The New New York Knicks

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But...the Knicks roster?

There is talent on the team; alas, in the past, the talent wasn't dedicated to a single purpose. Some guys could run and others couldn't. Most liked to score and few liked to pass.

Though the Knicks have no franchise player, Walsh and D'Antoni see potential in Nate Robinson ($2 million), Wilson Chandler ($1.2 million), David Lee ($1.8 million), Jamal Crawford ($8.6 million), Quentin Richardson ($8.8 million) and the rehabbing Jared Jeffries ($6 million, broken leg) to adapt to D'Antoni's prolific, high pick-and-roll offense.

"We'll be exciting," predicts assistant coach Herb Williams, a former Knick forward, "and best of all, we’ll be improved."

The current mess stemmed largely from the notion that New York fans won't tolerate rebuilding. But the inescapable truth is that no team avoids the downturn cycle of aging. "I've always thought that the Garden fans are sophisticated," says McCallum. "They understand basketball. They understand when a team is trying to get better. They were actually pretty tolerant of Isiah for a long time. Only when it became evident that there was no light, only darkness, did they turn completely against him.

The irony lost on New York's upper management is that the ebb can be the most promising time for a franchise, based on the hope of what young players may yet become. "Most of the time they grow up to disappoint, but you don't know that when they're just starting out and playing hard," Thomsen says. "It's during those rebuilding years that fans can buy naively into the future."
    
Despite their dreadful record, the 2007-08 Knicks played to 92 percent capacity at the Garden. "The only thing that turns fans off is watching unenthusiastic players who aren't trying to compete," insists Williams. To which Breen adds: "Our fans are desperate to see any progress."

They will surely accept steady improvement in the Walsh-D'Antoni era. This season that means finishing close to the playoffs; next season, definitely making the playoffs; and the season after that, finishing among the top four in the East. It's faintly possible for the Knicks to challenge for the playoffs today; several teams could seize one of the bottom-four spots in the conference.

But it won't be easy. The new Knicks have virtually the same gunner-heavy frontcourt and wing rotations—each with similar strengths and weaknesses. D'Antoni inherited lots of forwards, but no genuine power forward or back-up center. And the Knicks' leading shot-blocker, Renaldo Balkman, has been traded. Might the plodding tandem of Curry and Randolph actually mesh with better ball movement? Perhaps, but D'Antoni's breakneck basketball requires quick, smart and talented guards with a feel for the game. Tellingly, Curry and Marbury rode the bench Wednesday night for the entire season opener, a 120-115 victory over the Miami Heat at the Garden.

Part of that problem may be alleviated by the addition of Gallinari (a relative bargain at $2.9 million), assuming, that is, he recovers from the bulging disc that sidelined him for all of training camp and most of the exhibition season. Gallo has a high hoops I.Q. and sound fundamentals, but does he have the speed to defend in the N.B.A. or, for that matter, explode to the basket? "This kid listens and he wants to improve," Crawford says. "He's got confidence by the ton."

Confidence is a funny thing, and often just the lack of tension can provide it. D'Antoni's genius derives, in part, from the perception that he never panics. As it is, the Knicks already draw plenty of tension from the fans, the city, the game itself.
    
To climb back into playoff contention, D'Antoni and Walsh inevitably must offload such deadwood and psychological dead weights as Marbury, Randolph, and Jerome James, the generously proportioned $6.2 million forward aptly named Big Snaxx.

On the other hand, the better they play, the more their value will be enhanced. That would increase the likelihood of trades to make cap room for the 2010 free-agent class of Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, and LeBron James, who is rumored to prefer the New York market.

But cap space alone won't lure LeBron; the Knicks must demonstrate that he's the missing piece of their decade-old puzzle, that he'll instantly transform them into a contender. Walsh has the tough job of making the roster better and cheaper—the exact opposite of what the Knicks have been doing since 1998.

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