The Knicks have a solid, veteran bench for the 2007-08 season. Power forward David Lee is by far the best bench player on the Knicks roster. He played in 58 games (12 starts) last season for the Knicks and he averaged 29.8 minutes, 10.7 points, 10.4 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game. Jared Jeffries brings a defensive edge off of the bench for the Knicks. He played in 55 games (43 starts) last season for the Knicks and he averaged 23.8 minutes, 4.1 points, 4.3 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game. Nate Robinson is a fan favorite so he’s likely to get a lot of court time….but he needs to improve a little bit as a player. He played in 64 games (5 starts) last season for the Knicks and he averaged 21.2 minutes, 10.1 points, 2.4 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game. Fred Jones was acquired in the Zach Randolph trade and he should be able to help the Knicks out. He played in 63 games (12 starts) for the Raptors and Trailblazers last season and he averaged 20.9 minutes, 6.5 points, 1.8 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game. 2nd year players Mardy Collins (G) and Renaldo Balkman (F) will both get a chance to improve this season. Collins played in 52 games (9 starts) for the Knicks last season and he averaged 15.1 minutes, 4.5 points, 2.0 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game. Balkman is an energy player off the bench and his hustle rubs off on his teammates. Balkman played in 68 games (1 start) for the Knicks last season and he averaged 15.7 minutes, 4.9 points, 4.3 rebounds and 0.6 assists per game. Reserve power forward Malik Rose appears buried on the bench for the Knicks. He played in 65 games (2 starts) last season for the Knicks and he averaged 12.4 minutes, 3.0 points, 2.7 rebounds and 1.0 assist per game. Center Jerome James is still around and that’s not a good thing for the Knicks. He played in 41 games (11 starts) last season for the Knicks and he averaged 6.6 minutes, 1.9 points, 1.6 rebounds and 0.1 assists per game. 2nd year big man Randolph Morris will be on the end of the bench for the Knicks as he only played in 5 games (0 starts) as a rookie for the Knicks last season and he averaged 0.8 points, 1.8 rebounds and 0.2 assists per game. First round pick Wilson Chandler won’t likely get much playing time behind all of the vets the Knicks have on their roster.

The Knicks are very talented but questions abound. Can this talented group stay healthy? The bigger question is can they play unselfish basketball? We’ll find out soon. Stephon Marbury will be the man in charge and he could probably be one of the league leaders in assists if he didn’t worry about his own shot that often. He played in 74 games (all starts) last season for the Knicks and he averaged 37.2 minutes, 16.4 points, 2.9 rebounds and 5.4 assists per game. Jamal Crawford will be the starting shooting guard for the Knicks and he can really fill up the basket when he’s hot. Crawford played in 59 games (36 starts) for the Knicks last season and he averaged 37.3 minutes, 17.6 points, 3.2 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game. Quentin Richardson will start at small forward for the Knicks this season and he’s also a solid player when healthy. Richardson played in 49 games (47 starts) for the Knicks last season and he averaged 13.0 points, 7.2 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game. Power forward Zach Randolph was one of the biggest acquistions in the entire NBA last season and he will be a good player for the Knicks. He played in 68 games (67 starts) for the Trailblazers last season and he averaged 23.6 points, 10.1 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game. The Knicks need Eddy Curry to continue to improve his game this season. Curry played in 81 games (all starts) last season for the Knicks and he averaged 35.2 minutes, 19.5 points, 7.0 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game.

The Knicks just had too many players on the roster so they decided to cut rookies Jared Jordan and Demetris Nichols. Jordan played in six games in the pre-season and he averaged only 4.5 minutes, 1.0 point, 0.2 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game. Nichols played much better than Jordan. He played in 5 games in the pre-season and he averaged 7.8 minutes, 4.8 points, 0.8 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game. He also shot really well as he hit 57.1% from the floor, 66.7% from three point range and 80% from the free throw line. Look for Nichols to get a shot with another team at some point this season.

The Knicks have released backup point guard Dan Dickau.  Dickau played in 50 games (3 starts) last season for the Blazers and he averaged 8.9 minutes, 3.3 points, 0.9 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game.  The Knicks felt they had too many guards after they traded for Jared Jordan of the Clippers so that’s why they let Dickau go.  He was part of the Zach Randolph trade with Portland in the off-season.  Dickau has now played in 233 games (49 starts) in his NBA career and he has averaged 6.0 points, 1.3 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game over his career but he will have to add to those numbers in another city.

The Knicks have acquired guard Jared Jordan from the Clippers for cash considerations.  Jordan will likely find minutes hard to come by in his rookie season for the Knicks.  Jordan is 6?2?, 187 pounds so he has nice size but he played his basketball at Marist so this will be a pretty good jump in competition for him.  He played in 117 games at Marist and he averaged 13.1 points, 4.8 rebounds, 6.9 assists and 1.4 steals per game.  Jordan is an average shooter for a point guard as he hit 44.6% from the floor, 32.6% from three point range and 70.2% from the free throw line.