New York Knicks: Evaluating 6 Potential Point Guard Options

Who will be the New York Knicks’ next lead ball-handler?

The 2020-21 New York Knicks season was full of pleasant surprises and an overall fun brand of basketball, shocking fans and experts alike as they finished with a respectable 41-31 record. Julius Randle won the Most Improved Player award, Tom Thibodeau secured Coach of the Year honors and Derrick Rose was a finalist for the 6th Man of the Year trophy.

The team has also amassed a genuinely promising young core which includes RJ Barrett, Immanuel Quickley, Mitchell Robinson, and Obi Toppin. They also have five first-round picks over the next three drafts, hoping to add even more young talent.

However, one issue that has plagued the team for the last decade has still cropped up with this current group of players: The lack of a quality starting point guard.

Elfrid Payton struggled heavily to end the regular season and was benched in the playoffs, so it seems like he won’t be returning to the Knicks once he hits free agency this summer. Derrick Rose was a great addition to the bench and stepped up in the postseason, but fatigue was sometimes a factor when he was asked to consistently play 35+ minutes every night.

Needless to say, the New York Knicks are expected to be looking for a new starting point guard. With around $50 million in cap space, they’ll have the means to acquire any free agent that wants to play in New York.

SNY’s NBA Insider Ian Begley revealed six different players that the Knicks will likely consider to fill their vacant starting point guard role, with the possibility of bringing Rose back and giving him around 15-20 minutes off the bench.

Let’s take a look at each one of the six players named and see how well they’d fit with next year’s Knicks on a scale of 0-10. (0 being the worst possible fit imaginable, 10 being the perfect point guard for the team)

New York Knicks potential point guard: Lonzo Ball

After a shaky first two years in the NBA, the former number two overall pick is finally starting to get his career back on track with the New Orleans Pelicans. The 23-year old guard averaged 14.6 points and 5.7 assists per game this past season while shooting a respectable 37.8% from three. He’ll be a restricted free agent this offseason, meaning that New Orleans has the ability to keep him as a Pelican by matching any offer he receives.

He’s always been a stout defender and his ability to space the floor would be extremely beneficial for Julius Randle and RJ Barrett, but there are still some concerns.

Ball can sometimes be unselfish to a fault, hardly ever driving into the paint and settling for jumpers on the perimeter instead. In fact, he’s shared most of his minutes as an off-ball guard alongside a lead ball-handler such as Jrue Holiday and Eric Bledsoe.

The Knicks need shooting, but they also need someone who can create their own offense. Derrick Rose was such a huge help off the bench because of his ability to manufacture scoring opportunities for himself and attack the rim repeatedly. The same cannot be said just yet for the young guard.

Over 66% of Lonzo Ball’s made field goals came off of assists this season, an extremely high rate for a point guard. For reference, just 36% of Rose’s made field goals were assisted this year.

Ball is still very young with lots of room to improve and he’s already shown an ability to become a better basketball player with time. He may not be the perfect fit at this very moment, but it wouldn’t be the end of the world if the Knicks brought him in either.

Team fit level: 6

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

New York Knicks potential point guard: Kendrick Nunn

The Miami Heat have to deal with Victor Oladipo and Duncan Robinson entering free agency this summer, so it’s possible that they let Nunn look for a new home and prioritize signing their other two major contributors.

Nunn has had an up-and-down career, finishing second in last season’s Rookie of the Year voting before nearly falling out of the rotation in the playoffs. He performed well in a bench role this year, averaging 14.6 points per game on impressive 49-38-93 shooting splits.

He’s shown flashes of being a high-level scorer but has never put it together for longer than a few games at a time.

Ian Begley revealed that the potential thought process of signing Nunn is similar to that of the Charlotte Hornets in 2019.

“One member of an opposing organization analyzing the market drew a comparison between the 25-year-old Nunn and Terry Rozier, who averaged nine points per game in his last season with the Celtics before signing a three-year, $56 million deal with Charlotte,” Begley wrote. “Rozier’s role increased. His production also increased. The opposing team thought Nunn, who averaged 14.6 points per game last year, could follow a similar path if his opportunities increased.”

However, there are some issues with this comparison. Rozier averaged just 18.0 minutes per game in his final season with the Celtics. Nunn averaged 29.5 minutes with Miami this season, having more than enough opportunities to showcase any elite scoring ability.

