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Kevin Knox and Process, Process, Process

The Knicks might be on the verge of trading Kevin Knox. Here's why they shouldn't.
Jonathan Macri|
Kevin Knox and Process, Process, Process
Kevin Knox and Process, Process, Process

If you were to write a piece about all the ways that Kevin Knox has been bad at basketball for the last year and a half, it would get rejected by your editor, because it would be too long and nobody has that kind of attention span anymore.

The numbers, to a certain extent, speak for themselves. For his career, Kevin Knox has an effective field goal percentage of 44 percent. 

According to Basketball Reference, he is the one of only two players in the NBA over the last three seasons to put up at least a thousand field goal attempts and have an eFG% under 45. The other is his teammate, Frank Ntilikina.

Unlike Ntilikina though, offense is arguably the stronger part of Knox's game. His defense has at times rendered him unplayable, and while he has shown moments of improvement this season -the occasional block, the actual sliding of feet, not dying on every pick - it has still been a steady uphill climb.

Put it all together, and a player who cost the Knicks 9.2 points per 100 possessions last season is still costing them 3.5 points per 100 this year. It's an improvement, but one that could also be clouded with the fact that he has played more than half of his minutes with Mitchell Robinson, a plus minus darling who redeems the sins of many in his orbit.

So no, it has not been a cake walk for the young man from Kentucky. But then again, it was never supposed to be.

Knox, who is still one of the 20 youngest players in the NBA, was always going to be a project. His own college coach, John Calipari, claims he told the Knicks when when they drafted Knox that he would be player that took years - plural - to pan out.

It hasn't happened yet. And based on the reports now floating around Twitter, it may never happen, at least not in New York.

With the Knicks potentially looking to make a splash, reports indicate that they're willing to include Knox in trade discussions, possibly for a player they may have had a chance at obtaining this summer, D'Angelo Russell.

Russell, in case you haven't heard, is good. Some would say really good.

(Some others - like those who notice that the Warriors are only a slightly better team when he's on the court, or that he's one of the worst players in the league at finishing through contact, or that he takes a lower frequency of shots at the rim than almost literally any player in the NBA, or that his assist ratio is more commensurate with a typical shooting guard, and not a point guard - those folks would probably say otherwise. But I digress...)

All kidding aside, there are enough question marks about Russell to wonder whether he would noticeably move the needle for a team that is still 21 games under .500 after a two-game winning streak. Maybe, maybe not...but that's almost besides the point.

The one thing that everyone can agree upon right now is that the value of Kevin Knox - the man who New York would seemingly carry to San Francisco if it got them Russell in exchange - is at the lowest point it's been in his short career.

And who knows...maybe it gets even lower. No one can say for sure.

But in an asset maximization league, trading a 20-year-old, former top-ten pick is not the type of thing sound organizations do, especially when that player might be on the verge of a turnaround.

It's a relatively small sample size that's been affected by who he's been on the floor with, but since Mike Miller has brought some stability to the team's play, the Knicks have been a better team with Knox on the court than with him off of it. Games like the one Knox had earlier in January when the Knicks defeated Miami - 17 points on eight shots, an an overall authoritative offensive performance - have been few and far between. But the fact that they exist at all can't go unnoticed.

Even last night, Knox gave the Knicks 17 minutes of sound, competent basketball that included a dozen points on just eight attempts.

"Sound" and "competent," of course, don't equate to a player of Russell's caliber - nowhere close, in fact. For all of D'Angelo's flaws, even the biggest Knox fan would be hard pressed to say that he'll ever approach an All-Star level, something Russell has already done.

But he would certainly be part of a larger package - something more than a throw in, but also not the centerpiece of any deal. Based on Knox's play, that's about all the value he's derived, last night's good game aside.

That's what makes his name being included in talks to frustrating to some fans. The front office that drafted him has preached patience and process for two years now. They promised that players who wanted to be here and that put in the work would thrive, aided by an organization that could improve their game and their stock. 

Knox, for all his struggles, has been a hard worker, putting in extra work before and after games. He's also been a good kid off the court by all indications. That his struggles have continued into his sophomore season while playing ten fewer minutes per game should not come as a shock to anyone (and if anything, his continued positivity in the face of struggle is perhaps the mild surprise.)

What exactly has changed - other than the job security of the men who drafted him - is a question every Knick fan should be asking themselves with the trade deadline now just two days away. How those men approach this deadline could have wide-reaching ramifications, not just for Knox, but for the long term future of this franchise.

This season is already a lost cause. The next two days may determine just how long the bleeding lasts.

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Jonathan Macri
JONATHAN MACRI

Jonathan Macri is the co-founder of Knicks Film School, host of the KFS Podcast and also writes for the Step Back. He is a recovering attorney and currently teaches in Brooklyn. 

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