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New York Knicks Interested in Brandon Jennings? Please No…

By William Lee

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According to Ian Begley of ESPN New York, the Detroit Pistons are interested in swapping guards with the New York Knicks. Detroit would potentially trade Brandon Jennings for Tim Hardaway Jr. in the scenario.

"If you’re looking for any clues regarding potential draft-night trades, here’s one: the Detroit Pistons are said to have interest in trading for Tim Hardaway Jr. and have tried to engage the Knicks on a deal, per league sources.Detroit may be looking to move guard Brandon Jennings because the organization traded for fellow guard Reggie Jackson last season. Jackson will be a restricted free agent this summer.Jennings is entering the final year of his contract and will make $8.3 million next season. In a Jennings-for-Hardaway Jr. swap, the Knicks would likely have to use their trade exception and adjust their outgoing assets to make the deal work.It’s unknown if the Knicks would want to take Jennings’ salary out without further enticement. It’s also worth noting that former NBA star Tim Hardaway Sr., Hardaway Jr.’s father, is an assistant coach with the Pistons."

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This rumor is very interesting, especially with Phil Jackson recently stating on ESPN’s Mike and Mike that the Knicks are covered at lead guard. Which was kind of shocking considering the Knicks’ point guard position is currently held by Jose Calderon and Langston Galloway. If it was not clear last year…Calderon is washed up at this point in his career. Calderon will turn 34 years old this fall and would probably be best served coming off the bench as a calm leader to run the offense for the second unit. Galloway was a pleasant silver lining in what was the worst season in franchise history…but to think that an undrafted rookie is the answer at point guard is quite absurd…

Or it could be with the NBA Draft coming this Thursday, Phil Jackson and company possibly could have D’Angelo Russell or Emmanuel Mudiay in mind for the position.

Or…it could mean…Brandon Jennings is coming to the Knicks…

NO! NO! NO!

Jennings averaged 15.4 points and 6.6 assist last season for the Pistons. Those numbers look decent enough…but what is most atrocious about Jennings’ game is his shot selection. Jennings has been a sub-40% field goal shooter his entire career thus far, his career high for a season was 41.8% in the 2011-2012 season. This past year was the second time in his career that he cracked over the 40% mark…just barely though…at 40.1%.

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Not only is Jennings a low-percentage shot-maker, he is also a high volume shooter; attempting a career, 15 field goals per game. The only players last season to shoot below a 40% field goal percentage and attempt over 15 field goals per game were Kobe Bryant and Kemba Walker, as per Basketball-Reference. Bryant only played 35 games for the Los Angeles Lakers and is set to draft second overall to show you how great of a season it has been for L.A…and Walker lead a Charlotte Hornets team that could not even make the Eastern Conference Playoffs…despite two teams making it into the Playoffs with a sub-.500 record…

Teams with Jennings style of play does not seem to be winning much…another issue that trading for Jennings does not resolve is how terrible the Knicks are at attacking the rim via drives. Which as sad as it sounds… Alexey Shved seemed like a god send last season because a Knick finally attacked the rim with drives and got to the free-throw line. Jennings will not help alive this problem…last season Jennings was 71st in total drives to the basket, as per NBA.com.

With so little drives to the basket, clearly that means Jennings settles for long distance shots. Jennings attempted 53.4% of his shots from 15 ft. or further last season. Jennings attempted 5.1 three-pointers per game last season at a clip of 36%.

Flat out, Jennings’s style of play is not one conducive to winnings basketball. For a starting point guard in the league, Jennings is ranked 157th in player’s win share; an estimate of the number of wins contributed by a player.

While Hardaway Jr. does not seem like much to give up for Jennings, and with the play of Hardaway Jr. at best…not improving this past season…if not downright regressing… Giving up on Hardaway Jr. seems harsh, especially when thinking financially with his rookie contract in mind. Let’s keep all the cap space we can and see what magic Phil Jackson can muster up this summer. This was the reason after all why New York brought Jackson in right…to lure free agents…it is time for him to own his salary.

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