How Iman Shumpert's Upside Should Impact Knicks' Offseason Moves

Entering the 2011-12 season, the New York Knicks had a ton of questions surrounding their backcourt. 

Fast forward about five months to today, and the Knicks potentially have found a long-term answer for one of those perceived weaknesses in rookie guard Iman Shumpert.

Shumpert's steady progression throughout the season has made him invaluable to not only the Knicks' playoff push, but to the franchise's future as well. The high upside that Shumpert has shown at both ends of the floor also will have a huge impact on what the Knicks will do during the offseason.

Or possibly what they won’t do.

Shumpert has been next to outstanding as a rookie and has given the Knicks exactly what they need, an athletic 2-guard with length and outstanding defensive skills.

Because of his emergence, the Knicks won’t have to focus on an upgrade at the shooting guard position and can focus on adding much needed depth instead. Bringing back Steve Novak’s shooting (47 percent from behind the arc) would be crucial as he can complement Shumpert’s lack of a long-range shot right now.

The Knicks can also look to add a backup point guard and big body off the bench as well.

Quite frankly they would be foolish to add a starting 2-guard, as the Knicks don’t want to stunt his growth in any way.

Offensively Shumpert has been decent, averaging 9.8 PPG, but he’s shown signs of being able to do the job offensively, recording 20 or more points four times this season, including back-to-back 25-point efforts against Orlando and Atlanta at the end of March.

His shooting has been an issue, but it’s doubtful you will see him shooting only 39.5 percent from the floor and 30.7 percent from behind the arc in upcoming seasons.

While he’s shown promise with the ball in his hands, his real value and upside come in his athleticism and at the defensive end of the floor.

Only 49 games into his rookie campaign, Shumpert has been turned to as a defensive stopper, including being given the main assignment of guarding the reigning MVP Derrick Rose in New York’s dramatic win over the Bulls on Sunday.

Rose did score 29 points, but was held to 30.8 percent shooting and committed a season-high eight turnovers.

The Knicks haven’t seen a guard like Shumpert defensively in quite some time. He’s aggressive and a playmaker, averaging 1.82 steals per game, good for fifth in the NBA.

Shumpert’s progression this season has been tremendous, and it’s a sign that he’s only going to get better at both ends of the floor in the upcoming seasons.

For a change it looks like the Knicks nailed a first-round draft pick.

That’s great news for the front office, as now they have one less thing to worry about this summer.