Following two decades of incompetence, the New York Knicks entered the month of September as the darlings of New York having made the playoffs 3 of the last 4 years under the leadership of Leon Rose and coach Tom Thibodeau. They acquired Mikal Bridges as seemingly the “final piece”, resigned OG Anunoby and extended Jalen Brunson. Brunson left money on the table giving the Knicks the flexibility to sign OG and plan additional moves. The Knicks rewarded Brunson by naming him captain, solidifying him as the face of the franchise.
With all that goodwill, the Knicks could’ve entered the season with no further moves and still been applauded as having had one of the NBA’s best summers. Turns out, that wasn’t good enough for Rose, who is intent on winning the east and competing for a title. Given the fact that the east got stronger with the defending champion Boston Celtics running it back and the Philadelphia 76ers acquiring Paul George to join Joel Emblid and Tyrese Maxey, Rose and Thibs decided to bring in Karl-Anthony Towns hours before the start of training camp
Here’s a quick review of the comings and goings (take your time, there’s a lot):
KEY OFF-SEASON ACQUISITIONS
Mikal Bridges
Keita Bates-Diop (came and went)
James Nnaji
Cameron Payne
Landry Shamet
Karl-Anthony Towns
2024 DRAFT PICKS
Pacome Dadiet
Ariel Hukporti
Tyler Kolek
Kevin McCullar Jr.
KEY OFF-SEASON DEPARTURES
Keita Bates-Diop (came and went)
Bojan Bogdanovic
Charlie Brown
Alec Burks
Mamadi Diakite
Donte DiVincenzo
Isaiah Hartenstein
DaQuan Jeffries
Shake Milton
Julius Randle
Duane Washington Jr.
OFF-SEASON REVIEW
Towns became the marquee acquisition the moment the trade was leaked. He will fill many roles including replacing Randle as Brunson’s co-star, replacing Mitchell Robinson as the starting center, replacing Hartenstein as the playmaking center and becoming the Knicks top threat from deep instead of DiVincenzo
We believe that this team’s “special sauce” is the wing defense of Josh Hart, Anunoby and Bridges… plus the fact that Anunoby and Bridges are equally capable of being the team’s third scoring option.
The primary concern is depth, especially with the injury histories of Anunoby and Mitchell Robinson (who is likely out until January).
FINAL ANALYSIS
All-in-all, this was the most momentous summer since 1996 when the Knicks signed Chris Childs and Allan Houston as free agents and then traded for Grandmama himself, Larry Johnson.
Those moves were orchestrated by Dave Checketts and Ernie Grunfeld, fittingly, the last two Knicks executives who stuck to a plan.
Rose spent 4 years retaining, acquiring, and developing marketable players and draft picks, while overseeing the most competent run of basketball seen here since the 1990’s. By utilizing assets to acquire Anunoby, Bridges and Towns over the last 9 months, Rose added three starters to join Brunson and Hart.
Sound familiar? Back in 1996 those three offseason acquisitions (Childs, Houston and Johnson) joined Patrick Ewing and Charles Oakley as Knicks starters. Those moves resulted in a 57-win season for the 1996-97 Knicks (and a famed playoff loss to the Miami Heat in 7 games after a Game 6 brawl). How will this season end?
The purpose of this post is not to try and predict the future, it is to grade the past. There’s no doubt that the Knicks depth took a hit but keep two things in mind. First, the Knicks have been above average these last 4 years in development and signing unheralded veteran free agents. They are counting on growth from 4th year players Miles McBride and Jericho Sims, as well as contributions from Payne and Shamet. Second, the Knicks still held on to a couple of draft picks that could be used to bring in additional depth if needed.
On paper, the new starting five looks like the Knicks most balanced in a quarter-century. More importantly, it appears as if the pieces fit. That’s what happens when you stick to a plan.
GRADE A
“Knicks – Grading the Off-Season” is the 4th in a series prior to the start of hockey and basketball seasons. 4 down, 1 to go… Nets report card coming soon to SRNY.
2 thoughts on “Knicks – Grading the Off-Season”
Much has been made about the so called Nova Knicks. I agree, much should have been made of them. After last year’s playoffs they deserved it. Brunson, Hart, & Divencenzo led a playoff run with Divencenzo hitting a shot that will go down in Knicks lore along with LJ’s 4 point play, Allan’s floater and Starks’s dunk. But Leon wasn’t done. He found a way to grab another Nova teammate from Brooklyn. Mikal Bridges switched boroughs to join his boys. It was the stuff fairytales are made of, but there was no happily ever after. At least not for all four. Three is the magic number, ask De La Soul. Matter of fact ask Ryan Arcidiacono. Who you ask? He was the fourth Nova Knick, sitting on the bench behind his three more talented teammates, but the Knicks sent him packing. The lesson should’ve been learned then, this ain’t a High School lunch room where you get to sit with your friends and crack jokes between classes, this ain’t a college dorm room where you get to eat pizza and ramen noodles with your roommates.This is business. The GM’s job is to find someone better than you. So the original four Nova Knicks became three. That’s life. Hard to now cry from Dontè Divencenzo when he gets the Arcidiacono treatment. Sorry. This is business. Three Nova teammates will once again have to do. The 90’s song said it best, “We are the New York Knicks” not the Nova Knicks.
Stick to the plan! Love it.
LGK’s!
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