NBA: Fat Joe Believes New York Knicks Will Reach Eastern Conference Finals

Roster additions are great ways of creating hype and hope in the NBA. According to TMZ, Fat Joe believes that the new look New York Knicks are heading to the Eastern Conference Finals after adding several new faces to their roster. The rapper believes that the Knicks have finally turned things around.

Last season, the New York Knicks won 32 games and lost 50. For a fan base that has been suffering for quite a few years now, that simply is not good enough. Knicks president Phil Jackson was fully aware of this, so he planned for a very busy offseason.

Another reason why Phil Jackson wanted to make plenty of changes this summer was because there were rumors that he was trying to leave the New York Knicks and sign with the Los Angeles Lakers, where his fiancee, Jeanie Buss, is a vice president and partial owner. Showing that he was committed to the Knicks was something that Jackson had as a priority.

Fat Joe — New York Knicks … All The Way Up To Eastern Conference Finals!! https://t.co/nFyG2bY4SB

— TMZ (@TMZ) July 12, 2016

One of the biggest priorities for the New York Knicks was to upgrade the back court. The team traded for Derrick Rose from the Chicago Bulls, as reported by ESPN. Even though he has been injury prone over the past couple of seasons, Rose is still viewed by many as an upgrade over Jose Calderon, who is now with the Los Angeles Lakers.

After acquiring a new starting point guard, the New York Knicks signed a brand new shooting guard in Courtney Lee, who left the Charlotte Hornets as a free agent.

To add even more depth to the back court, Phil Jackson went out and signed Brandon Jennings, an injury prone guard. Jennings left the Orlando Magic to take on a one-year deal to prove to the New York Knicks that he can be a long-term solution for the team.

Earlier this week, the New York Knicks signed Sasha Vujacic to a contract extension. Though he isn’t a great player by NBA standards, the veteran guard knows the Triangle Offense and can provide depth in the back court.

Much of the excitement from the New York Knicks fan base also stems from the fact that management signed Joakim Noah in free agency. Despite not playing at his peak, Noah is considered by many to be an upgrade from Robin Lopez, an extremely underrated center that did a lot of the dirty work so that Kristaps Porzingis could shine as a rookie last season.

Though the move did not generate a ton of headlines, the New York Knicks did themselves a huge favor by signing Lance Thomas to a new contract. He is quietly one of the better backup forwards in the NBA.

Another reason why New York Knicks fans are excited is because Phil Jackson decided against keeping Kurt Rambis as the head coach. Many were concerned that he was not the right man for the job. Jeff Hornacek was hired for the role instead.

For the New York Knicks to succeed, though, it all boils down to Carmelo Anthony and Kristaps Porzingis. The former needs to continue being one of the most dominant scorers in the NBA, while the latter needs to continue developing so that he can some day take over as the franchise player for the Knicks and a perennial All Star.

Fat Joe isn’t the only person that believes that the New York Knicks are vastly improved. Getting to the Eastern Conference Finals is not going to be an easy thing, especially since the team has yet to develop chemistry on the court.

[Photo by Theo Wargo/Getty Images]