I have a feeling that being in the largest media market, New York, has its disadvantages. Think about it, all NBA teams have at least a plan as to what they’re going to do in the offseason whether it’s pursuing Kevin Durant in free agency or trade out of the Draft, most teams we can guess where they’re going to go but at this moment in time we’re guessing.
But the New York Knicks, we know exactly where they’re going. We know that they want a point guard, preferably Mike Conley or Rajon Rondo, they have Carmelo, Kristaps and Robin Lopez as their primary frontcourt, they’re happy with that but their backcourt needs work. Knicks GM Steve Mills has spoken up on offseason goals and the first thing he talked about was, you guessed it, point guard is priority number 1.
“It’s clear we need a lead guard, someone that can really carry the load, day in and day out. That’s something that I think is one of our biggest needs,” Mills said on MSG Network in “Jeff Hornacek: A Knicks Beginning.”
Lead guard, point guard, same thing. That’s their main goal.
We also know that Jose Calderón and Arron Afflalo are in the air. Afflalo is expected to opt out and Calderón isn’t a starter anymore. Jerian Grant is too raw, Tony Wroten is a crap shoot because of his ACL recovery. Which brings me to the NBA Draft, the Knicks don’t have a pick but from how GM Mills is talking, they might make a move into it.
“Teams have multiple picks, so some of those teams are going to be interested in moving their picks. A lot is going to depend on who is there in the draft that we really like,” he said. “We have a feel for if there are any players that we really like that we think can impact this team and then we’ll go out and aggressively get a pick if we think something’s there. But we also have to balance the number of young guys on the roster versus veterans that we may be able to bring in through free agency or trade. So that’s a balance that we’re constantly looking at.”
Something new that Steve Mills has revealed is his and Phil Jackson’s free agent shortlist. It’s long, very very long. I mean it’s obviously going to be cut down, it’ll be cut down to single digits if the Triangle is involved but they have a list.
Mills also said that he and Phil Jackson have a pool of dozens of free agents that they feel can fit the team. That group will be whittled down in the coming weeks as the Knicks determine which players will be realistic targets.
“The most important thing is to find out and figure out what players we think fit into how we’re going to play,” Mills said. “So it’s to identify a pool of 30 or 40 players that we really believe can fit into the [Knicks’] style of play“
The “Knicks style of play”. I’ll just say this, I want Hornacek at every meeting, I always think the head coach should be at the interviews, it will always help when the coach is there to present the vision, saying where he would fit into the system.
Less than a month to go before the frenzy starts and the New York Knicks still have some things to map out.
