The New York Knicks need a guard to come off the bench so a deal before the February 8 trade deadline could happen. One name that should be monitored is Malcolm Brogdon of the Portland Trail Blazers.

The reigning NBA Sixth Man of the Year was shipped this season to the Blazers as part of the Jrue Holiday deal. He had a great run with the Boston Celtics last season and has so far had a good run with the Blazers this season.

In 32 regular season games thus far, the 31-year-old combo guard is averaging 15.3 points, 5.2 assists and 3.5 rebounds in 27.2 minutes per outing per Basketball-Reference.

“Brogdon’s name has been mentioned as a potential Knicks target,” according to NBA Insider Marc Stein, “in their well-chronicled search for a guard to fortify their bench ever since they were forced to surrender Immanuel Quickley to Toronto in the Anunoby trade.”

Knicks need to consider Malcolm Brogdon injury history

Taking in Brogdon to take over from Immanuel Quickley makes sense. The Knicks were forced to part ways with the 25th pick of the 2020 NBA Draft to get the services of OG Anunoby of the Toronto Raptors.

The Blazers are allegedly open to offers for the 2017 NBA Rookie of the Year as Portland tries to stock up on future draft assets.

However, one thing that New York has to do is evaluate the overall health of the former Virginia Cavaliers product. Brogdon has struggled through injuries in his career and having him under head coach Tom Thibodeau’s rigid basketball regimen raises questions.

But when healthy, there is no doubt that Brogdon is someone who makes sense for the Knicks. He is a suitable backup guard to Jalen Brunson, a player who is efficient both on offense and defense.

With that in mind, it will be interesting what Thibodeau and the Knicks will give up if they are bent on adding the 6-foot-4 player to the Knicks’ roster.