The New York Knicks have had a successful 2020 offseason

The offseason has been good to the New York Knicks thus far

While the New York Knicks haven’t landed any big-name free agents this offseason, which isn’t exactly a revelation, they have been able to make some minor noise during the free-agent signing period combined with last week’s NBA draft.

As a franchise, the Knicks usually have high hopes going into free agency, but this year seemed a little different. With a lighter free-agent class where proven stars are concerned, the Knicks have settled in and made smart moves, versus the big splash acquisitions, they’ve promised fans in the past and very seldom been able to follow through with.

By most measurements, the Knicks did have a good draft this year, surmised by where they were slotted in the draft, picking eighth and then acquiring the 25th pick from the Oklahoma City Thunder.

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For now, it seems the Knicks got the best value for the picks they did have, taking Dayton forward and 2020 Wooden Player of the Year award winner Obi Toppin with the eighth overall pick. With the 25th pick in the draft, the Thunder selected Kentucky guard Immanuel Quickley, immediately shipping him off to the Knicks.

With Toppin, there are questions about some of his limitations defensively but on the offensive end, he should bring some added and much-needed excitement back to Madison Square Garden with some of his rim rocking dunks. Toppin, a Brooklyn native, had been a top guy on the Knicks’ radar, based on where they were slated to pick outside of the top five.

They reportedly felt they may have needed to trade up higher in the draft to take Toppin. Luckily for them, this was not the case. Adding Quickley to the backcourt brings in a shooter the Knicks have needed for a while now. Quickley, who is coming off a sophomore year at Kentucky where he won the SEC Player of the Year award and shot 42.8 percent from 3-point distance and 41.7 percent from the field overall. That field goal percentage will need to come up quite a bit in the pros but the potential is there and with the right tutelage and development of his skills, Quickley should be able to make his mark in this league for the Knicks sooner rather than later.

After the draft, the Knicks went out and knabbed undrafted free agent guard Myles Powell out of Seton Hall. Powell had been projected by some as a second-round pick but ended up going undrafted. The Knicks jumped at this opportunity to bring in a dynamic scoring option to help fill out the roster.

Reportedly, the Knicks were interested in signing unrestricted free agent forward Gordon Hayward, as the word was out that his tenure in Boston was a wrap. News leaked about Hayward preferring to play in his home state of Indiana. The Boston Celtics and Indiana Pacers were not able to work out a sign-and-trade deal for Hayward. Hayward eventually signed a four-year deal worth $120 million with the Charlotte Hornets.

Instead, they were able to sign guard Elfrid Payton after missing out on Toronto Raptors guard Fred VanVleet as it was no secret the Knicks held him in high regard going into free agency.
The Knicks also added guard Austin Rivers, signing him to a three-year, $10 million deal. Again, more backcourt depth and shooting of which a team can never have too much in the NBA. One positive to take from the Knicks missing out yet again on free agents they coveted is that they did not miss out on a Kevin Durant, LeBron James, or even Dwyane Wade level star players.

The Knicks did miss out on a couple of second and third-tier free agents. This isn’t the worst thing in the world when you think about it.

If anything, the Knicks should be interesting to follow this season, under the guidance of new head coach Tom Thibodeau, it will be fascinating to see if ‘Thibs’ has learned from his past mistakes in the way he coached some of his young stars in Minnesota and Chicago. Regardless, the Knicks do have a nice young talented core and will be expected to contend for a playoff spot at the least in 2021.