Warriors 2022 champion being floated as last free agent piece for Knicks

2 hours ago 2

After winning an NBA Finals, the New York Knicks seem very content with running things back.

I've said before that I don't necessarily agree with that, but it doesn't really feel like the Knicks are too worried about that at the moment. In fact, this roster is pretty much going to look exactly the same outside of losing Mitchell Robinson.

At the same time, there's reason to believe the Knicks will add another player or two before training camp, whether that's a veteran or someone they try to trade for.

If the Knicks are looking for that veteran option to come in and just fill a role for them, there are multiple players who could do so who have been on championship-caliber teams in the past, including Gary Payton II, who one writer recently suggested the Knicks could be interested in to fit in on the defensive side of the basketball.

“Gary Payton II would give New York the versatility they need off the bench. Right now, they are really relying on Jordan Clarkson as the only “forward” off the bench. Payton can play the 1-3 and give them defense that would pair great next to some of their smaller guards. Adding someone with that level of versatility to a team that doesn’t feature much off the bench would be a great move,” Charles North wrote.

I like Payton as a player, though I think he's good in spurts, something that Mike Brown showed a year ago that he can be really good at figuring out. Brown pushed a lot of the right buttons in the playoffs, something he'd have to do with a player like Payton.

He's not much of an offensive guy, which can be a problem like we saw with Robinson at times, but he's not as big of an offensive hole as Robinson. This isn't a guy who can just be fouled and won't make free throws, so I don't have many worries in that regard.