Rozier also shone brightly in his flashes of extended playing time, averaging 16.5 points and 5.7 assists per game in the 2018 playoffs after Kyrie Irving suffered a knee injury. Nunn has actually played worse in the postseason with career playoff averages of 7.0 points and 1.4 assists per game on disappointing 39-28-100 splits.

Speaking of assists, the second-year guard has been a surprisingly poor passer. He averaged a measly 1.5 assists per game, often leaving playmaking duties to Jimmy Butler. Even in games without Butler, Nunn only averaged 3.6 assists per contest.

Derrick Rose is hardly a pass-first point guard but he averaged nearly three times as many assists as Nunn this season despite playing three minutes less than him on a nightly basis.

Nunn is a solid scorer who is still fairly young, but he’s not someone that you want leading a playoff squad.

Team fit level: 4

New York Knicks potential point guard: Kyle Lowry

The 6-time All-Star is looking for what could be his last major payday, and the Knicks should definitely be in the mix. Despite his age, the veteran point guard was still extremely effective in his age-34 season.

Lowry averaged 17.2 points and 7.3 assists per game, shooting 39.6% from three on 7.2 attempts per contest.

The Raptors finished with a surprisingly poor 27-45 record, but a large portion of their hardships are due to Fred VanVleet and Pascal Siakam struggling to handle the burden of being top scoring options that defenses are game-planning for. They also played their entire season in Tampa Bay instead of Toronto due to travel restrictions, which could have easily factored into their poor play.

Lowry remains effective as an elite passer and shooter while still being an aggressive point-of-attack defender. He won’t be getting any Defensive Player of the Year votes but he’s extremely feisty on the less glamorous end of the court, finishing in the top 10 in total charges drawn in each of the past five seasons.

He’s able to impact a game with and without the ball in his hands, a crucial requirement since Julius Randle and RJ Barrett will still need to get their opportunities to score next year.

The New York Knicks won’t be the only team vying for his services, but he would provide an immediate boost to everyone on the current roster if he decides to take his talents to the big apple this summer.

Team fit level: 8

New York Knicks potential point guard: Dennis Schröder

After having a career resurgence with the Oklahoma City Thunder, the 27-year old guard struggled in his lone season with the Los Angeles Lakers. After averaging 18.9 points on 46.9% shooting and nearly winning the 6th Man of the Year award last year, his numbers plummeted to 15.4 points on 43.7% shooting despite playing more minutes.

Schröder has the ability to get to the rim and finish in creative ways inside the arc, but the Knicks need a lead guard that can shoot and distribute while the 8-year veteran is extremely inconsistent at both.

He’s shot over 35% from three in two separate seasons, but he’s also shot below 30% from three in two separate seasons. He’s averaged over 6 assists per game in two separate seasons, but he’s also averaged less than 5 assists per game in five other seasons.

He’ll also be looking for a large contract after reportedly turning down a 4-year extension worth $84 million with the Lakers during the regular season.

There is a possibility that he returns to his OKC form, but that’s a large risk that the Knicks front office doesn’t need to take. They would be better off bringing back Rose on a 1-year deal and saving cap space for the loaded 2022 free agency class that includes much better options than Schröder.

Team fit level: 3

New York Knicks potential point guard: Chris Paul

Paul has a $44 million player option for next season, but there is a chance that he declines it and looks for a long-term deal either with Phoenix or another team. If that happens, the Knicks front office should make signing him their top offseason priority.

The 11-time All-Star has led the Phoenix Suns back to being an NBA Finals contender, finishing 5th in MVP voting.

Despite playing in his 16th season, Paul has shown no signs of slowing down. He’s averaging 16.4 points, 8.9 assists, and 1.4 steals per game while being 0.6 total percentage points away from a coveted 50-40-90 shooting year.

New York Knicks President Leon Rose used to be Paul’s agent, and it seems like he has an interest in bringing his former client to New York. The team was rumored to have an interest in trading for him last summer, so it’s likely that they’ll have even more interest now that they’ve developed a winning environment for Paul to potentially join.

The Knicks need a point guard who can act as a primary distributor, space the floor, and score the ball themselves to ease the point production burden for Julius Randle.

Paul is one of the best passers in NBA history who also hits threes at a high percentage, plus he can take over an offense for stretches at a time to get wide-open looks for himself and his teammates. The only drawback is that his age (36) doesn’t coincide with the team’s timeline, but other than that he’s the perfect fit for this current Knicks team.

Team fit level: 9