The New York Knicks’ most recent 97-94 defeat at the hands of the Golden State Warriors on Saturday night dropped the team’s record to 42-24 as they continue to maintain control of the Eastern Conference’s No. 3 seed.
Starting in place of the Knicks’ absent superstar point guard Jalen Brunson, Miles McBride had an impressive showing, scoring 19 points while playing stellar defense opposite Stephen Curry.
Unfortunately, the Knicks received no production whatsoever from their other backup point guard Cameron Payne, who came up on empty on all four of his attempts from the field in 10 minutes of action.
These kinds of performances have become standard for the 6-foot-3 role player, as he’s averaged just 4.0 points on horrid splits of 30.8% shooting from the field and 23.5% accuracy from three-point range.
In order to improve their backcourt reserve room for the 2025-26 season, it’s plausible to believe that the Knicks’ front office could reach an agreement on a contract this summer with former star backup for the Denver Nuggets and ninth-place finisher in Sixth Man of the Year voting in 2018-19, Monte Morris.
Through the first six seasons of his NBA career from 2017-2023, Morris molded himself into arguably the best bench point guard in the entire league, evidenced by his incredible 12.6-point, 4.4-assist campaign for Denver in 2021-22, when he also cashed in on 39.5% of his 4.2 attempts from distance.
At just 29 years old, it’s easy to believe that he could have plenty left in the tank for a Knicks team searching for more consistency from their reserves.
Now a member of the Phoenix Suns, Morris has contributed 4.9 points and 1.7 assists in just 40 appearances for the franchise, as various injuries have impacted the skilled utility piece.
As a prospective member of the Knicks, it could be presumed that Morris’ presence would be a welcome one if the team decided to move on from Payne. It’s also possible to infer that he’d be a much better fit due to his superior offensive skillset.
Morris boasts a career 38.6% three-point percentage and an impressive 47.3% field goal percentage at 6-foot-2, 183 pounds, likely making him the preferred option to fill in Payne’s spot if he leaves in unrestricted free agency this offseason.
While Morris, like Payne, may have to be hidden on the defensive end due his stature, there would be little confusion about how he’d hypothetically impact the offense of a Knicks team looking to compete for a title next season.
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