The New York Knicks may look for backcourt help via trade in the offseason, and one target could be King’s point guard Darren Collison.
By Chip Murphy
The New York Knicks will have enough cap room in the offseason to upgrade the backcourt. President of Basketball Operations Phil Jackson will try and woo top talents like Mike Conley, Rajon Rondo, and DeMar DeRozan. However, free agency isn’t the only viable option.
The Knicks can use some of that new money to upgrade their backcourt via trade. According to Ian Begley of ESPN.com, one player that some in the organization are fond of is Darren Collison of the Sacramento Kings, Rondo’s backup this past season.
[graphiq id=”d7qEZsjujR3″ title=”Darren Collison ” width=”600″ height=”635″ url=”https://w.graphiq.com/w/d7qEZsjujR3″ link=”http://basketball-players.pointafter.com/l/68/Darren-Collison” link_text=”Darren Collison | PointAfter” ]The Knicks have been linked to Rondo, but this is the first time that Collison’s name has appeared in any capacity. Collison routinely played alongside Rondo but they didn’t mesh as Sacramento had hoped, the Kings were minus-3.1 points per 100 possessions when the two shared the floor, but Collison was the more productive via Basketball-Reference.com.
The backup was in the 88th percentile in points per possession as the ball handler in the pick and roll, Rondo in just the 42nd. Collison outplayed Rondo on spot up plays as well, scoring in the 82nd percentile, while the shooting-challenged Rondo was predictably in the much lower 41st percentile (via NBA Stats).
Unlike Rondo, Collison can produce offense from outside 5 feet of the basket. He was 46.7 percent on mid-range jump shots, and 46.6 pecent on corner three’s (via NBA Stats). He stuck his open shots too.
On attempts greater than 10 feet with the closest defender within just 4-6 feet (defined by NBA.com as an open shot) Collison’s effective field goal percentage was 56 percent, and even better on attempts with the closest defender within 6+ feet (wide open), an astounding 62.9 percent effective field goal percentage.
Collison’s salary next season is for $5.2 million. His deal expires after 2016-17 so any deal would be low-risk. The only question is do the Knicks have the assets to pull it off?
