The Knicks' recent offseason did not qualify as even close to the disappointment of last offseason, when they whiffed on Kevin Durant, Kawhi Leonard, and every other big star after trading Kristaps Porzingis to clear cap space.
But while the Knicks arguably did the smart thing this offseason by adding to their draft capital and keeping their payroll flexibility for another run at stars next offseason, their current roster leaves a lot to be desired.
The above will be a challenge for new head coach Tom Thibodeau, who will have to balance development of his young core with making progress in the win column.
How exactly will Thibodeau do it? And what does he think about the offseason moves -- or lack thereof?
"There's obviously different roads you can go down," Thibodeau told reporters Tuesday via Zoom. "And I think if you study how teams are built -- and I went through this in Minnesota. And obviously the draft is critical, free agency is critical, player development is critical and trade opportunities are critical. And when you look back at Philadelphia and what they went through -- and obviously they went through a lot of losing and were able to get (Joel) Embiid and (Ben) Simmons. But when they added veterans, that’s when they took off.
"I think you look at the four avenues and try to build your plan that way. I thought we had a well thought out plan and we took advantage of some things we thought were good for us. But we wanted to be disciplined. And we were. There will be other opportunities moving forward. But we concentrate on the players we have here. Concentrate on our improvement. And hopefully good things will happen."
When it comes to playing time, Thibodeau said it will not be given to anyone, regardless of status. Instead, players will have to earn their time.
That would be a departure from how things went under former head coach David Fizdale, though it's fair to wonder how much of Fizdale's strategy was due in part to a front office/ownership that actually expected to be competitive last season.
For Thibodeau, he's focused on both individual development and team development.
"When you look at a guy like RJ (Barrett) and look at a guy like Obi (Toppin) and Immanuel Quickley and Kevin Knox and our point guards, we have several players there," Thibodeau explained. "And I like that there's competition. Nothing will be given to anyone. You’re going to have to earn your minutes. And those decisions on rotation will be based on performance and what gives the team the best chance of winning. A player is not just going to get minutes just to get minutes.
"You have to impact winning, you have to put the team first. There has to be sacrifices made. And that's what we're going to strive for every single day. We have a very strong staff. The focus is going to be on teaching and work. We know there's a lot of work to be done. If we look at where we stood last year, there's a lot of ground to be made up. When you look at the rosters of the teams we're competing against, the challenge will be how together we will be. The degree of how together and how smart is going to be critical for us."