SEASON FORECASTS AND FUTURES PICKS

RJ Barrett, Julius Randle and Bobby Portis are all individually talented forwards and who wouldn't want to be rich, young and in New York City? They also added Taj Gibson and at the end of the day the Knicks improved a ton (from 18 to 26 wins) but are still an afterthought. The Knicks are not contenders to win the championship at 1000/1, 0.1%. They are one of 8 teams with these odds (#23 in the league). They do not win the championship in any simulations. They are not a good value to win the East either at 400/1, 0.2%. The Knicks are averaging 26.2 wins per sim so we recommend betting them to come under 28 wins. At +700 the Knicks are not a good value to make the playoffs with a 0.2% chance. They have less than 1% chance to win the division. Their average wins per simulation puts them at #14 in the East.

For winning picks against the spread, total and money line for all NBA games by our proven computer model and leading handicappers visit SportsLine.com where you can also get fantasy basketball and daily fantasy optimal lineups from CBSSports' Top Experts.

REGULAR SEASON RECAP AND UPCOMING GAMES

Oddsmakers had low expectations for them last season (expected win percentage = 27%) and they failed to live up to even these low expectations going 17-65. They were not good against the spread going 32-47-3 (-1970 loss). More of their games came in under (45) than went over (36). In their next game vs the Spurs they are only winning 21% of the simulations. The table below shows their upcoming games, their simulation based win percentage and their recent head to head record (WL, ATS, OU).

TEAM STATISTICAL STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES

SHOOTING (WEAKNESS): They are a bad shooting team with a true FG% of 52.9% (#30 in League). They average 104.6 pts per game vs an expected average (based on pre-game odds) of 106. On the road they average 103.2 (105.3 expected), and at home 105.9 ppg (106.7 expected).

DEFENSE (WEAKNESS): This is a below average defensive team allowing opponents to shoot 56.8 true FG% (#23 in League). Team defense is trending up holding opponents to 52.1% in their last 7 games. They allow 113.8 pts per game vs an expected value of 113.4. They are allowing 113.8 (114.5 expected) on the road, and at home 113.8 ppg (112.3 expected).

REBOUNDING (WEAKNESS): They are outrebounded by opponents by 2.5 per game (#25 in league).

TURNOVERS (WEAKNESS): Their average turnover margin is -1.1 per game (#25 in league).

TEAM FANTASY LEADERS

The table below show the most valuable fantasy players on the team led by Julius Randle who is projected to be the #16 Forward. The Better Option column shows the player directly above him and the Better Than column shows the player directly below him in the projected position rankings.