New York Knicks: Ranking the 5 most disappointing seasons since 2010

1) Knicks most disappointing seasons: 2013-14

Record: 37-45 (9th in East)

Coming in at number one is the most disappointing Knicks team of the 2010s: the good ole 2013-14 Knicks. Fresh off a 54 win season, where the Knicks made the second round, the Knicks looked to carry that momentum into another playoff run that year.

Well, that is not how it panned out.

The Knicks entered an offseason where they needed to improve the defense and add a shot creator to take a significant burden off of Carmelo Anthony, who willed the worn-out veteran Knicks in the playoffs.

Glen Grunwald took Tim Hardaway Jr. with the 24th pick to add some shot creation and perimeter shooting. He extended Pablo Prigioni and J.R. Smith, signed Beno Udrih, and signed Metta World Peace! Although his offensive game was not what it once was, the New Yorker was a tough and gritty defender. He only played 29 games and averaged 4.8 points, though.

Grunwald tried to make the most of the Knicks’ limited cap room because of Amare’s salary eating into the books, but one of his moves that offseason will forever live in infamy.

He traded for Andrea Bargnani, giving up Steve Novak, Marcus Camby, Quentin Richardson, two second-round picks, and a first-round pick to the Toronto Raptors. With Amare in tow and Carmelo playing his best basketball at the four the season prior, nobody knew what was going on in Grunwald’s head at the time. We will leave the story of Andrea Bargnani for a later date, but he was not very good.

Before the season started, J.R. Smith was suspended for failing an NBA registered drug test for marijuana use. The reigning Sixth Man of the Year would miss the first five games of the season.

After a 1-3 start, Tyson Chandler broke his right leg and missed six weeks of action. The Knicks severely missed his defensive presence and fell significantly below .500, including a nine-game losing streak that pushed them to 4-13.

The injury bug only started with Chandler and tore through the Knicks in December. Raymond Felton missed 12 games in a 13 game span due to a sore hamstring. Iman Shumpert bruised his knee in a win over the Chicago Bulls and was limited in play for the next few weeks. Pablo Prigioni broke his toe in a double-overtime win over the Milwaukee Bucks and was out for a month. The Knicks started to gain momentum in late December, but Carmelo Anthony missed three games, and the Knicks fell apart in those games, losing by a combined 56 points. They got destroyed by the Thunder on Christmas by 29 points.

In January, the Knicks won five straight, lost five straight, won four straight, going 10-6 in the month to improve to 19-27 overall.

Then in February, Kenyon Martin’s season was over after playing 32 games and averaging 4.3 points and 4.2 rebounds. The Knicks were 7-8 when he started, but a nagging ankle injury in January ended his season and a two-year stint with the Knicks.

The Knicks stunk in February, going 2-11 and lost seven straight games, pushing their record to 21-40 in early March. Iman Shumpert sprained a ligament in his left knee, and Metta World Peace and Beno Udrih were waived.

Then, Phil Jackson was hired as President of Basketball Operations! I hope this piece does a good job of capturing how bad Phil Jackson was, but New Yorkers were excited that the great Zen Master was managing the Knicks.

The Knicks had won eight straight games after their abysmal seven-game losing streak. The Knicks caught fire and finished the season 16-5, rallying for the playoffs. However, they missed the playoffs by a game to the 38-44 Atlanta Hawks.

Usually, when a team takes a significant step back from the prior year, the best player was either hurt or regressed. That was not the case for the Knicks as Carmelo Anthony was just as good as the year before, averaging 27.4 points and 8.1 rebounds in 77 games. The injuries crippled the team around him and held the Knicks back. The fact that Carmelo nearly pushed this team to the playoffs was incredible.

Amare Stoudemire, Tyson Chandler, J.R. Smith, and Raymond Felton all regressed significantly. The injury gods punished the Knicks all season, and the team got hot way too late.

The Knicks looked unstoppable late that season, and the Pacers, who were the first seed, seemed extremely vulnerable in the playoffs. Roy Hibbert was a shell of himself, and the Pacers squeaked out a seven-game series win over the eight seed Atlanta Hawks. The Knicks most definitely would have made it a series if they made the playoffs. Coming off a 54-28 season and the fact that they could have made a run makes the 2013-14 season an utter disappointment.

If you felt we missed a season or another season should have been included in the top five, comment below or visit Daily Knicks on Twitter!