The New York Knicks are now the first reigning NBA Champion to kick off their title defense tour with a 0-3 record since the 2011-12 Dallas Mavericks. While there are a multitude of factors that have played a role in their abysmal start to the season, long-range efficiency has been a major one.
Following Sunday's 111-102 loss to the visiting Orlando Magic, the Knicks find themselves shooting just 32.2 percent from beyond the arc. Compared to last year, when they boasted the fourth-best clip of 37.3 percent, this is a stark and rather concerning contrast.
Conveniently, they just recently snatched up a legitimate sniper from beyond the arc in Dalton Knecht on a two-way deal.
Though he's by no means lived up to his lofty pedigree of being the 17 pick from the 2024 NBA Draft, throughout his tenure in the pros, Knecht has flashed serious upside as a reliable long-range marksman, what with his career shooting clip of 36.8 percent.
Given his offensive skill set, coupled with their clear need for a spark in their putrid perimeter offense, the Knicks should strongly consider experimenting with Knecht in the not-too-distant future.
Of course, though his involvement in the rotation may have the potential to lift their long-range efficiency on the offensive end, it would also run the risk of seriously hurting their perimeter defense.
Dalton Knecht could help and hurt woeful perimeter play of Knicks
Coming into the association, Knecht was widely regarded as a tremendous shooting prospect and a rather concerning defensive one.
Fortunately for him, during his time at the collegiate level, his inefficiencies on the less glamorous side of the ball were able to be properly masked.
Against much tougher competition in the pros, however, this has not yet proven to be the case, as he has consistently found his opponents blowing by him in one-on-one sets due to his slow lateral quickness, which often results in him giving assignments considerable space in a daring effort to avoid getting beat by a quick first step.
Needless to say, these attempts proved futile, as the net-negative rookie defender somehow managed to get even worse in his sophomore go-around with the Lakers, finishing 2025-26 with a horrid defensive rating of 119 and a defensive plus-minus of minus-1.6.
This kind of production is a danger to virtually any team's defensive efficiency, but especially for a team like the Knicks, who are currently allowing opponents to shoot at the ninth-best long-range clip in the entire league at 36.4 percent.
So while Knecht has the potential to help boost New York's offensive perimeter play, unless they can somehow find a way to make up for his limitations with elite-level help, the wing could theoretically cancel out any pluses he brings on this front as a direct result of his truly atrocious defense.
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