NY Knicks: 3 former players serving as key contributors on playoff teams

After seeing an end to their eight-year-long postseason drought in 2020-21, 2021-22 marks the start of yet another potential long-term hapless stretch.

The New York Knicks have officially been eliminated from the league’s postseason, thus making it the 16th time since the turn of the century where the ball club will be watching the playoffs from the comfort of their own abodes.

Coming into the year, New York’s front office looked to capitalize on their surprising success from last year’s campaign by filling out the rotation to, in theory, better equip the Knickerbockers with a supporting cast around All-Star Julius Randle that would have them ready to embark on yet another triumphant season and, hopefully, a deeper playoff run.

Alas, here we are in April with nothing to show for their roster shakeups but feelings of disappointment, a sub-.500 record, and yet another early end to what was hoped to be a promising year.

There are several former New York Knicks that will take part in the 2022 playoffs

Though we may see New York out of the running for the Larry O’Brien Trophy this year, we’ll see several former members of the organization (some of whom were cut loose to make room for other players viewed as better fits for this year’s roster) that are slated to be taking part in the upcoming festivities for their respective ball clubs.

Now, while many of these past players are mere seat fillers on the bench, there are also several who hold rather sizeable roles within their team’s schemes.

With this in mind, today at Daily Knicks we’d like to pinpoint three former Knicks players who are currently serving as key contributors on playoff-bound squads:

3: Reggie Bullock

A man dubbed by Tom Thibodeau as being “the unsung hero’’ of last year’s team, Reggie Bullock was surprisingly seen jumping ship this past summer, signing a three-year, $30.5 million deal (a number New York could’ve easily matched) with the Dallas Mavericks.

Through 65 games played, he’s proven to be an unbelievably valuable 3-and-D contributor — a role he held with the Knickerbockers a season ago.

Logging 28 minutes per night, the 31-year-old finds himself boasting solid averages of 8.7 points, 3.6 boards, 1.2 assists, and just shy of a steal on 36% shooting from deep, the third-best clip on the team of those who have logged over 800 minutes played this year.

From his impressive on-ball defensive tenacity to his reliable catch-and-shoot abilities (55.7 effective field goal percentage on such attempts), the ninth-year pro has been a steady contributor for the Mavericks.

Dallas is currently ranked fourth in the Western Conference standings and the Mavericks will look to embark on what they hope to be a long and prosperous playoff run.

Knicks fans know just how impactful a guy like Bullock can be on a nightly basis, and now the Dallas faithful are experiencing it for themselves.