Rookie Kevin Knox will make his Knicks debut July 7 at the Las Vegas summer league against the Hawks. Knox, 18, will either look like the next Kevin Durant or Jayson Tatum, depending which Kentucky coach you believe.

One week after John Calipari compared Knox to Tatum in predicting he will explode in the NBA after not doing so in college, Kentucky’s top assistant, Kenny Payne, went the Kevin Durant route.

Payne is an esteemed assistant who is close with Knicks executive Allan Houston after playing for his father at Louisville. Payne remembers Knox’s first day of college last year. Payne sat him in his office and showed him 45 minutes of Durant clips he arranged just for his new freshman.

Payne handed Knox the DVD and told him to watch the clips every night before bed — all 35 snippets.

“That’s the person he wants to emulate,” Payne told The Post. “So here’s what Durant does, and here is your package. Not that he’s Kevin Durant, but he can be in that vein. I told him this should be your staple of what you’re trying to get to. There may never be another Kevin Durant, but I told him there are things he does that are similar to you to take and learn from him. Because he’s ultra-talented and a ball of clay waiting for somebody to form him.

“This is a unique situation for the Knicks. You’re literally being handed a ball of clay that is so talented, and you can mold that clay into whatever you want it to be.”

Knicks general manager Scott Perry, moments after drafting Knox last Thursday, said extensive conversations were held with Calipari and Payne prior to the selection. Perry drafted Kentucky’s De’Aaron Fox for Sacramento last June after heavy input from Payne.

Payne said he spoke to Perry, Knicks president Steve Mills, director of player personnel Harold Ellis and Houston in the last couple of weeks.

During the Durant film session, Payne showed him the intangibles Durant brings “off the ball, what he does in the post, this is how he shoots with a quick-twitch release, look at his eyes, he never leaves the basketball no matter where he is, his off-ball isolation, never more than two dribbles from being at the basket.”

Knox’s high upside is ultimately why the Knicks chose the 6-foot-9 combo forward as the second-youngest player in the draft, edging Mikal Bridges in the team’s eyes with a late charge.

“The kid wants to be great,” Payne said. “The kid is very, very talented. The league is going to players like him.”

But Payne says Knox is “young for his age,” painting him as more of a doe-eyed kid than the street-smart recruit he usually chases. Knox’s father is former NFL receiver Kevin Knox Sr., who refused to let his son even think of getting a tattoo.

“He’s really young and not in a bad way,” Payne said. “He’s been sheltered, secluded with his family. They protected their kids. I’m not saying he’s a saint, but this kid has been protected.

“His idea of fun is video games, playing basketball and beating up on his little brother and sister. It’s not like most guys I recruit.’’

One concern is Knox being a deer caught in New York’s bright headlights. Other Knox knocks were inconsistency on defense and his poor player-efficiency analytics. His scoring average was decent (15.6 ppg) while shooting 44.5 percent and a modest 34.1 percent from the college 3-point line. He also committed 2.3 turnovers to 1.4 assists.

Payne said he has the tools to be a standout defensive player but fell for dekes.

“He has to understand his length,” Payne said. “When you’re long and athletic like he is, you have to use your length as your advantage. If a guy makes a living shooting over a guy 6-9, 30-plus-inch vertical and 7-something wingspan, that’s a hard way to make a living. He’s long. He has to learn to sit down in the stance, move his feet, don’t go for head fakes and don’t let the offensive player get in your body. His length is his saving grace. He has to learn all of that.”

It starts in Vegas, and Payne believes he’s in the perfect cradle, praising the Knicks’ new staff, including coach David Fizdale. Indeed, the Knicks are selling player development next season — not victories.

“They have mentors, men of character — Mills to Perry to Fizdale, who guys love playing for but is a disciplinarian,” Payne said.

“Houston, Craig Robinson, Harold Ellis. It’s one of the most unique staffs in all of basketball. You want young players to be around those type of men.”