NEW YORK — The New York Knicks see a possibility and are not shy about their intentions of taking it.
“Knicks would be the No. 1 seed within the East,” Carmelo Anthony stated.
OK, so it is former gamers who’re speaking large. The present Knicks will not say a lot concerning the expectations on them for this season, leaving that to others comparable to Anthony, the Corridor of Famer who’s now an NBC Sports activities studio analyst.
And he is proper to love their possibilities. For the primary time since Anthony led the NBA in scoring for a group that received 54 video games in 2012-13, the Knicks must be the perfect group within the Atlantic Division.
With Jayson Tatum sidelined and different key gamers gone, the Boston Celtics look nothing just like the group that received the NBA title simply two seasons in the past. The Philadelphia 76ers, too reliant on gamers comparable to Joel Embiid and Paul George who cannot be counted on to remain wholesome, are too dangerous a decide.
The Toronto Raptors are too far-off, although a lot nearer than the Brooklyn Nets. That leaves the Knicks, with All-Stars Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Cities of their beginning 5 and a bench that is been upgraded, as the category of the division.
They’ve been constructing neatly below Leon Rose and had their large breakthrough in Could once they upset the Celtics within the Japanese Convention semifinals, when Tatum went down with a ruptured proper Achilles tendon that can preserve him sidelined for at the least a few of this season. That despatched the Knicks to the East finals for the primary time since 2000, the place they misplaced to Indiana.
They fired Tom Thibodeau after that collection and changed him with Mike Brown, a fellow two-time winner of the NBA Coach of the Yr award. In addition they signed Jordan Clarkson, the 2020-21 Sixth Man of the Yr award winner.
The Knicks have received at the least 50 video games every of the final two seasons, however completed nicely behind Boston within the Atlantic each occasions. However with Tatum damage and Jrue Vacation, Kristaps Porzingis and Al Horford all taking part in elsewhere, the Celtics’ four-year run atop the division will probably be over.
“We’re not as gifted as we had been. So we now have to have an edge to us,” Celtics star Jaylen Brown stated. “We have now to have a mentality to us. We’ve acquired to play and convey the battle to groups somewhat greater than we now have previously. So, I don’t suppose we now have a selection.”
The Knicks, whose division title in that 2012-13 season is their just one within the final 30 years, are greatest positioned to interchange Boston on the prime.
“We’re excited with what this group has and what this group may be,” swingman Josh Hart stated.
Right here’s a have a look at every Atlantic Division group in a predicted order of end:
Brown desires the Knicks to play sooner than they did below Thibodeau and create extra conditions the place Brunson would not have to have the ball in his arms as usually, so the offense may be much less predictable. He additionally must determine whether or not Hart returns to the beginning lineup or New York stays with heart Mitchell Robinson and has Cities taking part in as an influence ahead. No matter he decides, the Knicks have the expertise and firepower to make it work.
With Embiid restricted to 19 video games, George 41 and Tyrese Maxey 52 final season, the 76ers went from a group with excessive expectations to a dismal 24-58 end, close to the underside of the East. The excellent news is Philadelphia ended up getting the No. 3 decide within the draft and took VJ Edgecombe from Baylor, who could possibly be an influence rookie and assist them persevere every time the accidents do pop up.
It is unknown if or when Tatum might play this season. Within the meantime, the Celtics nonetheless have Brown and Derrick White from the group that received the 2024 NBA championship, together with Sixth Man of the Yr Payton Pritchard to anchor a youthful roster that president of basketball operation Brad Stevens and coach Joe Mazzulla imagine can preserve the Celtics aggressive whereas Tatum is on the mend. So season remains to be potential in Boston, although it will not be straightforward with how a lot the Celtics have misplaced.
The Raptors will lastly get Brandon Ingram on the ground this season after he was unable to play after they acquired him from New Orleans final season due to a sprained left ankle. Including the previous All-Star and Most Improved Participant award winner to a lineup headlined by Scottie Barnes ought to assist the Raptors be a lot better than their 30-52 end in 2024-25.
The Nets grew to become the primary group in NBA historical past to make 5 first-round picks within the draft, and their 5 rookies (No. 8 Egor Demin, No. 19 Nolan Traore, No. 21 Drake Powell, No. 26 Ben Saraf and No. 27 Danny Wolf) are all anticipated to play. So the Nets, who did not have a single participant 30 or older once they opened camp, must be one of many worst groups within the league, irrespective of how a lot scoring they get from Cam Thomas or Michael Porter Jr., the previous beginning ahead for the Denver Nuggets’ 2023 championship group they acquired in an offseason commerce.
