New York Knicks: Non-superstar free agents to scout as playoffs continue

Tobias Harris

Slash Line: .487/.397/.866
Season Averages: 20.0 PPG, 7.9 RPG, 2.8 APG, 0.6 SPG, 0.5 BPG, 1.9 3PM

With the midseason trade to the Sixers, Tobias Harris joined his fifth team in seven seasons. For someone who has averaged at least 15 points per game for all but one team (the Milwaukee Bucks, when Harris was age 19 to 20), it is unusual.

However, Harris will finally hit free agency and eye a deal to secure him somewhere. Maybe, even with a no-trade clause, after all this movement.

Harris was one of the players noted in Berman’s report as someone the New York Knicks scouted. While not a superstar player, the other Long Island native is capable of averaging 20 points per game and acting as a team’s third-best player for a high-caliber playoff team.

Harris immediately upgrades New York’s middle of its lineup. It may push Kevin Knox aside to develop, but if there is a playoff clock on this organization, acquiring someone who’s still not in his “prime years” for four years makes sense, and it might not require the full max, either, if the Knicks’ scouting indicates such.

Will Harris leave Philadelphia, though? It is the most talented situation for him, but the Brooklyn Nets also have money to throw at him if they lose out on other top names. The same with the Los Angeles Lakers if they can’t acquire a superstar to play alongside LeBron James.

This is an intriguing player to pair with a star if the Knicks can acquire Durant or Leonard. Leftover money may remain to fill the roster, as well, instead of dedicating it to two stars and using minimums and exceptions to sign veterans.