Knicks trade for Pelicans’ 6-foot defensive pest to help Jalen Brunson originally appeared on The Sporting News.
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The New York Knicks managed to squeeze in another trade before the looming trade deadline.
After trading Guerschon Yabusele to the Chicago Bulls for Dalen Terry, the Jalen-Brunson led franchise acquired the New Orleans Pelicans’ 6-foot defensive pest in a move that’ll strengthen the organization’s second unit.
“Just in: The New Orleans Pelicans are trading Jose Alvarado to the New York Knicks,” ESPN’s Shams Charania reported on Thursday afternoon. “Homecoming for the Pelicans guard.”
Opposing guards who play a nonchalant brand of basketball while matching up against Alvarado will pay the price more often than not. The Georgia Tech product’s situational awareness, ability to quickly identify tendencies and respond accordingly, lateral quickness, and overall defensive pride have helped cement his status as one of the best on-ball defenders in the NBA.
Alvarado won’t back down when defending bigger defenders in the low post, either, forcing them to pull out all the stops to succeed.
Offensively, the former ACC Defensive Player of the Year is serviceable, as he isn’t afraid to put his head down before finishing over the trees in the paint and launching high-percentage triples.
Alvarado is averaging 7.9 points, 3.1 assists, 2.8 rebounds, and 0.9 steals per game with the Pelicans this season, shooting 41.8% from the field and 36.3% from beyond the arc in 41 contests.
Needless to say, the addition of Alvarado will help Mike Brown’s bench unit take a positive step forward.
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