Is the Knicks' Goal Of Internal Growth Working?

By: Luca Gajovich-Protich

Despite making the playoffs for the second time in three years, the New York Knicks decided to retain most of their roster with one or two outside moves to improve the team. Right now, the Knicks stand as the sixth-best team in the Eastern Conference with an 8-5 record.

In the offseason, the Knicks decided to trade away young power forward Obi Toppin to the Indiana Pacers for future draft picks to the dismay of their fans. The front office replaced Obi Toppin with a smaller combo guard in Donte DiVincenzo, who has thrived with the Knicks’ second unit. DiVincenzo brings better defensive acumen with his ability to get steals and deflections as well as better and more consistent shooting on the offensive side of the ball. 

I’m gonna look at two players who are the most pivotal to this Knicks’ season in hopes of internal growth and how they’ve done this far into the season.

RJ Barrett

Coming off a good stretch run in last year’s playoffs, RJ Barrett has so far played the best basketball of his five-year NBA career, while dealing with a sore knee and migraine issues. Barrett came under a lot of scrutiny last year for his inconsistent play despite being the third overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft. It seems that Barrett worked harder in the gym over the offseason and his play has shown through the eye test that he’s turned a new leaf.

To start, Barrett’s biggest issue offensively was his efficiency. Last season, he shot 43 percent from the field and 31 percent from beyond the arc, both of which are below average for the NBA. In the advanced metrics, Barrett recorded a true-shooting percentage of 53 percent, five points below average, and an effective field goal percentage of 48.5 percent, six points below average. This year, the percentages have been better.

This season, Barrett is shooting nearly 47 percent from the field and from beyond the arc. The perimeter shooting will come back down to earth but a hot start like this should make his final numbers better than any season he’s had before. In the advanced metrics, Barrett is recording a true-shooting percentage of nearly 60 percent, which is three percentage points better than the league average. He is also recording an effective field goal percentage of 55 percent, which is one percentage point above the league average.

From the eye test, Barrett is making better decisions with the basketball and his efficiency growth has proven that. His improvement in three-point shooting is a result of fixing the mechanics of his shot. Barrett has also added a mid-range shot to his arsenal, which has made him less predictable offensively. 

Barrett’s newfound unpredictability is a result of him improving his ability to drive with his off-hand and using shot fakes with a newly-added floater, resulting in a field goal percentage of nearly 65 percent between zero and three feet. He no longer shies away from contact at the basket and is now hitting a career-high 84 percent of his free throws. 

Barrett’s better decision-making offensively is also making its rounds in his passing, as his assist percentage has climbed to 15.2 percent, resulting in 3.1 assists per game.

The Knicks are 11.5 points better and 19.1 per 100 possessions with Barrett on the floor and his box plus-minus registers at 3.4. 

RJ Barrett’s growth offensively should have him in the All-Star conversation come February, if he continues to improve. 

Immanuel Quickley

Despite being shortchanged for Sixth Man of the Year in 2023-23, Immanuel Quickley is just another Knicks player who continues to progress. It seems as though the failed contract negotiations between him and the Knicks organization have expedited Quickley to take his game to even newer heights.

For starters, Quickley is averaging a career-high 15.5 points per game off the bench on 11.7 attempts per game. He’s also shooting the ball at good marks, 46 percent from the field and nearly 37 percent from beyond the arc on 5.2 attempts per game. If not for the basic stats, his true shooting mark at 59.1 percent is two points above the league average. He’s also recording a 54.3 percent effective field goal percentage which is right around the league average.

It's been a common misconception among fans that Quickley is too inefficient and sometimes too hot or cold as a “microwave scorer”. That conclusion would be drawn just based on the simple stats and not the advanced metrics that tell a different story. Quickley’s advanced shooting metrics in the past have been close to the league average, but this year has been a step further. 

In his last six games, Quickley has scored double-digit points in four of those contests with figures of 27, 20, 17, and 19 points. 

Quickley’s improvement in his efficiency is a result of better shot selection on the offensive end. His shot diet continues to expand as his development has come a long way from just taking threes and floaters in the paint.

Going back to his rookie season, Quickley’s percentage of field goals taken beyond the arc averaged around 52.2 percent, being more than half of his shots. Most of the other 47.8 percent of his shots were taken from 3-10 feet where he would drop those floaters. Nowadays, you don’t see the floater as often.

So far this season, Quickley’s percentage of field goals taken beyond the arc stands at 44.7 percent which means more than half of his attempts are inside the arc, but the totals are split very nicely. He’s taken 12.5 percent of his shots from 0-3 feet, 21 percent of his shots from 3-10 feet, 15 percent of his shots from 10-16 feet, and 6.6 percent of his shots from 16 feet to the three-point line. Another Knicks player who has become less predictable on offense as he’s also averaging 5.1 points in the paint per game. 

Immanuel Quickley is also averaging his highest assist mark of his career, recording 3.6 assists per game. His assist percentage ranks in the 65th percentile, per Cleaning the Glass. According to CraftedNBA, Quickley’s passer rating of 5.5 ranks amongst the 73rd percentile in the NBA. 

His defense continues to astound as he’s averaging a career-high in Defensive Plus-Minus at 0.8. CraftedNBA’s tool for Defensive Plus-Minus ranks Quickley in the 76th percentile. Quickley is averaging a career-high in defensive win shares at 2.3. He’s not a player who is going to average a lot of steals or deflections but still makes his presence known with his positioning and discipline. 

With the way that Quickley’s season is going, the Knicks will have to outbid other teams for his services (at a hefty price) next offseason. Or, he could very well be at the forefront of a package that brings in a star player to NY.

Has The Knicks' Goal of Internal Improvement Been Successful?

Despite making little moves in the offseason, the Knicks’ goal of internal improvement with the youth has worked thus far. RJ Barrett is on his way to being an All-Star and Immanuel Quickley is not only re-entering himself in the Sixth Man of the Year conversation but raising his value for his next contract. Those were two players who needed to have big years. 

There were two young players I excluded from this article. That being Mitchell Robinson and Quentin Grimes.

Mitchell Robinson is likely going to be here for the long haul and was recently re-signed to a new contract last offseason. Robinson already asserted himself as one of the NBA’s top rebounding and defensive centers last season, especially in the Knicks’ first-round matchup versus the Cleveland Cavaliers. 

Despite the Knicks holding back Quentin Grimes from being the final piece in a Donovan Mitchell trade, I don’t think he’s here for the long haul. Grimes has been consistent defensively but there have been times on offense where he is hesitant to shoot and drive to the basket. He’s also been inconsistent as a shooter which is prompting Knicks fans to call for his demotion to come off the bench in favor of Donte DiVincenzo. 

If things bode right for the Knicks this season, the foundation will be set and a trade could be made for a superstar.