Champion Creed

After losing the Christmas showdown, the New York Knicks are still first in the league. In fact, their strength and record are enough to end the regular season's top fight three and a half months early.

Unless the New York Knicks suffer major injuries, it's almost certain they will continue this dominance and win rate.

They might not be able to defeat the Warriors, but they have more than enough to beat most teams in this league.

But New York fans know, this season what the Knicks need is not regular-season records, but the championship.

This is their only goal, this is the only goal for Yao Ming, Wade, and KG.

As long as this goal is not achieved, this season's New York Knicks are a failure.

Before Christmas, New Yorkers were brimming with confidence for the championship.

But now, for the final result of this season, they must draw a big question mark in their hearts.

The Knicks cannot handle the Warriors with dual ball-handlers, which is a very real problem.

Yes, the victory in the Christmas showdown does not mean that the Warriors can laugh until the end in a seven-game series, but the Knicks are also not sure to securely win.

Kevin Garnett's passion will eventually burn out; this team cannot rely on passion alone to get through tough times.

Why do the Warriors always succeed? One well-known reason is they have Roger, another often overlooked reason is they are always strengthening their roster.

From the Magic Dynasty to the Atlanta Dynasty, to now, every year Roger's team will summarize last season's weaknesses and then strengthen against those weaknesses.

This season is no different, lacking a second ball-handler? They added Boris Diaw. The outer defense during the coupling period is not good enough? They added Matt Barnes.

Even in "clearing obstacles," Roger's team is very timely. It's rare to see a champion team actively seeking trades in the first week of November.

But the Warriors did it, and it indeed made the team better.

Their adjustments to the roster are always timely, ensuring Roger's team remains at the top of competitiveness.

Roger is such a person, uncompromising. He is not only decisive with the team roster; when he feels a girlfriend is not suitable, he will change very decisively. The result is, Roger's emotional life is very happy so far.

Top players should have such a mindset; if you can't change teammates as efficiently as Roger, then change teams yourself.

So, the already very complete New York Knicks are contemplating one thing—how can we further strengthen?

James Dolan doesn't care about investment; no matter how much he puts in, the Knicks can make him earn back double.

So, Lenny Wilkens told the management: "My team still needs strengthening!"

The Knicks also have a very clear need; the height of the trio consisting of Payton, Wade, and Jamal Crawford on the outside is somewhat too short, suffering a heavy loss against the Warriors' all-forward lineup.

Michael Sweetney is great, but his defense is not strong enough to disregard his offense.

If you can play defense at Ben Wallace's level, then OK, your offensive ineptitude is tolerable.

But if you can only play decent defense and your offense is as bad as Ben Wallace, that's hard to accept.

So, the direction for the Knicks to strengthen is very clear.

A hard, wise, low-ball-demand, but high shooting percentage wing.

After the news of the Knicks wanting to strengthen their wing, the first thought in New Yorkers' minds was the recently hot-selling Caron Butler.

Because the Heat is looking to offload Caron Butler as a nuisance, it doesn't require a high price to get him.

However, Lenny Wilkens specifically mentioned absolutely not wanting Caron Butler.

If Caron Butler could make Gilbert Arenas so angry he pulled a gun, who knows what would happen with Garnett.

An important foundation for KG's pleasant stay in New York is Wade and Yao Ming's relatively mild temperament.

And Caron Butler? Although the media blames Gilbert Arenas, nobody knows exactly how much of a bad role Caron Butler played in the "gun incident".

Matt Barnes can get along with Roger, but that doesn't mean KG can get along with Butler.

Caron Butler, although a father at 15, is now in a romantic relationship with another woman, with a good relationship. If Kevin Garnett makes a joke related to donuts, who knows if Caron Butler, who spent time in jail from a young age, will enact "gun incident 2.0."

This Knicks team cannot afford the risk of locker room chaos; as a participant in the Atlanta Dynasty, Lenny Wilkens knows more than anyone the importance of locker room stability.

Moreover, Caron Butler is not that kind of off-ball wing.

He is a player who needs a certain ball-handling share, and his best scoring methods are drives and mid-range isolations, and the Knicks already don't have extra balls to give him.

If he ends up not playing well for the Knicks, the result might be worse than Michael Sweetney. After all, defense needs to be selflessly put in.

Trade rumors about the Knicks are starting to increase, and some other championship-contending teams are also getting involved.

Unlike in previous years where they needed to observe for a long time before making trade decisions, now, many contending teams hope to complete trades as early as possible, rather than holding off until the trade deadline.