New York Knicks Power Rankings: Evaluating Full Roster After First 6 Weeks
The New York Knicks are in the early stages of their rebuilding project, and as such there should still be a strong focus on evaluating the talent on the roster.
As it stands, the Knicks have only five players on the books for the 2015-16 season, so there will be plenty of decisions to be made about who is and isn't worth keeping and what additions need to be made.
There's no denying that the team has been terrible collectively to this point, but in a year like this, it's important to analyze performances on an individual level, too. Let's go through and rank the entire roster based on the play so far.
11-15
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15. Andrea Bargnani: Having not played a game this season, Bargnani is last by default. He currently has no timetable to return after straining a calf muscle, according to the New York Daily News.
14. Cole Aldrich: There were hopes that Aldrich could at least develop into a significant role player in 2014-15, but so far he's struggled to even crack the rotation despite the Knicks' lack of production at center.
13. Travis Wear: Making the team was an achievement in and of itself for Wear, but he's been fairly ineffective in the few minutes he's played.
12. Cleanthony Early: Early had played only 54 minutes before requiring knee surgery in mid-November, but he did have an impressive 12-point cameo against the Brooklyn Nets on November 7.
11. Shane Larkin: Before Jose Calderon's return to action, Larkin had been starting for the Knicks. He struggled tremendously but at least showed flashes of being a decent bench player, which is about all you could realistically ask for at this point.
10. Quincy Acy
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The fact that Quincy Acy is playing a career-high 22.5 minutes per game is more of a testament to the lack of talent on the Knicks roster than a sign of him stepping up as a quality role player.
To be fair to Acy, he is a former second-round pick who is making just $1.2 million. With that in mind, he's been great value for the money. His aggressive style of play and rebounding ability are more than you could typically expect to get for that money.
As a player who has started the majority of New York's games this season, however, Acy has not been good. Very few teams can get away with relying so heavily on a player like Acy, and this has proved to be the case for the Knicks. He's averaging just 5.6 points and 5.6 rebounds per game—numbers that don't particularly stand out in any way.
Acy can't be blamed for the role he's been put into. Before this season, he had never even started an NBA game. For the sake of these rankings, however, it's difficult to put him any higher given his lack of production.
9. Samuel Dalembert
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Anyone who thought Samuel Dalembert could replicate or at least get close to the performance of Tyson Chandler over the past few years must be sorely disappointed at his output so far.
Dalembert is averaging a career-low 4.1 points and 5.5 rebounds per game, and even defensively he has been virtually non-existent.
For his career, he has never been much more than a middling starting center, and he's now reached the stage where he needs to be coming off the bench.
At this point, Dalembert is an expiring $4 million contract, and that's about it. He's been completely ineffective, and on the court he is bringing nothing much to the table right now other than his 6'11" height.
8. Pablo Prigioni
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Pablo Prigioni is quietly having his best scoring season as a Knick, putting up 10.5 points per 36 minutes on 49 percent shooting (including 48 percent from downtown).
Unfortunately, his assists have gone down from 6.5 assists per 36 minutes to just 3.9, which is a clear sign of the lack of talent on the roster. Prigioni isn't necessarily the type of player who makes others better; he's the type of player who helps good players mesh—a subtle difference that's easy to notice when he's on a bad team.
Prigioni is under contract for next season (although his salary is only partially guaranteed), but frankly it's unlikely that he's going to be a particularly important player for too long into the future.
By the time the Knicks can actually make use of a player like Prigioni, he'll be near retirement—he'd be of much more use to a contender, and from a long-term perspective the Knicks may be better off with a second-round pick acquired via a trade, for example.
7. J.R. Smith
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Just a couple of years ago, J.R. Smith appeared to have turned things around after winning the Sixth Man of the Year award, but his play in 2013-14 and so far this year have all but confirmed that he's stuck in his inconsistent ways.
Smith is averaging just 9.2 points per game, making this his worst scoring season since 2006. His field-goal percentage is back under 40 percent, again for the first time since 2006.
At this point in his career, he should be in his prime, but the reality has been quite the opposite. It's a surprise that he's even still playing ahead of Tim Hardaway Jr., but one can only assume that he's being featured in the hopes that he steps up and increases his trade value.
Smith is under contract for 2015-16, but if they can help it, the Knicks should look to get rid of him to save cap space. A trade that brings anything of value in return would be difficult to pull off, but frankly getting someone to take his contract would be addition by subtraction.
6. Tim Hardaway Jr.
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For a player who is expected to be a big part of the Knicks future, Tim Hardaway Jr. has not played enough minutes this season.
He is averaging just 17.6 minutes per night, behind the likes of Shane Larkin, Quincy Acy and Pablo Prigioni. He is the third-string shooting guard behind Iman Shumpert and J.R. Smith.
What we have seen from Hardaway is mostly in line with what we've come to expect from his rookie season. He's averaging 17.8 points per 36 minutes, although his shooting percentage has dropped from 43 percent to 41 percent.
