Courtney Lee is excited to be playing for the New York Knicks. The 30-year-old shooting guard was officially introduced by the team on Friday, along with fellow free-agent signings Joakim Noah and Brandon Jennings.
After a major overhaul of the roster during the offseason, the Knicks look like a playoff-caliber team. In the past two weeks, they’ve added a former MVP in Derrick Rose, a Defensive Player of the Year award winner in Joakim Noah and a pair of well-traveled veterans in Lee and Jennings. That, plus Carmelo Anthony and last year’s Rookie of the Year runner-up Kristaps Porzingis, is a much better lineup than last year’s.
And so, Knicks fans are excited for next season. So is Lee.
Asked what his expectations were for the upcoming season, Lee told Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders he thinks the Knicks can win it all this year.
“We’re contenders, man. They didn’t make the playoffs last year, but we’re looking to change that and win big. The ring is the ultimate goal for everybody on the team; I know it is for me. When they talked to me and told me about the pieces they were adding alongside the players who were already there, I didn’t think anything less than a championship [was the goal]. We’re trying to get the Knicks back into the playoffs and win big.”
The Knicks have missed the playoffs the last three years, and they finished with the third-worst record in the Eastern Conference last season, so Lee’s prediction is a bold one. We’ll see if it comes true.
[photo credit: New York Knicks Twitter page]
