Kevin Knox’s Potential Role on the NY Knicks this Season

The NY Knicks are off to a pretty strong start this season and contributions are coming from many players on the roster.

Something these first few games have told Knicks fans is that the team is deep and they can still really be effective even if they go deep into their bench.

Despite this, a massive enigma has been the presence of Kevin Knox.

In his 4th season in the NBA, the University of Kentucky product finds himself out of the rotation and in the ‘bust’ category when it comes to his draft class.

With the rotation starting to become established, Knox is going to be lucky to get an opportunity every once in a while.

Since that’s the case, here is what he can do in those few opportunities to establish himself as an important player on this roster.

What role will Kevin Knox play for the NY Knicks this year?

When Kevin Knox has been able to please Knicks fans over the last few seasons, it’s because he was able to make some three-pointers here and there.

In fact, his stats from behind the arc are pretty impressive.

Last year in 42 games played Knox shot 39.3% on the long ball on 2.1 attempts per game. From the corner trey, he shot an astounding 52.4% to add on to that.

Now it’s not like the Knicks are lacking 3-point shooting as a team.

Julius Randle shot over 41% last season and Alec Burks was in that same range. With Evan Fournier and Kemba Walker joining the roster we’re going to see even more threes being fired.

In fact, in the team’s second win of the season against the Orlando Magic, New York set a franchise record with 24 long balls made.

Knox, especially with this being his 4th year in the NBA, cannot get away with being mediocre from long-range.

He needs to be an elite shooter this season and if that’s going to be the overall focal point of his game, he really needs to establish that through his performance.

In reality, Knox trying to be a primary shooter is something I would have never expected when he was first drafted.

As a Kentucky Wildcat Knox averaged 15.6 points per game, shot over 4 free throws per game as well as only shooting 34.1% from behind the arc.

It makes you wonder if he gave in to the pressure of needing to be a shooter to be effective in the league. 

In addition, a major reason why we saw Knox in Tom Thibodeau’s ‘dog house’ last season is due to his lack of efficiency on the defensive end of the floor.

Over the last couple of seasons, the reason for Knox’s lack of play has been his lack of urgency and inability to play simple defense.

His rating has been poor across multiple months and on a team like the Knicks, the philosophy is if you don’t play defense you don’t play.

If Kevin can make some big-time plays or even just be reliable when the other team has the ball in their hands, we could see the trust in him increase.

The overall story of Knox is in reality, depressing.

After he won rookie of the month in December of 2018 (along with Luka Doncic) Knicks fans thought this guy would be a huge part of the success the team would have some time in the future.

Now Kevin Knox rides the bench and should be very thankful to get any playing time even if it’s in a blowout game.

Look, we know Knox can be a contributor in some ways but what is his role?

If he can find himself with some minutes, we could see him as an efficient shooter who can knock down a big shot.

But for now, that identity is an enigma.