New York Knicks: 5 reasons to be excited for 2019-20 NBA season

It’s a Hard Knox life

Kevin Knox was disenchanting during his debut NBA season, finding it hard to get into a rhythm and display the skills which prompted the New York Knicks to draft him ninth overall back in 2018.

Forced to carry a heavy load on offense as shown by his 20.9 percent usage rate — good for the 81st percentile per Cleaning the Glass, Knox struggled to get his shots to fall.

Finishing the year hitting only 37 percent of his field goals and 34.3 percent of his 3-point shots, Knox did not have the impact everyone had hoped for. He did, however, post reasonable box stats of 12.8 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 1.1 assists.

Knox was also poor on the defensive end, blocking only 0.5 percent of the shots he contested. At 6’9″ and averaging 27.3 minutes per game it’s a travesty his rebounding numbers were so low, in fact, he only pulled down 12.1 percent of missed shots while he was on the court.

Sometimes it takes a while to adjust, and being on a 17-win team will not make that adjustment period easier. This is why this season is such an exciting time to be rooting for Knox, he has been there and done it now.

He knows what a full NBA season feels like, how it takes a toll on the body and how to be better prepared for it.

Having the summer to work on his game, he should be poised to show considerable improvements across the board.

Not only will he have a better supporting cast around him, but he will see the game that little bit slower which helps young players make better decisions when the pressure is on.

A young core of Denis Smith Jr, RJ Barrett, Mitch Robinson, and Knox is no joke, yes there will be teething problems, but if all of them can reach close to their full potential the Knicks will be a serious threat before too long.