NY Knicks: Ranking the 4 best signings by New York this offseason
By Mark Nilon
Best NY Knicks signing No. 2) Inking Evan Fournier to a 4-year, $73 million deal
On the surface, it would have appeared that the NY Knicks were one of the biggest proponents for the long ball all year long, what with the fact that they finished things off ranked third in the league in 3-point percentage at 39.2 percent.
News flash, however — they weren’t.
Despite their high conversion rate, the Knickerbockers finished 27th in 3-pointers attempted per game and, largely because of this, they ranked just 26th in points per game averages.
This offseason, it was vital for New York to pursue scoring threats on the open market who can go out and buy their own bucket, knock down 3-pointers, and thrive off the ball whilst running alongside the team’s ball-dominant point forward in Julius Randle.
By our metrics, it would appear they did exactly that by landing veteran wing, Evan Fournier.
Coming off of one of the best seasons of his nine-year career, the 28-year-old French-born baller posted stellar per-game averages of 17.1 points on nearly 46 percent shooting from the floor and 41 percent shooting from deep.
After being traded from the Orlando Magic to the Boston Celtics at the trade deadline, Fournier’s scoring production may have gone down a bit — dropping from nearly 20 a game to 13 –, but this was to be expected as he would be sharing the floor with three other high-octane scorers in Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Kemba Walker.
What should be acknowledged is his rise in efficiency once being surrounded by more scoring threats which, to us, is arguably the biggest reason for why this signing is so special for the NY Knicks.
As we stated, it was our belief at DK that Rose and co. should look to target extra scorers in free agency, specifically ones that could thrive off-ball.
Based on his stats, especially from his time with the Cs, Fournier is a great fit for this mold.
During his tenure in Boston, the wing converted on 46 percent of his 3-point attempts and boasted a 75.5 effective field goal percentage on catch-and-shoot attempts, which bodes well for the often utilized drive-and-kick aspect of New York’s offense with their lone All-Star running the show as the primary ball-handler.
A great complimentary piece for the team’s focal points in Julius Randle and budding star RJ Barrett, Evan Fournier was a fantastic grab for the franchise this offseason.