Can the unselfish guard Chris Duhon rejuvenate his career in New York?

July 2nd, 2008 – Dr. Browntorious

Yesterday Chris Duhon, currently of the Chicago Bulls, paid the New York Knicks a visit on the first day of his free agency. Duhon is unrestricted so he can sign with any team he chooses. Sources have said that the Knicks verbally offered Duhon a two year deal worth approximately $3-4 million per. All indications are that Duhon would like to play for the Knicks; the only bump in the road might be the length of the contract offer from New York. The Knicks are adamant about not signing a contract for a point guard longer than two years as that is the magic number to ensuring that in 2010 they have plenty of salary cap space and flexibility to sign a big name free agent. Duhon also has visits lined up with the Magic, Heat, and Nuggets.

Chris Duhon is precisely the kind of point guard the New York Knicks need to solidify their backcourt. They currently have talented guards, but the majority of which have a scoring mentality that would not be well suited to run the ship and distribute ball as required in Mike D’Antoni’s system. Chris Duhon reminds me of a more offensively talented version of Eric Snow. He is an intelligent point guard that plays hard-nosed defense, has a high assist-turnover ratio when given minutes, is a great example and leader on and off the floor, and where he differs from Snow is his ability to hit the jumper and three point shot. Duhon had a great career in college for the Duke Blue Devils. There were a lot of high hopes for him coming out of school, but he somehow got lost in the shuffle last season in the Bulls crowded backcourt with Hinrich, Thefolosha, Gordon, and Hughes.

Should Duhon decide to pass on the deal with the Knicks and play elsewhere, the Knicks still have a variety of short term point guard options they could pursue. Carlos Arroyo, Keyon Dooling, Sebastian Telfair, Tyronn Lue, Sam Cassell, Anthony Carter, Jason Williams, and Dan Dickau are a few that come to mind.

After a couple of tumultuous years in New York, it would definitely be good for the Knicks to get a “character guy” with a good work ethic, like Duhon in at the point guard to help set an example.