New York Knicks Players Who Will Make a Big Jump in 2015-16

New York is The City of Dreams!

Yes, it is a place where men fail, rack up 65 losses in one season, hear boos from their own fans and bring shame upon the hallowed name of the New York Knicks. Yet, it is also a place where a broken man can rise up.  

In particular, three players are poised for a leap this year with the Knicks. A disappointment ready to make good. A fledgling learning to fly. And a star finding a new way to sparkle.  

Derrick Williams

Derrick Williams, a 24-year-old forward the Knicks picked up in free agency after he had a lackluster season with the Sacramento Kings, needs a breakthrough. An exciting No. 2 pick in 2011 (by the Minnesota Timberwolves), he's since been slapped with one of the most degrading labels in sports: draft bust.

Low basketball IQ. No three-point shot. Lazy rebounder. The complaints piled up and so did the losses. Neither of Williams' previous teams—the Kings or the Timberwolves—made the playoffs. He was outed as a guy whose tremendous athleticism was all he had to offer. It was enough to make him shine in college but barely enough to squeak by in the NBA. 

His Sacramento coach, George Karl, once griped after a particular indifferent effort on the boards, per ESPN.com's Ian Begley: "You shouldn't be playing 20 minutes a game and not get a rebound. I mean, the Coke machine can get a rebound some nights."

Yet, it seems Williams has turned a corner. He might just have achieved the mental acuity and maturity necessary to have success in the NBA, and he still has those physical gifts that wowed scouts in college. 

In preseason, he sparkled. He averaged 16.2 points and 3.8 rebounds, shooting 56.7 percent from the field and 43.5 percent from three-point range. This eclipses anything he's done in his professional career. Last season in Sacramento, he averaged only 8.3 points, 2.7 boards, 44.7 percent from the field and a paltry 31.4 percent from long range.

In the season opener versus the Milwaukee Bucks Wednesday night, Williams was dazzling again in the 122-97 victory. While Carmelo Anthony struggled to find the hoop, Williams took over as the team's leading scorer, dropping 24 points in 21 minutes. Plus, he tacked on seven rebounds, one block and one assist.

It was an impressive Knicks debut.

The athleticism is familiar—he has springs in his shoes—but the hustle and attitude are new. 

Cleanthony Early

Knicks small forward Cleanthony Early just couldn't string many great moves together during his rookie season. He'd do something gorgeous and clever and then immediately follow up with something clumsy and foolish. 

A pirouetting fast-break dunk and then a turnover off his foot. A slick alley-oop assist and then an ill-timed foul.    

You leaned back and whistled hoo-boy in approval and then slumped forward and groaned hooooo-boy in misery.

Last season, the NBA game just moved too fast for Early, and multiple injuries interrupted his efforts to get acclimated. In preseason, though, he looked sharper (maybe not quite like an NBA player, but closer), and his shooting efficiency was way up.

Versus the Boston Celtics on Oct. 16, Early scored 10 points, shooting 57.1 percent, and topped it off with two blocks. He followed that performance by dropping 17 on the Charlotte Hornets Oct. 17, shooting 58.3 percent and nabbing four rebounds.

Will that win him meaningful minutes?

Early only sneaked into Wednesday's season opener during garbage time. He scored the team's final bucket, a pretty fast-break layup off a backward dish by Langston Galloway.

Time will tell if Early will get more minutes. In an injury-prone league, he'll have plenty of opportunities to show whether he deserves them.

Carmelo Anthony

He's 31, a seven-time All-Star and has a scoring title. Yet, throughout his career, Carmelo Anthony has had a couple of blemishes on his record: weak defense and leadership.

This may be the season he scrubs those away.

Melo invited his teammates to Puerto Rico for a minicamp, according to Marcel Mutoni or Slam. He's taking Knicks rookie Kristaps Porzingis under his wing. He's cheering teammates on the sidelines and on the court. He's even asked coaches to hold him accountable for his defense, or lack thereof, per Begley: 

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"Call it out in the film session so everybody can see that and hear that. By them doing that, it kind of forces me to be at the top level of my game on both ends of the court," Anthony said after the Knicks' 94-88 preseason victory over the Sixers on Monday. "I think it brings the best out of me and if you bring the best out of me, I think it will bring the best out of everyone on the team."

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Of course, the star of the show doesn't really want his coaches putting him on blast. So in preseason, Anthony may have worked harder on defense than he has in his whole career.

He wasn't just guarding his own man; he was chipping in with help defense as well.

Over his career, Melo has averaged 0.5 blocks per game, but through the preseason, he averaged 1.2. He swatted down three in one game against the Boston Celtics alone and logged three steals against the Philadelphia 76ers. In Wednesday night's season opener, he tacked one block and one steal onto his stat sheet.

Let's not be surprised if it doesn't last, though. When the team starts to struggle, will Melo forget about that whole teamwork thing and try to score all the points himself? By Q3, when his minutes are stacking up and his legs are getting sore, will he be too weary to bother with defense? 

It's possible. But what we're seeing from Anthony right now is something we've never seen from him before. Let's try to believe in the dream.

Follow Sara Peters on Twitter @3FromThe7.