During the offseason, the New York Knicks signed 6’4″ 195lbs point guard Elfrid Payton. Payton throughout his career has been known for his unselfishness and penetrating style. He’s also known for his defensive ability and toughness. This guy is a walking triple-double at times, however, Payton has never been a piece in a winning culture in the NBA. I believe Elfrid Payton not being in any type of winning culture throughout his NBA career is concerning, however, his prior teams were just very bad teams.
It’s tough to evaluate how a player contributes to winning when they’re on bad teams, however, when a player constantly drops triple-doubles on his opponents, the evaluation becomes less difficult. Elfrid Payton has talent at the point guard position. Does Payton possess unlocked potential? The coaching staff will definitely find out during training camp. It doesn’t hurt that Payton and Randle already have somewhat of a connection from their Pelican days last season.
The influx of shooters the New York Knicks brought in during the offseason will definitely benefit Elfrid Payton’s defense collapsing penetration style. He will surely find the open man. Elfrid Payton’s prior teams he played for lacked shooters and scoring and he still was averaging over 6 assists per game. So what exactly will Elfrid Payton’s numbers be like with shooters around him and a special rim running lob catching talent in the middle by the name of Mitchell Robinson?
Elfrid’s Weakness throughout his career has been his inconsistent jump-shot which he’s been working to improve. If he can get those jumpers to fall suddenly next season, Knicks would suddenly have something special. However, that is definitely a tall order from someone who never has been a shooter.
The New York Knicks have an offense starter in Elfrid Payton on a team with a bunch of scorers. Chemistry building is key for this group. They can become dangerous once everybody understands each other’s role and movements on the basketball court. Elfrid Payton has never been surrounded with talent and it will be interesting to see how it plays out this season on the New York Knicks.