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NEW YORK — What if I told you there is an incoming NBA rookie currently playing in Slovenia who absolutely schooled Jonas Valanciunas a couple weeks ago in a EuroCup game (20 points and 8 rebounds to Valanciunas’ 5 points and 8 rebounds).
He is the same guy who had 11 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 blocks last night against BC Akovmas of Ukraine.
He is also the same guy who was compared to Antonio Davis last season by the Knicks’ then-president, Donnie Walsh.
The New York Knicks need a center to other than Ronny Turiaf, who currently is the only NBA-ready pivot on their roster. But the Knicks also own the rights to Jerome Jordan, the 44th overall pick of the 2010 draft whose rights were purchased from the Milwaukee Bucks for $1 million.
Jordan spent Jordan last season with KK Hemofarm of the Adriatic League in Serbia, averaging 15 minutes per game in the domestic league and shooting 73.5 percent from the field (averaging 7.8 points), while also appearing in four Eurocup games and shooting 68.8 percent, averaging 8.5 points in just under 12 minutes per game.
This year, his team (for now) is KRKA Novo Mesto, which also plays in the Adriatic League (Jordan’s team upset Adam Morrison’s now-former team, Red Star of Belgrade, four nights ago).
Jordan has a small buyout, and his agent told Marc Berman of the New York Post he expects his client to be playing in the NBA this season — either with the Knicks or with some other NBA team. With the Knicks hoarding cap pace for the free agent class of 2012, and with Kurt Thomas indicating to Frank Isola of the New York Daily News that the Chicago Bulls, Miami Heat and Dallas Mavericks are all viable options aside from the Knicks, there is a strong chance that Jordan will be logging major minutes at center for Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni, who has shown himself to be willing to give major minutes and roles to unproven players (See Landry Fields and Timofey Mozgov).
Now, does that make Jordan Rookie of the Year material? No, not automatically.
But a major role on a winning team would put him in the hunt, and at this point in the preseason (wait a minute, it’s not the preseason quite yet) it is not too soon to rule anybody of the ROY race.
I see Jordan having a very positive impact on the progress we will make this year moving to championship Level the next 2-3 years. He is someone who has shown the characteristics of a New yorker by willing to put in the work !! He has gone overeseas honed his skill and is now ready to contribute on the NBA level. Mosgov was helped by D’Antoni last year and will be a more than serviceable NBA player the same will be said for Jordan once he gets his shot. Do not lose him do to stupidity and sign him for what we can this year for he will be an intrigal part of something special over the next 2-3 years.
Chris,
Any thought to doing chat sessions during the season? Loved ’em when you were on that other site last year!
Sorry Wes, the Knicks are major newsmakers in the NBA right now. Maybe Chris should post the latest Kim/Kris rumors?
73% and 68%? I don’t care what league you are playing in, thats not too shabby. Maybe this guy could be a Mozgov-like find for the Knicks. Not expecting a whole lot out of him but you never know.
It’s amazing how incredibly biased Sheridan can get. The name of this site should be Knicks Hype… There is no unbiased reporting here.
As a huge Knicks fan, I don’t know what exactly to think of Jordan. I’ve seen game film of him and he looked raw and not NBA-ready. Those stats in the piece though were pretty good, and at least some indication of what he’s doing overseas.
I can tell you that Knicks fans are VERY excited for Iman Shumpert. He’s been working hard all summer and could play a great role as a defensive combo guard to pair off the bench with Toney Douglas. Likewise at center, the Knicks could also use Josh Harrellson who they drafted in the 2nd round. He’s a rough, dirty work kind of player who had a nice senior season at Kentucky. Mike D’Antoni said in workouts Harrellson pushed other centers all over the court.
Should be interesting to watch if any of these 3 can make an impact on a fairly shallow team