Luka’s Corner

The Knicks made a splash on draft night when they acquired Zach Randolph, Fred Jones, and Dan Dickau from the Portland Trail Blazers. They definitely got the better of the trade, considering that they gave up only Channing Frye (unproven and inconsistent) and Steve Francis (past his prime and often injured). In Jones and Dickau, the Knicks received two solid guards that will take some of the pressure away from Stephon Marbury and Quentin Richardson. Jones can absolutely jump out of the gym, while Dickau is a confident backup ballhander. But, the real steal is Zach Randolph, who is coming off a career year in Portland. He averaged 23.6 PPG and 10.1 RPG, while also shooting 82% from the line (an impressive number for a PF). If Randolph can coexist successfully with the other Knick big man, Eddy Curry, the two will form a monster combination, since Curry himself averaged 19.5 PPG last season. The main question with Randolph is if he will be able to build on last year’s success in Portland or regress in a New York uniform (it has happened before to other stars). If the answer is the former, than we should see the Knicks in the Playoffs. If not, then this trade will turn out to be yet another miserable failure for the current New York management.

With the addiditon of Randolph, New York just became host to a respectable trio in Stephon Marbury at the PG, Zach Randolph at the PF, and Eddy Curry at the C. If Starbury can maintain his current scoring average of 16.4 PPG, his assists should rise to around the 6.2-6.4 range now with two big men down low to pass to, not only Curry. I expect Randolph’s numbers to stay around the same in 07-08, with a scoring average of 23.4 and rebounding numbers of around 9.8. He will not have as many rebounding opportunities as he did in Portland because of the presence of Curry, so the numbers will drop slightly, but I expect the points to stay around the same. Eddy Curry’s scoring should change for the worse, in my opinion, to around 17.8-18 PPG, but I believe that the rebounding will remain the same at around 7.2 (he is not a great rebounding C). Randolph will take away some of Curry’s looks because he is a bigger scoring threat.

The only problem with the trio is that none of them are known to be great defenders. Both Randolph and Curry’s block totals have been far from decent during their careers (for big men), while Marbury was never known for being a defensive point guard (averaged only 1 SPG last year). Nonetheless, I still think that New York will grow stronger with the Randolph addition and will be one of the forerunners (along with Boston and Toronto) for the Atlantic title.

Pros:

-The New York core of Marbury, Randolph, and Curry is relatively young and has plenty of good years in front of them (other than Marbury, who is 30).

-New York will turn into a more consistent offense with Randolph and Curry down low, Marbury at the point, and Q-Rich as an outside threat.

-Eddy Curry is one of the few centers in the league, and it will be much easier for the Knicks to win on a daily basis with a center down low to take the pressure away from the perimeter players

Cons:

-The New York defense is unproven, and nobody on the Knicks is known to be a stopper.

-The Knicks do not have a deep roster, especially if Jones starts at the SG spot over Quentin Richardson.

-Starbury is yet to show that he can handle the pressure of being a pass-first guard. If he does not become one soon, that will weaken the team (especially Randolph and Curry).

Predicted lineup:

C-Eddy Curry, PF-Zach Randolph, SF-David Lee, SG-Quentin Richardson, PG-Stephon Marbury

6th man-Jamal Crawford, 7th man-Nate Robinson, 8th man-Fred Jones

Predicted stat leaders:

Points-Zach Randolph (23.4 PPG)

Rebounds-Zach Randolph (9.8 RPG)

Assists-Stephon Marbury (6.4 APG)

Blocks-Eddy Curry (0.8 BPG)

Final Prediction: The Knicks will have a 44-38 season and will make the Playoffs.

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