By Young Se Choi ’18, Staff Writer

With the start to the 2015-16 NBA season, it is time for a sneak peek of each New York team’s season and the reasons behind the continued struggles of some large market teams.

The Brooklyn Nets:

Where did everything go so wrong? It was only during the 2013 offseason when the Nets were growing to become one of the best teams in the NBA as well as the richest in market value. Instead of looking to build on the success of the previous season, Nets owner, Mikhail Prokhorov, went into the 2013-2014 season with a “win now” mentality. Rather than building for the future with young players, the Nets and General Manager Billy King decided to make an immediate big money move by trading Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett, two very elite, but elder players looking towards retirement within the next three to four years. While Garnett and Pierce immediately improved the team, the steep cost of first round draft picks in 2015, 2016, and 2018 (as well as a pick swap in 2017) effectively mortgaged the Nets’ future. Now without any revenue left to buy valuable players and no draft picks lined up for the future years, Brooklyn is caught in a conflict. Looking forward to the Nets’ 2015-2016 season, the team will look to rebuild and start the team over –seemingly from scratch.

Although the team did not lose any significant players over the summer, the biggest release during the offseason was Brooklyn’s starting point guard Deron Williams. Despite being a regular starter for the team, various injuries completely derailed his career with the team. Deron decided to part ways from Brooklyn as he returned to his hometown Dallas to play for the Mavericks. With Williams gone, experienced veteran Jarrett Jack will be looking to take William’s role as the starting point guard.

Furthermore, with the addition of young players entering their first seasons in the NBA, such as Shane Larkin, Markel Brown, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, and Chris McCullough, the Nets have created a young roster with plenty of potential for future years.

Going into this new rebuilding season, the Nets will look to build upon four key players that were originally on the Nets’ roster: Brook Lopez, Thaddeus Young, Bojan Bogdanovic, and Joe Johnson, all of whom will play dominant minutes for the season.

Ishan Gadde, ’18, has been a Nets fan all his life. When asked during an interview how he thinks the Nets will perform this season, he replied, “I think that the Nets have come to an inevitable point in the franchise’s history in the fact that we must begin the rebuilding stage… again. This time it will be harder because we lost many of our draft picks via trade.” When I asked him if there is any player that he is looking forward to see, he stated, “It would be interesting to see how Shane Larkin performs during the season. He’s undersized but compensates with ball handling skills, vision and aggressive defensive style.”

With all of these thoughts in mind, I predict the Nets’ record to be 30-52, missing the playoffs for the first time since 2011.

New York Knicks:

We’ve all heard our parents or teachers tell us “one small mistake can change the course of your entire life.” Despite seemingly unlimited resources, the Knicks have made countless disastrous mistakes. But one of their worst has to be the Andrea Bargnani trade in the 2013 offseason. Not only did the Knicks receive a mediocre basketball player in Andrea Bargnani from the Toronto Raptors, in exchange, the Knicks traded away three important bench players in Steve Novak, Marcus Camby, and Quentin Richardson, along with a future first round 2016 draft pick as well as two future second round draft picks in 2014 and 2017. Bargnani was a massive disappointment for the Knicks as he was injured for the majority of the two seasons he spent with the Knicks not to mention his lackadaisical defense when he did step onto the court. Thankfully for the Knicks, Bargnani has since been traded away to the Brooklyn Nets.

The biggest “loss” during the Knicks offseason was the trade that got rid of Tim Hardaway Jr. Although some fans would argue that Hardaway was never a “key” player, he definitely offered the Knicks a lot of potential  in future years making the NBA All-Rookie team in his rookie year. Despite this loss, with the acquisition of Arron Afflalo over the summer, the Knicks will look to Afflalo as a starting guard during the regular season. Knicks fans can expect to see Afflalo play big minutes in order to make a run for the playoffs.

In addition to Afflalo, two other key additions to the Knicks’ roster are rookie, Kristaps Porzingis, and seven-year veteran, Robin Lopez. Despite harsh criticism of the Knicks drafting Porzingis in the 2015 draft, Porzingis is off to a spectacular start to the regular season and has already won over a majority of Knicks fans. Gaining a starting power forward spot for the Knicks this season, Porzingis has looked quite impressive and fits well into the Knicks’ offense. Entering his eighth year into the NBA, Robin Lopez was acquired from the Portland Trail Blazers over the summer. A tall, strong force, Lopez will look to help with the Knicks’ defense fallacies and hopefully execute on the offensive end as well.

Entering a transition year for the Knicks, the team will rely on NBA All-star Carmelo Anthony to stay healthy and regain his superstar form as the season progresses.

Mark Berger, ’17, is extremely excited for the Knicks season: “Despite what so many basketball fans have told me, Kristaps Porzingis is a great addition to the team and has become one of the best players thus far. Also, with Carmelo Anthony back on the court, I think the Knicks will make a run for the playoffs.”

With all of these thoughts in mind, I predict the Knicks to finish with a record of 42-40, making the playoffs as an eighth seed team, but losing the playoffs in the first round.