Nate Robinson Would Welcome Return To New York Knicks

Nate Robinson is set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer and, according to his agent, wouldn’t mind returning to the New York Knicks.

Robinson began his career with the Knicks and played in New York for four and a half seasons before being traded to the Boston Celtics. In his last full season with the team, Robinson averaged 17.2 points off the bench.

Carmelo Anthony has announced that he would like the Knicks to add another scorer to the roster, and Robinson certainly fits the description. Nate’s market value skyrocketed in the playoffs, as he put up some great performances for the Chicago Bulls. He averaged 16.3 points in the postseason and was one of the team’s primary scorers with both Derrick Rose and Kirk Hinrich sidelined.

With Robinson’s value clearly higher than it used to be, could the Knicks afford his price? It’s still not clear whether Pablo Prigioni and Jason Kidd will return to the team next season. New York has a $3.18 million mid-level exception, which could potentially be enough to sign Robinson, who earned $1.15 million for his efforts in the 2012-13 season.

If either Kidd or Prigioni leave the team, signing another guard will probably become a priority. However, the Knicks already have J.R. Smith (assuming he re-signs) as the primary off the bench scorer, so establishing a rotation with two explosive scorers in Smith and Robinson might be a tough task.