The Knicks came out of a late free-agency scramble better off than they might have expected, and Nick Richards is the reason why.
For weeks, Richards had been talked about as a possible third big man for New York. Instead, he landed with the Miami Heat, and that outcome should make Leon Rose, the rest of the front office, and every Knicks fan breathe easier.
The Knicks still have work to do before they can put this offseason to bed. They need another backup center, plain and simple. Andre Drummond may be able to handle a regular-season spell behind Karl-Anthony Towns, but New York is still one injury away from a serious problem in the middle.
The issue with Drummond is bigger than depth alone. He gives the Knicks some rebounding and three-point shooting, but he also closes off options. He has rarely been a real plus as a rim protector, he is nowhere near as mobile as Robinson or even Towns on defense, and he does not give New York the flexibility to roll out dual-center looks when the matchup calls for it.
That matters because the next big the Knicks add needs to bring something extra. Richards, despite his size, does not really check any of those boxes.
At nearly seven feet, he can challenge shots at the rim and grab rebounds well enough, which is part of why he looked appealing on paper, especially on a minimum deal. But the idea of Richards has always been stronger than the actual production.
Since 2023, Richards has never finished better than the 49th percentile in rim points saved per 100 possessions. That stands out, especially for a center who does not spend much time away from the basket. And like Drummond, he is not the kind of player New York can comfortably pair with Towns.
That kind of lineup flexibility has not been a regular feature for the Knicks over the past two seasons, but it at least remained in their toolbox. Richards would not have kept that door open.
Being big has value. Nobody is arguing otherwise. But the numbers around Richards do not point to a player who has consistently helped teams win, and his ranking in defensive regularized adjusted plus-minus over the past five years backs that up.
So if Miami’s urgency took Richards off the board, the Knicks should be fine with it. In fact, they should be grateful.
Maybe New York was never really in on him and already had its eyes on a trade for another big. If that is the case, the Heat still helped by shrinking the list of fallback options. And if the Knicks decide to settle the issue with a training-camp competition among unknowns, that would still be a better route than signing Richards and calling it a day.
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