Post good passing PGs that will be/you think will be available

RunningJumper

Super Moderator
Either as a back-up, starter, or future starter. No combo guards in here.

This is also includes point forwards (T-Mac) and players in the draft.
 

MSGhobo247

Rotation player
- JJ Barea but he'll prob get resigned
- T.J. Ford
- Earl Boykins
- Telfair
- Anthony Carter

If possible I also would be happy bringing Felton back.
 

finestrg

Rotation player
In the draft (in our range), the 3 best pure passing PGs are probably:

(1) Darius Morris - excellent PG size (6'5") and passing ability/court vision look like two big pluses, I just worry if he has enough offensive game, specifically when it comes to shooting the ball. Dude shot just 25% from the college 3 this year...At the Combine, Fran Fraschilla mentioned that he had a "broken shot" that will require "more than just a few weeks to fix." I don't know about him at 17. I think there will be higher impact guys available.

(2) Demetri McCamey - I get the Big-10 channel and have seen him a lot the past 2 years -- good size at 6'3", pretty strong, very good outside shooter (much improved this year, 74-164 45.1%), solid passer...On the flip side: not the quickest guy out there with the ball, penetration looks a step slow, slightly underwhelming athletically, and quite a few people including his own college coach (Bruce Weber) have been outspoken about his work ethic and question just how much he really wants it. Here's some video of McCamey playing poorly then blowing off Weber after he got yanked and refusing to look him in the eye -- not sure if stuff like this, along with the quickness and penetration weaknesses, are areas he can grow from and improve or automatic red flags that say 'stay away':

Still, McCamey's a good passer that can shoot the ball -- two characteristics D'Antoni can definitely utilize in this offense. Wouldn't be terrible if we picked up a 2nd rounder and grabbed him (although that's the move I wanna see them pull off to get Ben Hansbrough).

(3) Isaiah Thomas - I love this kid. Great competitor, he can shoot, he's cat-quick, a leader, clutch, intense and a very good passer. The only thing is he's just so damn tiny. If he were over 6' I think he's be a top 20 pick..Is he too tiny to have an impact in the NBA? I dunno..Not too many 5'9"-5'10" lead guards in the NBA right now (DJ Augustin comes to mind, but I think Thomas might actually be smaller. Tell you what, Thomas might have better skills. JJ Barea's another guy <6' who's come on lately and assumed a big role on a very good team. Pooh Jeter's a tiny PG that Sacramento picked up that they supposedly love). Damon Stoudamire made it in the NBA and he had a very similar game to Thomas', right down to them both being lefties. Thing I really like is that in 3 years at Washington, this kid got to line over 200 times each year---the lack of size surprisingly didn't hurt him here. He was able to get to the cup at will. Now all he needs to do is convert his FTs at a higher rate (he only shoots lows 70s at the stripe).

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I'm really not in love with any of the NBA free agent PGs to be perfectly honest. Ask yourselves, do we really overpay to bring in 5'9" JJ Barea to be a backup PG next year and then have him take over the team the following year?? I dunno man. I know the question was 'who are the best passers' but when looking over these free agent PGs I'd rather take a shot at a young player whose upside is high and who might not be retained by their current team over the journeymen out there being discussed -- guys like Patty Mills, Ben Uzoh...See if we can steal one of these guys on the cheap.. Or go outside the NBA: to me, 6'1" Curtis Jerrells has as much talent, if not more, than anyone we're discussing here. I really don't see that much seperation in talent between Brandon Jennings and Curtis Jerrells. Sherron Collins, Tyrese Rice and DL MVP Curtis Stinson are other guys I'd take a look at.

I honestly believe Chris Paul's gonna be a Knick unless the league drastically alters the salary cap, incorporates 'franchise tags,' etc.. Until then, see if we can catch lightning in a bottle on the cheap with a high-ceiling type. My two guys continue to be Curtis Jerrells or Ben Hansbrough. What if we picked up Jerrells or Hansbrough and they played well enough to the point where we didn't even need Paul? OR, they play well enough to include in a trade TO GET Paul. Either way, I see a win-win situation..
 
