Where should the New York Knicks look to solve their point guard problems?
After the longest offseason in team history, the New York Knicks find themselves exactly where everyone worried they would be: searching for an answer at the point guard position.
While rookie Immanuel Quickley has given fans hope from his impressive preseason play, a glaring need remains on a roster that is constructed in such a way that a lead ballhandler who can shoot is paramount to their success. Quickley can’t play all 48 minutes when he returns from injury.
Wherever the Knicks finish in the standings (likely toward the bottom), their 2020-21 campaign will be judged on the development of their young players. And since both Mitchell Robinson and RJ Barrett bring non-shooting attributes to the lineup, it is essential to surround them with players who can swish a long-distance jumpshot, something the Knicks haven’t been able to do over multiple regimes.
The players who you would call traditional point guards on the Knicks roster don’t have much of a track record knocking down perimeter shots: from Elfrid Payton (career 28.9% three-point shooter) to Dennis Smith Jr. (career 31.3%) to Frank Ntilikina, if you like him on the ball (career 30.9%).
As Payton bricks another three-pointer, what can team president Leon Rose do to improve the point guard situation? Let’s take a look at a few different options.
1) Let everyone get healthy and ride out what you have
The easiest solution to fixing the Knicks’ point guard problems is to remain patient. Both Austin Rivers and Immanuel Quickley are injured. They will eventually return to the court. And when they do, Tom Thibodeau can quickly bury Elfrid Payton on the bench if he continues to struggle making a difference in the offense without the luxury of an outside shot.
Ideally, Rivers wouldn’t be the featured point guard in the offense. His game is better suited off the ball with occasional playmaking duties. But beggars can’t be choosers.
The most promising prospect to lead the offense is Immanuel Quickley. If nothing else, he can shoot from all over the Garden floor. While some debate whether he is better suited off the ball as a floor spacer versus the lead guard with the ball in his hands, he has grown up playing the point guard position, and his ability to attack the rim creates opportunities for his teammates.
The season is only two games long. In the right lineups, Payton can provide value as a penetrating guard. Perhaps with a healthy roster, Thibodeau can find the right combinations with Rivers, Quickley, and Payton to make the point guard rotation work.
And if you are still buying Dennis Smith Jr. stock, I suppose you can continue to hope he emerges as an option, too.
2) Trade for a proven point guard
After failing to sign anyone beyond Elfrid Payton in the offseason, the Knicks will need to wait until teams settle into the new year before trying to swing a deal for a point guard. But I expect team president Leon Rose is working the phones to identify a suitable option.
Whether you believe Immanuel Quickley is the point guard of the future based on a few preseason games, or not, the Knicks need help in the backcourt. Their offense becomes so much better if they can play both Quickley and Rivers in guard combinations that feature another ball-handler who can shoot.
It’s not mutually exclusive to believe in some of the current options on the roster while realizing the team needs to add a proven playmaker.
Who should the Knicks try to acquire? I will let you debate that. It’s impossible to know what the market looks like from afar. Fans can search depth charts for teams with redundancies to identify some intriguing possibilities, but every player comes at a cost, and it is Leon Rose’s job to weigh those costs against each other in finding the best trade.
The Knicks balked at trading for players on mega-contracts like John Wall or Russell Westbrook, much to the happiness of the fanbase. With plenty of future draft picks and cap space, perhaps they can target a more reasonable option.
3) Get creative
Everyone always talks about how the modern NBA is a position-less sport, maybe the best solution for the Knicks at point guard is to not play a traditional point guard.
In other words, what is wrong with deploying lineups that feature Alec Burks or RJ Barrett facilitating the offense with an extra shooter playing next to them like Reggie Bullock?
The Knicks have depth up front and along the wings, which they can spread out in a way that minimizes the need to play Elfrid Payton or Dennis Smith Jr. significant minutes. Essentially, Thibodeau would be playing his best players more minutes, which we know he likes to do, while also putting them in better positions to succeed.
We have seen Barrett struggle out of the pick-and-roll when defenses attack him and limit his options to drive to the hoop. Again, this is why he needs more floor spacers around him who can make opponents pay for crowding the ball-handler. The best way for the Knicks to do this is to overload their backcourt with shooters, regardless of natural position.
Burks is a great option as a player who has proven he can facilitate an offense in limited opportunities. On a good 76ers team last season, lineups with him playing point guard generated a +6.8 rating. And while he isn’t the most lethal perimeter shooter, he at least keeps defenses honest.
The season is still early, so Thibodeau has plenty of time to tinker with lineups, but if he gets creative, he might be able to hide the lack of productive point guard depth on the roster.