New York Knicks: Grading their signings in NBA free agency

The New York Knicks surprised many NBA pundits and fans alike by the way they played last season. What was even more impressive was that they managed to secure home-court advantage in the playoffs.

However, what was less impressive was the way that they were bundled out of the playoffs by the Atlanta Hawks. Julius Randle, last season’s Most Improved Player was defended so well by the Hawks that his efficiency declined in a way that it hurt the Knicks.

The problem was that the Knicks only had Derrick Rose as another option on offense. Defensively they were able to handle almost anything thrown at them, with the exception of Trae Young. Offensively they were hamstrung by their team leader being defended so tightly. This is one of the many things that the Knicks have tried to rectify over the offseason.

New York Knicks free agency signing No. 1: Dwayne Bacon

Dwayne Bacon is a 6’6″ shooting guard who started 50 of the 72 games that he played last season for the Orlando Magic. He was able to average 10.9 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 1.3 assists in 25.7 minutes per game.

However, he is not a good floor spacer if last season’s numbers are anything to go by. He shot the ball at a woeful 28.5 percent from beyond the arc. This is only slightly down from his career number of 31.4 percent. This is not going to benefit the Knicks greatly as they lost their best 3-and-D player last season, Reggie Bullock but the other replacement players could do this job.

Grade: C