The Knicks have a simple question in front of them: do they want the bigger name, or the cleaner fit?
DeMar DeRozan can still give a team real offense. He’d instantly jump into the conversation as New York’s second-best shot creator and ball handler, and his passing, foul-drawing and low-turnover style would give the bench another weapon. That part is easy to see.
The harder part is figuring out whether the good outweighs the bad. For the Knicks, the answer looks like no.
New York just won its first championship in 53 years, and the formula that carried it there was pretty clear: three-point shooting, rebounding and defense. DeRozan doesn’t bring much help in any of those areas.
He’s a career 30.2% three-point shooter who has taken just 1.7 attempts per game, and in a league that keeps tilting harder toward volume and efficiency from deep, that matters. The Knicks already have plenty of midrange shot-making through Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns and Mikal Bridges, so DeRozan’s comfort zone doesn’t really move the needle.
Rebounding is another issue. Even with his size and long career workload, DeRozan has never averaged more than 6.0 rpg, and he’s come in below 4.0 rpg in back-to-back seasons while playing 33.6 mpg during that stretch. That doesn’t fit a Knicks identity built on winning the extra possessions.
Defense is the third strike. DeRozan has never been mistaken for a stopper, and last season he was one of the least impactful defenders in the league with a -1.9DDPM. He can carry an offense for stretches, sure, but there are also nights when what he gives back on defense could outweigh what he creates.
Then there’s the rotation problem, and that one might be the trickiest of all.
If New York signed DeRozan, the assumption would be that he’s coming off the bench. But the Knicks’ second unit worked because Mike Brown could keep mixing and matching.
Deuce McBride got the bulk of the backup guard minutes some nights. Landry Shamet got them on others.
Jose Alvarado had his turns. Jordan Clarkson popped in occasionally.
If none of them were in the mix, Mohamed Diawara was there.
That flexibility mattered because it meant at least one, and sometimes two, bench players were sitting out games entirely. The group handled it. The question is whether DeRozan would.
You can’t say with certainty that he wouldn’t accept the role. But he’s been in the league a long time, he’s accomplished plenty, and this would be a new kind of situation for him.
If the DNPs start piling up for the first time in his career, how does that play? Can he keep it from affecting the room?
That’s where the risk starts to outweigh the upside. New York might be better off protecting the chemistry and the bench structure that already worked, rather than forcing in a player who could cut into Shamet’s value or slow Diawara’s development.
Clarkson, if the Knicks go another direction, doesn’t bring DeRozan’s ceiling. But he does bring something New York already knows how to use.
He’s not a great shooter, yet he’s a gritty, pressure defender who was among the best offensive rebounding reserve guards in the league. Most importantly, the Knicks know what they’re getting, and they know he’s okay with the possibility of sporadic minutes.
For another team, chasing the higher ceiling makes sense. For the defending champions, the safer floor may be the better play.
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Knicks May Already Regret This Cost Cutting Draft Decision
The Knicks went into draft night looking to trim rookie costs, trading back in the 2026 NBA draft and using the savings to help re-sign Jose Alvarado and Landry Shamet. On paper, it was a tidy bit of roster management for a team trying to balance immediate depth with future flexibility, especially after passing on Baylors Cameron Carr and St. Johns Zuby Ejiofor.
Summer League has made that decision look a little more complicated. Carr has flashed real scoring pop, while Ejiofor has already shown he can fill up the box score for Atlanta, and both performances have only sharpened the sense that New York may have let useful young talent slip away. With the Knicks still juggling veteran additions and the long-term picture around the roster, the question now is whether the cost-cutting move left them thinner in the one area contenders can least afford to be: development. [Read more 🡒]
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The hard part is what comes next. Brunsons contract was always going to age into a bargain, and the Knicks know the bill is coming eventually, whether they try to handle it early or let the calendar push him closer to the open market. However it unfolds, New York is headed toward a future in which keeping Brunson in orange and blue will require a massive commitment. [Read more 🡒]
Knicks Think Karl-Anthony Towns Is Just Scratching The Surface
Karl-Anthony Towns already showed how dangerous he can be when the Knicks put the ball in his hands, using him as a playmaker during their championship run and leaning on that versatility to help erase a series deficit against the Hawks. It was a reminder that his value in New York goes beyond the usual scoring and rebounding expectations, especially when the offense is built to let him read the floor and make decisions.
An assistant coach believes there is still plenty more to mine from that approach, with the Knicks planning to expand the Towns-centered packages once they get a full training camp to work with. Roster changes and the possibility of young players taking a step forward could open even more lanes for the offense next season, but the biggest question is how much of the attack can be built around Towns when the supporting cast around him looks a little different. [Read more 🡒]