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NEW YORK, NY – NOVEMBER 11: Trey Burke #23 of the New York Knicks calls a play during the game against Orlando Magic at Madison Square Garden on November 11, 2018 in New York City. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
From October 2017 to January 2019, Trey Burke was a member of the New York Knicks. And in that time, he proved that he could score the ball at a high level.
More than seven years later, and he still can. It is just that now, he is playing in the Mexican second tier.
Playing for the Astros de Jalisco in the CIBACOPA competition, Burke is proving to be the model of efficiency. He is averaging 19.3 points per game across 12 contests, shooting 49.3% from three-point range on more than six attempts per game, and dishing out 40 assists compared to 8 turnovers. Jalisco also finds itself playing concurrently in the Basketball Champions League Americans, where Burke averages a further 19.2 points per game, shoots another 43.3% from three-point range, and has 31 assists to only six turnovers.
At this level, he is a clear cut above the competition. And having been a proven NBA scorer for the best part of a decade, so he should be.
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Former Knicks Guard Clear Of The Competition
To be fair to Mexican basketball, it is perhaps not quite as clear-cut as saying that the competition in which Burke currently finds himself is a second-tier one. The country-wide LNBP is generally regarded as the pinnacle, and the CIBACOPA is more regional, focused on the northwest of the country. Because of this geography, though, the CIBACOPA still attracts a good level of American import player, for whom the commute is often quite short.
Burke nevertheless is still better in terms of both name recognition and talent than the CIBACOPA is used to. By way of example, the first (Gage Davis), third (Trey Phipps) and fourth (Jared Wilson-Frame) leading scorers in the competition are all G League veteran guards, not NBA players, and although a few NBA vets in the forms of Jemerrio Jones, Vince Edwards, Jawun Evans, Perry Jones III, Arnett Moultire, Billy Preston and Greg Whittington are also on CIBACOPA rosters, none of them ever reached the heights or longevity in the NBA that Burke did.
Burke’s Astros stand undefeated with a 15-0 record, clear of Preston’s Zonkeys de Tijuana in second place at 14-8. He is the best player on by far the best team in the league. And given the fact that he posted double-figure scoring averages across a full NBA season on multiple occasions, so he should be.
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Burke’s NBA Career
Now 33, Burke’s professional career began when he was selected ninth overall in the 2013 NBA Draft by the Minnesota Timberwolves, and immediately traded to the Utah Jazz in exchange for the draft rights to both Shabazz Muhammad and Gorgui Dieng. Previously, he had won the National Player of the Year award in 2013 while enrolled with the Michigan Wolverines before declaring for the draft, and he was expected to land with a bang.
Burke began his NBA career as a starting point guard in Utah, earning All-Rookie First Team honors in 2013-14 after averaging 12.8 points and 5.7 assists per game. Over three seasons with the Jazz, his scoring remained steady; however, his efficiency declined, and his role ultimately, diminished. The 5.7 assists mark of his rookie year would be heights he would never reach again, and he never surpassed the scoring mark, only tying it.
In 2016, Burke was traded to the Washington Wizards in exchange for a mere second-round pick (later used on Greg Brown), where he played a limited bench role before leaving as a free agent. He then however revived his career briefly after signing with the Knicks in 2017-18, averaging another 12.8 points per game and showing improved scoring efficiency, if not much improved defense. Burke provided a fairly consistent scoring and playmaking punch for the pre-Jalen Brunson Knicks, before he was traded mid-way through the 2018–19 season to the Dallas Mavericks as part of the larger Kristaps Porzingis deal. He later had stints with the Philadelphia 76ers and returned to Dallas, where he played from 2019 to 2022, mostly as a reserve guard.
Across his NBA career, Burke appeared in 498 regular season games, averaging 9.6 points, 1.8 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game, with a field goal percentage of 41.0%. After leaving the NBA, he spent time in the G League with the Stockton Kings, and later spent time in China and Puerto Rico before his move to Mexico. At this point, Burke’s CIBACOPA prowess is merely an Indian summer, not the start of a comeback. But scorers keep scoring, and Burke always was a bucket.
Mark Deeks I am continuously intrigued by the esoterica and minutiae of all the aspects of building a basketball team. I want to understand how to build the best basketball teams possible. No, I don’t know why, either. More about Mark Deeks
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