A beginner’s guide to the 2021 Westchester Knicks
Ted gets you ready for the Westchester Knicks’ upcoming abbreviated NBA G League season, including the Knicks’ new-look roster featuring Jared Harper and former lottery pick Justin Patton.
Bubble-ball is back, and this time, the Knicks are invited! While the NBA has outgrown its Mickey Mouse shindig from last postseason (despite COVID ripping through both the nation and NBA teams at the time of writing), it’s become a hand-me-down to everyone’s favorite development league. Yes, the Gatorade League is headed to the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex, and because Jim Dolan’s pockets are seemingly endless, the Westchester Knicks have paid the entry fee and are coming along, one of 17 teams to do so.
The coaching staff is mostly unchanged this season –- head coach Derrick Alston returns after a 17-24 campaign last season. While he’s no Mike Miller, my general impression of him from last season is good. Leon Rose and Co. seem to agree. Assistant coaches Allen Deep and Mike Atkinson (no relation to Kenny, as far as I can tell) return for their second and seventh seasons, respectively. Deep worked with the Celtics’ G League team, the Maine Red Claws, for some time before joining the W-Knicks last season, and has served as a support staff/player development assistant for USA Basketball since 2016. Atkinson is a strength and conditioning coach who has worked for nine seasons in the G League, and has worked privately with names like Donovan Mitchell, CJ McCollum, Carmelo Anthony, and Kevin Love.
New face Jaren Jackson Sr. joins the staff –- outside of the obvious connection to his offspring, Jackson brings more experience to the coaching staff. Jackson played 13 seasons in the NBA, despite going undrafted, and even played on the ’99 Spurs that defeated the Knicks in the Finals. Jackson served as an assistant for the Fort Wayne Mad Ants for three seasons, separated by short stints as a head coach for the Saint John Mill Rats and Ottawa SkyHawks of the Canadian Basketball League.
Unlike the coaching staff, the roster is much newer. Just two W-Knicks return from last season — 6-foot-5 guard Tyler Hall and 6-foot-7 wing Andrew White III. Hall is a combo guard who averaged 9.3 points per game, while averaging a nice 42% from the field. Hall averaged just short of six threes a game, and shot 41% on those. This will be Hall’s second year in the G League. White is entering his fourth year in the G League, and is a 39% career 3-point shooter on six attempts a game. White is also the oldest W-Knick, at 27.
The W-Knicks selected 6-foot-11 big Justin Patton with the ninth overall pick in the G League Draft. Patton averaged 12 points a game in the G League last season, along with 7.8 boards, three assists, and 2.8 blocks while playing for the Thunder’s and Bucks’ affiliates. Patton was the 16th pick of the 2017 draft, but broke both feet within his first two years of being drafted. His health is a concern, but when he’s played, he’s looked good. He likely isn’t long for the W-Knicks, however — Patton will probably return to the Wisconsin Herd, who hold his rights, after this season; the W-Knicks obtained him because the Herd opted out of the bubble.
Interestingly, just one of the Knicks’ two-way players will join the W-Knicks to start the season. Diminutive guard Jared Harper has been assigned to the W-Knicks roster, while third year guard Theo Pinson has not. Harper averaged 20.2 points and 5.5 assists per game in 34 games with the Northern Arizona Suns last year. Pinson will remain with the big Knicks, as Knicks POBO Leon Rose, Pinson’s former agent, reportedly likes Pinson’s impact on the locker room. After watching Pinson cheer on his teammates from the sidelines, I don’t disagree with Rose’s assessment.
Check out Jack Huntley’s ode to the Pinegawd Theo Pinson here.
Harper will be joined by second year forward Ignas Brazdeikis, who was Westchester’s top gun last season, with 20.9 points per game and a 60.3% true shooting percentage on 16.1 field goal attempts per game. While Brazdeikis was extremely effective for Westchester last season, there are major concerns about his ability to translate his production to the NBA level. Brazdeikis was second in usage for the W-Knicks last season and simply out-muscled and out-hustled the inferior competition. Nevertheless, he was very fun to watch, and should be again this year.
The W-Knicks will play 15 regular season games this year, kicking off on Feb. 10 against the Fort Wayne Mad Ants and ending on March 5 against the Erie BayHawks. Between then, they’ll face off against the Santa Cruz Warriors on Feb. 13, notable because of former Knick Jeremy Lin, who’s on Santa Cruz’s’ roster. On the 15th, the Knicks will take on the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, who sport the beloved shot-blocking maestro and former two-way Knick Kenny Wooten. And on the 18th, the W-Knicks will “host” perhaps the most interesting team in the G League this year, the Ignite. The W-Knicks-Ignite matchup will be worth tuning into mostly to see former Knicks legend Jarrett Jack take on his old squad. There’s also some players named Jonathan Kuminga and Jalen Green on the Ignite roster, who you may be interested in.
Almost every W-Knicks game will be broadcast by ESPN (on ESPN+, ESPNU, or ESPN2), with the exception of their matchup against the Raptors 905, which will be on NBATV and Twitch.
Go Westchester!
