New York Knicks: 3 players set for breakout seasons
3. Kevin Knox
A lot can be said about the rookie season we just witnessed from Kevin Knox. Some comments can be good, others … not so good.
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On the bright side, Knox did showcase that he is clearly capable of scoring the basketball. During his rookie campaign, he finished fifth in total points scored among rookies.
On the downside, Knox recorded a terrible shooting percentage of 37 percent, placing him dead last in the NBA among players that played at least 28 minutes per game.
If this wasn’t enough, then the fact that he had the worst box-plus-minus (BPM) in the league with a BPM of -8.5 would certainly do the trick. In his defense, it is fairly easy to have a negative BPM when you’re playing for the worst team in the league. But then again, the stats don’t lie.
To be fair to Kevin, tons of NBA stars tend to struggle during their opening act in the league. Kobe Bryant, James Harden and Jimmy Butler all put up horrible shooting percentages in their rookie campaigns, making it relatively dumb to judge a player by a year’s work.
Kevin Knox will most likely be starting at small forward for the team and could make that “sophomore leap” that so many NBA stars have managed to mount.