New York Knicks: 5 Biggest Additions the Team Needs To Make

With two superstars in place and their first playoff berth in over a decade, there is finally a buzz infused back into the Madison Square Garden crowd again. Finally some hope, after fans constantly watched their team get annihilated game after game during the Isiah Thomas years.

Granted we still have the moronic James Dolan making decisions as the owner of the team, but hopefully one day someone will take over the team who has at least some more basketball knowledge than the lead singer of JD and The Straight Shot.

I know exactly what your thinking: He's ruined the Knicks several times—can't he just leave music alone? Trust me, I'm right there with you.

Aside from all the whimsical madness that always comes with Dolan's decisions, the Knicks still have two prime-time scorers, one of the savviest veteran point guards in the NBA and a great offensive innovator as a head coach (albeit a destroyer of defense—don't worry, we'll get there.)

So there is still hope in New York for the first time in quite some time and when the season does return to action, the Knicks will be ready to contend for a playoff spot once again and hopefully make it out of the first round.

Although there are certainly alternative plans to make the Knicks a better team, I believe that the following one works fairly well as it addresses their needs while complementing the current superstars they have already. If the plan is followed accordingly (which it never is with Dolan at the helm), the Knicks should improve greatly and at the very least, advance into the second round with their new team—finally coming one step closer to returning to the NBA Finals to win an NBA Championship.

5. Re-Sign Anthony Carter

While I know this move doesn't seem like a big one, keep in mind the salary cap is going to be a lot more stringent after the players and owners come to an agreement, whether the players want to admit it or not.

Bringing back Anthony Carter will help to provide veteran leadership, while also giving the team a gritty and experienced point guard who can come in off the bench and give solid minutes running the team the right way.

He will come very cheap and does all of the things the Knicks need him to do. He plays defense and unlike most of his teammates, he drives the ball anytime he wants to score. He doesn't shoot the ball from 40 feet out just because he's open.

Albeit a small move, bringing back Carter makes sense to preserve cap and give the Knicks another experienced player to help develop younger guards like Toney Douglas, Iman Shumpert and Landry Fields.

4. Re-Sign Shawne Williams

Shawne Williams was easily the feel-good story of the year for the Knicks last season, outside of them making the playoffs for the first time in a decade.

When Walsh was still with the team, he made a shrewd gut move by bringing in a troubled player who many doubted would be anything more than a distraction and end-of-the-bench contributor.

Luckily for Walsh and the Knicks, everyone misjudged the move and Williams turned out to be the most proficient three-point shooter on the entire team. He knocked down 40.1 percent of his threes, hitting 1.3 out of every 3.3 threes he attempted.

With Mike D'Antoni still in the coaching chair for now, Williams will prove to be a valuable asset, since he brings solid shooting, toughness and a lanky frame that may serve the Knicks well in the future on defense if he works at it enough.

3. Acquire Cole Aldrich from the Oklahoma City Thunder

Granted making a trade like this one sounds like a very odd acquisition considering Cole Aldrich saw little to no time last season, but that's exactly why the Knicks need to do it.

The player that I think Aldrich can become is similar to a Brian Cardinal-type, who hustles and makes solid defensive plays each time down the floor and draws charges extremely well.

While it sounds like an underwhelming comparison, the Knicks employed the clumsy Jared Jeffries last season and he is essentially a forward with a center's height.

If they could justify starting someone like Jeffries at center, then I think Aldrich deserves a chance. Granted the player who will start for the team comes later in the slideshow, but every team needs players to do the dirty work and that's exactly the kind of approach Aldrich takes when playing the game.

He is also extremely expendable since the Oklahoma City Thunder already have Kendrick Perkins, Nazr Mohmammed and a young project to develop in Byron Mullens who are all big men.

I believe Aldrich will give the Knicks the type of center they were looking for when they reached for Josh Harrelson in the second round, who I don't think will amount to much more than a D-League project.

2. Trade for Ramon Sessions

This is a move I've thought the Knicks should've made for a long time. This isn't the first time that Sessions has been linked to the Knicks either; a couple of years ago they almost signed him and things fell through for one reason or another and they missed out on him.

I think they would be able to acquire him for Toney Douglas and a second-rounder. While I am a huge supporter of what Douglas has brought to the Knicks—from his three-point shooting prowess to his much-needed ability to defend on an all-offensive team like the Knicks—I think Sessions is a better playmaker and could be the point guard of the future with the help of Chauncey Billups' tutelage.

I also believe Douglas is now more expendable since the Knicks drafted Iman Shumpert with the 17th overall pick in the 2011 NBA draft, because he is essentially a taller version of Douglas. Shumpert will work on his shot and improve it, and he brings solid defense and athleticism as well as more height than Douglas, as Shumpert stands at a height of 6'6" compared to Douglas' smaller measurements of 6'2".

1. Sign Nene Hilario

While I realize many will disagree with this move purely because it dips into the Knicks' ability to obtain someone like Dwight Howard or Chris Paul, there is a strong chance that the Knicks won't have the cap space to get either of those players after the new salary cap structure is decided upon.

Every Knicks fan remembers Nene with a disappointing realization of what he could've become had the Knicks not shipped him away in 2002 with Marcus Camby and Mark Jackson for Antonio McDyess and his creaky knees—a trade that makes less and less sense to this day.

However, the Knicks have a chance to make those nightmares go away by bringing Nene in and having him give them to someone else. Nene is an absolute beast in the paint and is the perfect complement to Amar'e Stoudemire.

The Knicks need to toughen up at the center position and adding someone like Nene gives them the ability to do that. He also brings a wealth of playoff experience with him and unlike DeAndre Jordan and Marc Gasol, he is an unrestricted free agent so it's his choice where he wants to play.

If the Knicks are able to bring Mike Woodson in as a defensive assistant coach to complement the offensive scheming of Mike D'Antoni, then I think the Knicks could be a very dangerous team, given that they make these changes, or similar ones like it.