One of the Knicks' unrestricted free agents this summer is veteran point guard Cam Payne, who joined the team last summer on a one-year, veteran’s minimum contract. Payne was coming off his ninth year and sixth team in the league, and earned himself the backup point guard position out of preseason despite Miles McBride coming off a career year and New York drafting another point guard in Tyler Kolek.
You know what you’re getting from Payne at this point: a steady handle, high-paced, immediate energy off the bench — and when he’s hot, some big bucket-getting. He won’t be in the upper echelon of backup ones but can help round out a bench unit as a reliable floor general.
This is about what he provided. Payne averaged 6.9 points and 2.8 assists on 45.3 percent shooting from two and 36.3 percent shooting from three in 15 minutes a game.
His on/off splits were strong in large part due to cohesive bench lineups withKarl-Anthony Towns. He had a nice stretch in November with six double-figure scoring nights in seven games, and the Knicks went 4-1 when he had to fill in as a starter due to injuries or end-of-season rest.
The highlight of his season was a huge 14-point game in Game 1 against the Detroit Pistons, helping the Knicks go on a 21-0 run to come back and take opening control of the series. Unfortunately, these scant bright spots were mere flashes in an otherwise shaky campaign.
Payne was predictably a defensive sieve, and saw his minutes decrease as the regular season went on. He’d get benched in second halves if his jumper wasn’t falling, which happened often.
Former head coach Tom Thibodeau never looked to move him out of his rotation spot, even with Kolek in tow and then Delon Wright joining at the trade deadline. That is until the playoffs, when the Knicks went down 0-2 to Indiana and Payne had accumulated a 23.8 percent clip from three and -30 plus-minus outside of that Game 1 outburst.
There were plenty of opportunities for this change earlier in the postseason or during the regular season. It wasn’t Payne’s fault he was relied upon so heavily despite his struggles, but a new coach could give him a more situational role, which would benefit him and the team — should the Knicks choose to bring him back.
If he won’t be overplayed, there’s no harm in bringing him back as a break-glass-in-case-of-emergency reserve guard. The right coach will prioritize developing their prospect point guard and playing less harmful veterans consistent minutes — so just having Payne there in case of injuries would be fine.
It’s hard to imagine a giant market out there for his services. Smaller, score-first point guards are plentiful and not super attractive right now, and he didn’t have any kind of breakout season to warrant more than another veteran’s minimum deal.
Perhaps a contender throws an apron mid-level his way, in which case the Knicks are fine to let him walk. They could focus on retaining Wright, who had better and more sustainable postseason minutes, or give Kolek more burn.
If Payne is willing to return on the veteran’s minimum, there are worse 11th and 12th guys out there, assuming a new coach treats him as such. His bench presence and chemistry with his teammates makes him a value add as a Ryan Arcidiacono type.
