A look into the 2021/2022 New York Knicks season roster.
Guards
Kemba Walker
Derrick Rose
Alex Burks
Evan Fournier
Quentin Grimes
Miles McBride
Immanuel Quickley
Forwards
Julius Randle
RJ Barrett
Kevin Knox II
Obi Toppin
Wayne Seldon
Luka Samanic (Two-way contract)
Centers
Mitchell Robinson
Taj Gibson
Nerlons Noel
Jericho Sims (Two-way contract)
Projected starting lineup
PG- Kemba Walker
SG- Evan Fournier
SF- RJ Barrett
PF- Julius Randle
C: Mitchell Robinson
Last season, the Knicks finished as the 4th seed with a 41-31 record. They advanced to the NBA Playoffs for the 1st time since 2013 under new head coach Tom Thibodeau who is a defensive minded coach and led the Knicks to a top 5 defense in the league.
In the playoffs, they faced the Atlanta Hawks led by upcoming superstar Trae Young who took care of business in only 5 games against New York. In the off-season, New York prioritized adding shot creation and more scoring to matchup with their top 5 defense. They went on to add free agent guards Kemba Walker and Evan Fournier and resigned Derrick Rose all to pretty fair deals to maximize their scoring.
This season the Knicks are projected to finish 5th, so even though they got better the rest of the eastern conference got much stronger as well. They hope to maintain their top 5 defense while also trying to have a top 15 offense as last season they were bottom 10 in offense which led to their playoff falter.
Knick fans are hoping for a similar regular season success as the past season and they are hoping for RJ Barrett to take another leap in year 3 to potential all star caliber while also Randle maybe being an MVP candidate as he was last season. Kemba and Derrick Rose should both have nice seasons and hopefully Kemba has sort of a resurgence season as a New York native. Knicks have a very nice core of high quality veterans and high flying young players mixed in with a great coach and the best fans in the world. Should be a fun season for the Knicks!