Ranking NY Knicks' Most Important Offseason Additions

We all know that the New York Knicks have had a busy offseason, but the question remains. Just how important is each of the new players brought in? 

Some are well-known veterans, but a few have yet to make an impact in the NBA. Regardless, as members of an NBA team, each is important in their own way.

Two players who are of key importance are, of course, Marcus Camby and Jason Kidd. Both may be getting older, but can still be key contributors on a professional squad. Despite their age and slowly declining skills, they are both great leaders and on a team like the Knicks, those qualities are desperately needed.

Then, you have new players like Pablo Prigioni who have yet to even sniff an NBA bench and whose NBA careers are just beginning. Still, he and his fellow newbies are important to the team, so let's go through the team's offseason and rank their most important additions.

No. 8: James White

At 6'7", 200 pounds, White has decent size for a small forward. Yet, his NBA experience is limited for someone turning 30 in October. Though selected in the second round of the 2006 draft, he only has 10 NBA games under his belt and is a veteran of both the D-League and Europe.

Last season, he played for Scavolini Pesaro in Italy and averaged 17.1 points in a fast-paced offense. Chances are that if he makes the Knicks' final roster, he won't be as much of a scorer off the bench. In three summer league games for the team, he averaged just 6.8 points in 22 minutes per game.

Yet, White brings a unique skill to the table in that he drives to the basket well and can be a phenomenal dunker. His defense has also improved, and in a Mike Woodson system, that's always welcome.

No. 7: Kurt Thomas

Thomas actually broke out as a Knick, having played seven seasons in New York from 1998-2005. For a majority of those years, he was the starting center despite being undersized at 6'9".

Now, he returns to the Big Apple as a piece of the Raymond Felton sign-and-trade, making him the third big man on the team. Last year, at age 39, he played about 15 minutes a game and averaged just three points and 3.5 rebounds for the Portland Trail Blazers.

Still, though he'll turn 40 before the start of the new season, Thomas gives the Knicks one thing they've been lacking in for a while: DEFENSE. 

He still moves well under the basket for his age, and with the proper minutes, he can still be a force. Should Tyson Chandler or Marcus Camby or even Amar'e Stoudemire go down with an injury, he could step in and provide some toughness in the middle.

No. 6: Pablo Prigioni

At age 35, Prigioni's NBA career is just about to begin. Yet, he has been one of Europe's best point guards for years, and most importantly, he's a pass-first guard. Prigioni said this about himself in a article by Frank Isola of New York Daily News.

Yet, just how much of an impact Prigioni will make remains to be seen. He's playing on a one-year deal and behind two established point men in Raymond Felton and Jason Kidd.  Should Felton stay in shape and Kidd stay healthy, chances are he won't get much more than garbage minutes.

Still, as we've seen in this year's Olympics, he plays good defense and truly makes an effort to get the ball to his team's stars. In a Woodson isolation system, he'll fit right in.

No. 5: Chris Copeland

Copeland is a 28-year-old rookie, and if his summer league stats are any indication as to what he can do in the NBA, the Knicks could be getting one heck of a player. The 6'8" forward was a shooter for the Colorado Buffaloes for four years from 2002-06 before going to play in Europe for a few years.

In the NBA Summer League this year, he averaged 13.8 points in 22 minutes per game, shooting an astounding 41 percent from downtown.

Sure, the Knicks already have two solid shooters in J.R. Smith and Steve Novak, but this is a Mike Woodson team we're talking about. If he impresses his coach enough, Copeland could still get some good minutes and provide a solid spark off the bench, giving the Knicks some much-needed depth.

No. 4: Marcus Camby

Camby is now 38 years old and given how staying healthy has been an issue for him throughout his career, the fact that he still puts up great defensive numbers is absolutely outstanding.

Splitting last season between the Houston Rockets and Portland Trail Blazers, he averaged nine rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game. For his career, the 6'11" center has averaged 9.9 boards and 2.3 blocks per game.

In terms of his return to the Knicks, the former UMass Minuteman gives the team some much-needed depth at center. Nothing against Amar'e Stoudemire, but simply putting him at center whenever Tyson Chandler needs a rest is not the answer. 

New York needs a player who will stand under the basket and do just what Chandler does when he's on the bench: play defense, play defense and play defense.

Camby does just that, and given how the Knicks are finally starting to look like a good defensive squad again, his return could prove to be an important piece of the puzzle.

No. 3: Raymond Felton

Felton is another player returning to the Knicks, as he averaged 17.1 points and nine assists in half a season playing for former coach Mike D'Antoni before being shipped to the Denver Nuggets in the Carmelo Anthony trade. 

He struggled since then, though, his problems on the court had less to do with his skills and more to do with his being out of shape, as he, himself, explained in a article by Tim Bontemps of the New York Post.

Yes, Felton's conditioning is going to be a giant question mark heading into 2012-13, particularly since Knicks management chose to bring him in rather than re-sign Jeremy Lin.  Still, fans need not worry. This is a man who has been a starting point guard for virtually all of his career, is a great shooter and always plays tight defense on his man.

On top of that, in a Mike Woodson system, his job is going to be simple: get the ball to Carmelo Anthony or Amar'e Stoudemire—nothing more, nothing less. If he can adjust to that playing style and also drive hard to the basket when necessary, he could make the Knicks forget all about Lin.

No. 2: Ronnie Brewer

Under normal circumstances, the Knicks starting point guard to start the season would be second-year player Iman Shumpert, who averaged 9.5 points and 1.7 steals his rookie season.  Though primarily a defensive pest, Shumpert also showed flashes of a potentially deadly jump shot before, tearing his ACL in Game 1 of the Knicks' playoff series against the Miami Heat.

That said, with the former Georgia Tech Yellow Jacket sidelined until January (via Tim Bontemps, New York Post), there's going to be a large hole in New York's defense.  Fortunately, GM Glen Grunwald took care of this problem in signing Ronnie Brewer away from the Chicago Bulls.

Brewer is a great one-on-one defender who makes life miserable for opposing players, and seeing as how the Knicks have needed to improve defense as well as build a second unit, bringing him in is looking like a better move with each passing day.

No. 1: Jason Kidd

In mentioning all of the other new players, I've brought up the Knicks' offseason needs in detail.  Yet, I haven't even touched on the team's greatest need: positive leadership.

That's where Jason Kidd comes in, as he has been a leader for practically all of his career, from helping the New Jersey Nets make two consecutive trips to the NBA Finals to being the point man and three-point shooter for the 2010 Dallas Mavericks team that won him his first championship ring.

Simply put, seeing as how both Carmelo Anthony and Amar'e Stoudemire have egos the size of Texas, a player who will keep the rest of the team positive along with the stars is needed.  Nothing against the stars of the team, but they're really just scorers and not exactly what one would call leaders.

Sure, Kidd isn't the triple-double threat he was in the prime of his career, but he can still get the ball to the open man and sink an open three-point shot. He may be 39 years old, but he still has what it takes to be a positive influence in any team's locker room.