Ron

Baker

Baker appeared in 96 NBA games for the Wizards and Knicks after going undrafted in the 2016 NBA draft. Baker most recently played for CSKA Moscow in Russia in 2019-2020, but his career came to an end because of injuries. Baker will now step into a role as a project manager in Ascension Via Christi’s Strategy and Business Development department.

Baker is a gritty player, but he generally lacks talent and we may have already seen the last of him in the NBA.

He lasted just a couple weeks with his new team and made four brief appearances. There’s a good chance we won’t see him in the NBA again this season.

Baker once again earned first-quarter minutes and he even shared the court with John Wall and Tomas Satoransky. Head coach Scott Brooks explicitly went deeper into his rotation after a triple-OT game on Saturday, saying, “Maybe some other guys getting more minutes [Sunday]. Troy [Brown Jr] has to be ready. [Chasson Randle], maybe. Ron Baker. These guys are all new guys, but they play hard.” Even though Brooks seems to love him, Baker doesn’t have fantasy appeal in D.C.

He had a 0.0 usage rate because of course he did. Baker did play minutes in the fourth and he was out there in two- and three-PG lineups, too. With John Wall probably back tomorrow, Baker can stay on the wire.

The Wizards are razor thin at point guard and even had Chasson Randle as the backup to John Wall with Randle getting first-quarter minutes on Tuesday. Randle and Baker could compete for minutes but neither guy should have much value while Wall is healthy. Randle offers more upside for those in super deep leagues.

In one of the more curious front office moves by New York, Baker inked a two-year, $8.9 million contract with the club during the summer of 2017, and he’ll now be cut just one year after signing that deal. Baker might be able to snag a minimum level deal somewhere, but he’s a non-factor in fantasy hoops.

Baker will be the fourth different player that has started at point guard for the Knicks over their five preseason contests. Trey Burke started the first two, Emmanuel Mudiay started the third, and Frank Ntilikina drew the start in the fourth game. Obviously, the Knicks point guard situation is unresolved and it looks like it will be a time-share/ committee approach early in the season. This will hurt the fantasy value of Burke and Ntilikina.

The Knicks signed second-round pick Mitchell Robinson to a four-year pact on Sunday, giving the Knicks 16 players currently under contract. New York has a glut of guards (Frank Ntilikina, Trey Burke, E. Mudiay, Tim Hardaway Jr., Courtney Lee and Dame Dotson). Thus, despite having a guaranteed salary worth north of $4 million, Baker may be the odd man out next season, as the Knicks have to get down to 15 players by opening night.

The Knicks could certainly use some depth at shooting guard, so they will give Baker a long look at the summer league and in training camp. The fifth-year senior from Wichita State averaged 14.0 points, 4.8 boards, 3.2 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.8 treys on 42.4 percent shooting from the field and 35.0 percent from deep. He’ll play on New York’s summer league squad.