With Jeff Hornacek now ambling up and down the New York Knicks’ sidelines, the team will need an actual point guard who can run his presumably uptempo, drive-heavy offense.
Jerian Grant, Jose Calderon and Tony Wroten Jr. are on the books for next season, but neither is an ideal option. Calderon gets killed defensively and doesn’t drive much, while neither Wroten nor Grant is particularly experienced nor adept at shooting the three-ball.
Though the Knicks will be hard-pressed to carve out max cap space this summer, they will have some wiggle room to spend on another floor general. Finding that player, though, figures to be difficult. There aren’t a ton of sound point guard options on the open market this offseason.
Some have suggested the Knicks might show interest in reuniting with Jeremy Lin or rolling the dice on Ty Lawson. But they apparently aren’t interested in either scenario, per the New York Post‘s Marc Berman:
It’s not a strong crop of free-agent point guards, with Memphis’ Mike Conley leading the top tier. Resurgent Rajon Rondo, Carmelo Anthony’s choice, is next, but some in the organization believe he hangs onto the ball too much. Brandon Jennings, D.J. Augustin, Ty Lawson, Jeremy Lin, Miami’s unsung Tyler Johnson, Aaron Brooks and Mario Chalmers are also free agents. Sources have indicated the Knicks consider Lawson’s off-court issues too big a risk and Lin’s defense too gaping.
Truth told, the Knicks are better off waiting until 2017 before they spend any real money on another point guard. It’s not ideal, but Chris Paul, Russell Westbrook and Stephen Curry will all be free agents next summer, which is also when Calderon’s deal comes off the books.
Until then, the Knicks can experiment with some combination of Calderon, Grant and Wroten, plus maybe Galloway, while using Carmelo Anthony as a point forward.
