The sudden retirement of Malcolm Brogdon has left the New York Knicks grappling with a pretty significant issue: They have no certifiable answer at backup point guard.
To be fair, this issue bubbled to the surface while Brogdon was still on the team. He wasn’t playing nearly well enough to make the final roster, let alone entrench himself as the primary backup playmaker. His official exit, though, crystallizes the dilemma.
And there’s no guarantee New York has a solution.
Tyler Kolek isn’t shaping up to be Mike Brown’s answer
Tyler Kolek is already the best passer on the Knicks. Brogdon’s retirement ostensibly paves the way for him to take on a bigger role, if not win the backup-playmaker spot outright.
Yet, the runway New York is prepared to give him might be overstated. This team is trying to win a championship right now. Playing a 24-year-old with severe scoring limitations and fewer than 300 minutes of regular-season experience runs counter to that timeline unless he’s caps-lock READY.
The Knicks cannot guarantee that, which is why The Athletic’s James L. Edwards III believes Kolek will be given minutes on an inconsistent basis. That is not the role description of someone who will be reliably called upon to help run offense for secondary units.
Anything, of course, can happen once the regular season is underway. But New York telegraphed that it didn’t have plans to lean on its younger players long before Brogdon ever signed a non-guaranteed contract. Entering the year intending not to frequently play Kolek is, in fact, the more likely scenario.
The Knicks will run backup point guard by committee
Deuce McBride will get the official billing as the backup point guard. That has more to do with his size and defensive role more than anything he does on offense. Saddling him with initiation doesn’t fit his skill set. He is much better away from the ball, and attacking off the catch rather than generating opportunities for others.
Edwards mentions the Knicks could experiment using Josh Hart to run the offense. It’s an interesting angle. Hart is probably an underrated passer in the half-court, and he will get the Knicks going in transition.
Still, as Edwards notes, Hart-at-point guard lineups are a “long shot.” His own shooting limitations make it difficult for him to properly run offense in the half-court, and it remains to be seen how the finger splint he’s wearing on his shooting hand will impact his finishing or dribbling.
Jordan Clarkson deserves more mention in this arena. He ran plenty of offense as a member of the Utah Jazz. At the same time, it wasn't a particularly efficient offense that he was running. He’s not hard-wired to function like a floor general; he turned the ball over on nearly 18 percent of his pick-and-roll possessions.
Perhaps the Knicks’ backup-playmaker void can be filled by a guard already on the roster. Maybe Brown papers over it with the way he uses Karl-Anthony Towns, and Mikal Bridges. Whatever New York’s plan, the backup point guard spot must be monitored.
Because if the second unit starts to struggle, the Knicks may need to look outside the organization for a safety net.