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New York Knicks Should Gamble On Kevin Seraphin

By Maxwell Ogden

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The New York Knicks are building for the future. They’ve landed a Top 5 pick, gambled on a number of free agents and are preparing to ride Carmelo Anthony to an undetermined measure of success.

Kevin Seraphin could be the missing piece for a progressive, if not successful, 2015-16 season.

Seraphin has always been something of an enigma. He has the skills and size to be a true star, but has never produced at more than a role player’s level.

That doesn’t mean he isn’t worth the risk.

According to Michael Scotto of Sheridan Hoops, Seraphin has three suitors pushing hard to acquire his services. New York is one of them:

It would behoove New York to make this deal happen.

Seraphin won’t blow anyone away with his numbers. What he will do, however, is hurt opponents with his offensive versatility and vastly improved play on defense.

The Triangle Offense could be the perfect system to bring the best out of him.

Offense

Kevin Seraphin lacks the secondary and tertiary post moves to be a consistent low-block scoring threat, but he’s an intriguing work in progress. He has a very efficient hook shot, which is enough to showcase the potential in his back-to-the-basket attack.

In 2014-15, Seraphin converted 69.9 percent of his 136 hook shots, per Basketball-Reference.com.

In terms of his versatility, he sank a respectable 44.0 percent of his 116 shot attempts from 10-to-16 feet away from the basket. He also made 42.2 percent of his jumpers from 16-to-23 feet, albeit on a limited 64 attempts.

All in all, Seraphin has the raw ability to be a true game-changer on the offensive end of the floor.

The key moving forward will be transforming him from a skilled blackhole into a player who score within the flow of the offense. He’s improved tremendously in that regard, but he’s still something of a ball-stopper on offense.

If any system can fix that flaw, it’s the Triangle Offense.

Defense

Defensively, Kevin Seraphin has made significant strides from where he once was. He’s not an elite defender, but once again, he’s a strong and steady player making steady improvements.

That’s the important theme.

According to NBA.com, Seraphin forced opponents to shoot 2.1 percent worse than their normal field goal percentage in 2014-15. That includes a steady drop-off of 4.4 percent from less than six feet away from the basket.

As a rim protector, Seraphin held opponents to 47.6 percent shooting when he met them at the hoop, per NBA.com.

On a team that lacks depth along the defensive interior, having a competent defender with upside would do nothing but help. Seraphin could help maintain a reasonably high level of defensive intensity with Lopez off the floor, providing physicality, length and improving rim protection.

The key to all of this is the previously alluded to theme: he continues to make steady improvements.

Steadily Improving

Kristaps Porzingis is the future at power forward and Robin Lopez is making $54 million at center. Thus, it’s not exactly a necessity to find the future at either position.

Cliche or not, New York shouldn’t put all of its eggs in one basket.

Seraphin may never be a star, but he’s steadily becoming one of the more well-rounded big men in the NBA. He can shoot with reasonable range, hit the post with a solid go-to move and defends at a respectable level.

Why not give him a chance to make some type of leap in the Triangle Offense?

At 25 years old, Seraphin is just now approaching the prime of his career. He averaged 16.8 points and 9.3 rebounds per 40 minutes in 2014-15 with the Washington Wizards, and is the proper development away from potentially averaging that per game.

If nothing else, New York could give him a low-cost contract to determine how realistic a dream that is.

The Triangle offense would teach him how to eradicate his ball-stopping ways. His offense would come within the flow of the game, and his patented hook shot would be attempted on designed plays instead of obligatory dumps to the post.

There is risk involved, but if any player is worth gambling on at this stage of free agency, it’s Seraphin—a player who could potentially work the low block and elbow in the Triangle Offense.

Next: The Knicks low-balled Summer League standout Maurice Ndour

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