The Knicks' offseason started earlier than they would have liked, after falling to the Indiana Pacers in six games in the Eastern Conference Finals. Now, the Knicks front office will be tasked with evaluating the roster and finding areas to upgrade. According to ESPN’s Tim Bontemps, one of those upgrades could be adding veteran big man Al Horford. The idea is enticing, as Horford is an excellent 3-point shooting big and interior defender, two areas in which New York struggled.
You don't get to the Eastern Conference Finals by accident. The Knicks are a talented team, with one of the best offensive superstars on the planet in Jalen Brunson. There are plenty of reasons to feel optimistic for the Knicks, who finally went all in on manufacturing a title-contending roster by acquiring Karl-Anthony Towns and Mikal Bridges last offseason.
In the same breath, there are also several evident flaws with this team. They struggled getting 3-point shots up, even with Towns, who is one of the best shooting bigs to ever live. Additionally, as would be expected with a team built around Brunson and Towns, they had defensive holes. Brunson and Towns were relentlessly hunted on defense in the playoffs, and ultimately, it cost them.
Unless the Knicks make a massive change this summer, they will be built around Brunson and Towns yet again next season. Assuming Tom Thibodeau remains their head coach, they will likely still be a team that tries to lean into defense and rebounding. Adding another good defender in Horford will help with that, while not killing their spacing on the offensive end.
What Horford would bring to New York
Horford is no spring chicken, he will start next season at 39 years of age. That said, he didn't show many signs of slowing down at 38. Horford played 60 games for the Boston Celtics in the regular season, averaging over 27 minutes per game.
On the offensive end of the floor, Horford averaged nine points per game. More intriguing for the Knicks, though, he shot 36.3 percent from three while taking 5.2 3-point attempts per night. Horford could seamlessly slide in alongside Towns, as we saw Mitchell Robinson do in the playoffs. The difference is that Horford would provide elite floor spacing. Over 42 percent of Horford's offensive possessions in the regular season came in spot-up situations.
He is also still a good rebounder, pulling in 6.2 per game. And, as we all know, Thibodeau greatly values rebounding. On the defensive end, while Horford isn't quite the defender he was a few seasons ago, he is still very good on that end. In the regular season, Horford averaged 0.6 steals and 1.3 blocks per game, while posting a Defensive Estimated Plus Minus of 1.1, his highest in the previous three seasons.