Spinning the New York Knicks Forward

The New York Knicks are one of the most overrated teams in the NBA. Yes, they made the first the playoffs for the first time since Allen Houston (overrated as well), but where are they now considering the salary cap may go down? Can the Knicks make moves this offseason to get better like they did last season? Without Donnie Walsh's leadership, I'm not sure if the Knicks have the intelligence necessary to make good moves. Rumor has it that Isaiah Thomas may get another shot at managing the Knicks. He shouldn't be allowed in Madison Square Garden after what he previously did to the Knicks. How's Renaldo Balkman doing? Since every Knicks fan loves to overvalue the franchise, this is how the Knicks could get better in a perfect world that doesn't exist.

This is the Fantasyland Blueprint for the Knicks to Win a Championship (cue laugh track now)

1. They must acquire Dwight Howard. How do they do this? By offering a package centered around Amar'e Stoudemire and pray that the Magic like Stoudemire more than the Lakers' Andrew Bynum.

2. They must sign an elite point guard. The names Chris Paul, Deron Williams and Russell Westbrook come to mind, with Paul being the preferred player. Both players will become free agents in 2012 so the Knicks' only chance to land one of them is if they actually reach free agency. New York will have to hope that A) it has enough cap space to sign a "max contract" guy and B) that those guys aren't involved in sign-and-trades before next summer.

3. Pay attention to defense. In a shocking development, not a single Knicks player received a single vote to the NBA all-defensive team. How is this possible? Because the Knicks gave up 105.73 points per game (3rd worst in NBA) and were forced to outscore their opponents. The Knicks had the third most wins when their opponents scored more than 100 points. Opposing teams shot 47.2% against the Knicks (5th worst in the NBA) and out rebounded the Knicks by an average of 3.57 rebounds per game (3rd worst). Swiss cheese defense would be overstating the Knicks defense last year.

Prediction: The Knicks will attempt to make a splash this offseason fall flat on their faces. New York will still score a ton of points and will win 42-47 games and be a first round walkover for one of the elite eastern conference teams.