My deep dive into that messy 2016-17 Knicks roster
Right, so I got thinking today about that weird Knicks season a while back. 2016-17 popped into my head. Felt like a blur. Couldn’t remember half the guys who suited up besides the obvious stars. Wanted to nail down exactly who was on the court that year.
First thing I did, fired up my laptop. Went straight to the usual places. You know, the big official sports sites. Tried searching “Knicks roster 2016-2017 season.” Scrolled through page after page. Man, basketball-reference was solid for this, breaking it down month by month. Turns out the list changed a bit over the year.
Started jotting names down. Carmelo Anthony, obviously. Big name, scoring machine, still carrying the torch. Then Derrick Rose – that whole point guard experiment. Joakim Noah too, the big signing that just… kinda flopped hard, honestly.
Got digging into the regulars:
- Kristaps Porzingis: Young guy, the “Unicorn.” Everyone was hyped about him then.
- Courtney Lee: Solid wing, always seemed reliable, hitting shots.
- Brandon Jennings: Remember him? Flashy guard, had that one crazy game.
- Willy Hernangomez: Rookie center, showed some real promise actually.
- Kyle O’Quinn: Big dude off the bench, always brought energy.
- Lance Thomas: Veteran presence, glue guy kinda role.
- Mindaugas Kuzminskas: That tall Lithuanian wing, came outta nowhere.
Then my memory got fuzzy. Ended up staring at names like Maurice Ndour and Sasha Vujacic. Sasha! Had completely forgotten he ended up back in the NBA for a bit that season. Ndour… rings a bell, barely.
Checked out the point guards beyond Rose and Jennings. Saw Ron Baker and Chasson Randle. Man, Baker played way more than I remembered. Randle came in later, played some minutes.
At center, besides Noah and Hernangomez, they had Marshall Plumlee later in the season. Again, not exactly headline-grabbing. The roster felt top-heavy with Melo and Rose, then a patchwork crew filling spots.
Finished going through the entire list, checking stats, who played how many games. It hammered home how chaotic that season was. Leaning on Melo (still good!), hoping Rose had magic left in his knees, bringing in Noah hoping for old Bulls vibes… and just filling the gaps with whoever was available. Kinda felt like they threw a bunch of names at the wall hoping some would stick. Didn’t really work out that way, did it? End of the day, just a disjointed group, that 2016-17 crew.
