In 2022-23, one of the biggest problems with the New York Knicks was their lack of three-point shooting. Not only did the team rank 19th in three-point percentage but come playoff time, the Knicks were the worst team in the league from beyond the arc. In the modern NBA, this is unacceptable and Leon Rose must emphasize solving this problem if he wishes to take the Knicks’ potential championship window seriously.
On paper, the Knicks may not have much cap space. However, they should have some flexibility due to the looming Evan Fournier trade and Derrick Rose’s $15.6 million team option being declined.
This means that Leon Rose could go out and add some elite three-point shooters to their bench. These guys aren’t stars, but we do not doubt that they’d play a big role in improving the team.
4 three-point snipers the New York Knicks should target in free agency
4. C/PF JaMychal Green
Who would have thought that in the year 2022-23, JaMychal Green would be playing the majority of his minutes at center? While it’s somewhat unexpected, he played better than you’d think a 6’8 wing would at the position. He wasn’t a star or anything, but for a 15-20 minute per game role player, he did his thing.
In 57 games last season, Green averaged 6.4 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 0.9 assists while playing around 14.0 minutes per game. In addition to this, Green shot 54.0% from the field and 37.8% from beyond the arc on 1.6 attempts.
Green isn’t your typical three-point sniper, but he is well above league average. This level of spacing at PF or C could be incredibly valuable for the Knicks. Even just his ability to play the four or five would be good to have. The traditional bigs the Knicks deploy are nice, but having a more modern-style player down low could have its perks in limited minutes.
Due to how undersized he is, Green wouldn’t play a large number of minutes similar to his time with the Warriors. Despite this, he could still be a very useful player to deploy against certain teams.
Not only would Green bring some much-needed spacing at the four or five, but he would be rather cheap to sign too. The Knicks likely wouldn’t need to use their MLE on Green to bring him in. If Leon Rose can manage to add Green while also maintaining the team’s mid-level exception it would be huge for New York.