FanPost

Why Lamar Peters Deserves an Opportunity with the New York Knicks

The conundrum that is the New York Knicks current point guard situation was a revolving door of a mess this past season. With the exception of Frank Ntilikina’s good free throw shooting (86.4%) and improved corner 3 pt% (48.2%) (per stats.nba.com), the Knicks operated their offense devoid of a lead guard who could knock down a jump shot. This tremendously hurt the team’s ability to space the floor and get creative with their offensive schemes. It put a lot of pressure on Rj Barrett to be a floor spacer for the offense instead of allowing him to play more to his current strengths of attacking the basket. Frank Ntilikina showed good improvements on the offensive end and I believe he is a necessary and valuable piece of the team’s future, but the Knicks are still in search of competent scoring guards to jettison their offense into the modern-day NBA. It is evident that the Knicks don't plan to have Dennis Smith Jr in their future much longer and hopefully he is moved this offseason to a better situation for him. Elfrid Payton would be a fine backup point guard off the bench, but at this point, I would rather prioritize those backup minutes to a young guard capable of being a floor spacer and creating looks for others. The Knicks are looking to address their point guard needs through the draft lottery but shouldn’t just stop there.

Enter Lamar Peters

Lamar Peters (a.k.a. Parking Lot Peters) was one of the best players for the Westchester Knicks GLeague team this past season. He secured averages 17.7 ppg, 7.3 ast, 2.8 reb, and 1.4 stls on 42.5% fg and 40.1% shooting from three. He was 5th in the Gleague in ast per game, 10th in total 3pm (116), and set two Westchester Knicks franchise records recording 19 assists in one game and 10 3pm in another. In other words, he was pretty darn good this season. It’s unfortunate that season ended before he got an opportunity to be brought up the big club. However, if he is able to transition his success shooting the ball from deep while continuing to be a more than respectable shot creator for others, I could see him carving out a role in the Knicks rotation in the immediate future.

Check out Lamar Peters setting records for the Westchester Knicks below!

Lamar Peters Breaks the Knicks Single Game Assists Record

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OeivXWd8scw

Lamar Peters Sets Knicks Franchise Record with 10 Three-Pointers

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5dY8MX-1Qxo

His shooting gravity would help unlock unchartered territories for the Knicks offense coming from the point guard position. Looking deeper into it, Lamar shot a combined 53.5% on corner threes (23/43) and 38% on above the break threes (93/245). In addition, he shot 53.7% on step back jump shots from 3 (29/54) and 43.6% on pull up jump shots from 3 (17/39) (per stats.nba.gleague). To put that in perspective, Elfrid Payton only attempted 71 total three point shots of any kind on the season with a putrid 20.3% field goal percentage. The Knicks desperately need the type of shooting and shot creation abilities that Peters provides, and hopefully the Knicks give him an opportunity in the upcoming season to see how his style of play can transform the offense into a more modern NBA style of play. The Knicks could get a lot more creative in their offensive sets with a point guard who can shoot the ball from deep. With the cap projected to drop, teams will be strapped for money. Although the Knicks are probably the team setup the best to adapt to the changing cap, Peters could be a cheap and sensible option for the team to address its most glaring issue while also promoting someone who has had success internally for the organization.