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

Khris Middleton

Slash Line: .441/.378/.837
Season Averages: 18.3 PPG, 6.0 RPG, 4.3 APG, 1.0 SPG, 0.1 BPG, 2.3 3PM

Khris Middleton is arguably the NBA’s most unheralded second-tier player. It does not help to play behind Giannis Antentokounmpo in Milwaukee, or it does to remove any potential spotlight and shine when no one watches.

Three of the past four years have seen Middleton average 18-plus points, with the other season limited via injury. He is a career 45.1 percent shooter and 38.8 percent on three-pointers, and finally reached the All-Star Game in February.

Now, Middleton has the chance to bank the richest contract of his career and shed that “unknown” label.

While not a star, the Texas A&M product has proven enough to fill that second or third role on a contending team. The Bucks ascended with him, even as a talented team surrounded their top-two players.

Pairing Middleton with Durant gives the New York Knicks two scorers with size, offering mismatches for opposing teams to cover two 20-point players, much like in Milwaukee now.

Signing Middleton will cost a penny or two and, potentially, a long-term commitment into his early 30s, but aside from the 2016-17 campaign, nothing else is enough to warrant a smaller deal than the slightly-below-the-max contract he could receive.

This is a quality second-tier option for the Knicks to align with a star, but will he even leave Milwaukee, especially if they make the 2019 NBA Finals?