NY Knicks: 2 players worth overpaying this offseason
By Mark Nilon
NY Knicks free agent target No. 1) Evan Fournier
Despite the fact that both Julius Randle and RJ Barrett took career-high strides forward in the scoring department this past season, the NY Knicks still only managed to rank just 26th in points-per-game and 27th in offensive rating.
On top of this, though they also collectively finished third in the league in 3-point percentage, they were ultimately quite an underwhelming long-range shooting team as they capped off the year ranking 21st in 3-point makes and 27th in such shots attempted.
Based on both the numbers and, frankly, the eye test all season, New York should strongly consider prioritizing three-level shot makers/creators on the open market this summer, and a guy like Evan Fournier could prove to be a perfect fit alongside the team’s two top-stars to fill in as a tertiary scoring threat.
At 28-years-old, the veteran wing is coming off of one of his best campaigns in the association, as he found himself posting per-game averages of 17.1 points on 46 percent shooting from the floor and 41 percent shooting from deep.
Dealt to the Boston Celtics at the NBA Trade Deadline back in March, Fournier’s efficiency as a shooter wound up skyrocketing when serving as the third offensive option behind Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, as he converted on 46 percent of his 3-point attempts and boasted a 75.5 effective field goal percentage on catch-and-shoot attempts.
His ability to create for himself while also thriving off-ball would be an absolute luxury for the NY Knicks to have on the offensive side of the ball.
Now, though we’re suggesting New York should consider “overpaying” for him, it still likely wouldn’t cost all that much to acquire Fournier, as his market rate will likely be in the $13 million-per-year price range.
Making it an even $15 million may be enough to steal him away from Beantown and, for a guy who was averaging nearly 20 points whilst serving as the second option on the Orlando Magic earlier in the year, such a rate may not be all that bad of an idea to consider for this Knicks team in great need of quality shooters/scorers.