New York Knicks: Complete grades for the 2019 NBA offseason
Overall offseason grade
While things didn’t go according to plan for the New York Knicks, it was nice to see that they had a Plan B in place.
The organization has received plenty of flak, and for good reason, but this offseason was one that they stuck to a plan and didn’t revert to their old tactics when their Plan A went awry.
How many times in the past have we seen the team go chasing players that didn’t deserve the money they were offering? Max deals would have assuredly been offered to undeserving players, ruining their cap flexibility for years to come.
This has been the Knicks way for a long time; just look at some of their signings in recent memory. Joakim Noah, Jerome James, Amar’e Stoudemire all come to mind.
While that was encouraging, the Knicks weren’t as proactive as they could have been. They missed out on opportunities to add more draft capital in the future by getting in on teams looking to clear cap space to sign players.
The Memphis Grizzlies capitalized on desperate teams, acquiring draft picks to take on Andre Iguodala and Kyle Korver. The Portland Trail Blazers also attached a first-round pick to Maurice Harkless.
Acquiring even more draft capital would have been great to see. Their unwillingness to go down that route in the summer makes it questionable if they will do it at the trade deadline.
Every player they signed outside of Julius Randle has a team option for Year 2, which means the Knicks should be very active at the trade deadline if they are out of playoff contention.
There is no doubt that the roster is improved. Younger players held over, such as Kevin Knox, Damyean Dotson, Dennis Smith Jr., and Frank Ntilikina will have to earn all of their playing time this season.
The organization wants to take strides forward and the veteran additions this summer will help that. However, the main goal should still be developing the younger players on the roster and finding out which ones are worthwhile to keep long-term as the core going forward.
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While this wasn’t the mega offseason to turn the Knicks back into contenders instantly, it was a solid offseason. Because it is the Knicks, many people will bash the moves, but they were smart to add several veterans to their young core to help push the rebuild into its next stage.