New York Knicks Not Making Playoffs? Carmelo Anthony Declares Post Season Appearance But Predictions Place Them At 10th Place!
The New York Knicks heaved a sigh of relief when Carmelo Anthony decided to stick around and be the face of the franchise for the next five years. But will that be enough to tow them back into the playoffs?
Carmelo Anthony talked with the NY Post:
"Yeah, I think so for sure. Absolutely. I can't wait to get started," Carmelo Anthony missed the playoffs for the first time in his career and many predicted he might bolt the Knicks because of that. The visibly slimmed down former scoring champion reveals that he hasn't talked to Team President Phil Jackson since their contract negotiations:
"I haven't really talked to him since we took care of everything,"
On his new teammates from the Tyson Chandler trade:
"I'm cool, I'm happy, but I don't really want to get into details about that."
How many pounds did he shed? "I really don't know how much I lost. I just know I trimmed down. I really didn't do nothing special, just working hard, that's it. Nah, it was just for me to try to challenge myself and see how far I could push myself."
Unfortunately for Anthony, not too many 'experts' agree with his assumption. ESPN recently had its Summer Forecast wherein they predicted the possible standings of the NBA Eastern Conference.
The collective panel had the Knicks at 10th place.
The Forecast panel, made up of a large cross section of writers, analysts and editors, believes the Knicks will finish 10th in the Eastern Conference this season.
While it sounds like a harsh assessment, the East did not really weaken that much. The Miami Heat and Indiana Pacers are still ranked ahead of the Knicks even if they lost their best players through free agency(LeBron James) and injury(Paul George) respectively.
ESPN elaborated:
"The Knicks finished with 37 wins last year. The panel sees no improvement for the team this year, predicting that it will go 37-45.
Phil Jackson and the Knicks altered the roster this summer in several significant ways.
In addition to re-signing Carmelo Anthony, the Knicks traded Raymond Felton andTyson Chandler to Dallas for Jose Calderon,Shane Larkin and Sam Dalembert. They also received draft picks and used one to selectCleanthony Early.
New York also inked F/C Jason Smith and traded for Travis Outlaw and Quincy Acy."
Not too impressive roster moves, but they are projected to improve at the coaching position. However, Derek Fisher had been playing in a different jersey a mere three months ago, so it's hard to project how he'll perform as a coach.