2008-2009 Finish: 41-41

What went well

Ever since the Knicks decided to go with a youth movement, they have been unable to regain the glory of the 2003 Finals. In recent years, they are lower seeded team that get bounced out of the playoffs early. Feeling the pinch, longtime GM Dunadan decided to bring in some veterans to flesh out his young squad.

For example, the team brought back resident veteran Allen Iverson and then splashed out on vets Elton Brand and Raja Bell. Shoring up the youth movement with stars should have worked, especially with guys like David Lee, Deron Williams and Rudy Gay really coming into their own. The Knicks also sent three point specialist Kyle Korver to Boston for Ronnie Price, cutting down a little on the salary. Finally, the Knicks matched New Orleans’ bid on Andris Biedrins, keeping the starting center for a long term deal.

With the only other deal coming during season brought in Anthony Morrow for Mardy Collins, the Knicks seemed poised to storm the Eastern Conference. Then disaster struck.


What went bad

It’s not hard to pinpoint where the Knicks fell apart. Big money man Brand went down after 13 games and was lost for the season. Iverson, at odds with Dunadan, refused to play. With so much chaos, can you blame the Knicks for faring poorly? They did finish with a .500 record in the 7th seed, but the Sixers took them out 4-2 in the first round.

Stars

- Deron Williams, G-

Williams will be signing an extension with the Knicks this offseason and boy does he deserve it! Another 20+ point per game season plus he really worked on dishing out his passes, driving up his assist average 500%. With so many big names on this team, Williams is a shining star.


- Paul Millsap,PF –

Another quiet, but powerful contributor was forward Paul Millsap. After being picked in the 2nd round, Millsap is about to become a big money man. Is he worth it? Coming off the bench for more than half the season (thus winning 6th Man of the Year), Millsap chipped in 9.8 points and 6.7 rebounds. This guy is ready to start. Who needs Elton Brand with Paul Millsap?


Goats

- Elton Brand, F –

A long term deal. $15 million in cold hard cash. 13 games. After 17 games the season before in Phoenix, Brand was supposed to be healthy. Nope. The Knicks could have attracted countless others with all that dough. Now they’re stuck with Brand.



- Allen Iverson, G–

Combined with Brand, Iverson made $35 million on the IR. Not quite the debacle of Cleveland, these two guys wasted the time and money of NYK fans. Iverson shot all kinds of accusations at Dunadan. Luckily, his contract is up.

Looking to the future

The problem with a team of young studs is that someday you have to pay them. Millsap, Lee and Williams are ready for their payday with Rudy Gay and Ronnie Brewer waiting in the wings for next season. That’s a lot of salami that needs to be paid out. The way things are right now, the Knicks will need to go over the luxury cap to retain everyone. Something’s gotta give.

At pick 17, the Knicks selected Louisville junior, forward Earl Clark. He is a talented player, kind of like Gay. He has the makings of an NLL star. It is unclear whether second rounders Nick Calathes and Nando de Colo will make the squad.

With the exception of Iverson, all Knicks free agents should come back. But the team will have a budgetary crisis if they sign everyone. So what to do? They will want to retain Williams, Lee and Millsap. Glen Davis is a nice player but the team is loaded up with forward types. They could also sign and trade him. Dunadan will certainly want to retain Nate Robinson. If they could find someone willing to take Brand, that would be great, especially with Lee and Millsap on the roster. It will be interesting to see what happens in NYC.