A physically fit Raymond Felton provides the New York Knicks with a healthy backcourt. (GETTY IMAGES)

The NBA season is still a little early, but there are some very interesting developments.

What a difference a 7-1 start makes

The New York Knicks were mocked and made fun of when they decided to go with Raymond Felton and Jason Kidd as their new backcourt. Well, well, well. Nobody is laughing now.

Felton was clearly out of shape last season with the potential lockout having many NBA’ers playing at less than their usual level. He didn’t seem comfortable in Portland and the losing that was going on in the City of Roses, but he is playing lights out for NY (15.5 points per game and 6.5 assists per game).

Jason Kidd has played more of a marksman role next to Felton in a smaller backcourt. But, it has paid huge dividends for them. Kidd is shooting 54.3% and 52% on 3-pointers. He isn’t going to maintain that obviously, but he has come a long way from the days when he was called Ason Kidd because he didn’t have a J.

Ronnie Brewer has also been a solid player as the third guard/small forward with Melo playing power forward. He’s a very good defender and a hustle guy.

The Knicks were also mocked when they brought in Kurt Thomas, Marcus Camby and convinced Rasheed Wallace to come out of retirement. Wallace has slowly worked his way into playing shape and contributed some valuable minutes off the bench. Sheed has had three games where he scored at least 10 points and is shooting 46.5%.

A new contender out West

The Los Angeles Clippers went out and added a whole new bench. Last year, they had Randy Foye and this year their sixth man is Jamal Crawford. The difference is like night and day.

Foye averaged 9.8 points off the bench and so far Crawford is scoring 20.7 points (52.2% and 44%). But, that isn’t the only difference. Crawford brings some swag, also known as confidence down the stretch. Crawford will take the big shots someone else on the Clippers likes to take. “Mr Big Shot” himself, Chauncey Billups.

Crawford is a cold-blooded assassin who is not afraid to take big shots.

A healthy Eric Bledsoe also gives them a great 1-2 punch at point guard along with All-Star Chris Paul. Bledsoe has been playing extremely well (10.6 points and 2.8 assists) and has to strike fear in the opposing coaches’ gameplan.

Once Billups and Grant Hill get healthy, the Clippers will have a team that can go 10 deep.

Houston Rockets

There was some outrage over Jeremy Lin being given a poison-pill contract when he was offered a back-loaded deal that all but killed his chances of re-signing with the New York Knicks.

Many said it was crazy because he doesn’t have the traditional strengths of most point guards. Lin is off to a slow start offensively, averaging just under 11 points per game, but he hasn’t found his shot just yet this season. However, he is averaging 6.7 assists per game and 2.3 steals per game. More surprising is he has shown he can rebound better than he did last year in Gotham (he is averaging 4.7 rebounds). He should be able to bring up his 35.5% shooting percentage.

Omer Asik was a career backup with the Chicago Bulls and he was given a surprisingly rich contract for a player that hadn’t shown much. But, he has turned into a rebounding beast, averaging 13.2 boards. He’s also averaging 11 points and 1.2 blocks.

Both players are looking promising and James Harden has turned into a scoring machine.

Houston still has a max contract to offer next summer and could be a playoff team quicker than a lot of people thought after losing out on the major free agents last summer.

A team to watch out for

The Memphis Grizzlies are playing like they are a team that have something to prove. They seem to lack a superstar or a go-to player, but they are just winning games. As their 7-1 start and leading the Southwest division shows.

They have an excellent frontcourt with Rudy Gay (19.8 points), Zach Randolph (17.2 points and 13.9 rebounds) and Marc Gasol (15 points and 7.3 rebounds), but their backcourt is just average.

A good friend of mine says they lack a star in the backcourt, but Mike Conley (14 points, six assists and two steals per game) is a poor man’s Tony Parker. And their shooting guard is Tony Allen. He provides some intangibles that this team needs, a defender with championship experience. And they added Jerryd Bayless in the offseason to back up Conley and play some shooting guard.

The Grizzlies took the Clippers to seven games in playoffs last year and knocked off the Spurs in the first round a couple years ago. This is a squad no team wants to face in the postseason, and just one reason why the Western Conference is deeper than the East.

Andrei Kirilenko

AK47 spent his entire career in Utah until last season when he decided to return to Russia when the NBA was on the verge of a lockout.

Returning this season, he has been an excellent pickup for Minnesota who is without Kevin Love and Ricky Rubio. AK47 is averaging 14.1 points (59.7% on FGAs and 53.3% of his 3s), 8.3 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 2.2 blocks and 1.4 steals.

Kirilenko’s versatility is his best asset, He does a little bit of everything, and he is having an effect on the Wolves. They are allowing just 90 points (second best in the NBA), opponents are shooting just 42.4% (fourth best) from the field and 33.3% on 3s (tied for 10th).

