NBA Free Agency 2017: 5 offseason needs for the New York Knicks
By Ynal Al-Ouri
The New York Knicks were as dysfunctional as ever this past season. They missed the playoffs for a fourth straight year. Here are their five biggest offseason needs.
The New York Knicks had high hopes coming into the 2016-17 season. They made a questionable, yet interesting trade in the summer when they acquired former MVP Derrick Rose from the Chicago Bulls. They also shelled out big money to free agents Joakim Noah and Courtney Lee.
The team look destined for the playoffs with a lineup featuring Carmelo Anthony, Kristaps Porzingis, and the two former Bulls. In fact, Rose was so confident that he referred to the Knicks as a “super team.” However, injuries early on didn’t help their chances. Noah was only able to appear in 46 games due to injury. Porzingis and Rose were hit with injuries themselves, and missed 16 and 18 games respectively. There was also the public feud between Knicks’ president Phil Jackson, and their star player Anthony.
I’m sure the Knicks would want a do over with some of the moves they made last summer, and here’s to hoping they improve this time around. Here are the five biggest areas of needs for the Knicks heading into the 2017 NBA offseason.
5. Improve defensive rebounding
New York desperately needs to add help in the defensive rebounding department. Most of the games that they lost weren’t because they let teams shoot open shots, it was because they kept letting teams get second chance points. It’s simple math, more shot opportunities equals more chances at scoring points.
The Knicks ranked dead last in a key category — allowing the most second-chance points in the NBA by allowing 14.7 each game, per NBA.com. How did they allow the most second chance points you ask? Well, they also ranked last in defensive rebounding percentage at 74.1 percent.
Simply put, New York allowed the opposing team to continue to get the ball back after missed shots, which in turn creates more opportunities for points. It is kind of appalling that the Knicks ranked last in these categories, because they were much better rebounders on the offensive side of the ball.
In fact, they ranked fifth in offensive rebounding percentage at 26.6 percent. The Knicks could make a big splash in free agency by trying to sign Serge Ibaka or restricted free agent Mason Plumlee to help their defensive rebounding. It would take a lot of money to convince one of them to sign with a team not ready to contend, but it may be a risk worth taking. They could also target players who could help at a lesser cost such as P.J. Tucker, Alan Williams, or Zaza Pachulia.