Daily Knicks
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NY Knicks: Top 10 point guards from the past decade

By Christian Kim

MIAMI, FLORIDA - FEBRUARY 09: Immanuel Quickley #5 and Derrick Rose #4 of the New York Knicks argue against the Miami Heat during the third quarter at American Airlines Arena on February 09, 2021 in Miami, Florida. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
MIAMI, FLORIDA - FEBRUARY 09: Immanuel Quickley #5 and Derrick Rose #4 of the New York Knicks argue against the Miami Heat during the third quarter at American Airlines Arena on February 09, 2021 in Miami, Florida. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images) /
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New York Knicks, Emmanuel Mudiay
Emmanuel Mudiay, New York Knicks. (Photo by Wendell Cruz/USA TODAY Sports) /

4: Emmanuel Mudiay (2017-19)

Is New York the place where former lottery point guards go to die? Perhaps. And that was sort of the case for Emmanuel Mudiay. After a couple of seasons with the Denver Nuggets, his atrocious shooting never improved and Jamal Murray took his starting spot.

After being traded to the Knicks, it was more of the same. Fans saw flashes of why he was such a high lottery pick but he remained inconsistent and continued to display poor shooting. He started the 2018-19 season on the bench as Ntilikina was the featured starter at the point guard position.

But slowly, Ntilikina lost the favor of the coach and dealt with injuries. Mudiay stepped in just fine. He started to show consistency towards the end of the year and upped his usage rate.

Mudiay finished the season averaging 14.8/3.3/3.9 while shooting a career-high of 44.6% from the field. This was the best showing of his professional career. New York did not re-sign Mudiay and he went on to sign with the Jazz.

3: Elfrid Payton (2019-21)

Elfrid Payton signed as a free agent before the 2019-20 season. While he didn’t have a terrible year statistically, it was clear that the team wasn’t going anywhere with Payton at the point guard position.

His ability to facilitate was not the worst but his lack of touch from the perimeter severely limited spacing for the team’s offense. Everyone knew by the end of his first season that he was not the long-term solution at the point guard position.

Nonetheless, he was still brought back for another year and many Knicks fans were vocal about Payton’s play throughout the season.

Once Rose hit his stride (along with other competition) at the guard position, Payton was limited to 10-15 minutes per game towards the end of this time in New York.

Strangely, Thibodeau still started him in most games but he would rarely be found in the game past halftime. Fans don’t know what sort of agreement the two had but he was clearly not good enough to be a starter.

Payton still averaged 10.1/4.0/4.9 in his two seasons with the Knicks. He averaged 7.2 assists his first year as well.