New York Knicks: Grading the team after a month of games

4. Guards

Before the season even started, the biggest question regarding the Knicks was no other than “Who starts at point guard?”. Coach David Fizdale began the season by using Trey Burke as his primary ball-handler and having Frank Ntilikina as the team’s starting small forward.

But after a while, he decided to slide Ntilikina into the starting point guard spot, moving Trey Burke to the bench. Only recently, Fizdale decided to give Emmanuel Mudiay a go at the starting point guard spot.

As a result, the position is not yet set as all three players are not performing up to Fizdale’s standards.

Moving to the team’s shooting guards, we see a whole different story. Instead of seeing rotation changes in hopes of a better fit at the point guard spot, here we have coaching changes being made in order to have every shooting guard get enough minutes to showcase his worth.

It all started with Tim Hardaway Jr. who has been on fire since Day 1. Averaging 23.4 points per game in 32.1 minutes of playing time sets a career high in scoring, as of now. Despite being the undeniable leader of the team, Hardaway is also on his way to a possible All-Star appearance.

But it is not only him that is currently on a roll. Undrafted and Two-Way rookie Allonzo Trier has also been a very consistent part of the team since the beginning. Matter of fact, his level of play has forced the coach to move Damyean Dotson to the 3, in order to make room for all of them.

Point guards: B-

Shooting guards: A

Overall grade: B+