New York Knicks supporters have been left extremely frustrated after yet another poor offseason that didn’t live up to expectations. The franchise had their eyes set on some of the biggest names in the league such as Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and Kawhi Leonard.
Unfortunately for the Knicks, they weren’t able to pick up any of these players with Kawhi moving to Los Angeles and Durant and Irving teaming up in Brooklyn.
Although the Knicks missed out on their priority targets, they still have a few options to make with their current roster. The franchise has three major free agency targets in Carmelo Anthony, Jeremy Lin and Jamal Crawford.
Carmelo Anthony is an interesting target considering that his form has severely dropped as he has grown older. The former star may not be the same talented offensive player but he does still offer a lot of value as someone who can make an impact on the court with little minutes. Carmelo was one of the fan favorites when he last played for New York in 2017. Since Anthony’s departure from New York, the forward’s form hasn’t been the same, this season he managed to play just 10 games with the Houston Rockets before parting ways with the franchise.
It certainly would be a massive risk to recruit Carmelo Anthony now considering his age and form, there’s every chance that Anthony may have already played his final game in the NBA.
Jeremy Lin was lucky enough to be apart of the Toronto Raptors championship last season but he wasn’t a key player of their championship squad. The 30-year-old has played for eight teams over his career including the Knicks in the 2011-12 season. After playing in just 23 games for the Raptors in the 2018-19 season, Lin’s time in Toronto has ended.
With no team to play for at the moment, Lin feels like he has hit rock bottom and that NBA teams are giving up on him. For the Knicks to give Lin a lifeline, it could pay off if Lin is willing to work hard for game time and have the ability to stay injury-free.
Jamal Crawford is a third potential target for the Knicks, the biggest issue for Crawford right now is that he is 39 years old which means it’s a huge risk for any franchise who chooses to chase after him. However, Crawford averaged around 18.9 minutes each game yet he still was able to score eight points per game off the bench for the Phoenix Suns.
It wouldn’t cost the Knicks much, Crawford made just $2.4 million last year in Phoenix, seeing how valuable he can be coming off the bench, this may be a smart move that’s worth it for the Knicks in 2020.
The Knicks are unlikely to be in any contention for a decent position in the Eastern Conference, going after one of these players may be that added bit of experience that would work along nicely next to the young Knicks players.
