NBA: A tough road ahead for the New York Knicks

The New York Knicks

These are the first Playoffs in the history of the NBA where the New York Knicks, Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics are not participating. Despite the rich and glorious legacy of all these teams, the latter two are going through a rebuilding phase and weren’t expected to make it to the post-season even before training camp in September.

But the Knicks were certainly nowhere close to a rebuild; they had the same core of the roster from the team that entered the 2013 Playoffs as the second seed, and were also considered among the teams which could dethrone the Miami Heat in the East this season. Instead, the Knicks turned out to be at the top of the list of the most disappointing teams in the league this season.

From a fan’s point of view the season had its silver lining towards the end with the interesting push for the last Playoff spot in the East and the signing of Hall of Fame head coach Phil Jackson as the President of Basketball Operations. The odds against the Knicks being championship contenders next season are very slim but if anybody can rebuild the Knicks to a contender under a reliable system of play, it has to be Jackson.

Having said that, the road to being a contender even with the Zen Master on their side is going to be a long hard one and it all starts with this off-season and the key personnel changes that Jackson has promised. And all Knicks fans around the world would have their ears open for any announcement regarding a certain player named Carmelo Anthony.

Here are the some of the key factors that could make the Knicks’ attempt at being contenders again a bit tougher than it might seem:

Carmelo Anthony and his potential exit

Carmelo Anthony

He might not be the best player on the planet but the fact that he is among the top 5 at present is not debatable. A superstar in his own right, Carmelo Anthony, as seen from his individual performances this season, is clearly in his prime. And at the ripe age of 30 it is hard to doubt that he would fit perfectly in Phil Jackson’s triangle offence, playing a role quite similar to what Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant once did.

The biggest cause for concern for Knicks’ fans is Anthony’s motivation and his personal desire to stay in New York, which right now isn’t too positive to listen to given how frustrating this season was. The Knicks need Anthony to stay if they have any intentions of being a contender in the near future and they have only a couple of months before he becomes a free agent.

The ball-hogging style of play that Anthony excels in wouldn’t suit a majority of the teams’ style of play in the league. It would benefit not only him but also the Knicks if he would stay and take an active part in the rebuilding process along with Jackson to take the Knicks back to the latter stages of the post-season on a consistent basis.

All said and done, the Knicks will find themselves in a better position with Anthony rather than without him.

Lack of draft picks

Irrespective of whether you’re building around a star player with a young team or with a completely young team, the importance of having drafting picks in your bag on the road to rebuilding can never be understated.

And the Knicks have none for the upcoming draft of 2014, which is expected to be one of the best in recent times, thanks to a three-team 12-player trade back in 2011 which bought Anthony to perform in a Knicks jersey at Madison Square Garden. Anthony could have become a free agent and then signed with the Knicks, but he took every penny coming his way by forcing Denver to sign and trade for him with the New York Knicks.

A blockbuster trade no doubt with the names it included, this trade has left the Knicks with not only no picks for this year’s draft, but with only two first round picks over the span of the next four seasons.

Issues regarding the roster

Phil Jackson is not happy with the conditioning of many players on the current roster so if your a Knicks’ fan, expect roster changes this off-season. We all know that with any team going through the type of changes that the Knicks are undergoing, the time to get back to being a contender again takes about 2-3 years. That time could be even longer if Jackson does not have Anthony to build around.

He has backed his words with actions by firing the entire coaching staff from the last season. The current roster has very few players other than Anthony that could contribute to the team when and if they play under a system employed by Jackson. The chemistry has been non-existent and the health of the roster hasn’t been too encouraging either.

So Knicks fans, you can expect a rough 3-4 years coming up.