The Jose Alvarado honeymoon is officially over. Not only that, but his minutes inside the New York Knicks’ rotation clearly aren’t guaranteed. We have the receipts from Mike Brown dusting off the seldom-used Jordan Clarkson and Tyler Kolek to prove it.
New York’s most recent two games represent Alvarado’s nadir since coming over from the New Orleans Pelicans. After establishing himself as an essential fan favorite and potential legend-in-the-making, the 27-year-old logged under 15 minutes combined during losses to the Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers.
That floor time wasn’t redistributed to starters or Landry Shamet, either. Brown instead found himself turning to a pair of guards who’ve been buried on the bench.
Jose Alvarado is opening the door for Clarkson and Kolek
Until this past weekend, Clarkson hadn’t played more than seven minutes in a single contest since the All-Star break, while racking up more DNPs than actual appearances. He has played in each of the past two games, topping out at 10 minutes against the Lakers. He then received another three ticks versus the Clippers.
When it became clear Clarkson wasn’t the answer in the second game, Kolek received around two minutes of run in the second half. That isn’t a lot by any stretch, but it’s nevertheless notable when he hasn’t played outside of garbage time since roughly early February.
While neither Clarkson nor Kolek is on track to entirely displace Alvarado from the rotation, playing them feels like Brown’s way of putting Alvavardo on notice. And the message is clear: He needs to hit more threes.
Alvarado has now failed to drill a three in six consecutive games. That is not a typo. It is a wash-your-eyes-out-with-soap reality. Alvarado’s three-point percentage in a Knicks uniform has now dropped to 27.3 percent (15-of-55), and he’s shooting an oh-crap-get-me-that-soap-again 15.2 percent (5-of-33) from distance since going kaboom and making history from beyond the arc against the Philadelphia 76ers.
The Knicks may pivot away from Alvarado faster moving forward
Maintaining a spot in the rotation won’t get any easier for Alvarado if he continues to struggle from long range. Deuce McBride plays a similar role, is the team’s highest-volume three-point shooter, and most importantly, still expected to return before the playoffs. New York won’t burn reps on a freezing-cold Alvarado once the former is back.
In the meantime, Kolek and Clarkson will continue to get looks. The Knicks could bump up Shamet’s minutes as well, particularly on nights when he’s not as cold as Alvarado. Brown could even roll with Mohamed Diawara in supersized lineups over him.
Leaving Alvarado’s defensive intensity on the bench seems upside down. Right now, though, defense is not New York’s problem. The offense is lackluster-ing its way to another second-half-of-the-season meltdown.
Shaky outside shooting is at the heart of this devolution. The Knicks are hovering around the bottom five in accuracy on unguarded triples since the All-Star break. Alvarado alone isn’t responsible. Not even close. But for the time being, he’s the most glaring harbinger of a macro issue. If he doesn’t start hitting his threes soon, the Knicks aren’t going to rely on him.
This isn’t speculation. It’s a fact. New York’s recent use of Kolek and Clarkson, even in small bursts, is all the proof we need.