New York Knicks

After a full decade of incompetence and humiliation, both managerial and athletic, the
New York Knicks seem to have finally reached the threshold of contention. It took far
too long to recover from the damage wrought by former general managers Scott Layden
and Isiah Thomas, but progress was finally made this past season. Donnie Walsh’s 2010-
2011 club, coached by Mike D’Antoni and led by Amar’e Stoudemire and mid-season
acquisition Carmelo Anthony, earned New York a playoff berth for the first time since
2004. And while a swift first-round elimination at the hands of the Celtics would not
appear to instill much confidence, there were undeniable moments of brilliance and signs
that the present foundation might mature into the contender for which Knick fans have
long been yearning.

Stoudemire earned the respect and adoration of Knick fans in his first season as New
York’s most prominent free agent signing in recent memory. The big man avoided
serious injury and fended off quite a bit of attention from the opposition to dominate the
offensive end and guide the team out of several major slumps. Then, after a successful
half-season as the team’s undisputed chief, Stoudemire saw nearly half of his young
teammates shipped to Denver in a deadline deal for Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey
Billups, among others. The injection of star-level talent was immediately palpable,
though early struggles to cohere and a major injury to Billups meant that the three never
seemed fully synchronous.

That synchrony, one would imagine, is the abstract goal for the Knicks going forward
(whenever the lockout permits them to go forward, that is). In the final year of his
contract, Mike D’Antoni’s task is to strike a winning balance between Stoudemire,
Anthony, and (a hopefully healthy) Billups. He’ll need some reinforcement from a
young, somewhat motley supporting cast that includes the precocious Landry Fields,
the fearless Toney Douglas, a pair of promising rookies in Iman Shumpert and Josh
Harrellson, and a scant but hardworking group of back-up big men, Also, Renaldo
Balkman.

The New York Knicks may not be done building yet, either. There remains plenty of chatter about
adding a third “superstar”, with Billups nearing his twilight and a number of free agents-
to-be drawing interest. Donnie Walsh stepped down at the beginning of the summer,
so that job will fall to interim GM Glen Grunwald, and then to whomever takes the
helm thereafter. As the lockout drags on, that managerial hunt, as well as an earnest but
plodding search for a defense-oriented assistant coach, will be the biggest story. Once the
lockout does end, the hope is that there are big stories to be written on the hardwood.