The Knicks have made their sixth free agent signing of the summer as they brought in PG Elfrid Payton on a two-year, $16 million deal, agent Ty Sullivan of CAA sports told SNY's Ian Begley.
With that, New York is likely done bringing in new faces for next season, as they have $2 million in cap space left. Julius Randle was the biggest signing at $63 million for three years. Bobby Portis, Wayne Ellington, Taj Gibson, and Reggie Bullock all signed two years deals with a team option for the second season, as ESPN's Bobby Marks first reported.
Begley confirmed that Payton will also have that team option attached for the second season, but the Knicks will be getting a former Top 10 draft pick as point guard depth.
Payton didn't pan out the way the Magic expected when he broke into the league in 2014. He averaged 11.1 points, 6.4 assists, and 5.2 rebounds over 29.5 minutes per game in Orlando, but he would be traded to Phoenix in the 2017-18 season.
The Suns didn't retain Payton last season, as he made another move to the Pelicans. Though he averaged just 10.6 points there, he had a career-high 7.6 assists with 5.2 boards as well.
The one big knock on Payton is his jumpshot, an area of his game that hasn't developed in the NBA. Last season, he shot 31.4 percent from beyond the arc and 43.4 percent overall from the field. Payton may be a pass-first point guard, but having the ability to knock down the open jumper is something the Knicks haven't necessarily had recently.
Dennis Smith Jr., who will likely start over Payton, only shot 28.9 percent from three last season as he continues to work on his shot as well.
Either way, Payton is just another young talent that isn't locking the Knicks down cap wise for the future.