Anthony insisted that was "a good thing," adding that it's proof Jackson still believes in him. The Knicks would have lost him for nothing, but Jackson did in fact have an opportunity to let Anthony go last offseason. He didn't. That would have allowed New York to truly start fresh, but Jackson and co. appear to have faith in the forward as the centerpiece for what comes next.

Following his acquisition last summer, Jose Calderon was expected to play a big role in New York's transition to the triangle offense. But he struggled throughout, boasting?a career-low in field-goal percentage. His numbers across the board were well lower than expected.?

For close to a week, 7-foot-3 Knicks rookie Kristaps Porzingis played one-on-one with Carmelo Anthony, one of the most potent scorers in the NBA, and "KP"?says he learned a little something new every day.

Carmelo Anthony is 31 years old and coming off of knee surgery, yet he says his window to win an NBA championship with the Knicks is still wide open.

With the Knicks set to begin training camp this week at West Point, Carmelo Anthony says he feels 100 percent following?surgery to repair a?torn patellar tendon after the All-Star break.

Still, fingers can be pointed at one more person as well. Coach Derek Fisher arguably has more on his plate than the aforementioned two combined. He has the most to prove, and he seemingly holds more influence on the Knicks' potential success this coming season as well.

So far, the young gun has been putting in the work necessary to get things rolling. Speaking to the media on Friday, head coach Derek Fisher said that not only is Porzingis consistently the first player to the team's training facility every day, but that he also beats Fisher himself there from time-to-time.

A year ago, Phil Jackson made a statement ahead of Knicks training camp that haunted him for the rest of the?season.

Phil Jackson says he doesn't think Kobe Bryant?will play his final season in the NBA this year.?Credit: Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports

Many believed that Jackson would be overbearing and not allow Fisher to develop into his own sort of coach.

1) What are fair expectations for the Knicks this season?

The Knicks officially announced the signings of former Michigan State guard Travis Trice and former Georgetown forward DaJuan Summers to training camp deals.

"Hope [Carmelo Anthony] can come back healthy. Obviously he's the catalyst," Frazier pointed out.

What's more, the pair is hopeful that the guard can also provide off the court support when it comes to his new teammates learning the triangle offense. Though the Knicks attempted to execute the triangle last season, the personnel necessary wasn't exactly there, and the players struggled to catch on.?

The Knicks have signed former Georgetown standout F?DaJuan Summers to a training camp deal, his agent Brian Elfus confirmed to SNY.tv.

"Yeah I saw it. I don?t know what to say. I guess that?s what Phil does, gets us to work hard and fired up," Porzingis said. "That fired me up. I?m like, 'I?m not Shawn Bradley,' you know?"

"Yeah I saw it. I don't know what to say? I guess that's what Phil does, gets us to work hard and fired up. That fired me up. Im like, 'I'm not Shawn Bradley, you know?" Porzingis said. "I want to be better than Shawn Bradley obviously and be stronger than him," Porzingis noted, "but I'm a different player."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=86&v=Tj7IVGoBSHg

As a rookie, the youngster started 41 games and earned NBA All-Rookie Second Team honors. The Knicks obviously improved considerably this offseason. Arron Afflalo is a logical candidate for starting shooting guard, and New York appears open to giving Jose Calderon another shot at running the triangle offense as starting point guard.

Phil Jackson and Co. proved to be patient with the team's $2.8 million exception, opting not to use it earlier in the offseason. Instead, they waited?for other squads to spend money and soon be left with little to offer when it came time to target to quality players, who otherwise flew under the radar, but were still looking to get paid.

Atkins, a 6-foot-8 forward, averaged 7.6 points, 6.0 rebounds and 23.9 minutes as a senior at Virginia. He led the Portsmouth Invitational in scoring at 20.0 points, and played nine Summer League games in Las Vegas and Orlando for San Antonio (2.3 ppg and rpg, 12.7 mpg).

Trice, 22, was undrafted out of Michigan State.

But Calderon's campaign wasn't exactly what anyone expected -- not that the Knicks' overall effort in general was what was initially expected anyway. Calderon, like many, didn't pick up the triangle offense seamlessly. The transition was tricky for all. What's more, nagging injuries not only kept him sidelined, but also seemingly still plagued him upon return to the court.?

Due to the change, which is effective immediately, teams in each conference will be seeded in order of their regular season record.

From the Knicks:

Audie Norris, who coached Porzingis last season in Spain, spoke with the 20-year-old rookie over the weekend about the progress he has made.

While the likes of Derrick Williams and Kyle O'Quinn will likely compete for starts and playing time, each player seems to have flaws and/or holes in their respective games. Williams can heat up offensively, but struggles defensively. On the flip side, O'Quinn is someone who enjoys using his physicality to fight for rebounds and pester opposing scorers. He, however, isn't as polished on the offensive end.

http://web.sny.tv/media/video.jsp?content_id=458659383

[sny-editorial userid="keithbschlosser"]The ranking for Anthony appears to be incredibly fair, taking into account the Knicks' struggles and his season-ending injury last season, but also his still-evident abilities. Many of the other players?who placed above Anthony are either much younger with seemingly greater potential (such as John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins) or are already proven veteran winners on the game's biggest and brightest stage (Tim Duncan).

Apparently, Melo is giving the full-court press to the headlining free agent of the 2016 class.

Last season the Knicks had a 92 percent renewal rate on season tickets and that figure has dropped to 87 percent for the upcoming season.

While many expected Langston Galloway to turn it up a notch, it was none other than Cleanthony Early who seemingly made strides instead.

Another addition, Derrick Williams is arguably the one free agent signee that went under the radar. Initial reaction was that the Knicks overpaid for the 2011 NBA Draft bust with a $10 million, two-year deal. While Williams hasn't lived up to the usual reputation of a former No. 2 overall pick, he's still developed into a reliable role player in The Association. What's more, the pact is a very small/reasonable one, which means his salary won't burden his new team financially, even with Williams holding a player option for the 2016-17 season.

And while Monroe would have been more comfortable playing the five in the triangle offense than Aldridge, he instead opted to sign with the Bucks.

Rounding up to eleven, this would net the Knicks 28 wins this coming season.

[sny-editorial userid="keithbschlosser"]This time around, it appears as though an all-time high of Knicks teammates joined Anthony on the trip, including Kristaps Porzingis, Langston Galloway, Jerian Grant, Kevin Seraphin, Kyle O'Quinn, Cleanthony Early, Lance Thomas, and Lou Amundson. Knicks legend and current Assistant General Manager Allan Houston participated as well, as did other team staffers.

[sny-editorial userid="keithbschlosser"]Porzingis and Grant failed to break into the top five for?any question category as voted on by their peers during?the NBA's annual rookie photo shoot at the Knicks' training facility. The youngsters were asked to rank the most athletic players, most likely Rookie of the Year candidates, biggest draft steals, greatest career potential, etc.