New York Knicks: 5 steps for a successful offseason

How the New York Knicks can have a successful offseason.

The New York Knicks are in the middle of an unprecedented offseason that started abruptly in mid-March and could possibly extend until next January or February. Sitting on the sidelines for up to 12 calendar months gives the new front office led by Leon Rose plenty of time to construct a roster for recently-hired head coach Tom Thibodeau.

New York has several avenues available to them in building their roster. They have three picks in the upcoming draft: their own lottery pick (8th overall), an added first round pick from the Clippers (27th overall), as well as an early second round pick from Charlotte (38th overall). New head of college scouting Walt Perrin can make an immediate impact by helping to select three of the top 40 prospects entering the league next season.

Besides the draft, the Knicks are also flush with cap space. Depending on what they do with their own free agents and players on non-guaranteed deals, they can create more than $40 million in space to add free agent talent. They could also use that space to acquire large contracts in trade.

Of course, there are several pieces already on the roster who the front office must evaluate in deciding their long-term fate with the team.

In thinking about how the Knicks should approach this offseason, rather than simply focusing on the specific players they could acquire, it’s interesting to map out a broader strategy.

What are some basic steps New York can take to put themselves in a position to be successful? Let’s discuss a few.