The draft is finally here! Congratulations to the
Cleveland Cavs and their fans. The NBA felt so bad for LeBron leaving to take
his talents to South Beach that the NBA decided to award number one
pick for the 3rd time since that moment. You have the
number one pick!! Maybe the rules should be changed, so that the same
team can’t keep winning the draft lottery. I’m sure a fan of the Timberwolves
or the Kings would agree. They’ve never won the
lottery, even though it seems like they’ve had losing seasons for the past
century. But with Joel Embiid’s foot injury, it will be interesting to see what
the Cavs decide to do with the 1st pick.
This draft in particular is exciting because it is
considered the best draft since 2003, a draft that included LeBron James,
Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, and Carmelo Anthony. Like the 2003 draft, I believe
that there are at least four players (Jabari Parker, Andrew Wiggins, Joel
Embiid, and Dante Exum) in this year’s draft that will be perennial all stars.
Don’t forget about potential studs like Julius Randle, Aaron Gordon, and Gary
Harris. People will be talking about this draft class as one of the
greatest drafts in NBA history.
The draft can be the most exciting part of the
offseason, especially when it’s a loaded draft like this one. As a lifelong
Knicks fan, I remember in 2007 watching a terrible Knicks team,
praying that they would somehow get Derrick Rose in the draft. So if you’re a
fan of a lottery team, don’t panic! There is a good chance that your team will
land a blue-chip player in this year’s draft.
… Except if you’re a Knicks fan!
That’s right, after watching Raymond Felton have
one of the worst starting point guard seasons I have ever seen, after watching
Melo score 30 points a night, while leading the league in minutes, and still
lose on a nightly basis, and after watching Mike Woodson make
comical coaching errors, the Knicks won’t have a first round draft pick
this year to show for it.
Thanks to the Carmelo Anthony trade in 2011, the
Knicks had to give up this year’s draft pick. That’s right, the Knicks
gave up a draft pick in, a loaded draft, for a guy who might not even resign
with the team this offseason.
Yesterday, the Knicks traded Tyson Chandler and
Raymond Felton, to Dallas for Jose Calderon, Shane Larkin, Wayne Ellington,
Samuel Dalembert, and two 2nd round picks (34,51), so they will have
some draft picks after all. They’ll undoubtedly try to use those two picks move
up in the draft.
Knicks fans, including myself are always anxious
during the draft. One of the best parts of the draft, is seeing how Knicks fans
react to whomever the Knicks pick. The Knicks have had some success
in the draft, Patrick Ewing, Willis Reed, and Walt Frazier became Knick
legends.
But ever since David Stern rigged the draft so
the Knicks can select Patrick Ewing with the 1st in 1985 the
Knicks drafted Ewing in 1985, the Knicks have also had so many draft blunders,
one could argue that they have been one of, if not the worst NBA team when it
comes to the draft.
Don’t believe me? Well take a look at some these
draft choices in Knicks history. If you’re a Knicks fan reading this, don’t
cry. Just remember, we have Phil Jackson managing basketball operations for the
first time in his career and a rookie head coach in Derek Fisher, so everything
is going to be okay.
6. The 2009 NBA Draft
The Knicks badly wanted Stephen Curry, and
Stephen Curry wanted to play in the Garden. It was going to be a perfect match,
the Knicks badly needed a point guard, and Chris Freakin Duhon was the starting
point guard that year. Unfortunately, the Warriors selected Curry with
the 8th pick (one spot before the Knicks could grab him). Instead of
taking a point guard (Jeff Teague, Brandon Jennings, Jrue Holiday, Ty Lawson),
the Knicks decided to take Jordan Hill. Jordan Hill wouldn’t even last
one season, as he (and Jared Jeffries) was traded to the Rockets for the Tracy
McGrady. Five years later, the Knicks still don’t have
good point guard. Newly acquired Jose Calderon is a decent pickup at best, but
at least they won’t have to deal with this
guy anymore.
