Over the past five years, which players have represented the New York Knicks’ best offseason acquisitions?
The New York Knicks have mostly faced tribulations over the past five years, including some of the worst records in franchise history and questionable decisions under the Phil Jackson regime. A turnaround is currently in play, but recent history has not been kind to this team.
Dozens of players have arrived and departed since 2014, most of whom had forgettable seasons. Some of them stood out in spurts, though, to have quality runs amid any issues.
This work mostly happened in the offseason, when the reshuffling of the roster happened, changing the Knicks’ look.
What became some of the team’s best acquisitions during this five-year stretch? Not including draft picks made or acquired, let’s take a look:
Jose Calderon
The New York Knicks struggled to find a point guard after Raymond Felton flourished in 2010-11, but was subsequently traded to the Denver Nuggets in the Carmelo Anthony trade. Jason Kidd‘s retirement after 2012-13 did not help, and while Felton returned, he never played up to his previous marks under head coach Mike D’Antoni.
So, with the start to the 2014 offseason, the Knicks acquired Jose Calderon, among others, as part of a multi-player trade with Dallas, with Felton and Tyson Chandler heading the other way.
Calderon spent the next two seasons with the Knicks. He never returned to his Toronto Raptors highs, but the veteran point guard flashed 8.1 points, 4.1 assists, 44 percent shooting and 41.4 percent on three-pointers in 114 games.
This trade provided an experienced presence at point guard, despite Calderon missing half the 2014-15 season. He appeared in 72 games in 2015-16, but none of this came in positive seasons for the Knicks, who bottomed out and found themselves near the bottom of the NBA, including 17-65 in his first year with the team.
While Calderon as a top signing indicates the problems the Knicks went through in this stretch, he played well at times and still finished with a smooth slash line.