After the arrival of point guard Derrick Rose this week, the Knicks face a dilemma with their guard situation.
They only have so many minutes and ball handling opportunities to distribute to Rose, starter Elfrid Payton, and electric rookie Immanuel Quickley, with post-season implications and future seasons to consider.
In this situation, Elfrid Payton is a great candidate for a trade.
Here are three destinations for Payton:
New York may not like the idea of helping out a colleague from the Eastern Conference squad fighting for the playoffs, but they’re in a fantastic position to squeeze the Magic, who are desperate for some playoff assistance.
Another Eastern Conference team that needs point guard depth, the Celtics are racing Kemba Walker and rookie Payton Pritchard in that. The former is returning from injury and looks so on the pitch, and Boston relies heavily on the latter early in his NBA career. Having Payton on board as insurance during the playoffs as an upgrade over Jeff Teague might sound good for Danny Ainge right now.
The Clippers have been in the commercial market for a point guard for years now, it seems. These two teams made the deadline magical last year when Marcus Morris went west in exchange for the pick that became Quickley.
New York isn’t getting another first for one of their useful player dumps, but Payton could earn them for a small draft payout from Los Angeles.