NY Knicks: Could Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan reunite in NY?

Making the case for DeMar DeRozan to the NY Knicks

The 4-time All-Star likely has his best basketball behind him, but he’s still remained an effective offensive weapon as he enters his early 30s.

He averaged 21.6 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 6.9 assists per game this past season while posting a field goal percentage of 49.5%.

DeRozan has honed his passing skills in San Antonio and is now one of the best playmaking wings in the league, finishing 13th in the NBA in total assists.

He’s also maintained his reputation as one of the deadliest mid-range shooters the league has to offer, hitting 48.2% of his shots from at least 16 feet away from the basket all the way up to the three-point line.

There are some concerns regarding his poor shooting from behind the arc and tendency to underperform in the playoffs, so much so that we’ve made the case against signing DeRozan here at Daily Knicks recently.

Regardless, the Knicks should be able to work around those issues and maybe even eliminate them entirely.

DeRozan has actually hit a respectable 36% of his corner threes throughout his career, one of Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau’s favorite shots.

With Julius Randle and RJ Barrett developing into above-average shooters to go along with the expected return of Mitchell Robinson and his lob threat, New York is going to have a fair amount of floor spacing so that the court doesn’t get too crowded.

The veteran wing has also infamously struggled in the postseason. A major reason for this is DeRozan being the top option on every single playoff team he’s been on, which causes him to become unable to shoulder the load of an entire offense.

Julius Randle experienced similar problems in the postseason, having issues with efficiency while Atlanta loaded up their entire defense to stop him from scoring.

If DeRozan joins the Knicks, that offensive burden could be shared by both him and Randle so that defenses wouldn’t be able to collapse on either one.

Add Lowry to the mix and another scoring leap from Barrett, then New York suddenly becomes a team that could have someone new scoring 20+ points on any given night.

While DeRozan does still have some weaknesses, the potential benefits far outweigh them.

The Knicks have an opportunity to add a major offensive weapon without handing out a max contract.

They should absolutely do it.