It’s hard to think of a tougher offseason than the one the Knicks just had. Not only did they not get the No. 1 draft pick, despite having the worst record in the NBA last season, the top free agents didn’t want to be anywhere near their 17-win team.
Yet, in the team’s first news conference since Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant spurned Madison Square Garden to play for the Nets at the Barclays Center, Knicks president Steve Mills declared the summer a success. He said the Knicks went into free agency with contingency plans, with one of them apparently being to sign a bunch of non-marquee veterans to short-term contracts.