New York Knicks: 3 Elfrid Payton trades to consider

Finding some trade destinations for New York Knicks point guard Elfrid Payton.

With Immanuel Quickly going down just 12 minutes into the season opener, calling the New York Knicks current point guard situation a dumpster fire would be doing them a favor.

Coach Thibs is going to have his work cut out for him, piecing together the position until young IQ is healthy enough to rejoin the lineup. Quite frankly, if the Knicks were able to somehow Dr. Frankenstein the remaining healthy PGs on the roster, they still wouldn’t have a starting caliber facilitator running the point.

There’s a long list of guys I’ve hypothetically traded already and will be trading throughout the season, but through 3 regular season games I’ve had just about as much of Elfrid Payton as I can possibly handle.

Editor’s Note: This article was written before Payton had the game of his life on Sunday against the Milwaukee Bucks. But I think most Knicks fans would agree one game doesn’t change who he is (and maybe the Knicks can now sell high!)

I didn’t know it was possible for me to dislike watching a Knick playing the sport of basketball more than Julius Randle circa 2019-2020, but here we are.

Between Payton’s sub-par defense, horrid 3-point shooting, and inability to run an offense, if he’s not passing to the aforementioned Julius Randle, it seems Elfrid is just a shell of who he once was.

However, as we saw on Sunday, under the right circumstances, Payton can still be a valuable asset. He was a triple-double machine back when he came off the bench with occasional spot-starts while on the Pelicans, so here’s 3 trades the Knicks should make to both help bolster their current roster, and help return Payton back to form elsewhere.

Note: Since Payton is on a one-year deal leading to Early-Bird rights, he technically can’t be traded without consent and he cannot be traded before February 5, 2021.