New York Knicks First Quarter Season Grades
Check out our first quarter player grades for the New York Knicks.
The New York Knicks are officially through a quarter of the 2016-17 season. The Knicks currently have a 12-10 record and are in sixth place in the Eastern Conference. The team is still working out some of the kinks, but they are beginning to show progress with a new head coach and virtually new roster.
The Knicks brought in plenty of new faces from last season. Carmelo Anthony, Kristaps Porzingis, Kyle O’Quinn, Lance Thomas, and Sasha Vujacic are the only players that returned. The roster upgraded in a big way talent wise, with the first move being a trade with the Chicago Bulls. The Knicks netted Derrick Rose and Justin Holiday, two main contributors in their rotation.
They filled out their starting lineup with Courtney Lee and Joakim Noah and then got creative with their bench. The Knicks landed Brandon Jennings for a steal on a one-year, $5 million contract and did well finding value elsewhere.
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Willy Hernangomez, a 2015 second round pick, was brought over from Europe. Lithuania native Mindaugas Kuzminskas and undrafted free agents Ron Baker and Marshall Plumlee rounded out the end of the bench with Maurice Ndour.
Add in Jeff Hornacek as the new leading man and there was a lot of work to do for the Knicks. They did not have a full training camp as Rose and Noah were both away from the team, making the early part of the regular season an extended training camp. Things were ugly at times once the games began to count, but the Knicks have gotten some things figured out and it shows in their win-loss record.
There is still plenty of work to do, evident from the shellacking they took from the Cleveland Cavaliers. But, they are certainly making progress in some areas. Check out our player grades for the team at the quarter point of the season.