The Knicks Just Completed a Phenomenal Offseason
The New York Knicks looked like a new team on the court last season. This offseason, they looked like a new team off the court as well.
Gone are the days of swinging for savior superstars (hopefully). Gone are the days of questionable draft picks (hopefully). Gone are the days of exiting the offseason disappointed and prepared for another losing season.
Leon Rose & Co. made wicked smaht moves all over the map, most of which boiled down to one goal: Getting the gang back together. Within the first 72 hours of free agency, the Knicks executed that exact goal to near perfection. Derrick Rose, Nerlens Noel, Alec Burks, Taj Gibson, Mitchell Robinson and Theo Pinson were all re-signed very quickly. Although Elfrid Payton and Frank Ntilikina are gone, I’m sure Knicks fans are OK with that. Check that, they’re definitely OK with Elfrid and Frank not coming back.
The Knicks did lose Reggie Bullock to Dallas, but then scooped up Evan Fournier for $9 million more than they most likely would’ve paid Bullock. Considering that Fournier can create his own shot and provide more on-ball scoring than Bullock (something that the Knicks desperately need), paying a little extra for Fournier is fine by me, even if Fournier isn’t as good of a defender as Bullock.
Then, after swapping Bullock for Fournier at the cost of only $9 million more for one more year than Bullock got in Dallas, the Knicks made my favorite move of the offseason (other than drafting Miles McBride) by signing hometown hero Kemba Walker, who will essentially be replacing Elfrid Payton. I absolutely love this move for a few reasons.
Considering Walker’s ceiling and the fact that the Knicks only gave him an $8 million contract, this is a bargain worth taking. This is a rather low risk signing for a potentially great player. It’s not like the Knicks threw a ton of money at Walker and an unreasonably high expectation was set for Walker to be this awesome starting point guard like the Celtics unfortunately did. If Walker’s knee continues to be an issue or he isn’t performing well, it won't be this massive dissapointment. And it’s not like the Knicks chose Walker over Kawhi Leonard or Demar Derozan, because there’s no way they were taking only $8 million a year. If Kemba Walker is awesome, great! If not, no big deal. As for his fit with the Knicks, I love it. He’ll allow Derrick Rose to move to the sixth man role where he clearly belongs; when he started against Atlanta in the playoffs, Rose would visibly tire out as the game progressed. Walker adds needed backcourt depth along with Rose, Immanuel Quickley and Luca Vildoza. Finally, this signing was another indicator of a new era in New York. If this was 2015, the Knicks would’ve not only taken on Walker’s $74 million AAV, they would’ve given up assets to get him as well. I’m super excited to watch Kemba in orange and blue, I think there will be a few moments where he makes the Garden explode.
Julius Randle’s contract is a massive overpay for a guy that imploded in the playoffs, says the casual basketball fan (had you in the first half there). Randle was the Knicks’ engine on offense all of last season. While it wasn’t incredibly efficient, his game improved dramatically from a disastrous 2019-20 season to an All-NBA 2020-21 season. Plus, Randle left a potential max contract on the table next summer, which will allow the Knicks more financial flexibility in 2022 (Projected cap space of $44 million). Love the extension for Randle and the Knicks.
The Knicks also made sure they had future financial flexibility in case these extensions don’t pan out; several of these new extensions have player options in the final season of the contract. Yet another smart move by the Knicks.
The only move I didn’t like was not retaining team morale MVP Theo Pinson. I know he doesn’t qualify for a two-way deal anymore, and it would've been tough to retain him, but dammit, it’s Theo Pinson for crying out loud! True Knicks (and NBA) fans know how valuable Pinson is to a team. He’s the first one off the bench to high five his teammates, the one that’s hyping up his teammates the most and is overall a great guy to have on your bench. He brought the energy on the bench every single night, and it clearly had a positive effect on the Knicks last season. Read this letter from Fansided’s Mark Wessol to get a glimpse as to how much Pinson meant to the Knicks’ chemistry and togetherness last season.
