The New York Knicks are hoping that the upcoming NBA season looks very different than the last one.
There were many people who expected the team to storm through the Eastern Conference last season, but that didn’t end up happening and the Knicks actually missed the playoffs entirely.
This came less than a year after their star player, Julius Randle, won the NBA’s Most Improved Player Award, and the team pushed into the middle of the Eastern Conference standings.
The team has made one huge changed during this offseason but a lot of other features of the Knicks have remained the same.
Will that be enough to get things back on track?
NBA analyst and former Knicks coach Jeff Van Gundy isn’t so sure.
Jeff Van Gundy isn’t sold on the Knicks quite yet. 😳 https://t.co/IdIecnu3RZ pic.twitter.com/xpSUWkFmve
— theScore (@theScore) September 8, 2022
“The Knicks have good players, but you line it up against the competition in the East, and this roster is not at the same level,” Van Gundy said.
He continued: “They’re not even close to a lock for the play-in. A lot has to go right.”
Van Gundy knows better than most people so does this mean New York is still in trouble?
Knicks In Need
The biggest change the Knicks made this offseason was a substantial one: they signed Jalen Brunson, who will now be the team’s front-and-center point guard.
He is a superb, up-and-coming player but still untested in some ways.
It also remains to be seen how he fits in with the team’s current roster, which remains largely unchanged.
Some people feel that last season was just a fluke and the squad will get back on track again in the upcoming season.
Others think 2021-22 was a troubling sign of things to come.