After missing out on the postseason the year prior, there weren't high expectations for the New York Knicks heading into the 2022-23 NBA regular season. Entering the season, a lot of folks wrote off the Knicks and didn't think they would fail to make the playoffs once again in a formidable Eastern Conference. But fast forward to the current day, and it's clear that the Knicks proved their doubters wrong.

The Knicks finished the 2022-23 regular season with an impressive 47-35 record, good enough for the fifth-best in the entire conference. And in the first round of the playoffs, the Knicks pulled off an upset, as they thoroughly outplayed the Cleveland Cavaliers and eliminated them in five games. Their first-round series win marked the first time in ten years that the Knicks have won a playoff series.

Admittedly, the Knicks season didn't end the way they and their fans wanted it to, as they fell to Jimmy Butler and the Miami Heat in six games in the second round of the playoffs. But the Knicks' second-round elimination doesn't change the fact that New York's season as a whole was still a massive success.

After such a successful season, a productive free-agency period could have helped fans get even more excited about the team's future. And the New York Knicks have had a productive free-agency period, albeit a relatively inactive one. The only addition they have made to their roster via free agency is signing former Golden State Warriors guard Donte DiVincenzo. With all of that said, let's hand out NBA free agency grades for every signing the New York Knicks have made to this point:

Knicks 2023 NBA free agency grades for every signing

Signed Donte DiVincenzo to a four-year, $46.8 million deal

New York's DiVincenzo signing may go down as one of the more impactful free-agent signings of any team in the 2023 NBA free-agency period. DiVincenzo has a very wide-ranging skillset, which he showed off during his impressive 2022-23 regular season with the Warriors.
On the offensive side of the ball, DiVincenzo's playmaking and three-point shooting may be his most valuable skills. He was a very effective floor-spacer with Golden State, as he shot 39.7% from behind the three-point arc on 5.3 attempts per game, an impressive blend of efficiency and usage rate. And playmaking-wise, DiVincenzo functioned as a productive secondary playmaker.  He dished out a career-high 3.5 dimes per game with the Warriors compared to just 1.6 turnovers.
While DiVincenzo was a valuable scorer and playmaker with the Warriors, he was arguably just as effective on the defensive end of the floor. He's a dogged on-ball defender who used his active hands to consistently generate steals, as he averaged 1.3 steals per game with the Warriors, also a career-high. His ability to force turnovers will help the Knicks get out and run in transition with more frequency. And more fast-break possessions equals more easy baskets.
At this juncture, only time will tell if the New York Knicks will stand pat with their current roster or decide to add more players to the team via free agency. And it's understandable if Knicks fans are disappointed that the team hasn't been more active in free agency to this point, especially considering they traded Obi Toppin for pennies on the dollar recently. But what's already abundantly clear is that the Knicks have added a terrific two-way player to their roster in Donte DiVincenzo.

Grade: A-