New York Knicks: Ceiling and floor of every young player

Dennis Smith Jr.

Dennis Smith Jr. was the main piece that the Knicks received, in exchange for the services of Kristaps Porzingis. Smith was supposed to be the chosen one, the person to solve New York’s chronic issues at the point guard spot once and for all.

Approximately 18 months prior to the trade, the Knicks selected Frank Ntilikina on draft night with the 8th overall pick. The person that would get selected right after Frank was Smith, as many people would question the choice, even a pretty eye-catching name.

Then, the Knicks would, of course, trade away a 7’3″ sharpshooting athletic 22-year-old to get the guy they should have drafted all along. Because why the hell not.

Ceiling: Baron Davis/Derrick Rose lite

It is fair to say that very few players in the league possess the athletic abilities that Dennis Smith can boast about. We saw it in the 2019 Slam Dunk Contest, we see it every time he steps on an NBA court. The guy has some serious bounce.

Other than that, despite having a fairly impressive rookie season, his offensive game has not taken that “second-year leap” just yet…despite being in his third year in the league.

Regardless of that, Smith is the type of player that can instantly beat you off the dribble and dunk on/finish around your best rim protector. Players like Baron Davis, Derrick Rose and maybe De’Aaron Fox share these talents with Smith. He just has to find his way of putting that all together.

Floor: Exactly his 2019-20 season

Even though it may seem a bit harsh after building on him so much just before, Smith’s 2019-20 campaign has been horrendous. The season started really badly for him and his family in a tragedy which he seems to have failed to recover from.

To put things into perspective, Smith went from averaging 14.7 points and 5.4 assists with the Knicks the year before, to a mere 5.5 points and 2.9 assists per game. Even though his numbers per game have decreased, the same goes for his per 36 numbers.

His percentages have also taken an abrupt dip throughout this season, shooting just 34.1 from the field, 29.6 from 3-point range and 50.9 from the charity stripe. Should Smith fail to pick up the pace, his spot on the team might be in serious question.