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All things considered, the 2024-25 season was a successful one for the New York Knicks. This historic, storied franchise may have one of the biggest and loudest fanbases in the entire association, but they have been stuck in the doldrums over the past 20 or so years; in fact, since the turn of the century until 2020, the Knicks only made the playoffs six times and made it to the Eastern Conference Finals just once.
This is what makes Tom Thibodeau, who was recently fired, someone the Knicks fanbase must respect even if in the end, he may not have been the right man to take New York to a championship level. Thibodeau turned around the Knicks' culture of losing; under him, they made the playoffs four times in the last five years, including their first ECF trip since 2000 that could have gone their way had they sealed the deal in a colossal meltdown in Game 1.
For better or for worse, the Knicks are locked into their core, unless they decide to be aggressive and shop Karl-Anthony Towns on the trade market for someone who could reinforce the team defensively without it coming at the cost of a huge offensive drop-off.
This offseason also gives the Knicks an opportunity to reinforce the team in a way that they couldn't last year after they were hard-capped at the first apron following the Towns trade. But they will have to take a look at some members of their roster this past season who are entering free agency and assess whether or not they could play a rotation role for the team next season as they look to renew their championship push.
Landry Shamet loves the Knicks — and the Knicks may well love him back
Landry Shamet didn't play this past season until December, as the Knicks couldn't sign him to a rest-of-season contract earlier in the season without violating cap rules, and given what he cost (peanuts), his 5.7 points per game production on 39.7 percent shooting from three is nothing to scoff at in 15.2 minutes per contest.
However, Thibodeau did not trust his bench, and unfortunately, Shamet was part of that unit he scarcely gave any burn to. The past few years have been difficult for Shamet; he was part of contending teams to start his career, featuring heavily in the rotation of the Los Angeles Clippers, Brooklyn Nets, and Phoenix Suns. He then faded to obscurity last year when he spent it with a moribund Washington Wizards team, and when his contract expired, he didn't appeal to too many teams, paving the way for the cash-strapped Knicks to sign him.
Thus, it's not too difficult to understand why the Knicks were hesitant to give Shamet a heavy workload. But in a stunning turn of events in the 2025 ECF, the Knicks began to rely on their bench. Much-maligned for having a shallow roster and for relying on seven players for the most part, Thibodeau dug deep into his bench and gave Shamet some important minutes.
And Shamet didn't actually look very lost. Instead, he gave the Knicks a bit of an edge during his minutes, fighting hard over screens and giving it his all on the defensive end. He had a positive plus-minus in three of the four games he played in the ECF, and the only game he was a minus in, he was a minus-one.
Considering his regular season production, Shamet should not cost a pretty penny in free agency. And for the price it will cost the Knicks, bringing back Shamet should be well worth the price. And who knows, maybe he'd re-establish himself as a legitimate rotation player in this league under whoever the Knicks will be bringing in as the new head coach. It helps as well that Shamet is madly in love with the Knicks fanbase, who grew to appreciate him given how well he played late in the season.
Delon Wright over Cameron Payne as a backup guard
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For most of the season, Thibodeau relied on Cameron Payne to be one of his main guys off the bench. Payne, for his part, played well for stretches, and in this year's playoffs, he even had some moments of magic. Knicks fans will forever remember Payne for the way he turned the game around in their favor in Game 1 of the series against the Detroit Pistons, scoring 11 points in the fourth quarter to fuel their comeback win.
In Game 1 against the Pistons, Payne ended up with 14 points. For the rest of the Knicks' playoff run, he scored just 16. He was a negative presence on the court for New York for most of the 2025 NBA playoffs, and his zero-point, minus-nine performance in Game 2 of the ECF was the last straw for Thibodeau, who decided not to give him a single minute for the final four games of the series.
Meanwhile, Delon Wright ended up being the preferred option for the Knicks at guard. At the very least, Wright is someone teams can trust on the defensive end. The Knicks have one of Jalen Brunson and Towns on the court at all times anyway, so having more supplementary players who can play defense should be more helpful especially if New York runs it back with the same core.
Precious Achiuwa may have to go, but PJ Tucker can stay
It might be hard to believe, but there might be more value for the Knicks to keep PJ Tucker on the roster instead of signing Precious Achiuwa to another contract. Achiuwa is not someone the Knicks want out on the court come playoff time, that much has been made clear. Towns and Mitchell Robinson should get all the minutes at center during games that matter, rendering Achiuwa's services superfluous. They are better off designating that rotation spot come regular-season time to beloved hustle guy Ariel Hukporti.
Meanwhile, Tucker is a hard-nosed veteran with plenty of experience, and his mentorship and locker-room presence ended up being valuable to the Knicks come playoff time. Tucker will only be making the veteran minimum anyway, so it's not like he requires a significant financial commitment.
