We now have a pretty good idea how the New York Knicks intend to use their final veteran minimum’s salary slot in free agency. Their preference, it seems, is to add someone who can play point guard.
Responding to mailbag questions over at The Athletic, James Edwards III notes that he is “expecting New York to use its veteran’s minimum spot on the point guard position.” He then goes on to name-check Malcolm Brogdon, Monte Morris, Ben Simmons, and Delon Wright as options worth monitoring.
This won’t come as a stunning development for anyone who’s been reading the tea leaves. The Knicks’ ongoing interest in Simmons is well-documented, and suggests they’re looking for someone else who can deliver some table-setting within second units.
Granted, the idiosyncrasies ingrained into Simmons’ game left open the possibility that New York was actually prioritizing someone with a wing’s or even big’s skill set. But this informed response from an insider like Edwards supersedes that kind of between-the-lines interpretation.
If we operate under the assumption, then, that the Knicks are bent on adding a guard, their best realistic option is pretty darn clear: Malcolm Brogdon makes more sense than anyone else.
The Knicks need to prioritize plug-and-play offense
Health is admittedly a big concern when it comes to adding Brogdon. He turned 33 in December, and has appeared in fewer than 40 games three times over the past four seasons—including last year. He also far from typifies a conventional floor general.
You can say a lot of the same things about anyone else possibly on the Knicks’ list of targets. Simmons is galaxies from a traditional playmaker, and hardly a billboard for durability. Wright is a weird offensive meld of overly deferential, and non-traditional. Morris was once upon a time the perfect exemplar for game management, but has seen his stock plunge in recent years amid his own injury concerns.
Brogdon may not be a top-tier pick-and-roll initiator, but he can at least play-make out of drives, and won’t compromise New York’s spacing when working away from the ball. Though his three-point clip slumped last year, he still hit 37.1 percent of his catch-and-shoot triples. The season before, in 2023-24, he banged in 51.8 percent. And he was at over 44 percent in 2022-23. You cannot say the same about Simmons, or Wright.
Malcolm Brogdon could be the better fit on defense, too
Someone like Simmons will offer more defensive versatility, but not nearly enough to offset his offensive deficiencies. It has also been quite a while since we saw him consistently shut down opponents at the point of attack.
While Brogdon can’t handle those primary responsibilities either, he can be moved around the positional spectrum. In three games against the Knicks last year, he spent ample time checking Jalen Brunson and OG Anunoby. Wright, meanwhile, almost exclusively has to guard in the backcourt. Ditto for Morris. And Russell Westbrook, if you’re into that sort of thing.
This flexibility is important. New York’s wing depth craters after Anunoby, Mikal Bridges, and Josh Hart. That’s likely why the front office has shown so much interest in Simmons.
Targeting someone like Amir Coffey or Caleb Houstan would do more to address that void, but the Knicks clearly want another ball-handler. And if that’s the mandate, Brogdon checks more overall boxes than any other remaining (and gettable) free agents.