GREENBURGH, N.Y. — With their loss to the Miami Heat in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs, the Knicks will head into the offseason facing a slew of questions about their future.
Here are five pressing concerns:
1. Who will coach this team going forward?
Mike Woodson led the Knicks to an 18-6 record during the regular season after taking over for Mike D’Antoni, and won the team’s first playoff game since 2001 by capturing Game 4 at Madison Square Garden.
He was forced to coach a short-handed team due to the injuries to Amar’e Stoudemire, Iman Shumpert, Jeremy Lin and Baron Davis, which will no doubt be taken into consideration by new GM Glen Grunwald, Woodson’s old Indiana teammate.
Phil Jackson and John Calipari appear to be non-starters at this point, and it seems to be only a matter of time before the franchise signs Woodson to an extension.
“I definitely do want to come back and we’ll see how it turns out,” Woodson told reporters Thursday following the Knicks’ Game 5 loss in Miami.
2. Who will the point guard be?
Steve Nash is a free agent and the Knicks would be smart to make a run at the 38-year-old two-time NBA MVP. Nash could opt to go somewhere where he could win right away — Miami, anyone? — or he could choose to help continue to rebuild the Knicks. He does live in SoHo during the offseason.
“What team wouldn’t want a two-time MVP, an assists leader, a veteran point guard?” Stoudemire asked Thursday. “What team wouldn’t want that? But we do have Jeremy Lin here, and we have confidence in him and what he can do for us. So Steve’s obviously a great friend of mine but we can’t overlook the fact that we do have Jeremy Lin, who played great for us this season.”
Said Woodson: “I’ll take whatever we can add to make our ballclub better.”
Lin will be a restricted free agent this summer and according to N.B.A. rules, no team can offer more than the average salary, about $5 million, and the Knicks will have the right to match any offer. Lin has said he wants to remain in New York and Woodson wants him back, too.
“I love the Knicks and the organization but at the same time it’s a business,” Lin said.
The question is, will he be the starter or the understudy?
“Jeremy’s a big part of our team,” Woodson said. “Will he start? Only time will tell.”
Added Carmelo Anthony: “I have confidence in Jeremy. I’m a believer in Jeremy. I want Jeremy to get healthy, come back full strength and see what happens from there. He’s still a part of the team. We want him. We love what he’s done for our team, what he’s done for the organization, what he’s done for the city. We just want him to come back healthy and be ready for next year.”
3. Can Carmelo Anthony ever make his teammates better?
Like Stoudemire, Anthony is now 1-8 with the Knicks in the postseason and has lost in the first round of the playoffs in eight of nine NBA seasons.
He thrived once Woodson took over for D’Antoni and was voted the NBA Eastern Conference Player of the Month in April. Yet until he is either A) able to change his game to involve others in the offense or; B) surrounded by enough competent role players to enable the team to win in the postseason he will always be viewed as a pure scorer but an incomplete player.
Anthony was criticized by TNT’s Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal and others following the Game 5 loss, and got defensive when asked about it.
“I don’t really care about what them guys say,” Anthony said Thursday. “I know what I have to do. I’m out there playing; them guys are not out there playing. They’re looking at it from the sidelines.”
Asked if they made a fair point that Anthony had to be more of a playmaker, Anthony said: “Not at all. Them guys, they was in the same situation..and they played ball before. That’s their opinion.”
4. What happens to J.R. Smith and Steve Novak?
Smith and Novak had their moments this season as contributors off the bench, but the Knicks will be limited financially and both may seek to sign elsewhere for more money.
“I would love to see them both back,” Woodson said Thursday.
An unrestricted free agent, Novak led the NBA in 3-point efficiency during the regular season, but scored only 12 point while taking nine shots in five games against Miami’s smothering defense.
“All I know is how much I enjoyed playing here and how much I want to be here,” Novak said Thursday. “What the marketplace will bring is something my family will have to look at.”
Smith has a player option at $2.5 million. He is erratic — he made 11 of 48 shots in the final three games — and regarded as a bit of a knucklehead, which could spell the end of his time in New York. If both go, the Knicks will need to find at least another shooter on the open market.
5. When will Iman Shumpert return?
The rookie out of Georgia Tech played a huge role for the Knicks before going down with a torn ACL in Game 1. Not only was he lost for the remainder of the series, but he will miss training camp and the start of next season, too.
Before Game 4, Shumpert, said he hopes to be back by December. “It’s definitely going to set me back,” he said. “But I’m not worried. I’ll be able to pick it up. I’ll figure it out. The biggest thing is just coming back healthy. Not trying to come back too early.”
Woodson is confident he’ll return to help the team.
“He’s young, he’s a cocky and strong individual,” Woodson said Thursday. “He’ll rebound, he’ll be back, hopefully sooner than later.”
Photo: Star-Ledger
