The New York Knicks roster for 2021-22 is all but set.
It was a busy offseason that saw NY bring back almost all of last year’s squad while adding new players Kemba Walker and Evan Fournier as well as rookies Quentin Grimes, Miles McBride, and Jericho Sims.
New York Knicks: Stats Projections for 2021-22
The New York Knicks improved their roster this season, but so did a lot of teams. As of now, a safe prediction would be that the Milwaukee Bucks, Brooklyn Nets, and Philadelphia 76ers will retain hold of the top 3 seeds. After that it gets messy.
The Knicks, Hawks, Heat, and Celtics are all presumed playoff teams. That doesn’t take into account the rising Chicago Bulls and Charlotte Hornets, as well as “wildcard” teams such as the Toronto Raptors, Washington Wizards, and Indiana Pacers.
The Tom Thibodeau-led Knicks are going to stick to the philosophy that led to a lot of their success last season – defense. This team isn’t going to change its identity.
A suffocating, energy-draining defensive scheme and a slower, isolation-heavy offense.
However, there is reason to believe that NY can have a more dynamic offense this upcoming season.
Replacing Elfrid Payton and Reggie Bullock with Evan Fournier and Kemba Walker in their starting lineup does wonders for the team’s offensive projection in just about every statistical model.
NY has some good problems to have on their roster. These “good problems” include finding minutes for young rookies and sophomores who are playing behind a deep roster, allocating minutes between point guards Kemba Walker and Derrick Rose, and figuring out late-game lineups and choosing between players like Barrett, Fournier, and Burks for certain spots.
In these projections, I’m factoring in missed games. I can’t predict injuries but I can use recent history as something to factor into a player’s projection. These factor into projections. For example, there are going to be some Immanuel Quickley 30 minute games this season because there could be a few games where the team is missing both Alec Burks and Kemba Walker.
Let’s get into it.