New York Knicks: Evaluating Kevin Knox’s young career

Photo by Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Photo by Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
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(Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
(Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)

Another example

Now for you skeptics out there who are saying, “okay Alex, this is nice and all. But I am not sold that Knox can reach Ingram’s skill level.” Then how about Kelly Oubre Jr.? Yes, another lanky 6’9″ forward who has similar skillsets to Knox.

The former University of Kansas Jayhawk product had a slow start to his career. But now, during his fifth year in the league, he is showing that he can be a solid contributor.

While Oubre was on the Washington Wizards, he was another player that would have his moments of brilliance and demonstrate that he could be a valuable contributor. However, his infrequent play gave the Wizards pause, causing them to trade Oubre to the Phoenix Suns. Since Oubre has joined the Suns, especially this season, he has put the league on notice and has demonstrated that he is a dynamic wing that can score and use his length on defense.

Per Game Table
Season Age Tm G GS MP FG% 3P% FT% TRB AST STL BLK PF PTS
2015-16 20 WAS 63 9 10.7 .427 .316 .633 2.1 0.2 0.3 0.1 1.6 3.7
2016-17 21 WAS 79 5 20.3 .421 .287 .758 3.3 0.6 0.7 0.2 2.5 6.3
2017-18 22 WAS 81 11 27.5 .403 .341 .820 4.5 1.2 1.0 0.4 2.9 11.8
2018-19 23 TOT 69 19 28.0 .445 .320 .775 4.7 1.2 1.2 0.9 2.6 15.2
2018-19 23 WAS 29 7 26.0 .433 .311 .800 4.4 0.7 0.9 0.7 2.4 12.9
2018-19 23 PHO 40 12 29.5 .453 .325 .761 4.9 1.6 1.4 1.0 2.8 16.9
2019-20 24 PHO 55 54 34.5 .450 .352 .781 6.5 1.5 1.3 0.7 3.4 18.7
Career 347 98 24.0 .431 .329 .779 4.1 0.9 0.9 0.5 2.6 10.9
4 seasons WAS 252 32 20.9 .415 .320 .783 3.5 0.7 0.7 0.3 2.4 8.2
2 seasons PHO 95 66 32.4 .451 .341 .773 5.8 1.5 1.3 0.8 3.1 17.9

Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 2/23/2020.

While looking at Oubre’s numbers through his first four years in the league, it’s noticeable that he made small incremental improvements with the Wizards to Suns. Even though he was not padding the stat sheet, he was still allowed to play a lot of minutes and develop his game. The opportunity to have substantial minutes seems to have been very beneficial considering Oubre seems to have come into his own. We are still unsure if Oubre has reached his full potential, but as I said earlier, he has transformed into a dynamic wing in his fifth year.