After a surprisingly competitive 2020-21 season where the Knicks finished 10 games over .500, the organization went into the offseason with high expectations to build off their success. They aggressively re-signed most of their role players, added Kemba Walker and Evan Fournier, and extended Julius Randle after earning All-NBA 2nd team honors.
It turned out that the Knicks may have overachieved in a season led by an outlier shooting performance by Randle. The first-time All-Star and his shooting regressed to the mean this year while the rest of the Eastern Conference got much stronger. They are now headed back to the lottery for the eighth time in the past nine seasons.
Despite the relatively disappointing campaign, the Knicks are well-positioned going forward. For starters, they are only on the hook for another season with most of their role players. This will allow them to reset in the 2023 offseason when they could have significant cap space. They also have all their first-round draft picks as well as 18 second-round picks over the next eight drafts. They have the flexibility to reshape the roster and the assets to make a big move in the near future.
