Reports have seemed to point towards the Knicks using their final veteran minimum slot to add another guard or wing to the roster. Several names, such as Ben Simmons or bringing back Landry Shamet, have been floated around. One name that has seemed to quietly gain some steam recently is Amir Coffey. Michael Pina of The Ringer is the latest to mention the possibility of the veteran wing landing in New York.
It is important to note that Pina's reporting is purely speculative. He doesn't name sources or try to predict that Coffey will join the Knicks. Rather, he analyzes why Coffey would make sense in New York, pointing to his consistent 3-point shooting and ability to play within his role.
In today's NBA, you can never have enough shooting. The Knicks struggled in that department last season, ranking just 27th in 3-point volume. It was clearly an area they entered the offseason wanting to address, as they have already added Jordan Clarkson and Guerschon Yabusele, both of whom can knock down shots from deep.
Coffey could bring even more firepower to the Knicks
Pina isn't the first one to suggest that Coffey fits in New York. Lee Escobedo, speaking on SNY's The Putback with Ian Begley, also recently mentioned Coffey as an intriguing target for the last minimum spot.
Coffey appeared in 72 games for the Los Angeles Clippers last season, averaging 9.7 points, 1.1 assists, and 2.2 rebounds. He has been a great shooter over his career, where he has knocked down 38.4 percent of his shots from behind the arc. Last year was no exception, as Coffey drilled just under 41 percent of his threes, while attempting 3.4 per game.
Adding another wing makes sense
The New York Daily News' Kristian Winfield recently reported that there was internal support to keep the same starting lineup from last season, which would mean starting the wing trio of OG Anunoby, Mikal Bridges, and Josh Hart. If that is the case, their wing depth suddenly becomes a big concern.
Bringing Coffey in to provide some depth in that area makes all the sense in the world. There won't be many minutes to go around, by he is more than capable of sliding into a bigger role in the event of injury. He averaged a career-high 24.3 minutes per game last season and responded well to the larger workload.
He has also played smaller roles for the Clippers in the past and seems comfortable playing whatever part his team needs to succeed.