CLEVELAND—An odd thing happened late in the third quarter of the Knicks’ win in Washington last week, when Wizards forward Nene Hilario was whistled for a technical foul.

Several Knicks could have taken the resulting foul shot. Forward Lance Thomas wouldn’t have been the obvious choice, but his 75% career rate from the charity stripe made him a candidate. Rookie Jerian Grant made nearly 80% of his tries at Notre Dame. And guard Langston Galloway shot 81% during his rookie season of 2014-15.

But...