DeMar DeRozan is averaging a career-high 7.2 assists a game. Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports

DeMar DeRozan began his NBA career in the Eastern Conference with the Toronto Raptors. Now he could be returning just a few hundred miles away.

Bleacher Report’s Jake Fischer reported this week that the San Antonio Spurs veteran is believed to have interest in a return to the East. Fischer mentions the New York Knicks specifically as a potential fit for DeRozan.

The Knicks are having their best season in many years. They now sit fourth in the East, having won nine of their last 10 games. The shocking ascent is rapidly improving the Knicks’ appeal as a free-agent destination.

As for DeRozan, he will be an unrestricted free agent after the season. He also seems unlikely to return to San Antonio.

DeRozan, 31, would actually be a great fit in New York. Their current starting shooting guard is Reggie Bullock, whose contract is expiring. With a career-high 7.2 assists per game this season, DeRozan is also vastly improved as a distributor and is no longer the ball-stopper he was known as before. That could make him the perfect veteran leader for a rising young Knicks team.

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