What Can the New York Knicks Expect from Baron Davis?

With the New York Knicks struggling for answers, Mike D'Antoni must turn to a player whose only consistency is that he is inconsistent. 

Baron Davis is the NBA's best impersonation of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. 

With a basketball in his hands, he is a beautiful yet bewildering blend of the two aforementioned fictional characters, displaying the intellectual side of Dr. Jekyll as well as the savage ferocity of Mr. Hyde.

Both characters make an appearance, yet he has become more and more like Mr. Hyde as his career slogs on, with his unpredictability often being a monstrous distraction to his team.

In a recent interview, he said all the right things, making many Knicks' fans mouths water at the possibility of what he can bring to the hardwood.

Ideally, Davis has all of the qualities that suggest the Knicks' quest for a quintessential point guard should come to a screeching halt.

However, the painful reality for Knicks' fans and possibly even more so for Mike D'Antoni is that Davis is a shell of his former self.

Although he can certainly make a bigger difference than the other parade of point guards the Knicks have tinkered with this year, the bigger question is whether or not he can stay on the court.

While Davis' skills fit D'Antoni's system perfectly, the mustachioed coach must realize Davis' physical limitations and will only be able to unleash him on opponents for 20-25 minutes a game.

While many Knicks fans hope Davis can spearhead a renaissance for the Knicks similar to that of the 2007 "We Believe Warriors" campaign, unfortunately his impact will likely be much less triumphant.

Certainly his mentoring of the Knicks youngsters proves that he may have taken another step towards maturity. Sadly, it may be too late, as the game he was once capable of—which the Knicks crave so badly—his body can no longer handle.

The excruciating fact of the matter is that the Knicks lack depth beyond their prized formidable frontcourt trio of Carmelo Anthony, Amar'e Stoudemire and Tyson Chandler, who are all injury prone. Therefore, Davis can, at best, only become a temporary solution to a long-term problem of depth that must be addressed in order to take the Knicks to the next level.