Boston Celtics Rumors: 3 low-cost free agents C’s could target this offseason
By Mark Nilon
Alonzo Trier, SG
Alonzo Trier is a young prospect that I personally am very intrigued by. Signing to a two-way contract with the New York Knicks in the summer of 2018, the shooting guard worked his way from being an undrafted rookie to a prominent fixture in the team’s rotation — ended up signing a standard contract by December.
Through 64 outings during his rookie season, Trier managed to average an impressive 10.9 points and 3.1 rebounds on 45 percent shooing from the floor and 39 percent shooting from deep. With his play, heading into the 2019-20 season many Knicks fans believed him to be on track for a more prominent role within the rotation.
And then, to many people’s surprise, he became somewhat of an afterthought.
Leading up to the COVID-19 induced suspension, the second-year shooting guard found himself receiving very minimal playing time — 12.1 a game to be exact — and averaging a mere 6.5 points per game.
While this could appear to be an indication of problems within his own game, upon watching the team play throughout the year it’s apparent the Knicks just simply have not felt inclined to run any plays through Trier.
His shot attempts are down by four from the season prior, but is shooting a better overall percentage from the field (48 percent) and still is quite efficient shooting from downtown (36 percent).
No, his play this year has not helped his case to receive a big payday this offseason, but that may turn out to work in Boston’s favor.
The team could certainly use another scoring presence in their second unit, as they currently rank 29th in the NBA in points per game. Though we believed Carsen Edwards could prove to be the team’s spark-plug offensive weapon, perhaps Alonzo Trier could serve for the team in this role.
He’s shown to be capable of producing quite efficiently on offense, both in catch and shoot situations as well as when creating for himself.
We’ve thrown out names like Rodney Hood and Jordan Clarkson as potential suitors to fill the Boston Celtics’ need for a scorer off the pine. However, with the team’s salary cap situation, they might be better suited to look for cheaper versions of these players.
As someone who’s watched Trier quite often throughout his young career, I believe he has the potential to significantly help improve the C’s scoring prowess off the pine if given an opportunity. Most importantly, however, he likely could be had at a low-cost & low-risk contract.