Daily Knicks
Fansided

New York Knicks: 5 reasons Kristaps Porzingis will be an All-Star in 2017-18

By Maxwell Ogden

TARRYTOWN, NY - September 25: Kristaps Porzingis #6 of the New York Knicks poses for a portrait during Media Day on September 25, 2017 at the Knicks Practice Center in Tarrytown, New York. Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Steven Freeman/NBAE via Getty Images)
TARRYTOWN, NY - September 25: Kristaps Porzingis #6 of the New York Knicks poses for a portrait during Media Day on September 25, 2017 at the Knicks Practice Center in Tarrytown, New York. Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Steven Freeman/NBAE via Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
4 of 7
Next
TARRYTOWN, NY – September 25: Tim Hardaway Jr. #3, Kristaps Porzingis #6 and Frank Ntilikina #11 of the New York Knicks pose for a portrait during Media Day on September 25, 2017 at the Knicks Practice Center in Tarrytown, New York. Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Steven Freeman/NBAE via Getty Images)
TARRYTOWN, NY – September 25: Tim Hardaway Jr. #3, Kristaps Porzingis #6 and Frank Ntilikina #11 of the New York Knicks pose for a portrait during Media Day on September 25, 2017 at the Knicks Practice Center in Tarrytown, New York. Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Steven Freeman/NBAE via Getty Images) /

4. Potential Team Success

The New York Knicks lost franchise player Carmelo Anthony, but the postseason is a fair goal for the 2017-18 roster. Losing Anthony hurts, but New York returns an otherwise similar roster with a significantly stronger measure of depth.

If Kristaps Porzingis is able to lead the Knicks to a quality first half of the season, the team success should be influential in the decision about his All-Star status.

The Atlanta Hawks, Chicago Bulls, and Indiana Paces made playoffs in 2016-17, but all three lost their franchise players. That could create three openings in the Eastern Conference standings, which makes the postseason a realistic goal for New York.

Beyond the holes created in the standings is an encouraging reality that, despite losing Anthony, New York should be a better team.

Young players such as Porzingis, Willy Hernangomez, and Ron Baker should be better in 2017-18 than they were in 2016-17. Furthermore, New York has improved its depth and head coach Jeff Hornacek will run a more modern offense.

If that translates to team success, the odds are heavily in favor of Porzingis receiving praise and an All-Star Game appearance in honor of his leadership and contributions.

Home/Knicks News