How will the point guard rotation look for the New York Knicks under Tom Thibodeau?
The New York Knicks entered the offseason hoping we wouldn’t be where we are today. In an ideal world, they would have found someone through trade, free agency, or the draft who could have presented them with an obvious answer to the question of who will be the starting point guard this season.
Best laid plans. While the Knicks were ecstatic to have forward Obi Toppin fall into their laps with their lottery pick, attempts to trade up for point guard Tyrese Maxey didn’t work out.
Meanwhile, it appears Leon Rose cooled to the idea of trading for Russell Westbrook (thank God) and Chris Paul was reportedly more interested in playing next to a budding star in Devin Booker and for a team closer to where his son lives in Los Angeles. That left options like DJ Augustin and Jeff Teague, neither of whom ended up signing with the Knicks.
The trade market could still be an avenue to acquire a point guard, but for now, we are left with Elfrid Payton returning on a one-year, $4.7 million deal to make the decision on who should be the starter more difficult to figure out.
New York also added Austin Rivers on a three-year, team-friendly contract. While he is certainly someone who can act as a primary ball-handler, I am going to consider him in the guards rotation piece that will be released later this week.
In this article, I will focus on three players who could see the majority of their playing time at the point.