New York Knicks: The sad fate of Mindaugas Kuzminskas
By Will Stern
New York Knicks forward Mindaugas Kuzminskas is all but destined to be traded. It’s an unfortunate reality for a player who had a promising rookie season.
During the 2016-17 season, Mindaugas Kuzminskas earned the nickname ‘Cheese’ around the locker room for always having a grin on his face. In 2017-18, it seems like he has less of a reason to smile.
This season has started out pretty rough for the 28-year-old Lithuanian. Apart from catching some funny shade from Courtney Lee, Kuz didn’t see the floor during the first 10 games of the season.
Finally coming in during garbage time against the Orlando Magic, he played only two minutes, going 0-for-2 from the field.
Promising Rookie Year
Kuzminskas played in 68 games last year for the Knicks, starting five. He averaged 14.9 minutes per game, thus giving him early exposure to the NBA.
Over the summer at EuroBasket, Kuzminskas led the way for a Lithuanian squad that reached the Round of 16. He dropped over 15 points per game in the tournament and looked poised for a breakout season.
Sophomore Slump?
So what happened? Why hasn’t Kuz received a shot at contributing this season?
In short, the Knicks are too good.
Last season, it made sense to play an unknown, athletic rookie major minutes. The gamble paid off, and more often than not, Knicks fans were delighted with the surprisingly good play from the European forward.
This year, it seems like Hornacek thinks there are just more quality players in front of Kuzminskas in the rotation, all with higher ceilings. Kuzminskas is 28 years old, and has been playing professionally for over 10 years.
It’s fair to assume that some form of what we saw last year is what the Knicks will get. While his three-point shooting and hustle were promising at times—even enough to make him a bit of a fan favorite—he often looked lost on defense.
So, as the human-cap-hit Joakim Noah prepares to return from his PED suspension, the Knicks have been shopping Kuz to make room on the roster.
Not Kuz!
Some have asked: Why aren’t the Knicks looking to ship out Michael Beasley instead? He’s been underwhelming in his start to the year, playing little defense and stopping the flow of the offense for the second unit. Plus, he doesn’t shoot threes.
He’s been playing the power forward position, and rebounding anemically at 2.2 per game and only 6.5 per 36 minutes.
The answer: Beasley, who signed with the Knicks this past summer, can’t be traded until December.
It may be too late, but it would have made sense for the Knicks to play Kuzminskas some minutes this season to play for a spot on the team rather than seemingly deciding early on that he would be relegated.
Until he’s moved, don’t snooze on Kuz!
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Unfortunately, the early signs point towards the New York Knicks trading Mindaugas Kuzminskas before Joakim Noah returns from his suspension.