What If Chris Duhon Was Still Running The Knick's Offense?

On July 20th 2010 the New York Knicks signed Raymond Felton a two-year contract worth $15.8 million dollars. This move was overshadowed by New York's signing of Amar'e Stoudemire and also by the New Big 3 in Miami. But thus far Felton is easily the biggest bargain of the offseason. New York has been one of the most improved teams in 2010-2011 and the fans have been praising Stat as their savior. But the MVP candidate doesn't deserve all the credit for turning around the Knicks.

Raymond Felton is becoming a household name and is deserving of an All-Star spot on the Eastern Conference roster. Felton ranks 5th in the entire NBA in Total Assists and is running the league's best offense. Amar'e is also having the best season of his career but you need to consider who he's replacing, David Lee. Amar'e is averaging 26.4 ppg, 8.9 rpg, and 2.7 apg this season while David Lee averaged 20.2 ppg, 11.7 rpg, and 3.6 apg last year. If you add those three statistics up for each player you see Amar'e is only an improvement of "1.5". But on the other hand, look at the point guard play: Raymond Felton's numbers include 17.7 ppg, 3.9 rpg, and 8.9 apg while Duhon only put up 7.4 ppg, 2.7 rpg, and 5.6 apg (not to mention he has had absolutely no impact this season for the Magic). Felton has contributed an outstanding "14.8" improvement when you tally up those three statistics for each player. Clearly Stoudemire is the better player but which pair would be better: Duhon and Amar'e or Felton and DLee. Amar'e brings energy, the intangibles, and star-power to New York and there is no way to gage the impact his presence alone has had. But looking purely at the numbers of each guy, and who he replaced, it is clear that the Knicks would be in much worse shape if they hadn't signed Raymond Felton and Chris Duhon was still running the team.