NY Knicks: 3 players NY can target if they trade into Top 8 of 2021 NBA Draft
Should the NY Knicks trade up for James Bouknight in the 2021 NBA Draft?
So, I think the consensus says that James Bouknight is ‘Our Guy’ as Knicks fans…at least for the most part.
Of course, we’ll have those who disagree with the selection, but no one else on this list has already made it clear he wants to be a Knick.
Marc Berman of the NY Post spoke with the Brooklyn-born native, Bouknight, and he mentioned that when interviewing with the Knicks, he made sure to let them know where he was from.
Bouknight was also a standout at UConn, so he’s been a local boy through and through and apparently would relish the opportunity to play for the orange and blue.
Bouknight will be 21 years old when the season starts so he’s got a nice blend of experience and youth, right on the cusp between the two.
He’s not turning 23 like Obi Toppin did this past season, and he’s also not a 19-year-old puppy.
What Bouknight does better than almost anyone in this draft is score.
He may be the best pure scorer in this class, and if not the best…then certainly second best behind Jalen Green who’s projected to go in the top 5 this year.
Without much talent surrounding him at UConn and constantly faced with double teams, Bouknight still managed to put up some elite scoring numbers this past season to the tune of 18.7 points per game.
He’s also a terrific rebounder for a guard, similar to RJ Barrett. Bouknight averaged nearly 6 a board per contest.
A major concern and knock against Bouknight would be his shooting from long-range.
The numbers were ugly, shooting under 30% on 5 attempts per game but there is some promise that those numbers can improve in a hurry because his free throw shooting percentages have been good for his entire career.
He shot at 78% from the charity stripe on 5.4 attempts per game.
To put things in a bit of perspective, RJ Barrett shot 31% from deep on over 6 attempts per game and shot 66% from the free-throw line on nearly 6 attempts.
The numbers are quite similar and if Bouknight’s free-throw percentage is any kind of tell, Bouknight projects to be as good if not better at 3-point shooting than our young RJ Barrett is.
In drafting Bouknight, the Knicks will never have a shortage of athletic guards who have a score-first mentality.
A worthy selection in the top 8 in my opinion.