New York Knicks: How far can the new look squad take them?

Digging into the New York Knicks and exploring how far the new-look squad could possibly take them during the 2019-20 NBA season

The New York Knicks head into this upcoming campaign with a roster loaded with long, cagey frontcourt players known for their grit and hustle, promising rookies with a high potential ceiling, and some interesting but unproven developmental prospects.

The potential for an improvement over the miserable years of the franchises recent pass is absolutely there, but the club has been incapable of making any real headway toward future success in past seasons. However, with interesting youngster R.J. Barret flashing a diverse game and sophomore Kevin Knox having another summer to put in work, the Knicks have an interesting young core: buoyed by the addition of up-and-coming paint powerhouse Julius Randle.

While Randle is a bit undersized, his ability to crash the boards, BULLY his way to the bucket and an improving 3-point shot as evidenced by his run with the New Orleans Pelicans in 2018-19 are all promising signs, strengthed further by his growing, under-the-radar passing ability.

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The foundation is there, and the young trio is not alone in the City that Never Sleeps – other notable additions include Marcus Morris Sr., a stretch four that brings hard-nosed defense and reliable playmaking as either a sub in starter, or as he proved with the Celtics a bench scoring sixth man, and Bobby Portis, the 6-foot-11 big man originally taken by the Chicago Bulls in the 2015 draft who was shown signs of sparkplug scoring.

In the backcourt, the Knicks find themselves much thinner, but not lacking in interesting prospects to throw into the fire: Dennis Smith Jr. can get buckets, and has displayed an admirable amount of vision coming into his fourth year in the Association – provided he can become more consistent from behind the arc the potential pairing of him and Frank Ntilikina, an absolute defensive pest who showcased his potential in FIBA play (shutting down Kemba Walker), the guard combo in NYC could become an efficient one-two punch on both ends of the floor.

There are still questions, concerns and doubts surrounding this club – one that ownership, coaching, and the players themselves have been incapable of putting to rest, dating back to the acquisition of All-Star Carmelo Anthony. The Knicks have tried, and tried again to put together the right pieces, and have the cookie crumble their way but have as of yet fallen short.

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Keep one eye cracked open, however, Knicks fans – you may not be making any real noise in the playoffs this upcoming year, but the light is peaking through the end of a long, arduous tunnel and R.J. Barrets multi-tooled game may be holding the lantern guiding your way.

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