New York Knicks Rumors: Is Team Interested In Lou Williams?

New York Knicks Rumors: Could They Have A New Sixth Man In Lou Williams For The 2015-16 Season?

With the NBA Finals concluding Tuesday night when the Golden State Warriors finished off the Cleveland Cavaliers in six games, rumor season kicks into full gear as the NBA offseason is officially underway. The NBA Draft will be held next Thursday, but before then and beyond it, we will hear a ton of rumors about players moving in free agency and potential trades. One team that is bound to be a part of a lot of those rumors is the New York Knicks, who are not only gauging interest in their 4th overall pick, but are armed with a ton of cap space to spend in free agency.

There are plenty of players the Knicks will assuredly make a run at in free agency, as they have holes at essentially every spot on their roster. The first spot they are rumored to potentially be filling is in the backcourt, as they are one of a handful of teams that rumored to be interested in Toronto Raptors guard Lou Williams.

Williams is the reigning Sixth Man of the Year as he had a breakout season coming off the bench for the Raptors. In only 25.2 minutes per game, Williams managed to put up 15.5 points per game as a spark off the bench. He also averaged 2.1 assists, 1.9 rebounds and 1.1 steals per game. It was nice to see Williams have so much success this past season as his career hit a crossroads in 2013 when he tore his ACL.

In addition to the Raptors, Williams played seven seasons with the Philadelphia 76ers and two with the Atlanta Hawks. Amazingly, he is still only 28-years old as he entered the NBA straight out of high school in 2005 as a second round pick by the 76ers. In his career, he has averaged 11.9 points, 2.9 assists and 2.0 rebounds per game. He is a bonafide scoring option off the bench, and can run the point guard position in a pinch as well, offering some versatility with a second unit.

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He is entering the market at a good time, as the free agent market is lacking many scoring options. The Knicks will not be in a solo race for his services, as the Los Angeles Lakers, Sacramento Kings and Brooklyn Nets are all expected to make a run at him. The Raptors have also expressed interest in Williams, which he has reciprocated as the two share a mutual interest in reuniting for next season and beyond.

The Raptors will have an opportunity to work out a deal with Williams before the other teams have a shot, but with so many teams interested he could opt to wait and play the field. With so many teams looking to be involved, and more surely to join if their plans don’t go as they expected, Williams could hit it big with a contract. RealGM.com projects he could land a contract for either three or four years for $27-35 million depending on the length of the contract. That is quite a payday for a sixth man.

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For reference, other Sixth Man of the Year award winners J.R. Smith, Jamal Crawford will be making just under $6.4 million and $5.675 million next season if both of their options are exercised.

While Williams will be an upgrade for the Knicks, guard is arguably the position of the lowest need on the roster. With Jose Calderon still on the roster and Langston Galloway looking like a good bet after a strong rookie season, the Knicks may not be looking to get into a bidding war with other teams for Williams.

Also, he will most definitely not be their top target, as the Knicks will be big game fishing at the start of free agency, and by the time they go through that Williams may already have a deal in place with another team. He would bring much needed talent to the Knicks, but he is not a player they are going to build their free agency plans around.

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