Here at Sparty and Friends, we have reached NBA preview time (again). There will be one team per work day leading up to the season opener (Celts vs. Cavs, October 27th at 7:30pm on TNT). The teams are ordered by record starting with last place and going up through the non-playoff teams, followed by the playoff teams in order of elimination (or lack thereof in the Lakers’ case). We’ve already grabbed a Sac(To) lunch, went off to see the Wizards, turned to JP and the Clips, visited a Grizzly veteran, played some Timber sports, found our inner Warrior, rolled with the Thunder, and now we wonder why there exists in today’s hip-hop NBA a team named after a older than old school piece of clothing…

The Knicks are trying to be a better team. They aren’t actually succeeding, but you can see the effort. Seriously though, they are kind of putting some pieces together. Nah, I’m joking again. They still have nothing. It has a lot to do with their lack of first round picks and cap space. Isiah Thomas might as well still be the GM, because his decisions are basically running the team as of now. It just goes to show you that GMs in the NBA can have a tremendous effect on their teams even after they are gone. Looking at the roster, you can’t even find the future. You’ll see it after the jump. You know what, let’s do that now…

Last Year’s Record: 32-50 (Last in Atlantic Division, 2nd to last in Eastern Conference, 7th to last in the NBA)

Last Year’s Prediction (GITC): 25-30 wins, 10-14 in the Eastern Conference

Coach: Mike D’Antoni

Expected Starting Lineup: Chris Duhon, Larry Hughes, Wilson Chandler, David Lee, Darko Milicic

Expected Bench Contributors: Nate Robinson, Danilo Gallinari, Al Harrington

Look at that thing. Take a second glance. How many of those players are worth a good amount now or in the future? David Lee and maybe Al Harrington are worth something now. We’ll ignore that they kind of play the same position. Wilson Chandler, Danillo Gallinari, and maybe Toney Douglas or Jordan Hill are worth something in the future. So they essentially have 6 players of value, no cap space, and no picks. Wow. I’m not sure there is a situation that bad in the NBA. And they want LeBron? Hard to imagine that happening. I’m not sure what would provoke him to do that with the franchise in the sink hole that Isiah put them in. If I were LeBron, which, by the way, would be awesome, I would try to avoid looking at Knicks posters while I visit the city and meet with the Nets. Speaking of which, the Nets now have a ton of money and an owner who couldn’t care less about the luxury tax. So the Knicks aren’t even the best destination in their own metropolitan area. I doubt this is what they were going for.

On the other hand… you know what, there is no other hand. We are going to skip another paragraph of analysis and just get to the fun stuff. I have no idea what to say about this team other than D’Antoni should have waited a week until the lottery and taken the Bulls job.

Video of the Day time! This is a college highlight reel of Toney Douglas. I saw him play last year. He’s good.

Best Comment From Last Season’s Preview of This Team time! This one goes to Trey, because, well…

30 wins?

Great analysis, but no freaking way.

Well, they won 32, so…

My prediction for this season? I have no idea. Really. They can’t be good. But they won’t be too awful. I say…

Prediction: 25-30 wins, 10-14 in the Eastern Conference

Guyinthecorner is an author here at spartyandfriends.com. He writes the NBA section, X-Games section, and contributes to College Basketball and MLB. He doesn’t watch hockey except when the circumstances are dire. He’s not sure how to rate Michael Phelps on the scale of athletes not only because he doesn’t directly compete against people, but because he is a fish. He doesn’t understand the hate for the 2002 National Champion Maryland Terrapins and wishes everybody would just shut up by now. He is known for having statistical formulas and might be Bill James or Joe Lunardi depending on who you ask. His identity is as hidden as many times over as the number of internet memes he employs in his comments. Some have called him “The Riddler.” He can be reached at gitc@spartyandfriends.com. “GITC” is an acronym for guyinthecorner in case you aren’t that perceptive.

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