Knicks Rumors: Pros and Cons of potentially signing Trey Burke

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WASHINGTON, DC – JANUARY 16: Shabazz Napier #6 of the Portland Trail Blazers drives to the basket against Trey Burke #33 of the Washington Wizards during the game on January 16, 2017 at Verizon Center in Washington, DC. Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Ned Dishman/NBAE via Getty Images) /

Con: Defensive Inconsistency

One of the primary points of emphasis with the current youth movement is getting back to what’s worked in the past: Defense. Every great New York Knicks team has been built on the foundation of a commitment to defensive excellence.

Considering Trey Burke hasn’t yet shown the signs of being anything close to a quality NBA defender, it’s fair to question if he fits the vision.

Burke finished the 2016-17 NBA regular season ranked at No. 78 amongst point guards in Defensive Real Plus-Minus. That’s bad as is, but it’s even worse when one considers the fact that he ranked No. 459 out of 468 listed players in Defensive RPM.

That bottom of the barrel ranking as a defensive player may be reason enough to shy away from the possibility of signing Burke to any kind of deal.

Burke is somewhat undersized at 6’1″, but he has a 6’5″ wingspan that should enable him to defend point guards at a somewhat acceptable level. He’s also a quality athlete who can move well enough to contest shots and do a decent job of keeping slashers in front of him.

There’s still the possibility of improvement, but Burke will need to show an entirely new level of commitment on defense to justify a signing.