After a 30-52 season, the New York Knicks are set to make a series of upgrades in the backcourt. Could the Knicks find talent at the Portsmouth Invitational?
The New York Knicks are going to be looking for backcourt help this offseason. The acquisition of Robin Lopez last summer solidified the center position, Carmelo Anthony, off an injury, led the team in points, rebounds and assists, and 2015 fourth overall pick Kristaps Porzingis played well as a rookie, showing his ability to space the floor and defend the rim at the power forward position. Those three should soak up the most of the minutes in the frontcourt.
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New York’s backcourt, however, is a mess. After moving him to the bench late in the regular season, Arron Afflalo is expected to exercise his player option and reach the free agency market. Jose Calderon is just about done in his NBA career, but the Knicks still have to pay him for one more season. Langston Galloway is a fine bench player and Jerian Grant is still unproven.
One area the Knicks will look for a backcourt upgrade is free agency. Phil Jackson, whoever the coach will be, Anthony and Porzingis could be the quartet to sell to guards like Mike Conley, Kent Bazemore and Evan Fournier. The ability to sell both backcourt positions as open, while maintaining the three frontcourt positions with talented players, is a good way to go about things.
The other area? Portsmouth. The Portsmouth Invitational has quietly been an asset for the Knicks since Jackson’s arrival. In his first season, he signed Galloway after a good performance and stuck him in their NBA D-League affiliate, the Westchester Knicks. This past season, Jackson did more of the same, signing forward Darion Atkins and guard Wesley Saunders — both Portsmouth alumni.
This year, with the Knicks visible in Portsmouth, the goal was to look for the next guard player — someone who most likely wouldn’t have a sizable impact this season, but could come in and take a spot on New York’s Summer League team before joining Westchester for their rookie season. The Knicks tried this with Galloway, and he’s expected to sign a nice contract for a once-undrafted player.
The first player is Oregon’s Elgin Cook. Cook averaged 14.7 points, 5.1 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game for the Ducks this past year. At Portsmouth, Cook came in at 6-foot-5 with a 6-foot-10 wingspan — excellent length for a modern wing player. His length allows him to defend both the shooting guard and small forward position at the next level. At 23 years old, Cook doesn’t have much upside left, but he doesn’t have much more growing to go either.
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Cook has the ability to defend several positions. He played small forward in Oregon’s smaller lineup, and thus, has the experience in defending larger wing players. He’s a decent playmaker, which gives him another dimension of his game as he works. The one downside is his three-point shooting. In three seasons at Oregon, Cook has attempted just 96 threes. He’ll need to be a better shooter if he wants to stick.
At the point guard position, Oklahoma’s Isaiah Cousins could be an interesting developmental project for the Knicks. New York just drafted Grant, but if Cousins can come for just money, what’s the harm in just sending him to Westchester?
While Buddy Hield saw his stock soar this season, Cousins was alongside him in the backcourt, putting together a solid senior campaign. Cousins averaged 12.6 points, 4.5 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.4 steals per game. What’s more enticing is his 41 percent shooting from three this past season. Cousins has a better profile from beyond the arc than Cook, hitting 40 percent of his 432 three pointers in his Oklahoma career. I think it’s safe to say that Cousins can space the floor.
You also have to like that he became a better passer this season. Cousins’ assist numbers jumped from 2.2 per game as a junior to 4.5 per game as a senior. His assist rate went from 14 percent to 25 percent. Part of that could be because of Hield’s offensive exploits, but part of it has to be from Cousins’ development as a playmaker. He still had issues operating the offense, though, with a turnover rate of 16 percent.
Cousins isn’t a natural point guard, but I don’t think you need a natural third point guard in the triangle. The issue, however, is that Cousins will most likely need to adjust to strictly playing point guard and as a defender. Cousins isn’t a great defensive player, and though he plays with some effort, he’s a poor defender at this stage in his career.
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Most likely, Cousins is someone who will have to go down to the D-League and figure it all out. The positive is that he has the shooting ability you want and there was some progression as a playmaker in his senior season.
The downside is that he’s still figuring it out as a point guard and he’s not a good defender. Some guys can figure out the second part, but the first part is something people are born with. It’s innate.
The Knicks will have to make upgrades in the backcourt, and it will be pretty tricky to do that with everyone having cap space and not being in control of any draft picks. By simply being New York, the Knicks could probably lead someone to join the Knicks next season, led by Bazemore. Bazemore would be a perfect wing who can defend, space the floor and create at the shooting guard spot.
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However, along with signing a shooting guard for the present, adding someone in the lower level to groom is also a great idea. Over the last three seasons, the Knicks have looked to Portsmouth to add talent. With guys like Isaiah Cousins and Elgin Cook performing well, perhaps the Knicks could bring both in and hope they can turn into potential rotation players after a year or two in Westchester.