New York Knicks: 10 free agents who can help Tom Thibodeau

Tom Thibodeau claims he wants his New York Knicks to shoots more threes. The free agency market has players who can help him do that.

Tom Thibodeau wants to prove he can still coach in the modern NBA. One of the best ways to do that is by modernizing his offense. The New York Knicks could use an update too. They’ve ranked in the bottom 10 in 3-point attempt rate in six straight seasons.

Thibodeau’s teams in Minnesota were behind the curve offensively. His teams were dead last in 3-point attempts and makes in both of his full seasons at the helm.

According to Cleaning The Glass, fewer than 25 percent of their shots came from beyond the arc, while over 40 percent came from the midrange in each season.

Thibodeau went on The Michael Kay Show to defend himself against the narrative that he’s a basketball dinosaur. One of the things he spoke about was his approach to offense, per SNY’s Ian Begley.

"“If you’re getting layups and you’re getting to the free-throw line and obviously you’re trying to create as many corner 3-point attempts as you can – that’s how you win,” Thibodeau said. “And then defensively, obviously, you try to take those things away and get your opponent to take long twos."

Thibodeau figures to have an uphill battle when you look at the performance of last season’s squad. The 2019-20 Knicks were objectively one of the worst shooting teams in the NBA.

The Knicks were 29th in 3-point attempt rate and 27th in 3-point percentage. On the rare occasion, they took a three, it still didn’t go in.

They got to the line at a decent rate — 14th in free-throw rate — it was making them that was the problem. They were dead last in the league.

Thibodeau might be reciting the book of Morey word for word, but that’s all just lip service for now. If he’s serious about this plan, he’ll need some players to help him out. These are ten free agents who can do that.