This may stun some Knicks fans, but longtime critic Charles Barkley says he actually liked team president Phil Jackson's moves this offseason.

“I actually disagree with all the criticism that people are giving the Knicks. I think the Knicks should be on national television this year. They actually got NBA players,’’ Barkley, a TNT analyst, said Wednesday night on NBA TV's show to reveal the NBA schedule.

Barkley added: "Robin Lopez is an NBA player, Arron Afflalo is an NBA player, [draftee] Jerian Grant is an NBA player. That’s three NBA players that they did not have last year. And they're going to get Carmelo [Anthony] back. [First-round draft pick Kristaps] Porzingis is going to be a good player, maybe not right now, but he's going to be a good player."

A day later, Barkley kicked his Knicks assessment up a notch.

“I expect them to make the playoffs,” he said in an interview on Sirius XM NBA Radio.

Barkley rarely praises the Knicks. He's ripped the team several times over the years, and last season he got in a war of words with Jackson over the triangle offense and the Knicks' president's use of Twitter.

Barkley also said last year that the Knicks shouldn't be on national television.

"There were times we showed the Knicks — and I’m not trying to badmouth the Knicks,’’ Barkley said. “They had players who should be playing in the D-League or overseas. That’s just a fact. They didn’t have legitimate NBA players. But I give Phil Jackson credit."

The Knicks may have added legitimate NBA players this season, but the national networks didn't show much interest in airing their games.

New York is on national television (ABC/ESPN/TNT) just seven times this season following their forgettable 17-win 2014-15 campaign. That's 18 fewer games than the maximum allotment and 12 fewer than the Los Angeles Lakers.