It's worth noting that he is averaging 15.9 points on 48 percent from the field in games in which he's played more than 20 minutes. Those numbers are a clear sign of what he can do when given reasonable playing time, and taking into account the Knicks' struggles so far, it's about time Derek Fisher increased his role.
5. Jason Smith
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Jason Smith would be the perfect glue guy on a good team. He can hit the mid-range jumper consistently, rebounds well and is at least mildly competent on the defensive end.
With the Knicks, however, he's been relied upon as the team's premier big outside of Amar'e Stoudemire, and in recent weeks he's struggled to play that role.
Still, Smith's 14.3 points per 36 minutes on 47 percent shooting have proved to be great value for the money, and that should be taken into account with these rankings.
Obviously, he is not going to be a major building block for the Knicks, especially at age 28, but if he continues to play at a decent level, it wouldn't hurt to bring him back for $3 million again next season.
4. Jose Calderon
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While Jose Calderon's return hasn't turned around the Knicks' fortunes, his play on an individual level has been solid.
Through six games, he is averaging 13.2 points and 5.4 assists per 36 minutes—numbers that are almost identical to those he put up with the Dallas Mavericks last season. He's about as consistent as they come, and the numbers show it.
Calderon is also shooting a very efficient 47 percent from the field (including 52 percent from deep), which is something the Knicks were really missing with Larkin at the point.
As he and his teammates get used to one another, there should be a noticeable difference in the Knicks' performance with him in the lineup. It may not be enough to elevate them into the playoffs, but it would be surprising to see them continue to lose at this rate.
Calderon has no upside, but he also doesn't appear to be slowing down any time soon. The Knicks may look for a younger upgrade at point guard this summer, but they can rest easy knowing they have Calderon under contract to fall back on if they can't find a better alternative. In the triangle offense, he's a nice fit.
3. Amar'e Stoudemire
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It's been understood for a long time now that Amar'e Stoudemire is overpaid. In the last year of his albatross contract, it's very easy to view him as nothing more than walking cap space for 2015.
Despite this, it's impressive that STAT has been able to overcome injuries and reinvent himself as one of the better backups in the league, which he has done for the last couple of years and continues to do in 2014-15.
Stoudemire is averaging a very efficient 18.6 points per 36 minutes on 56 percent from the field. His player efficiency rating of 20.7 also leads the Knicks roster, per Basketball-Reference.com.
The Knicks are almost certainly going to be waiving their rights to Stoudemire this summer to clear his cap hold, and that should signal the end of his stint with New York. It would be nice, however, to see him back on a more reasonable contract—like maybe the mid-level exception—and he's certainly proved he can play a role on this team, even if it's not as big of a role as was intended back in 2010.
2. Iman Shumpert
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Iman Shumpert has not yet reached his full potential, but he's making serious strides in 2014-15, and that's been one of the few things worth watching so far from the Knicks.
He is averaging 13.6 points, 4.8 rebounds and 4.3 assists per 36 minutes, splitting time between both guard spots (although primarily being deployed at the 2). He's also shooting a career-high 42 percent from the field.
Though it has done little to change the team's direction on that end of the floor, Shumpert has also been one of New York's better defenders, as we've come to expect from him.
If nothing else goes right for the Knicks this season, they can take solace in the fact that Shumpert has stepped up under the new regime. He really struggled to establish himself under Mike Woodson in 2013-14, but he is back on track as the franchise's marquee prospect.
It will be expensive to keep Shumpert, who is a restricted free agent in 2015, but it's worth doing. The odds are already against the Knicks to make a blockbuster signing, and they may actually be better off bringing back Shumpert, making a couple of second-tier signings and using their draft pick (which right now will be in the lottery) wisely instead.
1. Carmelo Anthony
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Carmelo Anthony is the Knicks' best player, and his production—despite being a little below par for his standards—proves it.
You could make the case that New York's record should reflect poorly on him, but it's difficult to blame him when he's been starting alongside Acy, Larkin and Dalembert (all of whom are averaging less than six points per game) for much of the season.
Anthony does need to improve as a leader and has plenty of work to do integrating himself into the triangle. Putting him in the top spot doesn't absolve him of that. It does, however, acknowledge that he's a great player, and that despite being the face of the franchise, the team's poor performance can't fall squarely on him given the lack of surrounding talent.
Melo is averaging 23.2 points per game (as opposed to an average of 26.3 points per game during his career as a Knick) but is also shooting 45 percent—which is right in line with his career average.
Considering he had a huge slump in early November (shooting just 28 percent in a three-game stretch against the Washington Wizards, Detroit Pistons and Brooklyn Nets), it's actually fairly impressive that Anthony has been able to raise his numbers to this level.
As the season continues, we should expect his individual production to increase, but we also need to see him doing more as a leader. There's no threat of him being knocked off the top spot, but as New York's $124 million man, he needs to do more than simply be the best player on the team.
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