Knicks Rumors: New York Knicks Need Baron Davis Back Healthy ASAP
Baron Davis is close to making his debut with the New York Knicks, and it can't come soon enough.
According to ESPN, Davis will be able to participate in practice as soon as next week, thereby allowing him to get acclimated to his new team on the court while filling the vacuous space at point guard in Mike D'Antoni's system.
Of course, the Knicks would rather Davis not fill it too much, given his penchant for dominating the buffet table, but that's (somewhat) beside the point.
The lead guard position at Madison Square Garden has thus far proven to be a revolving door of sorts, with Toney Douglas, Mike Bibby and rookie Iman Shumpert all taking turns running the offense alongside the team's pricy front court of Carmelo Anthony, Amar'e Stoudemire and free-agent signee Tyson Chandler.
That hasn't quite worked out as planned so far, with New York notching a 6-6 record through its first 12 games, though it's still good enough for second place in the awful Atlantic Division behind the surprising Philadelphia 76ers.
All the while, the Knicks are averaging just 94 points per game on 41.7 percent shooting with just 18.3 assists and 16.2 turnovers, while allowing their opponents to score 94.6 points and shoot 45.1 percent.
In other words, the Knickerbockers have a long way to go before they can so much as sniff the top tier of the Eastern Conference, much less a berth in the NBA Finals. Davis isn't likely to cure New York's woes on his own, not with his 33rd birthday approaching and his susceptibility to injury.
But to his credit, Davis is better than anyone who's played the point in the Big Apple thus far this season, especially if he's anywhere near healthy. Davis has averaged 16.5 points, 3.9 rebounds and 7.3 assists per game during his 12-year NBA career and proved last season, during his time with Blake Griffin and the Los Angeles Clippers, that he's still a force to be reckoned with when he's in shape and properly motivated.
The fact that Davis could be back by the end of the month bodes particularly well for the Knicks. He was originally expected to miss the first 8-10 weeks of the season while recovering from a recurring back injury, with an outside shot at returning within a month-and-a-half. A late-January return puts Davis on pace for a six-week rehabilitation.
It would seem, then, that Davis is working hard and healing fast to join the Knicks, an encouraging sign for a team that needs him to be at the top of his game if they're going to join the Miami Heat and the Chicago Bulls among the Beasts of the East.
