even begin with this team?
We could talk about all the offseason moves the New York Knicks made following their disappointing 34-win finish last year. After all, they did hire a new coach, bring in three new starters, nine new players overall and revamp the bench.
And if everything goes right, if everyone stays healthy and meshes and buys in, the Knicks certainly could, as Jeff Van Gundy recently said, win 50 games and emerge as one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference.
Of course, the moves were not without risk: Head coach Jeff Hornacek seems like an inspired hire, but he has a career coaching record of 101-112. Joakim Noah, the man tabbed to improve a Knicks defense that finished 20th in points surrendered per 100 possessions last year, is 31 years old and missed 53 games last season because of a series of left shoulder injuries.
And then there’s Derrick Rose, the former MVP whose career has been derailed by torn ACLs and other maladies, and whose off-the-court life now looms like a shadow over the season.
This is not what Phil Jackson had planned. This year, in his eyes, was supposed to mark the end of the rebuilding that started after he was named team president in March 2014.
“We have had two seasons that have not been successful, and we needed to move forward and win,” Jackson said to reporters during a Friday press conference at the team’s Tarrytown, New York, training center.
Jackson acknowledged that many of the moves he made this summer were risky. But he also expressed pride in the job he did, praising Noah’s IQ and speaking glowingly of the athleticism and speed that both Rose and Brandon Jennings, signed to a one-year deal, bring to the roster.
Instead, much of the focus of Friday’s press conference, which also included Hornacek and general manager Steve Mills, was the civil suit being brought against Rose by a former acquaintance. She’s alleging that, in 2013, Rose and two of his friends raped her while she was unconscious in her Los Angeles apartment.
“We anticipate that it will not affect his season, hopefully, training camp or games,” Jackson said of the case. “But we’re going to let the due process of the justice system work its way through in the next week or so. We want to put this to rest. There doesn’t need to be a lot of talk about this.”
Jackson was asked whether he or Mills had looked into the details of the suit before trading for Rose in June. Visibly peeved, he refused to answer: “I don’t think we’re going to talk about it. Thanks for the question.”
The message was clear. Jackson was there to talk about the basketball club he had spent the past five months constructing and nothing else. In essence, he was, and is, making a bet: that the team’s fans (i.e., customers) will have no qualms ignoring off-court storylines if they find the on-court product satisfying.
But what happens if things don’t go as planned? What happens if Noah and Rose both go down again; if Carmelo Anthony’s balky knee acts up; if Kristaps Porzingis endures a sophomore slump? Will Knicks fans still be cool with Jackson’s decision to glance over the disturbing details of the Rose suit?
Even more so, what if Rose is found guilty in the civil case? And what if the Los Angeles Police Department—which confirmed Monday that it was, indeed, investigating the alleged rape—elects to press charges?
As if all that weren’t enough, there’s also the question of Jackson’s future in New York. His contract has an opt-out clause that he can exercise this summer. Jackson said Friday that he has no plans to do so, but a lot could happen between now and June, both in New York and with the Los Angeles Lakers franchise out West that his fiancee runs.
And so that’s where the Knicks find themselves as the 2016-17 season approaches. Think of them like a Jenga tower: The chance of success is there, but one false move could bring the structure crashing down.
Then again, this is the New York Knicks we’re talking about.
It’d feel strange if they were built any other way.
Biggest Offseason Move
So many to choose from.
For example there’s Noah, who just three seasons ago finished fourth in league MVP voting. Then again, three years is a long time. But forget for a moment that outlandish four-year, $72 million deal the Knicks inked him to in July—the question is, does he make them better this …
