Offseason Report Card: Knicks get two As and three Bs for summer moves

Obi Toppin (1Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Obi Toppin (1Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports /
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The New York Knicks didn’t enter this offseason with a lot of decisions to make. The Los Angeles Lakers? They had a number of free agents and a pair of draft picks. The Phoenix Suns had to build out an entire roster. The Milwaukee Bucks had to fight to bring back their core. The Houston Rockets had a swimming pool of coins Scrooge McDuck-style and wanted to spend them all (and did).

The Knicks? They had just about nothing to do. They had no draft picks, no prominent free agents (especially after Josh Hart opted into his contract) and had their best season in a decade (or longer). It was always going to be a quiet summer, and that bore out.

How did the Knicks’ summer go?

That doesn’t mean nothing happened, however. Inaction is action of a sort, and the Knicks are clearly talking to other teams about trading for a star player while not leaping in pel-mel and overpaying. The Knicks want to be able to contend after they make a deal.

In the meantime, there were a few moves to make this summer. They signed a few players, including taking the Villanova connection to version 3.0, and traded a fan favorite away.

If we were to give the Knicks a “report card” grading them for every move that they made, how would they have done? Even in a lighter semester, the grades matter. If “A” is an excellent move, “B” is a move worth making, “C” is questionable and anything lower is worse, how did the Knicks do?

Let’s take a closer look: