Midseason Report Card for New York Knicks Rookie Cleanthony Early

In a season where bright spots have been few and far between, the New York Knicks hope rookie Cleanthony Early can establish himself as a quality young role player before it's all over.

Despite only being a second-round pick, expectations were high for Early, with many thinking he could have been taken in the first round or that he was at least an NBA-ready prospect after his four full years of college.

Early was particularly prolific as a scorer in his final year at Wichita State, averaging 24 points per 40 minutes while shooting over 48 percent from the floor, leading to hopes that he could provide some explosive offense off the bench.

As it turns out, Early hasn't had much of an opportunity to prove himself so far. During the early stages of the season—before the Knicks were truly tanking—Early sat on the bench most of the time, but he surprisingly needed knee surgery in mid-November just as soon as he started to get regular minutes.

Since his return in January, Early has looked promising, averaging 12.2 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.9 steals per 36 minutes in six games. Unfortunately, Early has been out again with an ankle injury since January 10 and still has work to do in terms of conditioning, as he told Marc Berman of the New York Post:

"

My body feels fine as far as moving. I got to continue to get my conditioning up. I didn’t get a chance to practice or get any contact before I got thrown in there. So each game is conditioning, getting my wind back and getting a feel for the game.

"

With a sample size of just 13 games, it's difficult to make any real judgments of Early. He hasn't had much of a chance to develop a rhythm, which explains his fairly weak 38 percent shooting clip from the floor.

There have been a pair of big nights for Early in the form of 12-point and 16-point outings against the Brooklyn Nets and Houston Rockets, respectively, which showcased his athleticism and clear talent as a scorer when given ample time to perform.

At this point in his career, it's hard to make short-term or long-term projections for Early, but with Iman Shumpert gone and Tim Hardaway Jr. struggling to build on his rookie year, he still remains one of the most serious prospects on the team. That much is clear simply from Early's contract—as Berman notes, second-rounders can be signed for just one year at the minimum, but the Knicks showed enough faith to sign him for two instead.

Giving Early an accurate grade isn't possible at this stage, but it is important to note that he has looked more comfortable in January, in large part due to averaging 23 minutes per game, as opposed to the 7.8 minutes a night he was given before his knee surgery.

As Derek Fisher notes, Early has a "tremendous amount of potential," and hopefully we'll see more of it as the season progresses. The Knicks appear fully committed to playing their youth in the wake of their current record, so Early should be able to make up for lost time with some significant minutes once he's fully healthy again.