After a disappointing season last year that saw the New York Knicks win only 17 games and come in last place, there seemed to be nowhere for the team to go but up. We (yes, us fans are part of the team, too) were projected to receive the first pick in the NBA draft, and we had enough salary cap space to sign two free agents to max deals.

To Knicks fans, this meant drafting top prospect from Duke University Zion Williamson, and signing all-stars Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant to max deals. Well, we didn’t end up getting the first pick, but Irving and Durant did end up coming to New York, but to the Brooklyn Nets, the team we don’t root for….

Us Knicks fans are used to seeking the silver lining in any situation following our innumerable disappointments. Even though we weren’t able to draft Zion, we still got an elite prospect in RJ Barrett. Barrett, who was Zion’s teammate at Duke, was kind of like Robin while Zion was Batman. I mean TBH nobody really wants Robin over Batman… but he is just as necessary, I guess.

And thank you basketball gods for making sure Irving and Durant did not sign with us. We were able to use that salary cap space on a lot of solid players who will probably have zero impact on the team. We spent a combined $114 million on Julius Randle, Taj Gibson and Bobby Portis. But hey, no other team in the league can say they overpaid for three different guys who play the same position.

I think we can definitely expect some more energy and vigor from owner James Dolan this season. It wasn’t too long ago that Dolan became the first owner to get into a fight with a former player (Charles Oakley) at his own stadium. Let’s hope that the fire Dolan brings to the arena will carry down to the players this season.

I can see this being a really successful season for the Knicks. If all goes well, we may even be able to break 17 wins this year. But who am I kidding; as optimistic as us Knicks fans look, we all know that’s never going to happen. The only thing we have to hope for is winning the draft lottery.