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The New York Knicks have many interesting things to keep an eye on as the season plays out outside of the wins and losses.
While the Knicks did drop their season opener to the Memphis Grizzlies, they remained competitive throughout and almost overcame what is among one of RJ Barrett’s worst games as a pro.
On the bright side, Julius Randle shot efficiently and finished with a team-best plus/minus of +7. If he can keep up that level of production going forward, the Knicks should be just fine.
Somebody else to keep an eye on is Evan Fournier. Moving him would free up more minutes for some of the young players on the roster such as Quentin Grimes and Cam Reddish, but it might not be as easy as it seems.
Fournier is the Knicks record holder in three pointers made over the season, but that accolade came in a season where New York failed to make the playoffs. At this point, the league knows who Fournier is, and that’s basically what an NBA executive told Heavy Sports’ Sean Deveney about his trade value.
What is Evan Fournier’s Trade Value?
Trading Fournier for the sake of trading him doesn’t make a ton of sense, but if the Knicks are struggling it might be something they consider.
He’s in the second year of a contract that will pay him $73 million, so he has a lot of money tied up in his deal. Moving him would free up that money and also minutes for some younger players. The executive says that’s essentially the best you can hope for at this stage.
“You know what Evan is at this point,” the exec said. “If you’re a contender and you need a veteran to score off your bench, he is going to be someone you look at. I don’t think there is any question they would be willing to move him. But you’re probably just doing it for salary relief, and not going to get something back of significance for him.”
There are lots of teams who could use shooting around the league, the Los Angeles Lakers being a glaring example that comes to mind, but there’s no telling if they would be able to come up with a package to entice the Knicks, especially if it meant Russell Westbrook was included.
While Fournier’s salary is high, it isn’t an unmovable contract, so there should be something out there for him if the Knicks do plan on shopping him around.
Streaky Shooting
While Fournier is known to be a dead-eye shooter around the league, he’s also quite streaky. He hit three of his six threes in the loss to the Grizzlies, but he ended up hitting just four of 11 shots total.
His defense also leaves a lot to be desired, but a team doesn’t add him to the roster for that. He might be best suited as a high scoring guard/forward off the bench, but his contract makes that difficult.
There are rumblings that Quentin Grimes could be coming for Fournier’s starting job at some point in the season, so that will be a battle to keep an eye on.
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