Are the Nets or Knicks the Best Team in New York?

The New York Knicks and the Brooklyn Nets are ready to battle for the city of New York like never before. Literally. For the first time they'll both be playing in New York City and alluring fans. 

What was once considered impossible is now actually happening. Lifelong Knicks fans living in Brooklyn are buying Nets jerseys. Granted, many are Knicks fans, but they are pretty clearly making the Nets their "second-favorite" team. 

When all is said and done, will some of them replace the Knicks with the Nets as their personal favorites? It could come down to who wins the intercity battle this year. 

The Knicks are, for the most part, the same team they were last season. They are also in many ways a completely different team than they were last year. 

They will feature their three most important players from last year in Carmelo Anthony, Amar'e Stoudemire and Tyson Chandler. Key bench players Steve Novak and J.R. Smith will be returning as well, though it is likely that Smith will step into the starting shooting guard spot. 

The key additions are the two new point guards on the roster, Raymond Felton and Jason Kidd. Felton played well in his previous, albeit brief, stint in New York. However, since leaving New York he has devoured at least three bakeries and two bakers. 

He also won't be running Mike D'Antoni's system anymore. It is ironic to me that when trying to downplay the loss of Jeremy Lin, some try and point to the fact that he was more successful under D'Antoni but omit the fact that Felton's most successful games came in D'Antoni's system. 

In other words, there's no reason to believe that Felton will run Mike Woodson's system better than Lin did. The problem is Carmelo Anthony's isolation mentality; it doesn't matter who the point guard is. 

It's hard to see how the Knicks will be a top-tier playoff team next season but they should improve on their seventh seed. A fifth seed isn't out of the question. 

So how good are the Nets after acquiring Joe Johnson? Better than the Knicks? That's a tough question to answer. 

Certainly they'll have a better backcourt. They'll have a huge advantage at both backcourt positions. The Knicks, however, will have the superior frontcourt. 

When we look at the comparison it does seem that the Nets are a more balanced team. They have a playmaker who can handle the rock, they have a player who can hit perimeter shots, they have a rebounding machine in Kris Humphries who makes up for the fact that center Brook Lopez can't rebound a lick (he has 5.8 rebounds per game over the last two years). 

The pieces on Brooklyn's roster fit together well, or at least better than the pieces on the Knicks' roster. 

The Nets will be a better team next year and I think they'll land a the fourth seed. If my predictions come true then we could see an opening round playoff series between the Nets and Knicks, a battle for bragging rights in New York.