The New York Knicks aren’t expected to make noise in 2017-18, but there’s reason to believe this team can exceed expectations and make the playoffs.
Few are expecting the New York Knicks to make noise during the 2017-18 NBA regular season. Having lost franchise player Carmelo Anthony in a trade with the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Knicks are expected to take a step back from an already disappointing place.
With the 2017-18 season now underway, however, there’s reason to believe the Knicks will exceed expectations and make a run at the postseason.
New York is coming off of a season during which it went 31-51 and selected at No. 8 in the 2017 NBA Draft. Conventional wisdom states that a team will regress after losing its franchise player, thus implying that the Knicks will regress.
While that’s an entirely plausible theory that may ultimately prove true, beating the odds is something the current team may be able to do.
Led by head coach Jeff Hornacek and new franchise player Kristaps Porzingis, the Knicks have more talent than they’re given credit for. They also have strengths that may prove more valuable than the general population expects them to be.
The question is: What are the reasons to believe that the New York Knicks can make the playoffs come 2018?