Arron Afflalo Continues To Pace Young Knicks Backcourt

The New York Knicks Backcourt Has Had Varying Degrees Of Success Thus Far, But Arron Afflalo Continues To Be It’s Steadiest Performer

The New York Knicks added a plethora of new players last offseason.

Most notable of course was the drafting of Kristaps Porzingis, a selection that has already proven to give the Knicks a cornerstone to build around, but team president Phil Jackson also went out and signed veteran center Robin Lopez and added depth to the second unit in the form of Derrick Williams, Kevin Seraphin and Kyle O’Quinn.

Shockingly, almost all of the additions have worked out. Kristaps looks to be the future of the franchise, RoLo has helped bring a steady presence to last year’s dreadful defense, and the Knicks’ bench has been among the deepest in the league.

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With the exception of our hero Porzingis, perhaps no offseason acquisition has had the impact on New York the way that Arron Afflalo has.

The 30-year-old wing has plenty of history with Knicks star Carmelo Anthony, whom he played alongside as a Denver Nugget, but has been plotting a move to New York for even longer, claiming it’s always been a dream to wind up a Knick. Now that he’s in the Big Apple, Afflalo is making the most of his dream come true.

Despite missing the first eight games of the season with a lingering hamstring issue, Arron has been near perfect since debuting with the Knicks.

Afflalo has given New York a steady hand of offense in the backcourt, as Jose Calderon struggles to create his own shot and the duo of Langston Galloway and Jerian Grant are still learning to be consistent presences offensively.

And what has that steady hand dealt for the Knicks? Try 13.2 points per game on  45.2 percent shooting, and the ability to outright carry the offense when called upon.

His 31-point performance against the Houston Rockets, a game that saw him go 13-for-19 from the field with Anthony not playing due to an illness, will get plenty of attention, but it’s been Afflalo’s consistency that has been so crucial. In the 11 games he’s played, Afflalo has put up double-digit points all but twice.

That scoring output has led to a Knicks offensive rating of 110.0 when Afflalo is on the court compared to a rating of just 100.5 when he’s on the bench.

Most importantly is how Afflalo’s managed to score. In the Knicks’ fast-paced version of the triangle offense, hitting mid-range jumpers is crucial and Arron has done just that, going 55 percent on shots from the mid-range.

Also notable has been Afflalo’s sudden ability to make 3s out of the corner, a big help for when the Knicks work off the pick-and-roll and look for an outlet pass. He’s matched his mid-range game on corner 3s, going a white-hot 55 percent .

Another big part of Afflalo’s start as a Knick has been his ability to play alongside star Anthony and budding star Porzingis. When the three are on the court together, the Knicks are beating their opponents in almost every statistical category available, with the only exceptions being free throws and steals.

The most important statistical win? The Knicks are scoring 4.5 more field goals than opponents when the trio plays together.

In Wednesday night’s victory against the Philadelphia 76ers that saw the Knicks snap a four-game losing streak, Afflalo went 6-of-10 from the field and poured in 13 points with eight rebounds. Not the absurd 31-point outburst we saw from him the game before against Houston, but a very nice and steady performance that a young team needs from their veteran starters.

Afflalo will need to improve his defense alongside his new teammates to continue justifying his 31 minutes per game, but for now, he appears an intricate part of this years Knicks team and with Arron himself saying he wants to retire in New York, could be for years to come.

In fact, the only thing not to like about Arron is his name. IT IS SPELLED AARON AFFLALO, I don’t care what he says. 

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All Statistics Courtesy of Basketball-Reference.com and ShotAnalytics.com