New York Knicks: The Reintroduction of Tony Wroten

Who is New York Knicks point guard Tony Wroten? DailyKnicks’ Geoffrey Nixon reintroduces you to a name you need to know.

After suffering a season-ending knee injury while having his best season to date with the Philadelphia 76ers, recent New York Knicks signee Tony Wroten added an interesting caption to an Instagram post of his.

"“Was just getting comfortable. Was on my way to show the world that imma PROBLEM in this league. But EVERYTHING happens for a reason and I believe it happens for the best. Watch this bounce back tho. Promise that I’ll be back better than ever.” – Via Instagram, TWroten5_LOE"

How is that for foreshadowing of what could be for his upcoming season as a New York Knickerbocker?

I reached out to Tony Wroten via social media (Twitter) and asked why he decided to go with the jersey #5. He simply replied with, “5-6-7”, and added a winking smiley-face eomji. Clearly, he feels that the combo of Wroten ,#5, Kristaps Porzingis, #6, and Carmelo Anthony, #7, will form a big three to be reckoned with in the NBA.

Prior to the injury, Wroten was enjoying a breakout season with averages of 16.9 points, 5.2 assists and 1.6 steals per game. When healthy, Wroten has already proven to be a, “Problem,” for opposing teams. If you really take a look at his resume it becomes clear that he has barely scratched the surface.

At 13 years old, Wroten was featured in newspapers alongside fellow Seattle area top prospects Peyton Siva, who attended Louisville, and Joshua Smith, who attended UCLA, and was dubbed the crown jewel of area recruits for the next half-decade, per The Seattle Times.

While attending Garfield High School in Seattle, WA, he achieved a feat that no other high school freshman in the area ever accomplished, by being named to the 2009 All-Washington State Class 4A first team with averages of 20.8 points, 8.7 rebounds, and 3.8 assists.

By his senior season, Wroten was considered a 5-star recruit and was ranked the third-best point guard in the country, per Rivals.com. He was invited to represent Team USA at the 2011 Nike Hoop Summit, and also shone in the Jordan Brand Classic High School All-Star game alongside Anthony Davis, Bradley Beal and Austin Rivers.

He finished with 16 points, 10 assists, and seven rebounds to embellish his decorated High School career as one of the greatest prospects to ever come out of the state of Washington.

Wroten ended up signing his letter of intent in favor of Lorenzo Romar and the up-and-coming Washington Huskies. He turned down, most notably, UConn, Villanova, Kansas, Syracuse and Lousiville.

Imagine the combined guard play of Wroten, Peyton Siva, and Russ Smith during the 2011-12 season. It’s hard to say eventual champs Kentucky would have still won the in-state Final Four match-up.

Wroten’s decision to stay close to home seemed to be the perfect fit as he accomplished another unprecedented feat. He was the first freshman in Washington history to be elected to the All-PAC-12 First Team.

His team-leading 16.3 points per game also propelled Washington to be crowned the Pac-12 regular season league champions. The Pac-12 Freshman of the Year finished his one-and-done season as the school’s all time leader in points, steals, and assists for first-year players.

His talent was not only validated by the trophies and accolades. During the NBA lockout in 2011, Washington Huskies alumni, including the likes of Isaiah Thomas and Brandon Roy, returned to campus  for workouts and a live scrimmage.

The scrimmage ended up being canceled due to the NCAA stepping in, but Roy and Thomas spoke volumes of Wroten’s talent and what his ceiling could potentially be.

Wroten was still just 18 years old after his lone season at the University of Washington when he joined fellow teammate Terrence Ross in declaring for the 2012 NBA Draft. The Memphis Grizzlies ended up using the 25th overall selection on the, as scouts (DraftExpress.com) called him, Tyreke Evans-esque 6’6″ combo point guard.

The biggest cons to Tony Wroten’s game was his inability to efficiently use his right hand and his more-than-apparent shooting woes, having shot 58.3% from the free-throw line and 16.1% from beyond the arc in college.

His 2012-2013 rookie campaign was certainly a forgetful one. A frustrated Wroten was assigned and recalled from the Grizzlies’ D-League affiliate, the Reno Bighorns, a total of four times. He appeared in only 35 games, seeing the floor for less than 8 minutes per game.

Whispers of scouts, coaches and the media claiming that he came out of college too soon began echoing louder and louder throughout the year.

As quoted earlier in this article, it’s clear that Wroten strongly believes that everything happens for a reason, and on August 22, 2013, after his rookie campaign, he was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers for a future second-round draft pick.

A change of scenery seemed to be the ideal remedy to the lackluster season with Memphis. Just nine games into his sophomore NBA season, Wroten was awarded his first career start in a 123-117 overtime win against the Houston Rockets.

En route to the victory, Wroten recorded a triple double with 18 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists.

He definitely found his stride during the 2013-14 season as he finished the year with averages of 13.0 points and 3.0 assists per game. He increased his scoring by 10-plus points per game and more than doubled his assist output per contest in comparison to his rookie season.

