Felton had one of the worst years I’ve ever seen from a starting point guard. That is on both sides of the floor. Calderon should be a big improvement offensively and won’t be worse defensively. Hardaway should progress as he enters his second year. I still have big hopes for Shumpert as he is an elite defender and should have the tools to be a much better offensive player. Smith is likely not well cut out to play the triangle and while he should be better than the first half of the year when he was injured, he won’t get back to his 2012 form or the form he showed in the last quarter of last year. Melo will play more 3 this year hurting much of his edge. The offense will be a large adjustment for him. The argument people make for Melo in the Triangle is that it worked for MJ and Kobe so he should eventually figure out a way to make it work for him.
Amar’e should be healthier this year and contribute more. He is still athletic, and will be very valuable if he is hitting his 15 foot elbow shots. I’m not convinced he will ever learn the fundamentals of defense. Speaking of not learning the fundaments of defense, Bargnani is the least fundamental defensive player I have ever seen. His injury is a blessing. I have to believe that the talk of making him into a valuable contributor coming out of Camp Jackson, has to do with trying to get someone to trade for him. They can’t be that wrong. Jason Smith is actually a very good addition who is perfect for this offense in that he can hit open 15 footers and this will be available for him. Dalembert has good shot blocking skills and should not be a material down grade from Chandler. The hope is that he is keeping a seat warm for Marc Gasol. Prigioni still gives quality minutes despite his age limitations and Shane Larkin is never going to be a quality starter in the NBA. At his size he needs to be a great shooter and he is not.
The Knicks record last year in games decided by 2 or less points was horrific. The blame can be shared between Woodson and a Melo that was too tired from playing 40 minutes a game. Both of those should be improved upon, allowing a slightly higher win total. Best case they get the 8 spot and sneak into the playoffs. The smarter play would be to trade away what they can before the trade deadline and focus on 2015-16 season when the cap space is freed up.