The New York Knicks’ big offseason moves have been signing a 38-year-old center and 39-year-old point guard. Adding Marcus Camby and Jason Kidd won’t make New York among the Eastern Conference front-runners and neither will bringing back J.R. Smith and Steve Novak. Point guard sensation Jeremy Lin may also return if the Knicks match the Rockets’ offer sheet worth $28.8 million over four years.
But New York will only be able to go as far as its Big Three — Carmelo Anthony, Amare Stoudemire and Tyson Chandler — take them.
Anthony averaged just 22.6 points a game, the lowest since his second season in the league in 2004-05, and shot just 43.0 percent from the floor.
Stoudemire’s average dropped from 25.3 points a game in 2010-11 to 17.5 points in 2011-12.
Only Chandler, who won defensive player of the year, lived up to expectations — averaging 11.3 points, 9.9 rebounds and 1.4 blocks a game.
Anthony and Stoudemire must learn to coexist. Entering their third season with the Knicks, the two forwards can no longer use their limited playing time together as an excuse. With Kidd and likely Lin on the roster, they can’t complain about not having a capable point guard. And next year they won’t have a shortened offseason and condensed schedule to blame.
With the Nets moving to Brooklyn and adding pieces to become a true contender, even more pressure is put on the Knicks to succeed. The Miami Heat are reigning champions and may have a better team next year with the acquisition of Ray Allen. Losing their sharpshooter hurt the Celtics, but they will have Jeff Green back, signed Jason Terry and added size by drafting Jared Sullinger and Fab Melo. If Derrick Rose is able to come back strong from tearing his ACL in the playoffs, the Chicago Bulls — who owned the best regular-season record in the Eastern Conference the last two years — will once again be among the elite.
The path for the Knicks is not getting any easier and winning just one playoff game in two seasons is not acceptable in New York.
But no matter what moves they make, the Knicks need more from Anthony and Stoudemire.
– Jeffrey Tomik
