What It Means:

"I love both guys," Thibodeau said of Payton and Quickley. "They’re different and bring different things to the team. It gives us great flexibility and we can mix and match...I hope we get them to a point where we can play both of them together also. I love Elfrid’s size and what he brings to the team." Quickley is expected to be promoted to the starting lineup at some point, but it sounds like Payton could still stick around in the first unit. The two have played together for 21 minutes this season. The Knicks' next game is scheduled for Thursday against the Golden State Warriors.

Payton's usage percentage drops from 24.0 to 16.4 percent when he shares the floor with Quickley this season, but he actually averages more FanDuel points per minute (1.1) in those situations than when Quickley is sitting (0.8). Meanwhile, Quickley averages twice as many FanDuel points per minute (1.0) when Payton is sitting than while sharing the floor.