Updates on NY's Young PGs and the Sixth Installment of "The Top 75 Knicks Of All Time"

In 1969-70, starting shooting guard Dick Barnett averaged 14.9 points per game in the regular season and bumped that up to 16.9 points in the playoffs. He scored 21 points in Game 7 of the NBA Finals.

Rokas Jokubaitis, who was named the EuroLeague's Rising Star Trophy winner earlier this month, indicated he would likely stay in Spain for at least more season. 

Jokubaitis' squad, FC Barcelona, was eliminated from postseason competition via a 86-83 loss to Real Madrid last Thursday in their Euroleague's Final Four matchup. Rokas was a non-factor in the contest, picking up three early fouls, limiting him to ten minutes of total playing time. 

However, the youngster still finished the 2021-22 campaign with impressive overall numbers, including wildly efficient production on the offensive end. Thus, many Knicks fans were hoping he'd come over to the states to compete for NY's vacant PG spot next season. Yet, those fans got some unwelcome news via an interview with BasketNews.

"It's very likely that I'll stay in Barcelona for one more year," Jokubaitis said.

This is not overly surprising, considering that Rokas said earlier this season that he would prefer to stay in Spain and get consistent playing time if he was unlikely to land a spot in the Knicks rotation.

The Post reported last week that "despite his progress… the Knicks are heavily leaning toward letting him stay in Spain for next season. That would give the 21-year-old Lithuanian another year to polish his game and get stronger. In addition, the Knicks also may have cap space in 2023 with all their expiring contracts, giving them flexibility to offer him more than the $1 million minimum for second-round picks. If they signed Jokubaitis this summer, the Knicks would have to eat into their $10 million mid-level exception to give Jokubaitis more than the league's minimum wage. And because of the expiring contracts to players such as Alec Burks and Derrick Rose, the 2023-24 roster will have more room."

When asked about winning the Rising Star award, Jokubaitis told BasketNews, "It's true that all those individual awards bring attention over there. I think [Knicks] people seeing me winning the Rising Star award gives them more excitement than just simple highlights from the games. This award won't make things worse, that's for sure."

The BasketNews story also includes some encouraging quotes from Brandon Davies, who starred collegiately at Brigham Young University and had a cup of coffee in the NBA (playing for the Sixers and Nets) before heading overseas. "It's no surprise to me," Davies stated when asked about Jokubaitis' progress. "When I was at Zalgiris, Rokas was one of the hardest working people out there. He worked on his game every single day. What stood out for me is that he's like a sponge – he's trying to learn from everyone. So it's not a surprise he's turning into the player he is today," added Davies.

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Miles "Deuce" McBride, the other point guard the Knicks selected in the second round of the 2021 draft, spoke with SNY's Ian Begley Saturday at the Court Of Dreams Foundation fundraiser at Horace Mann high school in the Bronx.