New York Knicks: Three reasons to love the John Jenkins signing

2. Provides much-needed outside shooting

For an immediate effect, the New York Knicks can appreciate the outside shooting John Jenkins will bring for the remaining 24 games. Even if they won’t be competitive through April, it’s still a skill this team sorely needed after the trade deadline and for most of this season.

Tim Hardaway Jr. and Trey Burke were not great shooters, but enough to give the Knicks outside presences. Without them, it left Luke Kornet as the closest player to a knockdown shooter. Otherwise, this team has streaky players that can’t always be relied on to make baskets behind the arc, including Damyean Dotson, Allonzo Trier, Kevin Knox and Dennis Smith Jr.

Jenkins does not solve these problems but places a band-aid for the rest of the season.

The veteran guard already had the green light to take three-pointers for the Knicks, with three in his first game and six in the second appearance, which was a 25-minute outing for 14 points and five rebounds.

It was progress, as the Knicks shot 38.7 percent from long distance against the Atlanta Hawks — their streak-snapping win after losing 18 consecutive games.

Will that happen every night? Probably not, but they can improve on a 29th-ranked 33.6 percent from behind the arc and leave a cellar that includes the Phoenix Suns, Memphis Grizzlies and Detroit Pistons.

For just over one-fourth of the season, Jenkins will upgrade a weak spot for the Knicks. He won’t solve their problem, but they may not look as lowly from behind the arc where other teams thrive.