Langston Galloway has heard the talk. He has heard the doubt. The second-year point guard was a big reason the New York Knicks failed to finish with the worst record in the NBA and failed to get the No.1 draft pick as he was a breakout star in the second-half of the 2014-15 season. Galloway was a big performer for the Knicks last year, but that has only earned him talks of a trade or release entering the new year.
The New York Knicks point guard rotation is crowded. Alongside Galloway, Jose Calderon returns healthy, Jerian Grant comes in as a rookie and Travis Trice signed as an undrafted free agent. The Knicks will likely only enter the season with at the most three point guards on the roster meaning one player must go. There has been talk of that being Galloway, but he has no plans of that happening.
"I've been working on my point guard skills as well because that's a big key in being in the triangle with the Knicks," Galloway said via the New York Daily News. "And also, just working on my speed. A lot of point guards in the NBA have a lot of quickness. So I'm just going to continue to work on that and get better when I'm guarding the different types of guys. I'm not satisfied at all. I'm just trying to make my mark each game that goes by and I'm definitely still trying to prove myself to the world that 'hey, I can continue to belong in this league and continue to do the same thing I did last year.'"
The biggest knock to Galloway is the fact that he did not sign a guaranteed contract. That left many people to believe the Knicks could opt to go into the season with Calderon and Grant leaving Galloway out of the mix. The competition between the four guards will be a headline to watch as everyone has faced doubt in their future. Team president Phil Jackson is desperate to find that franchise point guard to become Carmelo Anthony's right hand man and any of the four players could earn the title.
As the Knicks continue to rebuild, Galloway has the youth and skills to be a real part of that. He averaged 11.8 points and 3.3 assists in 32.4 minutes per game. Galloway is hopeful to build off that in the upcoming year. He is putting in the offseason work to make it happen. According to Galloway, he and Kristaps Porzingis have been putting in the work together which could help his future.
"We worked out a few times this summer and he's looking great. His shot is coming along. He's gotten a lot stronger. And he definitely is going to prove a lot of people wrong," Galloway said, via the Daily News. "A lot of fans thought that he might be not a good pick and everything like that. But he's definitely going to prove a lot of people wrong."
