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2017-18 New York Knicks Predictions and NBA Futures Odds Picks


by - 10/13/2017

Kristaps Porzingis New York Knicks

The Knicks are the funniest team in the league. Hilarious. As long as you aren't a fan. They made the obvious and incredibly necessary move to get rid of Phil Jackson. But they are still the organization that thought it was a good idea to hire Jackson in the first place. They finally dealt with their Carmelo Anthony problem. But then they used their offseason to promptly back themselves into a different corner. They are in one of the world's great cities, and they have literally everything going for them, but their incompetence is insurmountable. They are going to be a bad team this year. And next year. And probably in 30 years. And it will never not be funny.

2017 New York Knicks Betting Storylines

This team is all about Kristaps Porzingis, and the team needs to focus everything they have on that reality. He's a freak - a 7-foot-3 athlete who can shoot, pass, and run. He's a walking mismatch machine, and he has so much room to grow. This team isn't going to be anything close to competitive or relevant, so all they should do is make sure that Porzingis grows and develops and becomes the best player he can be. Anything else is a waste of time. The sky is truly the limit for this guy - Top 5 talent in the league. But if the Knicks screw this up like they screw everything else up then it could be the biggest crime committed by the organization. And that is really saying something.

New York is the home of Broadway, and in so many ways it makes sense, because the only explanation for the defensive decisions this team has made is that it is some kind of farce. Enes Kanter, who the team received in the trade for Carmelo Anthony, may be the worst defender among regular players in the entire league. If he's not then Tim Hardaway Jr., who the team brought back as a free agent after he spent some time in New York, and grossly overpaid for despite the fact they were likely bidding against themselves, would have a strong claim for being. The two are just brutal, and together they will be a real spectacle to watch. Porzingis has real upside defensively, but he isn't at the peak of his rebounding game yet and has a lot to learn. Point guard is a defensive black hole, too. Frank Ntilikina should be a very good player, but he's young and raw and will struggle in the short term. And beyond him the team has Ramon Sessions, who is aging in the non-graceful way, and Ron Baker, who has a bleak year of experience to his credit and will still likely be the starter. Doug McDermott at small forward, also a part of the Anthony deal, isn't going to set defensive records, either. The best defender is probably Joakim Noah, who the team is stuck with forever because of his horrific deal, but he is suspended for 20 games for substance abuse, and the team can't move forward while using him extensively. This team is going to be so profoundly bad at defense that if someone wrote a play about it that play would be rejected because it was too unrealistic.

Offensively, though, they should be more interesting. Porzingis can score. Hardaway only scores. Kanter can score and should be able to work pretty well with Porzingis. Point play is going to be a problem, but they will have lots of options to bail them out. And maybe Doug McDermott can remember that he is a shooting machine. This team will try to outscore every team they play in a serious shootout, and it's going to be hilarious. And awesome. And potentially psychologically scarring if you are a fan of the team.

2017 New York Knicks Additions and Departures

We've touched on most of the changes. They traded Carmelo Anthony to Oklahoma City for Kanter and McDermott. It wasn't a perfect return by any means, but then they were never going to manage one given Anthony's desire to go. They paid too much for Hardaway, got Sessions even though his best days are so far in the rearview mirror that you couldn't find them with a telescope, and decided for some incomprehensible reason that signing Michael Beasley was a good idea. They are trying a few other things to find depth players, but nothing of significance at this point.

The clear highlight of the draft was Frank Ntilikina, who the team hopes will be the point guard of the future. The team hasn't had a point guard of note for far too long, so it would certainly be a welcome development. The upside is significant, but he has only been playing in France, so the culture shock will be significant, and patience will be crucial.

2017 New York Knicks Futures Odds and Trends

New York Knicks Futures Odds

NBA title odds ( from BetOnline ) : +50000

Eastern Conference title odds : +20000

Kristaps Porzingis MVP Odds ( from Bovada ) : +10000

Season win total (from BetOnline): 30.5

The Knicks were not great to bet on last year, but they were a whole lot better than they were to watch - they wound up at 42-40 ATS. There were no long-term profits to be had on the totals side, either - the record was 38-42-2.

2017 New York Knicks Predictions and Futures Odds Picks

I don't have a real sense of how many games the team will win - though it won't be too many, and I would lean towards the under on the season win total without much hesitation. And it will be very tempting to look at the over on the total very often when this team plays - horrible defense plus decent offense should make it very tough for oddsmakers to set a number that is high enough.

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