{"id":109806,"date":"2025-06-19T14:48:13","date_gmt":"2025-06-19T14:48:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/109806\/"},"modified":"2025-06-19T14:48:13","modified_gmt":"2025-06-19T14:48:13","slug":"knicks-could-add-lethal-3-pt-shooter-to-support-bench","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/109806\/","title":{"rendered":"Knicks could add lethal 3-PT shooter to support bench"},"content":{"rendered":"

When the lights were brightest, the New York Knicks<\/a> simply ran out of steam \u2014 not because of star power, but support.<\/p>\n

They had the top-tier talent in Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns, OG Anunoby, and Mikal Bridges. What they didn\u2019t have was enough help.<\/p>\n

Why the Knicks can justify running it back<\/p>\n

Despite the playoff heartbreak, the Knicks built a legitimate championship-caliber roster that just came up short.<\/p>\n

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They ran into a mix of coaching missteps and a lack of reliable scoring off the bench when it mattered most.<\/p>\n

Still, the core produced enough to warrant another run \u2014 especially with the right tweaks and a fresh voice leading them.<\/p>\n

\"NBA:<\/p>\n

Credit: Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

One under-the-radar move that could add real value<\/p>\n

That brings us to Luke Kennard<\/a> \u2014 a veteran shooter who might be exactly what the Knicks\u2019 bench has been missing.<\/p>\n

Kennard isn\u2019t flashy, but he brings one elite skill to the table: three-point shooting at a high volume and efficiency.<\/p>\n

In 65 games this past season with the Memphis Grizzlies, Kennard shot 43.3% from deep on four attempts per night.<\/p>\n

A proven shooter with playoff experience<\/p>\n

Go back to 2023\u201324 and the numbers are even more impressive \u2014 45% from downtown on 6.1 threes per game.<\/p>\n

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He also chipped in 11 points per contest in that stretch, operating as a reliable floor spacer and rhythm shooter.<\/p>\n

At 6-foot-5 and 206 pounds, Kennard offers enough size to defend guards and provide a consistent scoring threat off screens.<\/p>\n

How he fits into the Knicks\u2019 second unit<\/p>\n

New York had hoped Miles McBride would evolve into a two-way bench weapon with occasional scoring bursts this past season.<\/p>\n

While McBride had his moments, an injury slowed him down and he struggled to leave a consistent playoff impact.<\/p>\n

Kennard would offer a different flavor \u2014 a pure shooter who doesn\u2019t need the ball in his hands to thrive.<\/p>\n

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With the Knicks\u2019 core commanding defensive attention, Kennard could feast on clean looks from the perimeter nightly.<\/p>\n

\"NBA:<\/p>\n

Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

The price point might be right<\/p>\n

Kennard is coming off a $9.25 million deal, and the market likely won\u2019t require a major overpay to secure his services.<\/p>\n

If New York can land him at a similar price, it would be a smart value play for a team eyeing a title push.<\/p>\n

Depth wins in the postseason, and finding an efficient scorer like Kennard could help avoid the offensive droughts that doomed them.<\/p>\n

Adding him would be like plugging a leaky pipe \u2014 it won\u2019t make headlines, but it could stop the ship from sinking.<\/p>\n

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READ MORE: Knicks could pursue former Hawks all-around scorer in free agency
<\/a><\/p>\n

Related Headlines<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When the lights were brightest, the New York Knicks simply ran out of steam \u2014 not because of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":109807,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3768],"tags":[7,288,563,304,1171,177,1260,2715,6,1136,191,3810,3806,741],"class_list":{"0":"post-109806","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-knicks","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-jalen-brunson","10":"tag-karl-anthony-towns","11":"tag-knicks","12":"tag-luke-kennard","13":"tag-memphis-grizzlies","14":"tag-mikal-bridges","15":"tag-miles-mcbride","16":"tag-nba","17":"tag-new-york","18":"tag-new-york-knicks","19":"tag-newyork","20":"tag-newyorkknicks","21":"tag-og-anunoby"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/114710584071078185","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109806","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=109806"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109806\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/109807"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=109806"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=109806"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=109806"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}