Kevin Knox has been a bust, there’s no other way around it. Ever since the New York Knicks selected him with the ninth pick in the 2018 NBA Draft, Knox has simply failed to live up to expectations and has played poorly for the Knicks.
According to Marc Berman of the New York Post, new Knicks president Leon Rose “is not sold†on Knox and really wanted to see him play over the final 16 games of the season before the league was shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Now, with the NBA set to return in the near future under a special 22-team format, the Knicks are one of the eight teams who didn’t make the cut so Rose won’t get to assess Knox properly until next season. This was a big opportunity for Knox to make a good impression on Rose, and him not being able to do that now could hurt his chances of sticking around much longer.
Many Knicks fans have already begun to lose their patience with Knox, as he has been a liability at times on the floor. During his rookie year, Knox had one of the highest usage rates amongst rookies, but he was one of the least efficient players in the entire league with one of the worst true shooting percentages. Still, despite his efficiency problems, Knox showed promising flashes and averaged about 13 points and 4.5 rebounds per game, so there was hope that he could take a step forward in year two.
That wasn’t the case, as Knox actually got worse this season. He struggled mightily on both the offensive and defensive end, and went from averaging almost 30 minutes a game to about 18 minutes coming off the bench. He averaged an underwhelming stat line of 6.4 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 0.9 assists per game, and shot just 36 percent from the field and 33 percent from three. Knox also just looked lost a lot of the time, lacking the confidence and aggression he showed more of the year prior.
Neither David Fizdale nor Mike Miller were able to unlock Knox’s potential, so Rose and the Knicks will be hoping that the new head coach will have better luck, assuming Knox is still on the team. Rose not getting the chance to assess Knox’s play over the final 16 games of this season might mean that he chooses to move on from him this offseason rather than give him a chance to stick under a new coaching staff next year.
We shall see what ends up happening, but as of right now Knox’s future with the Knicks doesn’t look too promising. He’s still very young, as he’ll only be 21 at the start of next season, but time is running out for Knox to prove himself in New York. I think because of his age it makes sense for Rose to give Knox a chance under the new coaching staff, but it’s not a guarantee that will happen. And if it does, Knox will be on thin ice and will have little room for error.