As for the Knicks’ draft, I liked it. I wrote a summary in my draft grades column, saying how I thought their strategy was odd (trading 19 for a heavily protected CHA 2022 first rounder), and they passed on a few players I liked more than Quentin Grimes and Rokas Jokubaitis, but I generally liked the players they picked.
Besides becoming my new favorite player on the Knicks because we share the same unique first name, Quentin Grimes brings elite three point shooting with fantastic on-ball defense; Grimes is a Tom Thibodeau kind of player. He completely reinvented himself at Houston over the past two seasons under Kelvin Sampson after an extremely disappointing freshman season at Kansas. Not only was Grimes the best player on a Final Four team (granted, they played double digit seeds in every game until they got smacked by Baylor), but he significantly improved every season. This selection got a two thumbs up from me.
Rokas Jokubaitis was my least favorite pick the Knicks made on draft night, as I would’ve rather had Jared Butler, Sharife Cooper, Miles McBride (who they eventually drafted), Ayo Dosunmu, JT Thor, Joe Wieskamp or Luka Garza. After watching a little bit of film on Jokubaitis, I still would’ve rather taken all seven guys I listed ahead of him, but Joku (new nickname alert) is a solid player. I want you to think of a prototypical European basketball player. Got it? Whatever you thought of was probably similar to Joku’s actual game: savvy passing and ball handling with a decent three pointer and below average athleticism and on-ball defense.
Two picks later, the Knicks made one of my favorite draft picks in my lifetime by selecting Miles McBride out of West Virginia. I literally jumped in the air and fist pumped like MJ after “The Shot”; I was shocked McBride fell all the way to 36. He’s a guy that I believe will become a fan favorite among the New York faithful, mainly for his elite on-ball defensive ability. Watching him suffocate fantastic ball handlers like Cade Cunningham and Austin Reaves last was incredible to watch. He reminds me of fellow West Virginia defensive stopper Jevon Carter. McBride can also create his own shot. He might reach Theo Pinson’s level of approval rating among the Knicks faithful.
At 58, the Knicks did what any team in the late second round should do at that spot: taking a swing. It’s the late second round! Why not go big? That’s exactly what they did selecting Jericho Sims, the high flying, shot blocking big man out of Texas. What he lacks in feel for the game, Sims makes up for in ridiculous athleticism and explosion. This was also a smart pick because Sims adds frontcourt depth, something the Knicks were heavily lacking in the playoffs when Nerlens Noel went down after Mitchell Robinson had already been out for multiple months.
The Knicks aren’t title contenders. No way. I’ve been seeing TV personalities saying that New York’s offseason moves don’t move them closer to being title contenders; they made it sound like the Knicks are supposed to be title contenders this season. Absolutely not! We’re just happy to be in the playoff conversation after years of being a laughing stock. Even though the Knicks aren’t title contenders this season, or even Eastern Conference finals contenders, continuing to look like a competent basketball team and rocking the Garden will increase the chances of attracting superstars. The 2014-2020 way of stinking it up in the regular season and hoping for a “savior” superstar to sign in free agency is not the way to move the needle. Playing the way the Knicks did last season will do the trick.
This is a new era for the New York Knicks, and this offseason was indicative of such change. The Knicks had a shockingly great past season and didn’t screw anything up in the offseason, even with a lot of cap space and a bunch of free agents available they could’ve overpaid for. Instead, they kept the team that got them to the playoffs (mostly) together while adding veterans (Walker and Fournier) at reasonable prices, especially Kemba’s contract.
Haters will say the Knicks blew their chance to use their cap space on better players than the ones they re-signed. I will reiterate something I just said: THE KNICKS ARE NOT TITLE CONTENDERS RIGHT NOW. Continuing to build on what was a great season last season was exactly what the Knicks needed to do, and they did it.
