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The New York Knicks invested a lot of money to bring back Tim Hardaway Jr. after they gave the shooting guard a four-year, $71 million contract this offseason. As Jeff Hornacek tells the New York Post’s Steve Serby, the Knicks are high on Hardaway’s potential to live up to that contract and expect him to fill multiple roles this season, including possibly playing the point late in games.
He can really shoot the ball. I love his activity where he moves and cuts without the ball. We’re gonna challenge him to continue his improvement on defense and to have to guard guys. He can play the 2, he can play the 3, there might be situations late game maybe he even plays the 1. … That would probably rarely happen, but he’s a guy that we’re counting on to do the things we want to do in this offense and get the speed, and he’s a young guy with a lot of motor.
The fact that the Knicks could have to ask Hardaway to play some point guard in crucial late-game situations is a testament to how bad their point guard situation currently is. Ron Baker, who was undrafted and played sparingly as a rookie last season, is expected to be the team's starter.
Rookie Frank Ntilikina, who was the No. 11 pick in this year’s draft, is only 19 years old and is still very raw. Meanwhile, veterans Ramon Sessions and Jarrett Jack are hardly starter quality at this stage of their careers.
It will be challenging enough for Hardaway to become the team’s second option offensively behind Kristaps Porzingis. However, he has some big expectations to live up to due to his big contract and that apparently involves also filling in at the point from time to time.
