New York Knicks Rumors: New Shooter On Radar?

New York Knicks Rumors: Could the Knicks go outside the box in their pursuit of finding a shooter to fill out the end of their roster, bringing back former Phil Jackson player Sasha Vujacic from Europe?

Even before the New York Knicks decided to waive shooting guard Ricky Ledo, they were in the market for another big man and a shooter. There have been rumors linking the Knicks to both Carlos Boozer and Kevin Seraphin, arguably the two best big men left on the market. But, there hasn’t been much chatter about a shooter that the Knicks are targeting since the Dallas Mavericks signed John Jenkins. Is that because the Knicks have a shooter in mind that is pretty far off the NBA radar?

I'm told Knicks held discussions with ex-NBA shooter Sasha Vujacic.
— David Pick (@IAmDPick) July 30, 2015

According to David Pick, the Knicks have had discussions with former Los Angeles Lakers, New Jersey Nets and Los Angeles Clippers shooting guard Sasha Vujacic. Vujacic hasn’t appeared in the NBA since he played two games with the Clippers during the 2013-14 season. But, he hasn’t had a real role in the NBA since 2010-11 when he played in 56 games for the Nets, starting 17.

Prior to that though, Vujacic played six-plus seasons with the Lakers, the last five-plus of which he played under none other than Phil Jackson. Vujacic won two titles with the Lakers under Jackson, playing a small amount off the bench.

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This is a move that some Knicks followers will groan at, since it looks like it is Jackson just giving his former players another chance at a job in the NBA. Many people will remember one of the first moves he did as Knicks’ President was signing another one of his former players, Lamar Odom, to a contract. That didn’t work out at all, as the Knicks released Odom over the summer before he even appeared with the Knicks. That may not be a huge problem for some people, but at the same time there were other people in the front office that wanted to sign Hassan Whiteside instead of Odom, who has flourished with the Miami Heat since.

But, unlike the troubled Odom, Vujacic has at least continued playing basketball while he has been away from the NBA. In between his NBA stints, Vujacic has been playing over in Europe, most recently playing in Liga ACB and Euroleague during the 2014-15 season. While his three-point shot hasn’t been great in Europe the last two seasons, as he shot 20-of-75, it was something he was very capable of doing in the NBA.

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In his NBA career, Vujacic shot 37.1 percent from beyond the arc, which is above average still even with how opened up the NBA has become in recent years. That would be a welcomed addition to the Knicks, who ranked in the middle of the road for three-point percentage, knocking them down at a 34.7 percent clip as a team. Only Ricky Ledo, Jose Calderon and Pablo Prigioni shot better than Vujacic’s career number, while Alexey Shved shot an identical 37.1 percent.

While there doesn’t seem to be any contract discussions between Vujacic and the Knicks yet, there has at least been talks between the two parties. He would fill a need for the Knicks on their bench as a shooter, but at 31 years of age already, the Knicks could opt for a younger shooter with more upside than the seasoned veteran.

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