The Toronto Raptors in one of the more devious offseason
moves in some time decided to sign Landry Fields for 20 million dollars over
three years.[1]
They did this so the Knicks couldn’t use Landry Fields in a sign-and-trade with
Phoenix Suns to acquire Steve Nash. The
Raptors really wanted to sign the 38-year-old Canadian native and that’s
probably why they haven’t been relevant since Vince Carter was considered a
superstar.
While on no planet is Landry Fields worth 20 million
dollars, do not be surprised if the Knicks match the Raptors offer sheet. If
the Knicks have proven one thing over the last decade it’s that they’re not
afraid to pay a luxury tax. Fields’ expiring 10 million dollar contract in 3
years would actually give the Knicks more flexibility to trade for a useful
player.
It’s really only a matter of money. The Knicks are above the
salary cap so it’s not like they’re going to be able to sign anyone with the money
they’d use on Fields’. You could do a lot worse than Landry Fields’ as a bench
player, especially since Iman Shumpert isn’t coming back until January at the
earliest. While saying his season last year was atrocious is an understatement,
he’s still only 24 and has shown flashes of brilliance at times.
It’s totally unclear why Fields’ decided to tinker with his
jump shot after shooting .393% from 3-point range in his rookie season. He shot
.256% last season and was almost unplayable with Carmelo Anthony and Amare
Stoudemire because of his complete inability to shoot from the outside. If the
Knicks feel like last season was just an aberration and that Fields’ can give
them a presence from the outside like he did his rookie season, they should
absolutely match the offer.
Fields’ is only a mediocre defender but he’s 6’7 and can
play small forward for a few minutes a game when Anthony needs to rest or if
Woodson decides to go with a smaller line up with Anthony at power forward. For
a guy who went to Stanford it’s kind of unbelievable how poor his
decision-making can be on both sides of the ball, but especially with his
defensive rotations. He’s had Mike
D’Antoni as his coach for most of his career though, so I assume the only
defensive coaching he received was a D’Antoni “Lets go! Lets go!.”[2]
I like Landry Fields’ but I totally understand if the Knicks
don’t see enough in him to bring him back for 20 million. If money really not
an issue for the Knicks though they’d be fools to let him go. The worst thing
that can happen with Fields’ is that he ends up being a fringe bench guy and
they trade his expiring contract for someone who can contribute in his last
season. The best-case scenario they found their starting shooting guard for 3
years and there are certainly worse players in the league to cheer for than
Landry Fields.
[1]
Can you imagine what the story would’ve been if a relevant basketball franchise
did this to another team? If the Knicks ever did this it would’ve been a
headline story but nobody cares about the Raptors or what they do.
[2]
D’Antoni had to break the record last year for saying, “Let’s go!” Everytime
the camera ever panned to him that’s what he was screaming. I’m not even sure
if he did any other coaching or if his mustache actually coached the team.
No comments:
Post a Comment