After an inconsistent run with the New York Knicks, Emmanual Mudiay has impressed the front office this offseason.
Emmanuel Mudiay joined the New York Knicks ahead of the 2018 trade deadline, with a three-team move from the Denver Nuggets that notably sent Doug McDermott to the Dallas Mavericks.
At the time, Mudiay needed a change of scenery, given his poor shooting numbers in Denver and losing the starting point guard job to Jamal Murray, who had a breakout season in 2017-18. So, he spent 22 games with New York to attempt a turnaround, and another 82-game opportunity to do so in 2018-19.
In an interview with MSG Networks, Knicks general manager Scott Perry discussed what’s potentially Mudiay’s “last chance,” and alluded to how “he may not have been a great fit for where he was at before…”
Though, at this point, Perry seems more confident in Mudiay, with a description of how the fourth-year pro accepted a weight loss challenge and shed pounds in the offseason:
"“Trey Burke was in [struggling in his first NBA opportunity] situation before and Hezonja’s coming in similar, as is Noah Vonleh, so this is a chance to reboot yourself; this is a chance to show people what you really can do in this league. So I think for Emmanuel, the great thing for him, that he’s done this summer, is he’s really gotten himself into elite shape. That was our challenge to him when we first brought him in. He wasn’t in the type of shape he needed to be in. He’s dropped about 15 pounds, so his confidence is coming around, and I think that’s the big thing for those guys to regain their confidence because there was a reason why they were drafted high…”"
Perry’s praise for Mudiay is a positive and may help the latter’s standing with the new coaching staff. However, it goes beyond weight loss to prove worthy of a rotation spot in the 2018-19 season.
Mudiay’s struggles continued with the New York Knicks after the trade deadline, due to 8.8 points and 3.9 assists on just 36.8 percent shooting and 19.6 percent from three-point range. It was over a 22-game stint, but either matched or fell below the Denver numbers.
Still just 22 years old, though, Mudiay can still grow as an NBA player, but will have physical roadblocks, Trey Burke and Frank Ntilikina, in his way for playing time at point guard. Burke told Marc Berman of The New York Post, he anticipates a training camp battle for the starting spot and expects to start, but so do the other two players.
Mudiay could walk out of camp as the main point guard, but against Burke’s late-season performance and the intrigue Ntilikina provides, it’s hardly guaranteed to happen.
With 2018-19 as Mudiay’s contract year, he likely needs this starting job to not only increase his value in 2019 but survive in the NBA. It’s crunch time for the No. 7 pick of the 2015 draft.