We can all agree that the Knicks should be able to win more than 17 games this season. The roster is fresh and Carmelo Anthony is healthy. Plus, they have a Kristaps Porzingis. Of the 30 teams in the NBA, the Knicks are the only team with a Porzingis. New York is back, baby.
But how many more games, though? A lot if you let Derek Fisher tell it. Ever the optimist even following the disaster with Matt Barnes, Fisher thought this year's Knicks is sort of like the 2014-15 Atlanta Hawks.
''If rebuilding for us is based on the fact that we don't have a certain caliber of player on our roster quote-unquote other than Carmelo, so people assume that we're rebuilding,'' he said to the Associated Press. ''But was Atlanta rebuilding last year when they didn't have that quote-unquote player on their roster?''
So, to spell it out, the Knicks could go 60-22 and avoid another rebuilding season. Fisher's a bit inaccurate, though; if the "certain caliber" he's referring to is All-Star caliber, it should be noted that Atlanta is just the eighth team in NBA history to send four players to the All-Star Game.
That said, if Fisher is right, the Knicks' season will end in crippling heartbreak. Atlanta clinched the No. 1 seed only to get chewed up and swept by the Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Finals.
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[via Yahoo Sports]
