The New York Knicks completely refaced their team at the trade deadline. The departure of Wilson Chandler, Raymond Felton and Danilo Gallinari and the arrival of Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups has drastically changed the look of the Knicks. The faces may be different, but at the core its the same team.
The Knicks still don’t play consistent defense and they still don’t have a true dominant big man that can bang with the league’s best big men. Amar’e Stoudemire is a tremendous athlete and great offense player, but he is not a Dwight Howard underneath the basket.
Before the drastic change, the Knicks were 28-26. After the trade, albeit a small sample, the Knicks are 3-2. Although it is a small sample, a lot about the team can be extracted. Before the trade, the Knicks had signature home blow-out wins against playoff teams, most notably the Spurs on January 4th. They had dominant road wins against playoff teams, notably the Hornets on December 3rd. But they also had, bad road losses to horrible teams, notably the Cavs on December 18th. After the trade, the Knicks have had the same type of games – beating the Hornets in the Garden, beating the Heat in Miami, and losing to the Cavs in Cleveland.
One thing is consistent about the Knicks, they are inconsistent. Anthony and Billups drastically change the superficial look of the team, but at the core they are still the same. The trades didn’t address the Knicks main needs and for that reason, I don’t expect the Knicks to represent the Eastern Conference in the Finals this season.
I will say this – the Knicks are exciting to watch because you never know what to expect.
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[Photo Credit: Chris Trotman/Getty Images via CBSNewYork.com]
