SPANISH HARLEM – We are a couple weeks away from the start of the NBA season and it’s time to start discussing the New York Knicks‘ potential for this season. That starts with looking at certain players that are on the roster to determine if they can improve and how that will affect the overall win total. Let’s start with 3 players I have my eye on.
Quentin Grimes
Grimes has provided good defense and shooting from the outside the last two seasons. Your prototypical 3-and-D, and exactly the type of player needed for more spacing in this offense. The flow and ball movement are better when he starts games – even though Josh Hart started over him in the playoffs. He is capable of more, as evident by his games in the Summer League. But it’s time to show that versatility in the big leagues. The more he can add to his offense game, the more deadly and important he will become for the Knicks.
Immanuel Quickley
Probably my favorite Knick to watch, other than Jalen Brunson. He was snubbed for the 6th Man Award and showed his valuable by being out on the court to close out games. He is an electric outside shooter and brings some much energy on the defense side. He is already an important cog in their system and gotten better at driving and scoring around basket. That only added to his value. You want that 3-point percentage to hover over the 40% mark and if he can do that, he will get the money and contract extension he wants.
RJ Barrett
Barrett is on this list because he is one of the guys that Tom Thibodeau has marked as a player that will fill in for power forward when Julius Randle gets a breather. It won’t be a lot of minutes, as Randle plays a ton of minutes, but it will be interesting to see what impact this will have on Barrett and the offense.
With more shooters on floor, Barrett will have more opportunities to do what he does best and that is drive to the basket. Sure, I want to see him become a better shooter from 3, but with the second unit, you may see a player that is more willing to score than he is with Brunson and Randle on the court. The question is: How long is Thibs willing to go with that lineup if he doesn’t see immediate results?
That’s it for now, come back tomorrow for more with Jackson Sternberg. Drop a comment below on the Knicks or anything else going on in sports.
