While the New York Knicks have had a busy off-season adding two starters and quality depth, the Brooklyn Nets have also made some noise as they try to unseat their rivals.
The Brooklyn Nets recently resigned, arguably the biggest name free agent Deron Williams. He’ll provide plenty of problems for the Knicks’ recently acquired Raymond Felton as Williams averaged 21 points, 8.7 assists and 3.3 rebounds per game while shooting 33.6-percent on three-pointers.
C.J. Watson signed a two-year deal with the Nets this off-season to become Williams’ backup after spending the last two seasons as Derrick Rose’s backup. The Knicks’ backup point guard is a 39-year old Jason Kidd, which could hurt the Knicks as Watson averaged 9.7 points, 4.1 assists, 2.1 rebounds per game while shooting 39.3-percent on three pointers.
Joe Johnson was acquired by the Nets in an offseason trade with the Atlanta Hawks for Jordan Farmar, Johan Petro, Anthony Morrow, Jordan Williams, DeShawn Stevenson and a lottery-protected 2013 first-round pick via Houston Rockets. Johnson, Marshon Brooks and Keith Bogans will matchup against the Knicks recent free agent signing Ronnie Brewer, J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert when he regains full health following his torn ACL surgery.
Johnson averaged 18.8 points, 3.9 assists and 3.7 rebounds while shooting 38.8-percent on three-pointers. Brooks was a former starter last season, averaging 12.6 points, 2.3 assists and 3.6 rebounds while shooting 42.8-percent on three-pointers. Bogans is coming off left ankle surgery and a torn left deltoid ligament after playing just five games last season.
Gerald Wallace resigned with the Brooklyn Nets, but it’s obvious that the Knicks’ Carmelo Anthony is the better player. Wallace averaged 13.8 points and 6.7 rebounds per game while shooting 30.7 percent on three-pointers.
The Knicks’ resigned the NBA’s leading three-point shooter Steve Novak to be Anthony’s backup, but the Nets potential backup for Wallace is still yet to be determined because while they’ve signed Jerry Stackhouse, they’re waiting to figure out how bad Donte Greene’s ankle fracture is since he signed a non-guaranteed contract.
At the power forward position, the Knicks’ Amare Stoudemire is better than the Nets’ Kris Humphries. Humphries averaged 13.8 points and 11.0 rebounds while Stoudemire averaged 17.5 points and 7.8 rebounds, his lowest average since his three-game 2005-06 season with the Phoenix Suns.
Mirza Teletovic will be Humphries’ backup and could be a problem for the Knicks’ Kurt Thomas off of the bench. Teletovic made 43.1-percent of his three-pointers in the Euro League last season Thomas will be 40-years old on October 4.
The Knicks’ Tyson Chandler is a better defensive center than Brook Lopez, but Lopez is more active in the Nets’ offense. Lopez averaged 19.2 points and 3.6 rebounds while Chandler averaged 11.3 points and 9.9 rebounds.
Bench-wise at the center position is too hard to tell because while recent Knicks’ acquisition Marcus Camby has had a better career than the rebounding specialist Reggie Evans, Camby is 38-years old.
The Knicks have a better front court than the Nets in Anthony, Stoudemire and Chandler, but the question is whether it’ll be enough to beat the Nets backcourt of Williams and Johnson.
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