SPANISH HARLEM – So far, this has been an interesting week for the New York Knicks. The signed two guys I feel can help the team next and hired a head coach I wasn’t particularly fond of. With that said, let’s get down to the nitty gritty of it all.
Free Agent Additions: Jordan Clarkson and Guerschon Yabusele
Jordan Clarkson has been on the Knicks radar for a couple of years now. I would say since they traded Immanuel Quickley, the Knicks has been looking for a spark off the bench that can shoot and provide some playing making at the guard position. There were always rumors that the Knicks could trade for him and now, they add him for the veteran minimum. I like this addition to the bench, he can score in bunches, which is something this team could have used in the playoffs.
Guerschon Yabusele is not someone I am very familiar with but my research on him shows he can be a positive contributor for the Knicks. He plays power forward and can shoot from 3. Any time you can add a shooting big to your bench, you just do it. Most people have alluded to his overall game fitting well with the bench unit but neither player is noted to be a defensive stalwart.
New Head Coach Mike Brown
As you know by now, Mike Brown was not the guy I wanted the Knicks. I leaned more towards Taylor Jenkins initially, then by the end to James Borrego. I wanted someone more offensive minded to lead this team. As you can see from the pick ups made in free agency, we got guys that can score and I wanted someone that would get the best out of this offense.
Though I hear rumors that they want Borrego as the defacto offensive coach, it still bothers me because many have said that Brown is similar to Tom Thibodeau in a lot of ways (So why did they fire Thibs?). It could be possible that Brown is less stringent and more open minded to what the front office wants to do. That is the only reason you would hire someone who is considered a Thibs clone. I guess I have to trust that the Knicks know what they are doing because getting this wrong can change their championship window.
That’s it for now, please come back tomorrow for more great content from Jackson Sternberg.
