One of the guys that seems to be lost in the shuffle this offseason is DerMarr Johnson. While we speculate about Isiah trying to get backup wing players and trying trade in the first round to get JR Smith, we have a player right here with the same talent base (range, athletic ability, though not great ON D and needs to improve ballhandling) with a lot of room for improvement, but also one who is further along.

Just what kind of talent does DerMarr have? Well first off, even Clarence Weatherspoon could probably drive by him at this point, but defense is something he will learn to improve on and hopefully will put forth the effort. What was impressive was that in his few chances to play big minutes last year, DerMarr showed some explosive offensive ability. Not only did he have a silky smooth 3 point shot, he had the ability to get to the basket and even showed a bit of a post up game. He showed some great leaping ability and the ability to have highlight reel dunks, though he also must learn that he can't dunk over everyone. While extremely slender, he has a long, 6-9 frame with a lot of room to add strength. As he fills out and gets more consistency on his shot, he could be a huge matchup problem at the SG or SF position with his length and sudden quickness. While he doesnt have the exceptional ballhandling ability of a big SF like Tim Thomas, he should at least be solid enough to use his ballhandling to get his own shot. He will reduce his turnovers with more game experience.

It's important to keep in mind that we've only seen flashes from DerMarr and he's no lock to get better, but this a prospect who will be available to the Knicks for a pretty low price. IMO the Knicks should re-sign him, especially with guys like Crawford being a pipe dream. He can play the role of backup SG if Houston is out, and hopefully he will move ahead of Shandon. He's one of the few players on the Knicks with room for improvement and possible NBA starter potential.

depending on who they get for the MLE...if they get a bigman w/the MLE, i agree, i would spend the LLE on DerMarr & keep him here...he has shown some good flashes last year & i think he can contribute nicely next season, especially if Houston's knee doesn't fully recover, which will result in Penny getting more minutes backing up at SG & opening up a spot backing up TT at SF for DerMarr...i don't want to see Shandon getting anything but garbage minutes next season if at all possible.

A couple questions/considerations...

1) With DerMarr being a free agent, is he eligible to play on our summer league squad (if still unsigned)?

2) Do we have to give him the LLE? Is he eligible to take some other minimum level salary (provided he would accept that).

Posted by martin:

Does anyone think DerMarr reminds you of Prince?

i think Prince has more athleticism, plays better defense & blocks shots better...DerMarr has a nicer perimeter shot...both run the floor well, but Prince seems to have the edge in most departments for now...i definitely think DJ has the ability to be better than Prince though.

yea, DJ is still a young player who IMO growth was hurt by comming out of college early and of course the near fatal accident that sidelined him, so we really need to look at DJ as a rookie, he is basically a 23 year old rookie, he has skills, was a lottery pick and has shown the grit and guts to make it back on this level after that injury, heck yea I say we give him every chance to prove himself to the knicks...

he should get as much minutes as possible as a backup. Same applies to sweet and Frank.

Get all the old rotten guys to the trash.

Posted by TMS:

let's say for argument's sake though, that they sign Jamal Crawford for the MLE...in that case i might be more in favor of signing Doleac to the LLE if they can get him back, or Vin Baker if all else fails...this team needs a bigman to back up Nazr, because Dikembe maybe gone.

I agree. If we sign a young, high potential SG like Crawford to the MLE than DerMarr becomes less important to our long range plans. While I don't see that happening, if that iss the case then I agree, we should be looking for a big. We need to bring in one PF/C and one swing man for the backcourt IMO.

Dermarr can be a great asset off the bench for us!

Posted by diderotn:

Get rid of Anderson, pay and play Demarr

should be on every knicks related commercial.