More ball movement could help Knicks’ offense take next step in 2023

The New York Knicks have a passing problem.

It sounds like a wild statement since the Knicks are coming off a season in which the team finished tied for third in offensive efficiency in the NBA. Despite the regular season success, New York’s offense needs to be better if it wants to be serious about advancing even further in the playoffs.

While they pulled out a playoff series win, the Knicks had the fourth-worst offense (107.7 points scored per 100 possessions) of any postseason team and the worst overall of any team to win a playoff series. In New York’s 2021 playoff run, the team finished second to last in offensive efficiency (112.2 points per 100 possessions).

A solution to that problem is adding ball and man movement to a vanilla offense.

In three seasons under head coach Tom Thibodeau, the Knicks have ranked 27th, 29th and 27th in assist rate. The team’s offense mainly revolves around isolation. Per NBA Stats, New York was fourth in isolation play frequency this season.

The Knicks were good in isolation, scoring 0.99 points per possession which was seventh in the NBA.

Part of the reason why the offense was able to flourish was New York found ways to win the possession game and take advantage of easy opportunities. New York was second in offensive rebound rate in the NBA, collecting 31.8 percent of its misses.

A benefit to not making too many passes is cutting down on turnovers. New York recorded the fifth-lowest turnover rate in the NBA last season.

In the playoffs, New York won its first round series against the Cleveland Cavaliers partially because they dominated the offensive glass and took 27 more shots than Cleveland over the five-game series. This helped the Knicks overcome shooting 42-of-149 (28.2 percent) from the three-point line.

In the second round against Miami, the strategy was not as successful as the Knicks lost in six games. New York’s trio of Jalen Brunson, Julius Randle and RJ Barrett were often playing in a crowd as Miami’s defense collapsed in the paint and provided extra help.

The playoffs were notable because Quentin Grimes and Immanuel Quickley struggled mightily.

Grimes averaged just 5.1 points while shooting 24.3 percent from the three-point line on 37 attempts. He also dealt with a shoulder contusion. Quickley similarly struggled, averaging 9.0 points and shooting 34.8 percent overall and 24.3 percent from three before suffering an ankle injury in Game 3 of the series against Miami.

Towards the end of the regular season, Grimes caught fire, averaging 21.9 points on 54.3 percent shooting over a nine-game stretch. He attempted over 10 threes a game as the Knicks moved the ball around more often due to absences from Randle and Brunson. Quickley also thrived in that time as well.

It would be great to see the Knicks occasionally run a pin-down or some off the ball action to get Grimes or Quickley open and potentially draw some defensive help.

If the Knicks would’ve been able to get their two top perimeter shooters in Grimes and Quickley going, there could’ve been more space on the floor for their stars to operate.

Passing not a title predictor

This year’s NBA champions, the Denver Nuggets, were second in assist rate (66.3 percent) and last year’s champs, the Golden State Warriors, led the NBA in assist rate.

Now, does this mean recording a high number of assists is a magic elixir that crowns a champion? Not at all. The 2020-21 NBA champion Milwaukee Bucks ranked 25th in assist rate and the two champions before them, the Los Angeles Lakers and Toronto Raptors, were 15th and 14th respectively in assist rate.

The difference is those teams had elite defenses and stars like Giannis Antetokounmpo, Kawhi Leonard and LeBron James to guide their teams to championships.

The Knicks have Brunson but they need Randle and Barrett to elevate to better in isolation if they’re going to continue to play this way. But they can find some easier buckets in the half-court if coach Thibodeau tries to involve other players in actions rather than having them stand around idle.