Trey Burke was a former lottery pick of the Utah Jazz who was very undersized. He had a decent start to his career but ended up losing minutes to Shelvin Mack and Raul Neto (not a good sign).
He was signed by New York only to be cut and then brought back to the team. After the occasional decent showing, Burke started to display great offensive support off the bench around his 14th game with the Knicks.
Burke remained a force off the bench, averaging around 16 points until the end of the season. He was rewarded with a multi-year contract at the end of the year but was later a part of the package that sent Porzingis to the Mavericks.
New York caught Jason Kidd at the very tail end of his career. The Knicks watched Kidd tear up the league just across the Hudson River for a decade in New Jersey with the Nets.
After losing to Miami in the playoffs and losing Jeremy Lin to the Houston Rockets, New York decided to gear up for another playoff run by adding veterans to the team. This brought the likes of Kurt Thomas, Marcus Camby, Kenyon Martin, and Kidd to the Knicks.
Kidd brought veteran leadership and stability in the backcourt and was hitting the three very effectively at the beginning of the season.
His form at the 3-point line regressed throughout the year but he was able to help lead New York to its best record of the decade (54-28). He retired after playing just one season with the team.
New York Knicks</a> have had a long history of experiments at the point guard position. There was Phil Jackson’s fascination with our beloved French international player Frank Ntilikina. Or the failed career revivals of former lottery picks like Trey Burke, Emmanuel Mudiay, and Dennis Smith Jr.</p>
<p>There were the “he looks good but that might just be Mike D’Antoni’s system” players like Chris Duhon or Raymond Felton. The list goes on and on but it’s hard to deny… the Knicks have not had much stability at the point guard position.</p>
<h2>The top 10 New York Knicks point guards from the past 10 years</h2>
<p>While it may be a bit regressive to open up old wounds, let’s take some time to review the top 10 point guards from the past decade.</p>
<h3>10: Jose Calderon (2014-16)</h3>
<p>Jose Calderon was at one time one of the best passers in the NBA. He was also known for having a very high free-throw percentage. Calderon was a long-time point guard for the Toronto Raptors and by the time Calderon was traded to the Knicks from the Mavericks, he was into his 30s and past his prime.</p>
<p>Defensively, he was a turnstile but he was able to move the ball and provide some outside shooting. But there just wasn’t enough talent on the roster to do much. He averaged 9.1/2.4/4.7 in his first season in New York. He was later traded to the Bulls in a trade package for Derrick Rose.</p>
<h3>9: Dennis Smith Jr. (2018-2021)</h3>
<p>Dennis Smith Jr. was a strange case in the NBA and it was an even stranger story that he ended up on the Knicks. He was selected No. 9 overall in 2017 by Dallas, right after Ntilikina was selected by New York.</p>
<p>LeBron James went out of his way to say that Smith should’ve been drafted over Ntilikina. Thanks to LeBron, the Knicks were given this gem.</p>
<p>It seems like Smith was purposely ousted by Rick Carlisle, who forced a false narrative of his supposed “jealousy” of Luka Doncic. Smith had a decent finish to the NBA season when he was traded to the Knicks with the Porzingis trade.</p>
<p>He averaged 14.7/2.8/5.4 to finish out the year but New York wasn’t winning much. He stuck around for the next couple of seasons but was either injured or lacked any resemblance of confidence in his game.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background: #007BC1" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://dailyknicks.com/2022/04/24/new-york-knicks-top-10-point-guards-past-decade/3/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> 8-7 </a>
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<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-126690" src=https://dailyknicks.com/2022/04/24/new-york-knicks-top-10-point-guards-past-decade/3/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_1941,w_3200/https%3A%2F%2Fdailyknicks.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2022%2F04%2F510891006.jpeg" alt="New York Knicks, Langston Galloway" width="3200" height="1941" srcset="https://dailyknicks.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2022/04/510891006.jpeg 3200w, https://dailyknicks.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2022/04/510891006-768x466.jpeg 768w, https://dailyknicks.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2022/04/510891006-268x162.jpeg 268w" sizes="(max-width: 3200px) 100vw, 3200px"><p class="wp-caption-text">Langston Galloway, New York Knicks. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)</p>
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<h3>8: Langston Galloway (2014-16)</h3>
<p>Langston Galloway was one of the few bright spots when the Knicks didn’t have anything going for them. At one time, games were being played with this lineup:</p>
<p>PG: Langston Galloway<br>
SG: Alexey Shved<br>
SF: Lance Thomas<br>
PF: Lou Amundson<br>
C: Andrea Bargnani</p>
<p>These were dark times. Langston brought some light to these dark times with his occasional 20-point games. Despite his efforts, New York had a horrible record and people were just waiting for the season to end.</p>
<h3>7: Immanuel Quickley (2020-)</h3>
<p>The Knicks received a D+ for selecting Immanuel Quickley in the first round of the 2020 draft. Quickley made an impact on the team as a rookie. While his shooting percentages left a lot to be desired, he provided good perimeter shooting and defense against quicker guards.</p>
<p>Quickley dealt with some injuries both in his rookie season and in the past season. Because of the minor injuries here and there, his production would be great on some nights and unplayable on others.</p>
<p>To close out the year, he improved his play to another level and <a href=https://dailyknicks.com/2022/04/24/new-york-knicks-top-10-point-guards-past-decade/3/"https://dailyknicks.com/2022/04/05/new-york-knicks-3-reasons-immanuel-quickley-starting-point-guard/">could contend for the starting point guard position at the start of the 2022-23 season</a>.</p>
<p>Hopefully, he will continue this trajectory of improvement and become more involved with the rotation under Tom Thibodeau. He has the tools to be great in the modern NBA.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background: #007BC1" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://dailyknicks.com/2022/04/24/new-york-knicks-top-10-point-guards-past-decade/3/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> 6-5 </a>
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felt the immediate impact of Rose injuring his ankle in 2021-22</a> and they had a losing record with him out of the lineup.</p>
<p>Needless to say, Rose has been the most impactful point guard for the Knicks this decade and he has spent half of it on the bench. I think that speaks volumes when it comes to New York’s front office’s failure to bring a long-term solution to the point guard position.</p>
<p>Rose is turning 34 this year and is best utilized coming off the bench. The Knicks must address these issues and perhaps Quickley or Miles McBride can become the suitable replacements for the future.</p>
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