AK47 is my early candidate for comeback player of the year.

Darren Jacks is a regular contributor to OneManFastBreak.net. Send him an email to: djroxalot@hotmailcom.

All-Star center Dwight Howard is on his way to Hollywood to join forces with Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol and Steve Nash. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Deron Williams returned to the Nets, Steve Nash and Dwight Howard are headed to Hollywood, and Jason Terry is moving from Dallas to Boston. The 2012 NBA offseason had plenty of franchise-altering moves — most of which benefited the major markets. So much for competitive balance. Some teams did better than others (ahem! Lakers), while most stayed above the fray and maintained status quo. OneManFastBreak.net highlights the winners and losers:

LOS ANGELES LAKERS

Mitch Kupchak locked up executive of the year with his two monumental moves this summer. He pried Nash from the Phoenix Suns (a division rival) to give Kobe Bryant the best point guard he’s ever had. Then, he shocked the basketball world by acquiring the best center in the world without giving up all-star Pau Gasol. With Nash, Kobe, Ron Artest, Gasol, and Howard, the Lakers have easily the best starting five in the NBA and arguably the greatest starting five in basketball history. The Lakers’ Fab Five are armed with two league MVPs, two defensive players of the year, and the most skilled big man in the game. Even at age 38, Nash is still a terrific playmaker and he’ll make sure Gasol and Howard will get their touches on the offensive end. The Lakers were eliminated in the second round of the playoffs mainly because their offense faltered and did not execute. Nash will step into the role of offensive coordinator and he’ll instantly make the Lakers a lethal offensive team. Howard adds to the Lakers’ great history of dominant centers, joining Mikan, Wilt, Kareem, and Shaq.

[VIDEO: DWIGHT HOWARD TRADED TO THE L.A. LAKERS]

BOSTON CELTICS

Boston reached the Eastern Conference finals in 2012 despite a gimpy Paul Pierce and a hobbling Ray Allen. Priority No. 1 in the offseason was to bring back Kevin Garnett. The Big Ticket re-signed with the Celtics, assuring he’ll retire a Celtic, and then general manager Danny Ainge added more firepower on offense by signing shooting guard Jason Terry, a member of the Mavericks’ 2011 championship squad. Terry addresses a major issue for Boston: scoring. He’ll help the Celtics avoid long scoring droughts with his ability to create his own shot and not have to depend on point guard Rajon Rondo to feed him the ball off screens. Terry can also serve as a backup point guard, giving head coach Doc Rivers more flexibility on offense.

BROOKLYN NETS

Deron Williams was arguably the biggest catch of the summer, and he was the first to decide where he wanted to play. Williams re-signing with the Nets gives the Brooklyn franchise a centerpiece and a name on the billboard of the team’s brand new arena. But Williams won’t be alone on that billboard. All-Star guard Joe Johnson was acquired from Atlanta, giving the Nets a studly backcourt combo and plenty of firepower. The team also re-signed power forward Kris Humphries to bolster its frontline. Now, if the Mikhail Prokorov can convince Dwight Howard to join the Brooklyn party then the Nets will be the biggest winner of the summer.

HOUSTON ROCKETS

Daryl Morey caught a lot of flak for letting Goran Dragic, Kyle Lowry, and Luis Scola leave town without compensation and then signed Jeremy Lin to a $25-million contract. On the outside, it looks like the Rockets are throwing in the towel. But if you look closely, Morey is fielding a team that is cap-friendly. Lin is going to be The Man in Houston, picking up the Asian fan votes vacated by Yao Ming. Lin should fit in nicely in Kevin McHale’s free-flowing, pick-and-roll heavy offense, and that’s likely the biggest reason why he chose Houston over New York (oh, the $14.8 million on the third year of the deal ain’t bad either).

Jeremy Lin signed a three-year, $25-million deal with the Rockets. (GETTY IMAGES)

The Rockets are cleaning house for the right reasons. First-round draft picks Jeremy Lamb and Terrence Jones are very good young players, and they should figure into McHale’s rotation from the start. The Rockets’ offseason is a perfect case of addition by subtraction.

PHILADELPHIA 76ERS

Ever since Allen Iverson left town, Philly fans have been craving for star. Enter Andrew Bynum. Bynum gives the Sixers their first significant low-post threat since Moses Malone and he immediately turns the Sixers into one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference. He’s arguably the second-best center in the NBA and, at 24, his ceiling is so high he has only begun to scratch the surface of the roof. Bynum, who won two championships with the Lakers, will be The Man in Philadelphia and his big body (7 feet, 290 pounds) in the paint will alter the way the Sixers play on both ends. Joining Bynum in Philly are free agents Jason Richardson, Nick Young, and Dorell Wright.

