Kevin Knox is rounding into form

Observe Kevin Knox for anything more than a few moments and you’ll catch him slyly grinning, enjoying his NBA responsibilities. On this particular evening, Knox is preparing for a game against the Portland Trail Blazers. In between shots, with his wrist arced and dangling in the air, he exchanges quips with New York Knicks assistant coach Jud Buechler, who rhythmically feeds him passes.

Before settling into the locker room and watching bits of the College Football Playoff National Championship on an iPhone — the television is occupied with film of this evening’s opponent — Knox sits next to Buechler on the sideline, a computer resting on the coach’s lap — a video session with the former NBA veteran. There are long periods of quiet. No grin, no emotion, just absorption of the lesson and occasional head nod to signal comprehension. Then, the arena molds to a symphony hall; Knox and Buechler’s hands are gesturing through the air, how to make this read and that cut, hammering down nuances.

“Every day is a learning experience for him,” Knicks head coach David Fizdale says. “We just keep trying to get him to get a little bit better.”

Recently, Knox has many more reasons to smile about his on-court endeavors. Over the past 14 games, his averages have swelled to 17.1 points and 5.5 rebounds — up from 12.1 and 4.2 for the year. He assigns that growth to newfound aggressiveness, attacking the paint more often and getting to the foul line.

Fizdale, though, sees a more relaxed rookie, playing instinctively and wielding confidence. Rather than predetermine actions, Knox is letting the game come to him. Quietly, he is emerging as a knockdown 3-point shooter, converting 31 of 82 (37.8 percent) in this stretch. That clip is not the product of just a corner specialist — on above the break long balls, Knox is 23 of 62 (37.1 percent).

Early on this year, those shots weren’t falling and he connected on just 24 of his first 74 career 3-pointers (32.4 percent). So, heeding the advice of veterans Tim Hardaway Jr., Courtney Lee and Lance Thomas, the Kentucky product made the practice facility a sanctuary.

“They just said stay in the gym, just keep working. Everyone’s gonna go through little bumps and bruises here and there in the league,” Knox says. “But you just try to fight back, be able to get back in the gym, stay in the gym. And that’s what I did, I just stayed the course.”

Specifically, it has been Lee who pushes him frequently. For months now, the duo engages in shooting matches during practice. Lee, opting for tough love, long held the crown.

“I told him ‘whenever you beat me, that’s when you know you’re a good shooter.’ So, he worked and practiced and kept at it,” says Lee, a career 38.9 percent 3-point shooter. “Then, he started putting his work in on his own after practice and then it translated to the game. You could see that his confidence grew.”

Throughout these struggles, Knox’s shoulders never stooped in frustration, his demeanor was static, the shooter’s mentality always present. A jovial atmosphere between teammates disguised Lee’s larger goals — stoke the understudy’s competitive flames and manufacture game-oriented shots. Each day, Knox left the gym with a loss and returned the next, eager for another opportunity, itching to improve by way of repetition and amiable trash talk.

And while the shooting has translated in tangible ways, both Knox and Fizdale are witnessing defensive growth separate from games. He is more active as a rebounder, jostling for boards inside, and pursues blocks.

Gradually, the requisite awareness to be an effective weak-side defender is downloading onto his personal hard drive, regularly a challenging system to process for first-year guys. The key, as Fizdale described, is balancing the whereabouts of both man and ball at any instance. Again, Lee is in Knox’s ear, searching for ways to tap into the defensive upside of a nimble 6-foot-9 forward with a 6-foot-11 wingspan.

“He has all the tools, it’s just early on, just not understanding the NBA game and how they call the games, like certain things you can get away with, other things you can’t,” Lee says. “It just took him a while to understand all that on both ends of the court.”

Against certain opponents, Lee, Hardaway and Thomas provide intel on Knox’s match-ups, sourced from experiences. They detail player tendencies and how to approach the battle, delivering the intended value of rostering longstanding professionals on a team prioritizing development ahead of wins.

“Off the court, they’ve given me little pointers here and there,” Knox says. “They been through it, championship teams, playoff teams, so they know what it takes to get to that level, so that’s what I’ve been listening to.”

Routine stands as a light bulb, illuminating the path toward comfort among new surroundings for the former Floridian and Tampa Catholic alumnus. Every single day, consistency organizes his schedule — the same workout, training regimen and treatment at the trainer’s table. They ensure that NBA life does not engulf him in chaos or variance.

Now in the rearview mirror, New York’s six-game road trip roughly coincided with Knox’s rise. At every pitstop — Milwaukee, Utah, Denver, Los Angeles, Portland and Oakland — opposing media throngs awaited his arrival. For a team largely short on intrigue to outside viewers this season, his evolution is a prominent storyline.

On Monday, he cycled through two separate interviews in a 15-minute window before the game, removing his AirPods both times, craning his neck up to each reporter and dutifully obliging. During the second one, 7-foot-1 Mitchell Robinson strolled over, phone in hand, camera rolling, documenting and gleefully smirking at the fellow rookie’s star power. Back home, the conglomerate of New York City media greets him at practices, shootarounds and games.

“I’m doing really well so far, handling media really well,” Knox says. “That’s the one thing big thing, coming in as a rookie, is the media. The veterans have really helped me out a lot with that.”

Reasons for pessimism and optimism circle around Knox. Even with the recent hot streak beyond the arc, he is posting a 47.8 true shooting percentage, third-worst among 116 players taking 10-plus shots per game in 2018-19. He has a negative assist-to-turnover ratio. Is there enough shot diversity beyond long-range looks? Internally, the Knicks see a 6-foot-9 lottery pick who has an outside jumper in the toolbelt, bounds up and down the floor with fluid athleticism and is blossoming defensively.

That skillset, from Lee’s vantage point, is enough to suggest Knox can potentially become the next high-rise structure parked along New York’s horizon.

“It’s still early, he’s still developing his game. He has a lot of room for improvement,” Lee says. “I don’t wanna put a ceiling on it … If he keeps growing, keeps getting better on the court, working on his body, the sky’s the limit.”