Wroten once again improved on those numbers during the 2014-15 season as he was averaging nearly 17 points per game. Unfortunately, his season came to a screeching halt after just 30 games due to an ACL injury that would sideline him for the rest of the year.

In some way, you could say that it was this knee injury that ultimately landed him in New York. Wroten made a promise to come back better than ever, but only appeared in 11 games for the Philadelphia 76ers during the 2015-16 season, averaging just 8.4 points per game. During a real “Grinch”-like move, he was released by the 76ers on Christmas Eve that year due to his knee not having properly healed, and also to clear a roster spot for the incoming Ish Smith.

The clear ailment to Wroten’s basketball career to this point has definitely been his injury woes. And of course, it was while playing football when it all started. As a sophomore in high school, Wroten tore his ACL on the gridiron forcing him to miss the entire basketball season his Junior year. Prior to his freshman year at the University of Washington, he had an arthroscopic knee procedure on the same knee, but this time to repair his meniscus.

So, there was all that before ever even turning pro.

Of all injuries, knee/ACL injuries are arguably the biggest threat to professional athlete’s career. But with hard work and resiliency (and a great medical team) other pro athletes such as Adrian Peterson, Jamaal Charles, Jamal Crawford, and Kyle Lowry have proven that Wroten’s best days are anything but numbered.

Phil Jackson and the New York Knicks seemed to have the same mindset. Wroten’s two-year deal was announced on March 16, 2016. There was never any plans to have Wroten suit up for the Knicks during the remainder of the 2015-16 season, as he was still rehabbing his right knee. The off-season workouts, and namely the upcoming NBA Summer League, will serve as a try-out which could result in Wroten remaining on the Knicks roster for the, non-guaranteed, 2016-17 season.

The New York Knicks have been in desperate need of a legitimate point guard, and Tony Wroten could be just that. Phil Jackson never believed that a superstar point guard was necessary to compete for a title in his triangle offense. After all, he did win multiple championships with guys such as Ron Harper, Derek Fisher, Brian Shaw and B.J. Armstrong running the show.

One of Tony Wroten’s biggest upsides is his sheer combination of size and athleticism at the point guard position. At 6’6″ tall, Wroten measures a 6’9″ wingspan. He is a relentless defender that lurks in the passing lanes with the best of them. Defense at the guard position has been a major weakness for the New York Knicks this past season, so a healthy Wroten will be a welcomed sight.

Another area of concern during the Knicks’ 32-50, 2015-16 campaign was a lack of guard penetration. Getting to the basket is definitely Wroten’s biggest strength, but he is also an underrated passer. His court vision and rush-hour ball handling skills seem like a perfect fit for Phil Jackson’s triangle offense.

Kristaps Porzingis will be a huge beneficiary to Wroten breaking down defenses. The pick-and-roll/pop combo of Wroten/Porzingis will be a nightmare to defend and Carmelo Anthony won’t have to rely on creating his own shot as heavily with Wroten creating space and drawing defenders.

This definitely would not be a complete re-introduction without mentioning Tony Wroten’s basketball “street cred”. I am going to go ahead and just put it out there, Tony Wroten is the best pick-up ball player since…EVER. When you throw out the coaches and refs and get back to the core of basketball, which is all about having fun, entertaining the crowd, and of course, shaming the opposing defender, there aren’t many like Wroten.

There is a YouTube clip called “Jamal Crawford Presents HOMETEAM (pro-am highlights)”, and there you’ll find this 18-year-old kid with a high-top who dominates a highlight reel featuring NBA pros like Nate Robinson, John Wall, Isaiah Thomas and Terrence Williams, that will leave you speechless.

Each of Wroten’s passes had to be shown in slow-motion just to give the human brain a chance to actually comprehend what happened and to see how the ball got from point A to point B. He has John Wall on skates after a filthy crossover, but that wasn’t even the best one. On opening day of the 2014 Seattle Pro-Am, Wroten absolutely executed the filthiest Shammgod crossover (:46 second mark in the below video) the world has ever seen. The fact that scoring 53 points on the first day of the pro-am is overshadowed by one split second crossover is a testament to just how flawless the execution was.

Pro-Am’s are a great reminder for any of us mortals that believe we could hang with NBA pro’s that we are better served just going on with our day jobs.

The only thing left to do now for Wroten is to make good on his promise of coming back better than ever. After all, he just turned 23-years-old and his skill-set development is far from having reached its apex. He definitely possesses all the necessary tools and has the bloodlines to back it up.

His father played in the NFL, his mother ran track at Washington and Arizona State, his aunt was a two-time All-American at LSU and later also a Harlem Globetrotter, and of course, there is his cousin who goes by the name of Nate Robinson, with whom the Knicks faithful are familiar with.

Wroten will need to continue transforming his game from his playground style to fit the NBA mold. 3.8 turnovers per game is definitely not a stat-line the Knicks (or any NBA team) will tolerate.

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Given a healthy set of knees, New York’s very own big-three of “5-6-7” are sure to make a huge splash next year. Don’t be surprised if the 23-year-old Wroten reaches All-Star snub status in the near future (think Kemba Walker, Reggie Jackson, Mike Conley) as the feature guard at Madison Square Garden.