The Knicks have had their best offseason this millennium. After an injury-riddled Knicks team took the Pacers to seven games in the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals, Leon Rose and the front office added a variety of pieces to surround this core with extreme talent. Since the end of the NBA season, the Knicks have re-signed OG Anunoby and Precious Achiuwa , traded for Mikal Bridges and Keita-Bates Diop , and signed Cameron Payne and Chuma Okeke .
In the 2024 NBA draft, the Knicks nabbed Tyler Kolek , Kevin McCullar Jr. , Pacome Dadiet , and Ariel Hukporti . Amongst all this drama and excitement in New York, some have forgotten last season’s heroics.
Many of the Knicks’ key contributors started last season on the bench, and it’s time for fans to remember the impact that they had. The New York Knicks Have The Best Bench in the NBA Last Season’s Woes The Knicks were considered to have one of the best benches in the 2022-23 season. The Immanuel Quickley -led bench was entrenched in the top three amongst various rankings including plus/minus .
Now based on these preseason expectations, the numbers are a bit shocking. The Knicks bench was one of the lowest-scoring units, scoring just 28.4 ppg with a true shooting percentage of 55 both bottom-10 marks.
A big reason for this is the moves the Knicks made throughout the season. The Knicks lost Mitchell Robinson early on, which meant that they had to promote Isaiah Hartenstein to be the starter . They traded away Quickley and RJ Ba.