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By Kelly Dwyer
Last year's record? 29-53, missed playoffs
Significant departures? David Lee(notes), Al Harrington(notes), Chris Duhon(notes).
Significant arrivals? Amar'e Stoudemire(notes), Raymond Felton(notes), Anthony Randolph(notes), Kelenna Azubuike(notes), Ronny Turiaf(notes).
Projected record, as predicted three months ago in time to publish in Yahoo! Sports' NBA Preview Magazine? 41-41
Why I think that sounds about right?
Whoa, I wrote that? Forty-one wins? July was a strange month, man.
This is a team full of shooters, who will shoot a lot, but not expertly. Danilo Gallinari(notes), Azubuike (recovering from a major knee injury), Felton and Wilson Chandler(notes) can all get streaky-hot from outside, but none of them are the 40 percent lights-out guys that you want in that role. Amar'e is a master in the pick and roll, but so was David Lee; and as awful in every respect as Chris Duhon was last season, the man can throw a bounce pass. Felton? Not as sure about that.
But there's something about this team. I don't know if I'm drooling over the thought of Stoudemire, Randolph and Danilo on the break, or if I'm too smitten with the changes. I'm not coach Mike D'Antoni's biggest fan, I know Randolph is still as raw as he was two years ago, and that Danilo tends to be consistently overrated (Dirk Nowitzki(notes) averaged 22 and nine at Danilo's current age, you think Gallinari is ready for that?), but the depth is intriguing.
And I think Turiaf, of the crazy shot-blocking skills, will really surprise people at center.
Why I think I could be terribly, terribly wrong?
Because I just picked the Knicks to win half their games.
They won't defend well, and they won't be nearly as efficient offensively as they need to be to make up for that.
Perhaps I'm relying on just about everything going right. And sometimes, as you saw to a far greater extent in Oklahoma City last year (when nobody missed time with injuries), things go perfectly. Toss in a season sweep of the Raptors, three out of four from the Sixers and Hawks, and a few stolen wins from the Bulls, Celtics, Pacers ... those things add up.
Do they add up to 41 wins? I think a lot of that rests on Felton and Randolph. Felton hasn't had options like this since college, and these passes have to be absolutely on point. And Randolph has to start scratching that potential; because while Mike D'Antoni might be the perfect coach for him, we also said the same thing about Don Nelson.
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