New York Knicks Midseason Grades By Position: Small Forward

Mindaugas Kuzminskas is a rookie in the NBA but has plenty of experience playing basketball. He is 27-years old and came to the NBA with seven years of experience in Europe. While he has been in and out of the rotation adapting to the NBA game, Kuzminskas has really come on as of late.

Kuzminskas has been praised for his improvements defensively. He is learning the NBA game and coaches and analysts have taken notice. He ranks 46th out of 80 small forwards in defensive RPM according to ESPN. The Knicks are also 1.0 defensive rating better with him on the court. With his improvements defensively he has begun seeing more minutes from Jeff Hornacek and making the most of them.

Kuzminskas is fearless offensively with a diverse game. He can shoot it from deep but also has a knack getting to the basket. He has a 57.2 true shooting percentage, knocking down 36.6 percent of his three-pointers and 45.1 percent of his shots overall. Kuzminskas could give the Knicks a scoring punch with the second unit if truly given a chance.

While he doesn’t add much to the stat sheet outside of points, Kuzminskas is carving out a role with the team. He is a good complement to Carmelo Anthony in small-ball lineups as he can stretch the floor and has shown improvement defensively.

Expect Kuzminskas’ minutes to rise as the season goes on as he provides good minutes. New York is 1.0 net rating better with him on the court than off.