Veteran talent is also scattered across the roster of the Jnicks, but it appears coach Tom Thibodeau will focus on more athletic rotation players who can pop out of the gym or shoot lights out. Jalen Brunson, RJ Barrett, and Julius Randle are a very solid young core that they could move forward with in the future. This also means Quentin Grimes, Immanuel Quickley, and Josh Hart will be next. The question that should remain on the minds of Knicks fans during the NBA preseason is: where does Evan Fournier go?
The roster depth for the team led by Jalen Brunson points to a second string that can serve as a spark plug. This is mainly due to the fact that the Knicks starters performed day and night last season. Being inconsistent cost them a couple of games and even their playoff series against the Miami Heat.
By then Evan Fournier was already starting to fall out of the Knicks rotation. He gave Immanuel Quickley and Quentin Grimes the chance to prove themselves as capable collaborators. This was when Brunson and Julius Randle had evenings off. The veteran has had a full season to prove himself, but 6.1 points per game over an average of 17 minutes won’t be enough.
Evan Fournier is being given another chance during the NBA preseason and he is starting to look quite a bit better. He scored 11 points in 21 minutes against the Boston Celtics. But his role as a facilitator hasn’t been very impactful for the team. A single assist was all he had to show for his performance in that part of the attack.
Quentin Grimes scored just six points while seeing the floor for 22 minutes. The main difference was that the young guard was able to make an impact in wins without having to score much. Grimes had four assists and grabbed three rebounds to go along with those buckets.
If Fournier hopes to get more minutes, he should be able to do the same and evolve his playing style. Rather than simply trying to score the ball at all times. Facilitating and improving his vision of the court will be the x factors such that Tom Thibodeau entrusts him with more minutes.