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finestrg

Rotation player
Here's some video of Curtis Jerrells (Baylor, the NBDL and KK Partizan of the Basketball League of Serbia) and video of Big East POY Ben Hansbrough at Notre Dame. Gimme either guy as the 3rd PG behind Billups and TD (with a chance for more eventually) and I'm ready to roll with that:





 
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platnumn

Benchwarmer
(..Is he too tiny to have an impact in the NBA? I dunno..Not too many 5'9"-5'10" lead guards in the NBA right now (DJ Augustin comes to mind, but I think Thomas might actually be smaller.

Don't for get about Ty Lawson!!! Although he partially led the backcourt with Felton, Lawson has proved he can run point in the NBA. Not like he's available, but it just goes to show.:peace::peace:
 

finestrg

Rotation player
Don't for get about Ty Lawson!!! Although he partially led the backcourt with Felton, Lawson has proved he can run point in the NBA. Not like he's available, but it just goes to show.:peace::peace:
Ahh, right. Forgot about Lawson for a sec...Go figure I forget arguably the best guy under 6' out there..LOL..Good call Plat. One more guy that makes a case for Isaiah Thomas making the NBA I guess.
 

ChrisN7

Benchwarmer
Regardind players under 6 feet, Nate Robinson while not really being one of the leagues best players could certainly look after himself.
 

finestrg

Rotation player
Curtis Stinson really should be another guy we consider for PG depth. For some reason, this guy has never gotten any love from NBA teams but I think he can definitely play in this league. Come on, at least in a backup role for some club, no? Absolutely. No doubt in my mind.

3-year college career at Iowa: 17.6 ppg, 45.7 FG%, 4.8 apg, 5.6 rpg, 2.1 spg

2010/11 NBDL: 19.3 ppg, 50.2 FG%, 9.8 apg, 5.7 rpg, 1.4 spg (DL MVP)

8 playoff games this year in the DL including the DL Finals which his team won:
24.4 ppg, 50.7 FG%, 8.8 apg, 6.9 rpg, 1.2 spg

Rock-solid 6'3" 215 lbs, very strong, can score but he makes it a point to distribute...A fine passer..A true floor general...Mid-range jumper, assist totals, and FT % are all much improved since college...Effective penetrator that can get all the way to the tin with his combination of superior strength, and above average ball-handling & speed..Rebounds very well for a PG. And he could always play good defense...Isn't really a 3-pt shooter (although, like Melo, I think he can refine and improve this part of his game if he ever had a chance to play for a guy like D'Antoni---it's not like he can't shoot) and he turned the ball over quite a bit this year (4.54/game up a whole turnover from his 3.5 DL career average) but that comes with logging a ton of mins & having the ball in his hands all the time I suppose.

Here are two clips -- the 2nd one is funny. First off, his name is misspelled; 2nd, the clip shows him making some mistakes as well as executing some nice plays..I don't ever recall seeing a youtube highlight clip of a player showing both good plays as well as mistakes..LOL. Whatever, it's still a very good watch and shows a lot of what he can do..The good far and away outweighs the bad in this clip..I see some Anthony Carter, a little Gary Grant and believe it or not, some Stephon Marbury as well -- maybe not the overall skill level Steph had, but definitely similar to Marbury in size, strength and the way he uses those two attributes to get to the basket. Shows some of the same 'bull in a china shop' penetration Marbury used to display..Steph also had a pretty good mid-range game too, something this guy looks to have as well, even off the dribble.

If all else fails, forget Anthony Carter who will cost us over $1.3M to bring back based on his 11+ yrs of service (http://www.insidehoops.com/minimum-nba-salary.shtml) --- for that amount of money we could get 2, possibly 3 young hungry guys with talent that we can use to fill out the roster..Go get me this guy who's very similar to AC, only years younger and would come much cheaper. Honestly, I've seen this guy a few times this year including a couple of his playoff games -- we could do a hell of a lot worse fellas, believe me.


