So this thinking about coming up with better ways to describe positions has been making the rounds for a little while now

today's players are so versatile, it's not so easy to label someone a 1 or a 2 anymore. D1 means that a guy may not necessarily be a PG but can guard one.

C: Rebounder, D5
PF: Rebounder-Scorer, D4
SF: Scorer, D3
SG: Scorer-Creator/Handler, D2
PG: Creator/Handler, D1

Basically it's not a problem if you have someone like AI playing "PG" as long as

a) he can guard the opposing team's PG and
b) you have someone like say..Lebron who can be the creator/handler on offense.

Looking at the Knicks it seems like we have a pretty well balance roster even though we lack anyone who is best suited to be a traditional shooting guard. Maybe Melo at the 2 isn't such a crazy idea..which initially I thought it was, as long as you find someone else who can shut down the other team's 2.

C: Rebounder, D5

PF: Rebounder-Scorer, D4

SF: Scorer, D3

SG: Scorer-Creator/Handler, D2

PG: Creator/Handler, D1

C: Turiaf/Amare
PF: Amare/Randolph/Gallinari
SF: Gallinari/Randolph/Chandler
SG: Chandler/Azubuike
PG: Felton/Douglas

Probable roles:

Felton - Creator/Handler, D1
Douglas - Scorer-Creator/Handler, D1
Chandler - Rebounder-Scorer, Deverything?
Azubuike - Scorer, D2-3
Gallinari - Scorer-Creator, D3-4
Randolph - Rebounder, Scorer/handler D3-5??
Amare - Scorer-Rebounder D4-5
Turiaf - Rebounder, D5

What are we missing? Team seems pretty well rounded to me.

The only thing I would disagree with is that AZ and Mason are SG's. This team is IMO fairly well balanced. We may not have greatness at every position, but we do have more pure position players than before.

The game has changed a bit. The bigger players are more skilled than the old days. You didn't have bigs who could handle the ball like these current guys.

Not sure how this works with your analysis, which I think is interesting, but taking a gut check on this team, what we're missing, IMO, is:

Rebounding
Inside toughness/post defense
Crunch-time creator

The first two should come in one player. I don't think anyone on the team will develop into this, unless AR puts on a lot of muscle or the Russian turns into something well beyond what we have reason to expect. I like Turiaf OK, but he's best providing these qualities off the bench. We need a starter-level player to give us these things.

The last one may be on the team already, but it would take someone like Gallo or Wilson take a big step up.

I'm wondering, also, if Felton can help us fill the rebounding gap. The way this team is structured, we need our guards to help on the boards -- I'm not talking about Jason Kidd/Fat Lever kind of production, but 4 or 5 rpg from the PG/D1 position would help cover some of our holes. Felton's got the quickness and toughness to be a better than average rebounder for his position.