New York Knicks: The 5 areas in which NYK most desperately needs to improve

5. New York Knicks area of need: Free Throw Shooting

The easiest starting point is the fact that the New York Knicks are leaving far too many points on the board. Thus far in 2019-20, the Knicks have ranked 11th in the NBA in free throw attempts per game and dead last in free throw percentage.

Even more devastating than that unfortunate truth is that the Knicks shot a mere 69.4 percent from the charity stripe—a mind-bogglingly poor number.

New York was the only team in the NBA shooting below 70 percent at the time of the season’s postponement. It missed an average of 7.2 free throws per game, meaning it lost upwards of seven points per contest on uncontested shots.

No team is going to shoot 100 percent from the free throw line, but the Knicks must be able to convert their opportunities if they’re going to play winning basketball.

With a young roster that’s built around a penetrating guard and a rebounding big man, trips to the line should be plentiful. Getting a team into foul trouble never hurts, but being able to convert those attempts at a respectable clip would create an entirely new level of pressure on the opposition.

It may not fix everything that’s wrong about the Knicks, but even becoming an average team at the free throw line would make the game significantly easier for the up-and-comers.