Knicks Rumors: NY Likely to Use Free Agency, Trades to Find Starting PG

The New York Knicks are looking for a starting point guard, but they won't be using Wednesday's draft to find one. 

According to Marc Berman of the New York Post, the Knicks' former starter, Elfrid Payton, won't have his option renewed by Thursday's deadline, and the team doesn't think they'll find anyone in this year's draft class who can contribute at the position immediately in the absence of summer league or offseason workouts. 

"According to sources, the Knicks will likely rely on either free agency, which opens Friday—two days after the draft—or the trade market, which opens Monday, to find their 2020-21 starting point guard," Berman wrote.

Payton appeared in 45 games and averaged 10.0 points, 7.2 assists, 4.7 rebounds and 1.6 steals with a .482 shooting percentage (.203 from three) since he signed with the Knicks last July, the latest stop on a career that has taken the former 10th overall pick (2014) through Orlando, Phoenix and New Orleans. 

In search of his replacement, the Knicks, have plenty of room to play, with just $65 million on the books if they decline all of their player options (h/t Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington).

Payton was backed up this season by Frank Ntilikina, but according to Berman, that's not a long-term investment for the Knicks.

"In the new NBA in which scoring point guards are in vogue, the Knicks don't view Frank Ntilikina as their starting point guard of the future, though they do see him as a valuable piece to the puzzle," he wrote. 

Per Berman, the Knicks are "still having internal talks about dealing Dennis Smith Jr. on draft night, especially if one of their three draft selections is a point guard." 

Among players who could fill a hole at point guard for the Knicks, there are numerous options, as Toronto's Fred VanVleet enters free agency and Russell Westbrook is looking to move on from the Houston Rockets, according to the Houston Chronicle's Jonathan Feigen.

The Knicks hold the No. 8 selection in Wednesday's draft.