Why New York Knicks and Golden State Warriors are the Biggest Winners in Free Agency
The 2016 NBA Free Agency is one characterized by lucrative deals and major player moves, with teams spending a lot of money due to an increased salary cap and players choosing to leave their teams to join others unexpectedly.
Two teams, in particular, benefited the most from this year's NBA free agency. These are the Golden State Warriors and the New York Knicks. Let's look at both teams.
Golden State Warriors, the Super Team
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Perhaps the biggest buzz generated by this year's free agency is Kevin Durant deciding to leave OKC and join the Warriors.
Golden State was actively pursuing Kevin Durant. In fact, Jerry West, aka The Logo, was involved in convincing Durant to join. He made a 30-minute phone call with Durant. Surprisingly, West never told Durant to join the Warriors during that conversation. Instead, they talked about Durant's happiness and growth as a player, and that talk apparently worked.
Of course, the team had to give up some space to accommodate Kevin Durant, losing key starters Andrew Bogut and Harrison Barnes in the process. Both are now playing for Dallas Mavericks.
The Golden State Warriors had the most successful season in the history of the NBA last season. They had a record 73 wins with only 9 losses, beating the previous record held by the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls. Despite this magnificent record, they didn't win the championship, losing to LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in 7 games.
Now that Durant has joined the Warriors, the team has acquired two super stars, alongside Stephen Curry, and two highly talented complimentary players in Draymond Green and Klay Thompson. The team even has a great backup player in Andre Iguodala.
On playing with the Warriors, Durant said, "I'm excited.. We'll see. I don't know what to expect. I'm just going to go out there and be my normal self and do my normal routine and we'll see what happens."
Star-studded New York Knicks
The New York Knicks didn't have much of a season in 2015-16, only winning 32 games and losing 50. One of the biggest stories for the Knicks last season was their rookie, Kristaps Porzingis. Dirk Nowitzki even said that Porzingis "is for real. He's long, he's athletic, he can put the ball on the floor. He's the complete package."
Derrick Rose is the biggest addition to the Knicks roster this season. Jeff Hornacek, Knicks coach, said after acquiring Rose, that the team and the city is excited to have a point guard that has been battle-tested and one who "adds a whole new dynamic" to the roster.
Hornacek adds that getting Rose rises the level of the team's backcourt instantly.
New York has three all-stars in Carmelo Anthony, Joakim Noah and Derrick Rose. The team also has solid role players in Courtney Lee and Brandon Jennings. Kristaps Porzingis will continue to learn, and he is surrounded with the right people to help him improve his dribbling, boxing out, better shot selection, and more.
After his first Rio Olympics team practice, Anthony said, "We have a very special team on paper right now." He said the team needs to find a way to jell together so that the players can work together for a win.
