New York Knicks' Most Disappointing Players So Far This Season

No one player shoulders the blame for the New York Knicks' woeful start, as so many of them have performed below expectations.

Given Phil Jackson's roster maneuvering over the summer and Derek Fisher embarking on his first-ever season of coaching, the Knicks were bound to experience some growing pains. Even so, a 4-14 record is brutal for an organization that brought back Carmelo Anthony on a superstar deal just below the max, per ESPN New York's Ian Begley.

Nothing the Knicks have done has worked so far. They have yet to figure out how to create and make efficient shots out of the triangle, and beyond Iman Shumpert, no one has been even an average defender, let alone a plus one. Watching them play, the fact they are 22nd in the league in offensive efficiency and 26th in defensive efficiency is sobering but not surprising.

In that poor performance, precious few bright spots have shone through: Melo has still been New York's workhorse, Shump is playing his best two-way ball of his career, and Amar'e Stoudemire is finishing inside like a young'un again.

As for the other Knicks, their play has ranged from middling to just detrimental; how disappointing that reality is depends on what was expected of each particular individual in question.

5. J.R. Smith

Tony Gutierrez/Associated Press

In 2012-13, his first full Knicks campaign, J.R. Smith put up 18.1 points and 5.3 rebounds per game en route to the Sixth Man of the Year award. The 6'6", 225-pound guard began the next year banged up and regressed to 14.5 and 4.0, though he still knocked down just a tick under 40 percent of his threes.

Thus far, the 29-year-old is shooting less than 40 percent from the field overall and hitting just 28 percent from beyond the arc. In 25 minutes per game, he's managing just 9.0 points and 2.2 rebounds, though his 3.4 assists would rank as a new career high if he sustains that rate.

Smith's willingness to dish the rock at least represents an earnest attempt to play within the triangle rather than lean on hero-ball tactics that clog up the offense and tend to result in long, off-balance twos. Not that he has excised the overdribbling altogether, but he's not hijacking multiple possessions per game.

The triangular learning curve is not being kind to Smith. Even when he gets open looks, his shot does not come out crisp and confident. That will likely change with time, but that also means ineffective Earl could be around a while longer.

4. Samuel Dalembert

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Over the summer, Marc Cornstein, agent to Samuel Dalembert, sang his client's praises to Marc Berman of the New York Post. The Knicks had just decided not to waive the 6'11", 255-pound center after acquiring him from the Dallas Mavericks, making him the new man in the middle to replace the dealt Tyson Chandler.

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'In terms of fit, I’m not Derek Fisher, but I think he is still a great rim protector first, brings defense which is something the Knicks can use,' Cornstein said. 'Especially with the triangle, he can fit well. I thought he’s an underrated offensive player. He’s got a pretty good touch when you look at his free-throw and field-goal percentage.'

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Cornstein didn't entirely oversell his guy. The 33-year-old Dalembert does lead all Knicks with 1.4 blocks per game and has been the only reliable rim protector on the roster. Even so, his matador style of interior D has clear drawbacks; for every stuff from behind he gets on a would-be scorer, his plodding feet allow others to attack around him for unimpeded buckets.

Offense has been a similarly mixed adventure.

Yes, his mid-range jumper does go in more than it looks like it will; he's 11-of-21 on mid-range attempts. Unfortunately, he hasn't limited himself to spot-up shooting when he's away from the rim. He has zero viable moves in the tricky non-restricted area of the paint, and his 4-of-24 shooting from there torpedoes his surprising mid-range productivity. His stone hands turn further scoring opportunities into fumbling messes.

There's plenty to like about Dalembert, but that just makes the drawbacks that much more maddening.

3. Cleanthony Early

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During summer league, Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders asked whether the Knicks had gotten the steal of the draft in Cleanthony Early, noting "he can be a rare second-round player who emerges as a difference-maker right away."

