The New York Knicks are hopeful that the moves they have made over the course of the offseason will pay off in the long 2025-26 campaign ahead.
Bleacher Report writer Zach Buckley graded the team's offseason and gave them a "B" for their efforts.
"The Knicks lacked both the money and the motivation to do anything major," Buckley wrote. "Even if they could've made significant changes, why would they after winning 51 games and reaching the Eastern Conference finals for the first time in 25 years?
"That made their work around the margins all the more impressive. They needed depth, and they found it in the form of Guerschon Yabusele and Jordan Clarkson. That's a versatile big and a spark-plug scorer on a second unit that needed both.
"A four-year, $150 million extension feels a touch rich for Mikal Bridges, but it was less than the maximum he could've gotten and maybe that helps keep this club under the dreaded second apron going forward."
The Knicks did the best with what they had knowing they needed to improve from the roster that got them six wins away from winning the NBA Finals. They did that with limited funds and the output shows they got a few bargains.
Yabusele may be one of the most underrated signings in the league. After coming back to the NBA following a great run at the Paris Olympics, he performed well for an underperforming Philadelphia 76ers squad.
Now, he'll have the chance to showcase himself in the national spotlight with the Knicks in a key role off the bench.
The same can be said for Clarkson, who found himself lost on a youth-minded roster with the Utah Jazz. Signing him for pennies on the dollar after he was bought out by the Jazz was a slick move from the Knicks.
All of these moves were engineered to help new head coach Mike Brown after he was hired to be the team's next head coach, replacing Tom Thibodeau. These moves have supplied Brown with the tools he needs to take the Knicks back to the Eastern Conference Finals and beyond.
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