Knicks' Complete 2023-24 Season Preview and Predictions
After things went awry for the New York Knicks the previous NBA season, they spent the 2022-23 righting the ship.
They now hope the 2023-24 campaign will spring them into something even greater.
Building off last season's success won't be easy, due both to how much they accomplished (47 wins and a postseason series victory) and how much competition they'll face in the loaded Eastern Conference. They do have one of the deeper rosters around, though, and a number of their key contributors are still ascending toward their primes.
Offseason Recap
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This could have been a splashy summer in the Empire State, as the Knicks boasted one of the league's better collection of trade investments. But they wound up keeping almost all of them, either fully committing to this core or perhaps not being enamored with the top players on the market.
So, they essentially made just one key addition by signing Donte DiVincenzo, a college teammate of Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart. DiVincenzo isn't a fortune-changing type of talent, but his hustle and well-rounded skill set should allow him to thrive in a complementary role.
Speaking of Hart, he scored a four-year, $80.9 million extension after picking up his $13 million player option for this season. Acquired from the Portland Trail Blazers at last season's trade deadline, he quickly cemented his status as a key two-way player for this team and wound up averaging its fourth-most minutes in the playoffs (32.1).
Beyond that, though, New York's other biggest offseason developments were subtractions, as the Knicks dealt former top-10 pick Obi Toppin to the Indiana Pacers and declined their team option on Derrick Rose, who later signed with the Memphis Grizzlies.
Biggest Question
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The Knicks know they have a rising star in Brunson, who sure looks like he could factor into the All-Star discussion for at least the next half-decade. And they have a relatively good feel on Julius Randle, who can be a little volatile but still has a pair of All-NBA selections to show for the past three seasons.
What they still can't say for certain, though, is what exactly they have in RJ Barrett.
There are flashes of the potential stardom New York surely envisioned when it made him the No. 3 pick of the 2019 draft. But he still spends too much time tussling with inefficiency and inconsistency to say a leap year is definitely in the works.
He can get downhill and finish around the basket, but his ceiling is currently held back by iffy shooting rates (career 42.2/34.3/70.9 slash) and limited playmaking (career 2.8 assists against 2.1 turnovers). Nothing would help New York brighten its outlook more than Barrett eliminating some of these shortcomings.
Prediction
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The 2023-24 Knicks look a lot like the 2022-23 version—for better and worse.
On the plus side, New York has a chance to hit the ground running thanks to the chemistry it has already forged. Even DiVincenzo could be in line for a quick start given history and familiarity with Brunson and Hart.
On the flip side, the Knicks were more solid than spectacular, and it's unclear how they can close that gap. Again, a leap year from Barrett seems the likeliest path, but it doesn't actually feel super likely.
So, it's very possible this campaign plays out much like the last one with New York being competitive but not quite a contender.
