New York Knicks
Last offseason, I was unsure of what the New York Knicks were doing. They signed Bobby Portis, Taj Gibson, Julius Randle, and Marcus Morris, who are all power forwards. I didn’t understand why they were obsessing over power forwards. The problem with the Knicks over the past eight seasons has been the inconsistency. Inconsistency in management, coaches, and players.
The Knicks can’t seem to stay with one point guard, over the last few seasons they’ve had Raymond Felton, Jose Calderon Derrick Rose, Jerian Grant, Brandon Jennings, Emmanuel Mudiay, Trey Burke, Frank Ntilikina, Elfrid Payton, and Dennis Smith Jr. While some of these players were at the end of their careers, a lot of them weren’t.
The Knicks are always waiting to sign someone better than the players they have, but it hasn’t worked yet. They need to develop some of their young players instead of letting them walk and play better on other teams like Derrick Rose and Trey Burke. They re-signed Elfrid Payton, who is a solid point guard that Orlando and Phoenix gave up on. Most of the power forwards the Knicks signed last season are no longer on the team, with only Julius Randle still on the team.
The Knicks drafted Obi Toppin with the 8th pick in this year’s NBA draft. Most likely, Randle will start, he was the Knicks’ best player last season and new coach Tom Thibodeau isn’t known for playing rookies, let alone starting them over veteran players. The Knicks picked up Alec Burks, a forgotten player who was once the Utah Jazz’s best scorer until multiple injuries sidelined him.
Nerlens Noel who is a great rebounder and shot-blocker will see minutes off the bench for Thibodeau who is a defensive-minded coach. The Knicks Will add these players to a young core of R.J. Barrett, Kevin Knox, and Mitchell Robinson.
Although the Knicks don’t look like a playoff team, they have to continue to build through the draft until they find the players that play the best together. It has been proven that top-tier free agents don’t want to come there.
Grade: C