Was planning to do a little experiment after some of the conversation threads in the last few weeks were looking to compare players from different eras. While it's certainly a bit tough to truly see which players were "better" than others when they played 30 years apart, I thought it would be interesting to look at which Knicks teams were best over the course of team history.

Rather than spend an entire week of time crunching numbers though, I thought it would be more entertaining to hold a tournament using WhatIfSports.com and its simulation engine to pit Knicks teams from the past against one another. Now, this won't be an exact science at all, but figured it could still generate some fun competition and discussion.

So, first step: Figuring out the top 16 Knicks teams of all-time (this year excluded). My choices (and feel free to suggest others in the comments):

1950-51 (36-30; lost in NBA Finals): Boryla, Gallatin, Zaslofsky, Simmons, McGuire

1952-53 (47-23; lost in NBA Finals): Braun, Gallatin, Vandeweghe, Clifton, Simmons

1968-69 (54-28; lost in East Divisional Finals): Reed, Barnett, Frazier, Bradley, DeBusschere

1969-70 (60-22; won NBA Finals): Reed, Barnett, Frazier, Bradley, DeBusschere

1970-71 (50-32; lost in Conference Finals): Reed, Barnett, Frazier, Bradley, DeBusschere

1971-72 (48-34; lost in NBA Finals): Frazier, Lucas, DeBusschere, Bradley, Monroe

1972-73 (57-25; won NBA Finals): Frazier, Bradley, DeBusschere, Monroe, Reed

1973-74 (49-33; lost in Conference Finals): Frazier, DeBusschere, Bradley, Jackson, Meminger

1988-89 (52-30; lost in Conference Semifinals): Ewing, Jackson, Newman, Wilkins, Oakley

1991-92 (51-31; lost in Conference Semifinals): Ewing, Starks, McDaniel, Wilkins, Oakley

1992-93 (60-22; lost in Conference Finals): Ewing, Starks, Smith, Oakley, Rivers

1993-94 (57-25; lost in NBA Finals): Ewing, Starks, Oakley, Bonner, Anthony

1994-95 (55-27; lost in Conference Semifinals): Ewing, Starks, Smith, Harper, Oakley

1996-97 (57-25; lost in Conference Semifinals): Ewing, Houston, Johnson, Oakley, Childs

1998-99 (27-23; lost in NBA Finals): Houston, Sprewell, Johnson, Thomas, Ward

1999-00 (50-32; lost in Conference Finals): Houston, Sprewell, Ewing, Johnson, Ward

Seeded (for the purposes of the tournament):

1. 1969-70

2. 1972-73

3. 1993-94

4. 1968-69

5. 1971-72

6. 1970-71

7. 1992-93

8. 1952-53

9. 1996-97

10. 1994-95

11.1973-74

12. 1998-99

13. 1988-89

14. 1991-92

15. 1999-00

16. 1950-51

***

Any suggestions for other teams that should be included here instead? Or adjustments to seeding? Once it's all settled, I can set up a bracket and simulate out the first round.