In New York's first 11 games, the 23-year-old Early got run in just seven of them before going down for at least a month due to arthroscopic surgery, per Mark Berman of the New York Post. When he was healthy, his 7.7 minutes per game were still least on the team—trailing Travis Wear, who went undrafted and wasn't on the initial Vegas roster.

While he was able to man both forward spots at Wichita State, Early's 6'8", 220-pound frame is too slight to withstand professional post play. That restricts him to small forward duty on a wing-heavy team, at which point he's the least dynamic and reliable option New York has there.

Early doesn't have Wear's quick comfort with positioning and moving the ball within the triangle, and all of his shooting success—it's a small sample bias, but he's hitting 40 percent from deep—has come in the throes of garbage time.

With some bulk and experience, Early still has enough talent to make good on some of the hype surrounding his selection. But it turns out the guy who was expected to contribute immediately is actually going to be a project.

2. Jason Smith

Tony Gutierrez/Associated Press

With his steady touch from mid-range and an awareness of his own strengths, Jason Smith seems on paper like a modest but appreciated antidote to Andrea Bargnani—he of the overzealous jump shooting and flailing ambition.

Knicks fans would love that yeoman version of Smith. Instead, they got a true 7-footer who's a less capable defender than Bargs is and whose mid-range jumper is the only thing he has even resembling a strength.

Of his 104 field-goal attempts, only 12 have come inside of eight feet, and he converted just four of those. The 28-year-old big has no off-the-bounce game when he faces up, so he can't get himself to the cup, and he has no touch to finish inside when he lucks into possession down low.

So Smith is essentially a spot-up threat who is stationed inside the arc. Even though he has hit 50 percent from eight feet and out, opposing defenses won't fret 15-footers too much, and they hurt New York's spacing more than they help; Smith's man has to pay him close attention, but he can flash into the lane to help without much difficulty.

His own defensive work is just a mess. At least Bargs has the athleticism to contain a big who is trying to post him up. Smith has the size to bother guys, but he lacks the strength or the speed to position himself to stop anyone inside. Drivers and quicker bigs circumnavigate him without incident, and bangers bully him for close-range scores and boards; Smith has pulled in just 2.3 rebounds per game in 16.4 minutes.

At least Bargnani can body his man and attempt multiple things on offense, offering a rare high ceiling to go along with his low floor. Smith's peak falls a cut blow Bargs' by design, but it turns out his floor is even lower.

1. Tim Hardaway Jr.

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Following a promising rookie showing, Tim Hardaway Jr. was supposed to continue his growth and flourish within an offense with actual structure. He'd keep raining treys, take advantage of one-on-one opportunities and shore up his poor defense.

Instead, a concerning alternative has presented itself: TH2 has a poor basketball IQ, 22 years of age be damned.

His shoddy defense betrayed that possibility dating back to 2013-14, and nothing has changed this year. Hardaway cannot track his man off the ball. In a simple man scenario, any screen will completely derail his efforts, and pump fakes and other feints can similarly leave him flummoxed. He shows no signs of progressing toward being even a passable NBA defender.

This would not be especially alarming in his sophomore season if he weren't struggling so much within the triangle.

His smoothness around the rim remains, as the 6'6", 210-pound shooting guard has shot 68 percent within the restricted area. But transition opportunities supplement half-court drives in that stat. From everywhere else, Hardaway has gone 35-of-108, which is good for 32 percent; his rate from beyond the arc is 32 percent as well.

Whereas J.R. Smith has tried to pass and do what he can to help the offense, Hardaway has been entirely lost. Like Jason Smith, he can only produce with his scoring; the combination of his poor passing skills and his lack of comprehension of Fisher's strategy prohibits Hardaway from finding his fit within the offense. Getting into a shooting rhythm is much more difficult when other responsibilities constantly destabilize him.

He has the ability to develop into a very good 2-guard, but it's becoming unclear whether he has what it takes to improve himself within the system New York now runs. Plus, his defense could be a career-long Achilles' heel.

All stats via NBA.com.

Josh Cohen writes about the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter @arealjoshcohen.