FanPost

Knicks Must Think About Pierre Jackson

If anyone can think of one good reason why the Knicks shouldn't go after Pierre Jackson, I'll retract my statement.

The thing is there is no reason New York shouldn't be drooling at the fact that Jackson is an option. The Pelicans have refused to call up Jackson, who was originally supposed to play in Europe this year due to the surplus of guards in the NO backcourt. Though Jrue Holiday is still out with an injury for the Pelicans, it is clear they have been satisfied with the play of backup point guard Brian Roberts.

Clearly Jackson is not in NO’s future plans, so a trade to obtain his draft rights shouldn’t come with much restraint. The Knicks have immensely struggled at the point guard position, which is becoming increasingly unfortunate since having an attacking and athletic point guard is becoming a staple in today’s NBA.

Jackson is putting together a ridiculous season in the D-League thus far. In just over 41 minutes per game, Jackson is scoring 30.3 points on just over 45% shooting from the field. It’s clear that Jackson’s strongest attribute is his ability to score, but he is also averaging 5.4 assists and 2.2 steals per game, both solid numbers.

In no way am I saying that Pierre Jackson is going to make the Knicks elite, but he certainly has more upside than any of their point guards now. Felton has been a disaster, even with his recent stretch of solid games, and I adore Pablo Prigioni, but he needs help if he is going to continue impacting this team.

Having Jackson being able to defend opponent’s quicker guards would be important considering neither Felton nor Pablo have the speed to do that (Plus Murry has clearly fallen out of favor, so I’m ruling him out).

Having Jackson in the lineup would also allow Prigioni to take care of most of the ball handling and would possibly add another high-volume scorer to NYK’s attack. A point guard who can get into the lane and effectively put the ball in the hoop is exactly what the Knicks need and without much to offer for an already proven guard, Pierre Jackson may be their best shot at such a player.

There are obviously things Pierre Jackson needs to work on, but there is no reason to not even take a risk on him.

It certainly won’t take much to acquire his draft rights, so the Knicks should at least be on the phone with New Orleans, trying to make something happen. It’s inevitable that someone is going to give Jackson a chance and the Knicks better hope they aren’t the ones to miss out on his potentially big impact.