Kristian Winfield: Knicks need more playmaking and Chris Paul just became available

NEW YORK — The Knicks could use another playmaker. And one of the greatest table-setters the sport has ever seen just hit the open market.

Yes, it’s Chris Paul — the first-ballot Hall of Famer whose Clippers reunion barely lasted 16 games.

Los Angeles essentially cut ties with Paul late Tuesday night, citing that he had been too vocal in holding the front office, coaching staff and teammates accountable for a 5-16 start.

On paper, accountability doesn’t sound like the worst thing for a Knicks team that has preached it daily under Mike Brown. Brown has been open about his own missteps — including publicly taking blame for starting Mitchell Robinson over Josh Hart, a reversal that immediately sparked a four-game win streak — and the organization has embraced that level of internal honesty.

Then there’s the obvious basketball fit. Paul is still one of the sharpest playmakers to ever touch a basketball. He ranks second all time in both assists (12,552) and steals (2,728), and even in Year 21 owns an assist-to-turnover ratio north of 3-to-1. A passer that clean, that intuitive, could instantly slot into the Knicks’ offensive ecosystem: feeding Robinson on lobs, finding Karl-Anthony Towns as a pop or roll option, and unlocking cutters who sometimes vanish in the pace-and-space chaos.

And yet … that version of Paul feels more like ancient history.

He turned 40 in May. His production — 2.9 points and 3.3 assists on 32.1% shooting in 15 minutes per game — is the statistical profile of a role player whose wine is no longer aging to perfection. The defensive drop-off is expected, but still significant. The Knicks are already compensating for one undersized guard defensively; adding another invites more problems than solutions.

Even if New York wanted to take the plunge, the mechanics are messy.

The Clippers are hard-capped at the first apron ($195.9M) with more than $194M committed. The Knicks are hard-capped at the second apron ($207.8M) with roughly $150,000 of space beneath it.

Put simply: any Paul deal would require dollar-for-dollar matching. At the veteran minimum, that means sending out a young player — Tyler Kolek, Ariel Hukporti, or Pacome Dadiet — assuming the Knicks treat Landry Shamet and Jordan Clarkson’s minimum deals as off-limits in this type of transaction.

Paul might not be the right fit. But the need is real.

The Knicks never replaced Malcolm Brogdon after his sudden retirement in training camp, and their current backcourt hierarchy reflects that hole. Jalen Brunson is a scoring guard who can pass when needed. Miles McBride is an off-ball guard being asked to moonlight at the point. Clarkson is a bucket-getter, not an organizer. Kolek is the purest passer on the roster, but he’s not ready for high-stress minutes.

Paul — like most summer signees — cannot be traded until Dec. 15. But his phone will ring. Any team looking for a stabilizer, a veteran voice, a high-IQ connector will at least make the call.

The question isn’t whether Paul can run an offense for 30 minutes. He doesn’t need to. The question is whether he can survive in a system built on pace and space, and whether he can still convert from downtown if teams leave him open.

Oh, and whether or not he can defend.

If the Knicks wanted him, they’d only need him in small, strategic doses: five minutes here, four minutes there, just enough to keep the offense intact when Brunson sits.

The fit isn’t perfect. The questions are real. But the need — for a true playmaker — remains loud. It might not be with CP3, but the Knicks could use another playmaker sooner than later, and one of the best of all-time just hit the open market.