NBA Free Agency 2017: 5 offseason needs for the New York Knicks

3. Add depth at forward

Outside of Anthony and Porzingis, the Knicks didn’t really have many talented forwards on their team. That has hurt them late in games when one of them was in foul trouble, or if they sustained an injury as Porzingis has the last two seasons.

The forward rotation for New York included players like Lance Thomas, Mindaugas Kuzminskas, Justin Holliday, Maurice Ndour, and Ron Baker. Some nights they even gave minutes to Sasha Vujacic, no I’m not making this up. You can imagine the Knicks struggled when Anthony and Porzingis were on the pine.

Often having to play small ball with some of those players, or use one of their centers like Kyle O’Quinn at power forward next to center Willy Hernangomez, even though neither of them have any type of game outside of the post. It is an issue New York needs to address in free agency, because they need veterans who can come off the bench and contribute valuable minutes for them, and possibly average double figures in points.

Ideal targets for them at small forward should include players like Shabazz Muhammad, Tyreke Evans, and Michael Beasley. Some talented power forwards the Knicks could go after are Ersan Ilyasova, Nikola Mirotic, and possibly a reunion with Derrick Williams.

There are far more talented forwards that will be on the market such as Blake Griffin and Otto Porter Jr, but those guys may be a pipe dream for New York.