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NBA Rookie Rankings: What’s Luka Doncic’s biggest weakness?

By Rucker Haringey

DALLAS, TEXAS - JANUARY 07: Luka Doncic #77 of the Dallas Mavericks during a game against the Los Angeles Lakers at American Airlines Center on January 07, 2019 in Dallas, Texas. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
DALLAS, TEXAS - JANUARY 07: Luka Doncic #77 of the Dallas Mavericks during a game against the Los Angeles Lakers at American Airlines Center on January 07, 2019 in Dallas, Texas. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images) /
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We’ve talked a lot about what makes this class of NBA rookies special, but now it’s time to look at what improvements these guys need to make.

Typically, we use this space to sing the praises of rookies around the NBA. Some weeks we talk about the top five overall, while other weeks we choose to focus on a specific set of superlative skills. None of that is true this week. Instead, we’re going to focus on what each of the top five rookies needs to improve if they want to take their game to the next level.

Before some of you get out your social media pitchforks, remember this is inherently a critical piece. Each of the five guys we’re evaluating is, in our humble opinion, among the top five rookies in a very good class. That means we are criticizing players we acknowledge are already very good NBA players.

Rookies are never perfect though and these stars are no exceptions. Each guy on this list has quite a few things to work on, but we’re going to focus on the biggest challenges for each guy moving forward. We’ll start with a forward who’s been a shining light in an ugly start to the Knicks season.

5. Kevin Knox: Rebounding

Knox has been on a tear for David Fizdale’s team lately. He was justifiably awarded the Eastern Conference Rookie of the Year Award for his play during December. Averaging a tick over 17 points a game for a team without a ton of quality offensive options will garner you a lot of praise.

Unfortunately, he only managed six rebounds per game during the same stretch. That’s an improvement over how he started the season, but there’s still a ton of work to be done. There’s no reason a 6-foot-9 forward shouldn’t be at least an adequate rebounder. His defensive rebound rate of 13.7 percent is bad. According to Cleaning The Glass, he ranks in the 26th percentile for defensive rebound rate among forwards.

We aren’t asking Knox to become Dennis Rodman, but he needs to spend some real time working to become an average rebounder for a big man. His future is the Big Apple is as a small ball four alongside Kristaps Porzingis. That doesn’t relieve him of his responsibilities on the glass. The Knicks want to run, but securing the rebound is the first step in increasing tempo.

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