The New York Knicks have had an eventful offseason, but not as eventful as last year. Rather than making a pair of blockbuster trades like they did last summer, they signed two free agents and hired a new head coach.
While those changes may seem minor on the surface, they are huge changes and make the Knicks a much better team than the one that reached the Eastern Conference Finals last season.
Knicks not given enough credit for offseason additions
Despite that, The Athletic’s David Aldridge had their offseason ranked in the middle of the pack as the 15th-best out of all teams.
“If the Knicks hadn’t fired Thibs after the franchise’s most successful season in a quarter-century, they’d be ranked higher. If the Knicks hadn’t brought in two quality vets in Yabusele and Clarkson to improve their middling bench, they’d be ranked lower,” Aldridge wrote.
“Brown isn’t materially different from Thibodeau defensively; the hope is he can make New York a little more diverse offensively — in a different voice.”
Contrary to Aldridge’s take, the Knicks might have made the right decision moving on from Thibodeau. Thibodeau typically had trouble adapting to the fast-evolving game of today’s NBA, and his reluctance to make adjustments on the fly is ultimately what cost the Knicks an opportunity to win a title.
The Knicks could be one of the best teams in the NBA following their offseason changes
While it’s still left to be seen if Brown will change that fortune for them, he is arguably a much better fit for the roster that is handed to him. With Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns leading them, the goal is to maximize the offense and turn the team into a juggernaut for opposing teams to stop.
Furthermore, the additions of Clarkson and Yabusele without going over the second apron are major additions. The Knicks were the lowest scoring bench in the league last season with just 21.7 per game. Clarkson and Yabusele combined provided 27.2 points per game last season.
With a bench unit that includes Clarkson, Yabusele, Miles McBride, and possibly Josh Hart, they have the potential to be one of the top bench scoring units in the entire league. Bringing those players in should take an enormous amount of pressure off Mikal Bridges and OG Anunoby, both of whom had to play a surplus of minutes due to their lack of trustworthy depth.
The Knicks’ offseason deserves more credit, and if they prove on the court that the changes were very impactful, then they will hopefully get a lot more credit for what many Knicks fans would consider a successful offseason.