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Iman Shumpert took his first steps on the court yesterday and they were certainly in the right direction. The New York Knicks beat the Detroit Pistons by a score of 102-87 in front of a London audience, and while Shumpert’s eight points, two rebounds, one assist, one steal and one block doesn’t jump off the box score, a healthy 15 minutes are a sign of exciting things to come.
Shumpert is a candidate to fill up the stat sheets, and fantasy basketball owners in rotisserie formats should make the transaction.
If you missed Shumpert’s debut, the man with the signature hi-top fade was seen aggressively driving the lane and setting up teammate, Tyson Chandler. He nearly threw down a monster dunk but his authority was too much for the rim to handle.
More importantly for the Knicks was Shumpert’s defensive effort. He proved to be an immediate fix to the Knicks’ perimeter defense by crowding passing lanes and blanketing Tayshaun Prince in his 15-minutes, holding Prince scoreless after an opening basket.
With experience and work on his jump shot, Shumpert will essentially become J.R. Smith with the added bonus of lockdown defense. The two players have a lot in common; notably the lone thing that transcends their confidence on the court is their talent. Both play with a dynamic flair and explosiveness when they put the ball on the floor.
At this point of his career, Shumpert is a perfect complement to Smith, and the Knicks will thrive with them sharing the Shooting Guard duties. Unfortunately this will not translate into fantasy prominence with them cutting into each other’s minutes. The Knicks will find every opportunity to get them both on the court but with plenty of mouths to feed, their fantasy impact will be limited.
Shumpert and Smith both maintain fantasy value thanks to their versatility. Chris Copeland, James White and Ronnie Brewer are downgraded to secondary roles in the Knicks offense and become insignificant in fantasy. You can add Jason Kidd to that list when Raymond Felton makes his return within the next two weeks.
