New York Knicks: Evaluating 6 Potential Point Guard Options

New York Knicks potential point guard: Devonte’ Graham

Another restricted free agent, Graham will likely be looking for a new home in free agency. The Charlotte Hornets have invested heavily in their LaMelo Ball/Terry Rozier backcourt, leaving one of last year’s Most Improved Player candidates as the odd man out.

If you haven’t watched much Hornets basketball but his name still sounds familiar, it’s likely because of his ridiculous game-winning three that he hit against the Knicks two seasons ago.

Excluding his rookie year where he spent large amounts of time in the G League, Graham has career averages of 16.6 points and 6.5 assists per game while shooting 37.4% from three on a whopping 9 attempts per contest.

At just 26 years old, he’s also starting to enter the prime years of his career.

Graham is undersized at 6’1″ and he doesn’t get into the paint at a high rate, but he still has some promising aspects to his game that Ball lacks. He can get to the free-throw line at a respectable amount despite spending a lot of his time on the perimeter. His 2.9 foul shots per game would have ranked third on the Knicks behind Randle and Barrett.

He also has an extremely high basketball IQ, knowing when to focusing on setting up his teammates and taking over a game as well. His individual net rating and plus/minus per 100 possessions both led the Hornets this past season, showing that his teams play better when he’s on the court.

There are some legitimate concerns regarding his low field goal percentage (38% for his career), but it’s largely influenced by the majority of his shot attempts coming from behind the arc. A high-volume three-point shooter who can dish out 7+ assists on any given night would be a welcome addition to a Knicks team that ranked 23rd in made threes and 29th in assists per game last season.

Team fit level: 7