The Knicks enter the upcoming season with a roster filled with a mix of young players and veterans on one-year deals. It remains to be seen how the roster shakes out but one of those youngsters, Kevin Knox, is excited about how early practices have gone.
Speaking at a recent event, Knox praised the team’s current group and how competitive everyone has been, per Marc Berman of the New York Post.
“Very competitive practices so far,’’ Knox said. “You can tell all the guys are hungry and looking forward to training camp. A lot of guys have been impressive. You can tell a lot of guys have been working on their games all summer. I watched a lot those guys playing on TV last year. Everyone’s game has gotten a lot better. I can’t wait to get to training camp and jell together.”
Knox mentioned that head coach David Fizdale has said that no starting spots are locked up at this point in time. Thus, competitive battles for playing time figure to persist.
Check out more notes on the New York squads:
- While the Knicks didn’t land a superstar free agent, Knox noted that seeing their crosstown rival Nets do so is adding fuel to the team’s fire, writes Newsday’s Steve Popper. “You’ve got people always saying the Knicks and the Nets,” Knox said. “Of course they got two superstars. That’s just fuel to the fire for us. Like [Fizdale] told us all in a group message, put your head down and just go out and play hard for one another. That’s kind of been our motto this whole summer.”
- With training camps approaching, there are plenty of questions about how the Knicks will handle their aforementioned roster. The Athletic’s Mike Vorkunov examines seven burning questions on the upcoming season, including the development of the team’s young players.
- The Nets‘ G League affiliate, the Long Island Nets, announced a series of staff hires for the team, per a press release.
The talk about giving otherwise inferior young players big minutes for development made much more sense last season when there were no players who would otherwise start on a competitive team as an alternative. The kids will develop in practice from off the bench. Look at Christian Pulisic who is an unused sub and is still considered developing and valuable. link to espn.com
Kevin ‘A Lot of Guys’ Knox.
Reading the “burning questions” link…
“Ntilikina was the lone young Knick to not get free reign last season despite the franchise devoting itself to sifting through the roster to figure out who was worth keeping. That he didn’t was either an indictment of short-sightedness or an indication that he is not good enough yet to even get minutes during a lost season. Both things could also be true. ”
Shades of Chouinard & DXC.
Maybe Knicks mgmt. knew they would have this year to green-light Frank and so didn’t bother last year? That sounds like planning, but, they have not yet made a decision on his extension and it is due soon, which does not sound like planning. It’s not like there are negotiations involved… it’s a unilateral yes or no call.
When you draft such a young player you almost have to extend him, plus he had the good WC.
They could not extend, then bury him behind DSJ and Payton, who has sparkling assist numbers. Everyone said Elfrid Payton had to improve his 3pt shooting, but he found another way to stick.
Payton would really benefit from catch and shoot 3 options which is where the NYKs fall short. Ellington would be the exception but I can’t see him playing starters minutes at this point. The rotation at the 1 and 2 is wide open.