Pre-Draft Outlook
After a breakthrough season in 2020-21, the Knicks dropped back to earth. Their offseason effort to improve offensively was undone by the regression of Julius Randle and the struggles of Kemba Walker. And their defense fell out of the top 10, with their starters really struggling to get consistent stops. The Knicks have a nice group of players under the age of 25 (led by the 22-year-old RJ Barrett), but they also owe a lot of money to their vets and lack shot creation on offense.
A Stat That Matters
12% — According to Second Spectrum tracking, the Knicks’ defense switched just 12% of ball-screens, the league’s lowest rate. They also played the fewest possessions of zone (3).
The Way To Go
This Knicks’ front office has preserved all their draft picks going forward, and those could certainly be used in a trade to add more veteran talent and/or dump an onerous contract or two. But given the current status of both the roster and the Eastern Conference, this team probably has a better chance of seriously competing in 3-5 years than it does in the next one or two. So the focus should be on using those picks to select the best talent available and putting their resources into player development.
Under Contract
G: Alec Burks
G: Quentin Grimes
G: Miles McBride
G: Immanuel Quickley
G: Derrick Rose
G: Kemba Walker
G/F: Evan Fournier
F/G: RJ Barrett
F/G: Cam Reddish
F: Taj Gibson
F: Feron Hunt
F: Obi Toppin
F/C: Julius Randle
C/F: Nerlens Noel
C: Jericho Sims
Free Agents
G: Ryan Arcidiacono (unrestricted)
C/F: Mitchell Robinson (unrestricted)
> 2022 Free Agent Tracker
Last Year’s Draft
2021: Quentin Grimes (25)*, Rokas Jokubaitis (34)*, Miles McBride (36)*, Jericho Sims (58)
* = Acquired via trade