Trey Burke of the New York Knicks is not exactly in the upper echelon of point guards in the NBA today. However, a recently-discovered advanced stat has placed the 25-year-old in elite company with the likes of Chris Paul and Gary Payton.

According to NBA analyst Tommy Beer, Burke's performance last season with the Knicks was good enough to propel him to the cream of the crop of point guards in the league.

After signing as a free agent with the Knicks last summer, Burke averaged a serviceable 12.8 points on 50.3 percent shooting, 1.1 three-pointers, 2.0 rebounds, 4.7 assists, 0.7 steals, and 1.2 turnovers in 21.8 minutes per game off the bench.

Those are not exactly stat sheet-stuffing numbers, but they aren't awful either. However, what makes this special is when it is projected on a per-36 minutes basis. As pointed out by Beer, Burke's per-36 figures last season was at 21.1 points, 7.8 assists, and 2.0 turnovers.

Burke's per-36 stats makes him only one of three players in the entire history of the league that has successfully averaged more than 20.0 points, more than 7.0 assists, and less than 2.5 turnovers while logging at least 500 minutes.

Nine-time All-Star Chris Paul and Hall of Famer Gary Payton are the only other players who have ever accomplished this impressive feat, which makes Burke's achievement even more remarkable.

Last season's starting point guard, Jarrett Jack, has yet to re-sign with New York for the upcoming season, and neither Emmanuel Mudiay nor Frank Ntilikina appears to be fully-prepared to claim the starting role. This puts Burke in an excellent position to be the team's starter, and perhaps, he can put up even more impressive numbers this year.