There are some New York Knicks fans who have already given up on small forward Kevin Knox. His college coach John Calipari, however, is urging both the fans and management to remain patient with the youngster.

The Knicks drafted Knox with the ninth overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft. He averaged 12.8 points during his rookie season, but the swingman was only putting up 6.4 markers before the 2019-20 season was suspended due to the coronavirus.

However, despite Knox's struggles as a sophomore in the NBA, Calipari is basically telling the Knicks not to trade him.

“No one is going to work harder. He's one of the great kids of all time, from a great family. It's going to take time,” John Calipari said, via SNY TV.

“What you don't want to do — and teams have done this in that league — they give up on a young, young player too soon. And now all of a sudden, the guy comes back and they look and the whole thing in New York will be, ‘Well what if we had him? We gave him away. We should have held on longer. Why did we do that?'

“Young guys take longer to develop, especially when they're big. And guys with his size and his skill, the game is going to him. In other words, if you're long, if you're lanky, if you're a basketball player, if you can shoot it — shooting has become a premium in the NBA.”

Kevin Knox shot just 37.0 percent from the field for the Knicks during his rookie season. That percentage dropped to 35.9 this season, unfortunately.

If the Knicks are going to become a winner again, they need someone to lead the charge. Is it going to be Knox, RJ Barrett or Mitchell Robinson? Those are the three key young players the team has on their roster. One of them is going to have to grow up quicker than expected and become the alpha of the team.

New York had a record of 21-45 before the season was suspended. The 2012-13 campaign was the last season the Knicks had a winning record and made the playoffs.