Ranking Knicks' Priorities for 2023 NBA Free Agency
The New York Knicks are always a threat to make a splash during the NBA offseason.
Should they shake things up this summer, though, it will have to happen on the trade market.
The Knicks don't have a lot of money to spend, and even if they did, there aren't many obvious roster holes to cover up. They'll likely do their heaviest free-agency lifting in-house, though to be honest, a lot of it won't be that heavy.
3. Picking Up Miles McBride's Team Option
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Spotrac lists just five Knicks either heading into free agency or having an opportunity to get there. Two are on two-way contracts. Another is a past-his-prime Derrick Rose, whose $15.6 million team option will be declined unless New York thinks it will need the salary slot for a major trade.
One is Josh Hart, whose situation we'll detail later. The fifth is Miles McBride, who has a cheap, $1.8 million team option.
That price feels right for a defense-first energizer, particularly if the Knicks believe he can form any type of offensive identity.
That end has been a struggle through his first two seasons, evidenced most clearly by his career 33.7/28.2/66.7 shooting slash. Even nudging those numbers toward a 40/30/70 line would go a long way toward ensuring he isn't a massive liability on offense.
2. Finding Cheap Shooting
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Technically speaking, the Knicks had a good offense this season. They snagged the No. 4 spot in the efficiency rankings with a scoring rate of 117 points per 100 possessions, per NBA.com.
They also had one of the most confounding attacks in the entire Association. The simple act of putting the ball in the basket was a seasonlong struggle. Their shooting rates from the field (20th), three (19th) and the line (22nd) all landed in the league's bottom half.
That's why it's hardly been shocking to see scoring become such a challenge this postseason (13th in efficiency). This goes beyond the act of shot-making. Since the Knicks are light on reliable outside threats, they don't force defenses to stretch out to their shooters—or, more importantly, to unclog the paint.
Obviously, the Knicks don't want to overspend on a specialist. The last thing they need is another Evan Fournier, who lost his rotation role despite collecting one of the highest salaries on the squad ($18.9 million). Still, a more appropriately priced marksman who hopefully brings something else to the floor would be a massive get for this group.
1. Keeping Josh Hart
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If you flipped on a Knicks game for the first time any of the past three months, you'd never believe Josh Hart was a trade-deadline addition.
The high-energy swingman has enjoyed a hand-in-glove fit in Gotham. Despite operating off the bench, he's often entrusted with 30-plus minutes and uses that floor time to make a wide-ranging impact that covers everything from energy and defensive versatility to rebounding, playmaking and transition attacking.
In a perfect world, he'd have a more reliable outside shot (career 35 percent) and an increased willingness to let it fly (3.8 three-point attempts per outing). In that universe, though, he'd cost an absolute fortune given the myriad other ways he's able to contribute.
In our reality, he's worth a more reasonable salary, though that number could be a bit higher than the $13 million player option he holds for next season. Unless some suitor plops a comical amount of cash in front of him, it makes all the sense in the world for the 'Bockers to bring him back.
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