Four Predictions For The New York Knicks This Offseason

For the first time in quite awhile a case can be made that the New York Knicks are in good hands.

Management was still on a trial basis after the successful 2020-21 season. That summer they made a couple of mistakes that would come back to bite them the following year. Kemba Walker was an absolute disaster, Evan Fournier was not the right fit and Julius Randle seemed destined to be shipped out after signing his extension.

Management believed in Jalen Brunson and were able to maneuver out of some of those unsavory deals in order to bring him in as a free agent last summer. Isaiah Hartenstein was signed as well and the Knicks had their best season since 2012-13.

In order for the team to continue progressing it’ll be important for them to make forward looking moves in order to build a sustainable winner that allows them to contend now and for the future. Part of that has to do with attracting another star. Here are a few predictions on what the Knicks will do this offseason:

Sign Dante DiVincenzo

When there is smoke there is fire.

The initial speculation was that the close friendship between Jalen Brunson and DiVincenzo might be the driving force of the outside noise linking the two together. Ian Begley has reported otherwise and said as much on his show “The Putback”.

“There are fans in the organization of Dante DiVincenzo…there’s significant support there for going after DiVincenzo.”

The Knicks would be getting a capable defender that can shoot 40 percent from 3-point range. At 6 ‘4 he doesn’t really have the size to play up a position, but Quentin Grimes and RJ Barrett had moments in which they were able to defend bigger players. That may make the fit a bit easier, especially with Josh Hart officially coming back to the team.

Trade Obi Toppin

It’s been trending in this direction for months now. Toppin looked like he had a case to play much more during the summer of 2022 with the uncertainty of Randle. The veteran power forward produced another All-NBA season, which left Toppin in a backup role again. He had some moments at the end of the season and even in the playoffs, but the issue is not that. The 25-year-old was a top-10 pick and has never had a real chance to start. He is due a new contract next summer and it’ll be important for him to get a crack at starter minutes in order for him to drive up his own value.

It seems as if Toppin and the organization are on good terms, even with the little kerfuffle in the locker room during Game 4 of the series against the Miami Heat. The hope for both sides is that they work out a deal that allows them to get what they’re both looking for and it seems likely that will happen very soon.

Trade Evan Fournier

Fournier really wasn’t a part of the team last year. He was quickly replaced by Quentin Grimes in the starting rotation and never really found his footing as a backup. There was the rare occasion he would come in to play when one of the rotation players was injured, but that didn’t happen often.

He has a year left on his contract along with a team option for the 2024-25 season. At $18.85 million it doesn’t really make sense for the Knicks to just let him sit on the bench when he could help another team. He could be used to swap bad salaries with a pick sliding one way or the other between teams. A rumored target has been Doug McDermott, which would allow the San Antonio Spurs a French mentor for Victor Wembanyama. The other possibility is to use the bloated salary in a bigger trade.

Trade for a shooting guard

There are a litany of possible big name options that the Knicks could go after. There has been some serious speculation about Donovan Mitchell, which was shut down by Brian Windhorst. Paul George and Zach LaVine have been mentioned in rumors for the past couple of weeks. The recent news is that the organization might make a run at James Harden. There are some other possible machinations where the Knicks could find themselves acquiring a movement shooter that could help boost up the 3-point shooting of the team, but the likelihood is that they hunt for a big name if they do in fact acquire DiVincenzo.