Jul 13, 2015; Las Vegas, NV, USA; New York Knicks guard
Jerian Grant(13) passes the ball as Los Angeles Lakers guard D
Assists Per Game: Jerian Grant
Jose Calderon has averaged at least 7.0 assists in five different seasons. He exceeded 8.0 dimes per game in four of those five campaigns, but has dropped below 5.0 in each of the past two seasons.
Calderon could and should see a rise in his assist numbers, but Jerian Grant is the facilitator worth monitoring.
Grant is a rookie who’s likely to open the season as a reserve. He’s setting his sights on big things, however, including the starting point guard gig and the NBA’s Rookie of the Year award.
Jerian Grant told me he specifically chose No. 13 because of @MarkJackson13. And knew he was the last NYK to win Rookie of the Year.
— Alan Hahn (@alanhahn) October 13, 2015
For those unfamiliar, Mark Jackson won Rookie of the Year in 1988 as a member of the New York Knicks. He did so by averaging 10.6 assists per game—the most by any first-year player in NBA history, per Basketball-Reference.com.
Grant may not join Jackson in double-figures, but the athletic playmaker should progressively build his average up to the point of leading the Knicks in assists per game.
Next: Blocks Per Game