New York Knicks: Kenny Payne’s presence already being felt

Two Kentucky products are making preseason strides with their former coach Kenny Payne now part of the New York Knicks coaching staff.

On August 11th, 2020, the New York Knicks announced they would be hiring former University of Kentucky assistant coach Kenny Payne to be a member of Tom Thibodeau’s staff. This addition showed the Knicks are willing to pull whatever strings they can to get a big boost of production out of third-year Kentucky forward Kevin Knox as the season opener draws near.

Payne, who had been an assistant/associate coach at Kentucky since 2010, was brought in due to his inherent relationship with Knox and is currently being viewed as someone who can finally make his potential come to light. Payne has been crucial to the development of current NBA stars, such as Anthony Davis and Karl Anthony-Towns. Legendary UK Head Coach John Calipari even said he would recommend Payne to be his successor if he were to leave the school.

Meanwhile, in Year 2, Knox severely regressed in comparison to his rookie campaign. In 65 games, Knox tallied 6.4 points per game, along with 2.8 rebounds and 0.9 assists. In his first season, Knox’ points per game were up to 12.8 and he averaged 1.1 assists with 3.7 rebounds. While anyone can sit and make excuses for why we saw such a drop-off in good play, it’s good to see the current front office ready to invest in his development.

It is important to note that Kevin Knox isn’t the only player in orange and blue that will be impacted by Payne. In this most recent draft, the Knicks selected Kentucky guard Immanuel Quickley with the 25th overall pick. Quickley is another Wildcat to have success under Payne, shooting nearly 43 percent from behind the arc on way to winning SEC Player of the Year. Payne has a huge opportunity to help develop him into the dominant scoring point guard the Knicks have desired for so long.

We are already seeing positive results with Quickley.

And Kevin Knox: after making 65 threes all of last season, the Kentucky product has connected on nine over the past five preseason quarters. It seems like the presence of Kenny Payne is already being felt.

Bottom Line:

There are a lot of questions being asked when it comes to the young players in the New York Knicks organization. Despite that, it is important to keep a close eye on Knox’s play in comparison to last season, along with Quickley’s immediate impact. While Knox was almost non-existent in the most recent rotation and Quickley wasn’t even in the NBA, they are two players who could have massive roles when it comes to making this team respectable again.