The New York Knicks and Evan Turner are not a match made in basketball heaven.
But that won’t stop the Knicks from pursuing Tuner in free agency anyway.
Per Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders:
League rumblings: The Knicks are rumored to be interested in soon-to-be unrestricted free agent Evan Turner. The interest may be mutual.
— Alex Kennedy (@AlexKennedyNBA) June 7, 2016
Some version of this rumor has been floated before. And the idea isn’t completely ridiculous.
The Knicks need a point guard who can drive and kick out the ball. Turner isn’t a point guard, but he can function like one. That’s what he did for the Boston Celtics. And while he doesn’t add much—okay, fine, anything—in the shooting department, he is a long defender who could beef up the Knicks’ perimeter defense.
Consider this, according to Basketball-Reference: The only players last season to match Turner’s rebounding, assist, steal and block percentages were Draymond Green and LeBron James. That’s legit.
Which, in turn, means that cost will be an issue.
Evan Turner hasn’t been looped into the near-max deal conversations like Bismack Biyombo, but he could still make that cut before the offseason is out. Anyway, at the very least, he’s in line for a huge raise. And the Knicks, along with the Celtics and plenty of other teams, must figure out whether that raise is worth the risk of investing a ton of money in a modern-day wing who does not space the floor with his shooting.
