The New York Knicks are geared towards winning a championship this season. The team came close last season when they reached the Eastern Conference finals for the first time since 2000. However, they came up short and lost to the Indiana Pacers after six games. This offseason, the team did its best to construct a team that would help its stars contend for a championship.
New York added valuable veterans who have enough postseason experience to support the All-Star duo of Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns. The team’s backcourt is now stronger after they signed Malcolm Brogdon and Jordan Clarkson to one-year deals. The frontcourt also had new help in Guerschon Yabusele, who agreed to join the team in a two-year contract.
The team is stacked, and many believe they have enough to win the championship. However, the brand might cope with a new challenge due to the second-apron.
According to former NBA executive Bobby Marks, the team is hard-capped at the second apron after strengthening their bench. This could lead to a potential mid-season trade to avoid the penalties.
“Because they improved their bench in the offseason by signing Guerschon Yabusele to the tax mid-level exception, they are hard-capped at the second apron,” Marks writes.
“The restriction will force New York to trade either one of its draft picks from last June (Tyler Kolek or Pacome Dadiet) if the goal is to retain veterans Malcolm Brogdon and Landry Shamet. Despite being over the first apron, the Knicks are allowed to include cash in any trade and have up to eight second-round picks available. Trading Dadiet’s $2.8 million salary would allow New York to sign a 15th player during the season.””
Carmelo Anthony believes the Knicks can rule the East this season
Former Knicks star Carmelo Anthony is a big believer that his former team could take over their conference and be the No. 1 team in the East. Anthony said New York has enough pieces to be a winning team this season.
“The Knicks will be the No. 1 seed in the East. I want to talk about why I believe that,” Anthony said. “They’ve been primed for this position for the past three, four years. They have everything that you could possibly need [for] a winning formula.”
According to him, New York has the right point guard (Jalen Brunson), the best big man in Karl-Anthony Towns. Anthony also cited that the acquisition of Clarkson and Brogdon will help give Brunson the chance to take rests. The Hall of Fame player also gave credit to Mike Brown, the team’s newest head coach.
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Reign also writes NBA and WNBA news updates on Sportskeeda. He started as a feature writer for AirAlamo, an NBA website that covers the San Antonio Spurs. Some of his work can also be seen on Valley of the Suns, a Phoenix Suns-centric website, where he served as a contributing writer.
