Knicks Future

So the trade has finally gone down.  The Knicks send Wilson Chandler, Raymond Felton, Danilo Gallinari, Timofey Mozgov and a 2014 first-round draft pick to the Nuggets, who will get additional picks and cash, sources said.  Along with Anthony, New York gets Chauncey Billups, Shelden Williams, Anthony Carter and Renaldo Balkman from Denver.  Multiple media reports say that the additional picks the Nuggets will get are two second-round selections that the Knicks acquired from Golden State.  The Minnesota Timberwolves got involved to help New York clear salary space to accomodate its new players. The Knicks ship Anthony Randolph, the expiring contract of Eddy Curry and $3 million to the Wolves in exchange for Corey Brewer, according to multiple media reports.  This leaves the Knicks with:

PG: Billups, Tony Douglas, Anthony Carter
SG: Landry Feilds, Corey Brewer, Azubuike
SF:  Melo, Bill Walker, Shawne Williams
PF: Stoudamire, Sheldon Williams, Renaldo Balkman
C: Ronny Turiaf

This means besides two purely offensive superstars and two serviceable players (Billups and Fields), one on his way up and one on his way down, the rest of the Knicks are absolutely TERRIBLE.  Stoudamire will have to fill in at Center, as he has much of this season, and Melo will have to play PF as they have zero front court depth.  They also now have the same problem that Heat have this year, their big 2 players playing style just do not match up.  They both need the ball in their hands, don't pass much, and are not off ball type players, and neither play much D at all.  For this to really work, if possible at all, what they need is a new coach.

Mike D'Antoni teams are always fun to watch and can beat any team on any given night, but they are not made to win series in the playoffs.  To win championships you have to play D and stop other teams from scoring when you get cold, no 100% offensive minded team has ever won a championship.  The Knicks need a defensive minded coach like Thibodeau who can get non-defensive players to buy into his system.  The biggest problem  for the Knicks is D'Antoni will get enough W's, excite enough fans, and win enough playoff games that firing him will never look like a good option.  He is competent enough to not get fired but not great enough to win anything.

Along with coaching, the team is gambling its future on the new CBA agreement.  Since they have no depth, no draft picks, and no real young talent, what they need is another star.  Knicks will have to hope the CBA salary cap will allow them to get one of the huge PGs (D Williams or CP3) via free agency in '12 offseason or through a trade this offseason.  They also need some defensive role players (Chuck Hayes?) and an official big defensive 5 (Perkins? Dalembert?) through free agency this upcoming offseason.  For everything to work out would probably also entail Melo not taking the maximum extensions.  This move has guaranteed the Knicks will make the playoffs for the foreseeable future, but for them to be real contenders they need a whole lot of others things to fall in their favor.