Remember as a kid when you’d go to McDonald’s and negotiate a trade with a friend for an item that wasn’t included in your combo meal? Well, to break down the famed Carmelo Anthony deal using fast-food terminology, if Anthony was a Big Mac, Chauncey Billups was a small fries.
In other words, while still appealing, Billups was also an afterthought.
Another NBA season is winding down and a major cause for concern on the minds of many a Knicks fan is which Chauncey Billups we will get during what will likely be his final year in New York. Since the team picked up his option, Billups has one last opportunity to become a hero for the Knicks as he was in Detroit half a decade ago.
Although New York lost a point guard to Denver who’d been playing the best basketball of his life in Raymond Felton, many believed Billups possessed the intangibles of championship basketball that Felton didn’t bring to the table.
Based on his leadership and big-game experience alone, if something special was to occur, Billups was the man who could help deliver it.
When Anthony and Billups teamed up with Amar’e Stoudemire, the Knicks created their own force to be reckoned with—essentially a less extravagant version of the “Big Three.” While hopes were sky-high, this trio never would reach its full potential in its abridged first season together primarily due to Billups’ inability to stay healthy.
After only four games following the blockbuster trade, Billups sat out the next six games with a left thigh and knee injury suffered during a collision with Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard. Besides delaying the newly formed team’s acclimation process, these ailments were just the beginning of a series of nagging bumps and bruises that seemed to affect Billups for the remainder of the season.
Billups finally looked healthy and ready to upset the heavily favored Boston Celtics in the first round of the playoffs. However, the Knicks were dealt a crushing blow when he went down hard on a drive to the hoop late in Game 1.
What initially looked like a much more serious injury (e.g. torn ACL) amounted to a left knee strain that was substantial enough to knock Billups out of the series and the Knicks from the postseason.
In the days following the devastating sweep, the “what if” chatter crept in among Knicks circles.
What if Chauncey Billups had played the rest of the series? Would the Knicks have beaten the Celtics? How far could they have gone with a healthy Billups? Is Billups still capable of leading this squad to a title?
As Billups rehabs his knee over the summer, we’re all wondering if he’ll be the reliable old Mr. Big Shot who’s never missed more than 12 games during a season since becoming a full-time starter. Or, will he be the aging veteran bitten by the injury bug that we’ve become accustomed to in his brief stint with the Knicks?
Knowing the kind of expectations he places upon himself and how prideful of a guy he is, Billups still believes he’s an elite floor general with three or four good years left in the tank. When preseason comes around, he’ll definitely be 100 percent, bound and determined to lead the team well beyond a first-round sweep in 2012.
With a lot of talk swirling around New York’s point guard state of affairs and no guarantee of acquiring Chris Paul via trade or free agency any sooner than 2012, the Knicks are looking to add a mid-level point guard by next season.
As long as Billups is well enough to play, he’ll definitely be the first-stringer regardless of who they add. He’ll serve as an excellent role model and will be able to offer boundless insight that can only come from a veteran of his stature.
While the backup point will, in all probability, be groomed to assume Billups’ role for the 2012-13 season, this sort of cultivation will be invaluable to his preparation in becoming the starter.
In addition to being a mentor, we can anticipate Billups will play like the five-time All-Star that he is. It’s realistic for him to produce a stat line of around 18 points, six assists and four rebounds per game.
Look for him to kick his shooting touch up a notch also.
This past season, Billups didn’t appear comfortable once he arrived in New York. But, now that he's going to be familiar with his MSG surroundings, his field-goal percentage should be more in tune with his 42 percent career average.
With all the defensive focus on Anthony and Amare Stoudemire, it isn’t too much of a stretch for it to rise into the 45 percent range.
Knicks fans can exhale knowing that Billups’ numbers will not decline until he’s long since left the bright lights of Manhattan behind. He keeps himself in tiptop shape, so there’s no reason to believe he won’t be out there grinding night after night as he has for the last 11 years.
Barring another season-ending injury, it will be an indisputable failure if New York does not advance to the conference semifinals next season. With a healthy Billups running the show, that should be the least the Knicks are capable of.
Give him another year, and that small order of fries might not seem so ordinary after all.
Mila Kunis Samaire Armstrong Selita Ebanks Michael Michele Marisa Tomei
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