New York Knicks: Could Chasson Randle Thrive In Westchester?

Chasson Randle was one of the final cuts by the New York Knicks. If he opts for the NBA D-League, could he thrive in Westchester?

With the 2016-17 NBA regular season looming, the New York Knicks made their final cuts this past week. Those cuts consisted of Chasson Randle, J.P. Tokoto, Lou Amundson, Cleanthony Early, and Damien Inglis.

Two of those players (Early and Inglis) are likely to start the season in Westchester.

In the case of Chasson Randle, it was expected that he would be one of the players who secured a final roster spot. That didn’t happen. Randle suffered a left orbital fracture and missed the final three preseason games.

Carmelo Anthony voiced his support of Randle.

Jeff Hornacek stated his injury wouldn’t affect whether New York decided to keep him.

With that being said, the Knicks chose to retain Ron Baker, who made his case to make the roster via his performances in the preseason. He has looked solid on defense and has an ability to knock down threes.

Both of those skills will be beneficial to a team that finished 18th in three-point percentage (34.6%) and 23rd in three-pointers attempted per game (21.5) last season.

Baker can do many things on offense that not only make him look good, but make his teammates’ job much easier.

Baker showed patience in the possession. The guard worked off a screen by Kyle O’Quinn and then fed it to O’Quinn, which led to an easy bucket.

With Randle no longer on the team, what are his options?

The former Stanford guard could sign with another team, if he garners interest. Another option is signing overseas. Or the former Knick could choose to stay in town and possibly head to Westchester when he returns from injury.

He could return in two weeks, per Shams Charania of the Vertical.

Jeff Horacek gave his thoughts on hoping Randle stays in the Knicks organization, per Adam Zagoria of ZagsBlog.com.

"“Chasson, he’s done a great job for us,” Hornacek said. “We hope all these guys get other jobs and other teams pick them up, but our hope is if he doesn’t go to another team he stays with our organization. We really liked what he did for us.“"

Given how Randle has looked during the preseason, it would be great if the Knicks managed to bring him to their D-League affiliate. He has shown what he could do when he’s on the floor. Having a 6’7″ wingspan can be beneficial for Randle on the defensive end. He’s a good defender who can defend both guard positions.

His on-ball defense is a strength, which was evident from the Summer League game against the Los Angeles Clippers.

Along with that, he’s shown that he can knock down shots from downtown. With the nature of the current NBA, having players who can knock down those shots is invaluable. When Randle was at Stanford, he knocked 38.7 percent of his shots from deep.

That includes his freshman season, when he connected on 43.8 percent of this three-point shots. He carried that efficiency to the Czech Republic this past season, as the guard made 42.4 percent of those shots.

While Randle wasn’t really known as a passer dating back to his time at Stanford, he was getting his teammates involved at Summer League. While he did average about three assists during his senior season, that was the highest number the 6’1″ guard saw.

He saw that number dip a little when he was with CEZ Nymburk.

At the 2016 Summer League, the 6’1″ guard showed his ability to be a distributor. He didn’t play in three of those games, but Randle managed to average five assists in three outings, which was the second-highest mark at the Orlando Summer League. Along with that, he averaged 18.3 points (second most) and 3.0 steals (third most) per game at the Summer League.

Randle has a skill set that he could utilize and develop in Westchester. In addition, he works well in transition and can help space the floor.

If Randle starts off the season in Westchester, he’d have the opportunity to play under a defensive-minded coach in Mike Miller. The potential is there for him to be a solid on-ball defender and Miller could help him reach his potential.

A short stint in Westchester is something that the guard could use, especially after missing extended time due to a left orbital fracture. If Randle can pick up where he left off before he got injured, he could be on the main roster by the end of the season.

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In the previous two seasons, the Westchester Knicks have seen at least one player receive a call-up each year. Randle could take a route that Langston Galloway took by joining the NBA D-League and prove that he can contribute to an NBA team.