A lot of things went wrong for the New York Knicks during the postseason, but one of the more obvious vices was their inability to generate scoring that doesn’t come from Carmelo Anthony. Despite a very limited cap situation, the NBA’s leading scorer would like to see a new face that can generate points playing next to him next season.
Anthony averaged 28.8 points during the postseason, which ended for the Knicks after six games in the Eastern Conference semifinals. That was the best they did in over a decade, and yet after finishing second in the East, they were expecting to show a little bit more of everything, having home court advantage in their series against the Indiana Pacers.
Anthony got his points, but did it by taking 25.8 shots per game, hitting a terrible 40.6% of them. J.R. Smith, the next best scorer, averaged more field goal attempts (14.8) than points (14.3) while shooting 33.1% from the field, and yet they’re considering re-signing him (if he opts out of his current contract) despite Smith being almost a negative player during the playoffs. Raymond Felton scored 14.1 points per game, but without Stoudemire, who might not be able to return to his old scoring ways, the Knicks seem to be stuck and in need of an offensive salvation.
According to Marc Berman of New York Post, Anthony wants the team to bring another scorer. He thinks Iman Shumpert (averaging 9.3 points in the postseason) is a superstar in the making, and playing a full season will definitely show a lot more of his offensive prowess, but he’s two years away from being the kind of guy Anthony is thinking of.
Problem? Sure, because the Knicks are over the cap limit, owing $78 million for next season. It means their only way of adding players is via the mid-level exception ($3.1 million) or the minimum salary, which isn’t going to be a way to bring in a proven scorer. Their only tradeable pieces that will also clear some space are Anthony, Tyson Chandler and Iman Shumpert, but they’re not going anywhere.
Things happen, but for now, it seems Anthony is mostly stuck with the crew he has around him, which means the Knicks aren’t going to look a lot different next season, unless someone tells Mike Woodson it’s time to take Anthony in for a little talk, and start changing the offensive schemes of this team, which were painful to watch during the end of the series.