The New York Knicks’ busy summer appears to be continuing into free agency.
Amid widespread indications that the team will land big man Joakim Noah, comes this report from ESPN’s Marc Stein and Ian Begley indicating that the team is now interested in finding a starting shooting guard.
“The Knicks have roughly $30 million to spend in free agency and hope to fit Noah into that space while keeping enough room to add a starting shooting guard. Courtney Lee and Eric Gordon are among the guards the Knicks have a level of interest in, sources say.”
After acquiring Derrick Rose in a pre-draft deal with the Chicago Bulls, the obvious focus from president Phil Jackson and Co. is to completely revamp the team’s backcourt.
Gordon would seem like the sexier option for New York, but it’s not yet known whether the team will have enough cash to land him. If Noah’s deal is valued at $18 million annually as reported, that would leave $10-plus million for the Knicks to sign Gordon.
Gordon, a former lottery pick of the Los Angeles Clippers, just wrapped up his fifth season with the New Orleans Pelicans.
Unfortunately for the former Indiana standout, it’s been an injury-plagued career thus far. He missed 37 games this past season with a finger injury. This comes on the heels of the previously high-scoring guard missing a combined 126 games over the prior four seasons.
What we do know is that Gordon can score. His career-best performance came as a member of the Clippers back in 2010-11, the season before he was dealt to the then Hornets in a package for Chris Paul. That year saw Gordon average 22.3 points and 4.4 assists while shooting 45 percent from the field.
If the Knicks are able to land Gordon to go with Rose, it will represent a dramatic upgrade on the court. Unfortunately, these are among the two-most injury-plagued players in the entire Association. That’s the risk you take when you’re attempting to rebuild from scratch.