 
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finestrg

Rotation player
Just reading that Javaris Crittenton & Bonzi Wells were present at this 2-day free agent mini camp the Knicks held. Not sure what Wells has left in the tank if anything, but Crittenton is very intriguing. He's big for a point (6'4"-6'5") and always had real good ability. Has always been a nice combination of size & skill all with a little flair...The gun situation with Gilbert Arenas is definitely alarming to say the least, but I think I can look past that now, knowing that he served his punishment and most likely matured since then..What do you guys think about this? Can this guy possibly be the 3rd PG for next season?? There's no doubt this kid has talent. Very good numbers his freshman year at G-Tech too btw: 14.4 ppg, 45% FG (36% on threes), 3.7 rpg, 5.8 apg, 2.0 steals. You can see exactly why the Lakers took him @ 19 a few years ago in the draft. Dude can ball -- can he put the troubled past behind him? That's the question here.

http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/knic...t_ZDU49YpHipt500Om6gzrZL?CMP=OTC-rss&FEEDNAME



 
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RunningJumper

Super Moderator
Nice replies, finestrg. I was wondering if Curtis Stinson was the guy from New York I saw in the D-League All-Star game so I just looked him up and he is, from the Bronx.

How's his defense?

I do want AC back because he's a good and willing passer who can shoot, defend, and is a veteran.
 

finestrg

Rotation player
I've seen Stinson a handful of times and although his defense never really stood out to me (that's probably because his toughness, strength, passing and scoring did), on paper, it looks to be better than average. He's a good combination of toughness, physicality, strength (this dude went for 17 on the bench press a few years ago when he was tested---that's crazy for a PG) along with above average quickness & agility. His wingspan (6'5") and standing reach (8'1.5") looks to be right on par with or slightly better than any PG that got tested at this year's Combine, so nothing hurts him here.. His steals rate has slipped a little lately in the NBDL (down to 1.3/game this year, still a decent number) but this guy's gone for at least 2/game at different times wherever he's been:

Iowa State Cyclones (college)
2003/04: 1.7/game
04/05: 2.3/game
05/06: 2.4/game

Iowa Energy (D-League)
08/09: 2.2/game
09/2010: 2.2/game

That's really bringing it defensively -- anytime a guy goes for 2 spg or over, it stands out...You don't put up those type of numbers on accident..

I really like Stinson a lot. With some of the garbage teams have on their rosters in the NBA these days, I really can't believe this guy has never gotten a call-up & then at least a steady backup gig for some team somewhere along the way. He's definitely good enough imho...Brings so many good intangibles to the table... He's a mixture of a lot of solid NBA PGs, past & present: Stephon Marbury/Gary Grant/Anthony Carter/Jarrett Jack.

I'd be perfectly fine with Curtis Stinson as my reserve PG next year. I betcha he could do a much better job of running the team over Toney Douglas. I like Toney, he's gritty and is a decent scorer when he's on, but he's just not an NBA PG..Case closed..Toney needs to play off the ball to be effective and when he does, we're left with is a 6'1"-6'2" shooting guard who's severly undersized for that position, not to mention overrated offensively & defensively..I'd actually shop Douglas along with Rautins and cash to see if I could come up with another 1st round pick in this draft. Douglas is completely replaceable if you ask me. I just hope he still has some value coming off the shoulder surgery. Ahh, whatever, they love TD and he isn't going anywhere...And if they really liked Stinson, he would've been a part of this mini camp they just held. I don't know every player that attended (anyone have a complete list??), but I know his name was never mentioned and you figure it would've been if he were there, being the DL MVP and all. I'd give him a shot -- we need a backup floor general and this guy's capable & would come cheap.
 
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finestrg

Rotation player
Speaking of the mini camp the Knicks just held, I just read that Joe Alexander was there and played well. I'd sign him up in a heartbeat if I were the Knicks. He's one of the guys I've been calling for them to add on the cheap..Dude had a very productive season in the DL this year (20.2 ppg, 8.9 rpg, 3.1 assts, 1.4 blocks) and although I like fellow D-Leaguer DeShawn Sims a little bit more (Sims is playing summer ball in Puerto Rico last time I checked and that season may not be over yet---maybe that's why he wasn't at the Knicks camp), Alexander could turn out to be a very nice skill forward behind Amar'e & Melo. Nice job bringing him in for a closer look. I don't care what he did (or didn't do) with Milwaukee; this guy's a very good athlete that's still young and he can score and rebound. Definitely deserves another shot in the NBA. Compare this guy to Jared Jeffries for a sec -- infinitely more skilled, it's not even a debate. I'd ink him up immediately. Take the chance. Dude still has mega upside. And behind Melo and Amar'e, he wouldn't have to be the man here, only a solid contributor off a much-improved bench (hopefully).

I'd really like to see a complete list of every player who attended this Knick mini camp. Anyone know where I can find that out? Link??
 
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