New York Knicks: 3 Christmas wishes from Saint (K)nick

3. An established point guard rotation

It is no secret the New York Knicks have been having point guard problems for over a decade now. This situation is certainly not getting better by swapping approximately 1,300 point guards per season, which of course, creates havoc in the point guard rotation.

Of the three point guards currently on the roster, Frank Ntilikina is the defensive one, Dennis Smith Jr. is the offensive one and Elfrid Payton is the playmaking one. Forge them into one and you get an all-around superstar point guard. Unfortunately, this isn’t some kind of game with cards.

Payton has started five games so far and has recently upped his numbers, averaging 7.9 assists with only 1.6 turnovers over the past seven games. His 3.61 assist-to-turnover ratio over the season ranks him fifth in the NBA among those that play 20 minutes or more per game.

Ntilikina, the defensive suitor, has made an honest attempt at improving his offensive game a bit. He has increased his field goal, 3-point and free throw percentages to career highs, resulting in him averaging the same amount of points despite attempting fewer shots. Frank still has a long way to go, although it is nice to see him improving while giving it his all on the defensive end.

https://twitter.com/nyknicks/status/1208528241100763136?s=20

Last but not least, Smith has been quite the letdown this season. For a guy that averaged 14.7 points and 5.4 assists for the Knicks last season with much hope for a breakout season, Smith has been one of the main disappointments of the season so far.

One can clearly see that interim coach Mike Miller and now departed David Fizdale have rightfully been having headaches regarding which player to start and which ones to bench. So far, Ntilikina has started in 23 games with Payton following with five and Smith trailing with just one game started.