DALLAS MAVERICKS

When Deron Williams announced his decision to stay with the Nets instead of joining the Mavericks, Frank Isola of the New York Daily News tweeted this gem: “Russian 1, Cuban 0.” That, of course, is in reference to the Nets owner, Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov, getting over Mavs owner Mark Cuban, who was hoping to lure Williams to play in his home state of Texas. The Williams decision had a domino effect in the Mavs’ plan. Dallas’ all-out-effort to land Williams made Kidd a little leftout. Nobody likes to be second choice, so Kidd chose his own path by signing with the Knicks. But Kidd wasn’t the only Mavs guard to defect. Longtime Maverick Jason Terry, a member of the team’s 2011 championship team along with Kidd, is taking his talents to Beantown and join the Celtics. So, if you’re still keeping score, it’s now Free Agency 3, Cuban 0.

CHICAGO BULLS

The only good news this summer for Chicago are the improving health of Derrick Rose coming off knee surgery and the return of Kirk Hinrich, a big piece of the Bulls’ resurgence in 2008. But take away the Hinrich signing and the Bulls have had a nightmarish offseason. Kyle Korver, Ronnie Brewer, John Lucas, C.J. Watson, and Omer Asik are all gone. All five were important cogs off the Bulls bench. Korver was arguably the Bulls’ best player in the fourth quarter, while Brewer and Asik are very good defenders. Lucas and Watson are not all-star players, but they both did an admirable job in Rose’s absence. Continuity is a big part of a championship team, and the Bulls are basically starting over with an entirely new bench unit (Marco Belinelli, Vladimir Radmanovic, and rookie point guard Marquis Teague) for the 2012-13 season. Belinelli is nowhere near the shooting Korver is, and Radmanovic is not someone you want guarding LeBron James — or any small forward for that matter — in the fourth quarter.

NEW YORK KNICKS

Phil Jackson calls the New York Knicks a “clumsy” team, and the Knicks tripped over themselves this offseason by not getting Nash. Then the Knicks made a bold move by signing veteran point guard Jason Kidd. The former Mavericks playmaker could turn out to be a better option because Kidd won’t mind running Mike Woodson’s isolation offense. Then the Knicks signed Raymond Felton, which was a little bit of a head-scratcher considering Felton was grossly out of shape last season and now he’s being rewarded for his unprofessionalism. The Felton signing basically forced fan favorite Jeremy Lin out of the rotation, and now New York enters the season the same way they left it — too many players playing the same positions. Lin was a cash cow for the MSG network and time will tell if Lin fans will keep following the Knicks.

ORLANDO MAGIC

In his letter to Magic season ticket holders, CEO Alex Martins wrote: “We look forward to this next chapter of Magic basketball and remain committed to our mission: To be world champions on and off the court, delivering legendary moments every step of the way.” Hmm. In order to win a championship, you must first qualify for the playoffs and, without Howard, Orlando will be far from being a playoff contender for the next few years. Martins and general manager Rob Hennigan were put in a tough spot. Howard made it clear that he wanted out of Orlando, but Martins and Hennigan failed to get the right deal. Sure they got some draft picks, but those won’t matter unless they’re lottery picks. It took Orlando nearly a decade to recover from the breakup with Shaquille O’Neal. When Howard came along, he made Orlando love basketball again. After eight years of basketball bliss, L.A. swoops in and breaks Orlando’s heart yet again. It’s like losing another girlfriend to the same guy 16 years later.

Joel Huerto is the editor and publisher of OneManFastBreak.net. Follow him on Twitter @onemanfastbreak.

The former Suns All-Star center/power forward and the newest franchise player in NYC says he’s excited to be part of the New York culture and vows to dominate this season by “going after it.”

“I’m fierce. I play with passion, I play with determination. Sometimes they call me a bully around the basket,” boasted Stoudemire, who later explains that he doesn’t feel any added pressure as the centerpiece of the Knicks.

Stoudemire certainly has accepted one of the leadership roles. “In order to be a great team, there’s more than one leader,” he said. Watch the whole interview:

To view other exclusive bonus clips, including interviews with young sensation Danilo Gallinari and newly acquired point guard Raymond Felton, visit www.MSG.com/our-teams/knicks-season-preview-bonus-clips.

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With a new starting lineup for this season, Knicks head coach Mike D’Antoni is ready to take the court with his star players in hopes of a magical NBA season. All it takes is some practice and a couple of basketball spells. Check out D’Antoni in this magician’s outfit and enter MSG.com’s photo caption contest. The funniest captions for the photo featured below will be shared with Coach D himself on The Mike D’Antoni Show on Oct. 26 at 8 p.m. EST on MSG.