5. The 1986 Draft
In the 1986 draft, the Knicks took Kenny “Sky”
Walker with the 5th pick, way ahead of guys like Dennis Rodman, Mark
Price and Arvydas Sabonis. Walker would only average 7.7 points per game in
five seasons with the Knicks. Hey, at least he won the dunk contest in 1989
right? Rodman and Sabonis became hall of famers, and Price became one of the
greatest shooters in NBA history.
Then after the Suns took Jeff Hornacek with the 46th
pick, the Knicks drafted Michael Jackson 13 picks ahead of Drazen Petrovic. No,
not the Michael Jackson, who told Billie Jean “The kid is not my son”, I mean
Michael Jackson, the point guard out of Georgetown. Michael Jackson never
played a game for the Knicks… too bad; we never got to see him do the moonwalk
at the Garden.
4. 2006 NBA Draft
For all of Isiah Thomas’ faults as a GM (and
believe me, there are plenty), he was always known as a great talent evaluator.
After all, he drafted T-Mac with the 9th pick in the ‘97 draft,
Damon Stoudamire with the 7th pick in the ‘95 draft, and David Lee
30th in the 2005 draft. But in 2006, Isiah Thomas capped off
one of the worst seasons in franchise history by selecting Renaldo Balkman with
the 20th pick, just one pick ahead of Rajon Rondo. Don’t confuse him
with Rolando Blackman, you know, the guy that Pat Riley said he should have put
in during game 7 of the ’94 finals instead of watching John Starks shoot them
out of a championship. Renaldo Balkman averaged less than 4 points per
game in two stints with the Knicks, while Rajon Rondo became one of the premier
point guards in the league before tearing his ACL. And who could ever
forget about this.
3. 2002 NBA Draft
After missing the playoffs for the first time since
1987, the Knicks found themselves back in the draft lottery. The Knicks
drafted Nene with the 7th pick, but then traded him (along with
Marcus Camby and Mark Jackson) to the Nuggets for Antonio McDyess, the 25th
pick, which turned out to be Frank Williams, and the 30th pick in
2003, which turned out to be Maciej Lampe. Williams and Lampe were busts ,
playing a combined six seasons in the league. Of course, the Knicks could have
just kept Nene, or drafted Amare Stoudamire, instead of overpaying him 8 years
later. But in typical Knicks fashion, they decided to trade for a guy in McDyess
who had just came off a serious knee injury. Of course, McDyess got
injured in a preseason game, and miss the entire 2002-2003 season.
McDyess ended up part of the trade that brought Stephon Marbury to the Knicks,
which set the Knicks back for another 5 years.
2. 2003 NBA Draft
In one of the greatest drafts in NBA history, the
Knicks had the 9th pick. The Knicks had so much success in
drafting one big man from Georgetown named Patrick Ewing; they decided to draft
another big man from Georgetown in Michael Sweetney , even though they already
had a crowded frontcourt. Ok, so maybe that wasn’t the exact reason that
they decided to draft him, but I wouldn’t put it past the Knicks for thinking
that way. They could have drafted guys like David West, Boris Diaw, who was the
x-factor of the 2014 NBA Finals; hell Josh Howard would have been a better
pick. Sweetney only played four seasons in the NBA, averaging less than 7
points per game.
In 1999, the Knicks had one of the most memorable seasons in franchise history. They were the first 8th seed to reach the NBA finals, before losing to the Spurs in 5 games. Who knows what would have happened if Ewing was able to play during that series. But that same year, the Knicks also had arguably the worst draft pick in franchise history, drafting Frederic Weis with the 15th pick. The Knicks could have drafted hometown hero, Ron Artest, but they decided to draft a soft big man who got posturized by Vince Carter. Weis never even played a game in the NBA, while Ron Artest…I mean Metta World Peace, became one of the premier perimeter defenders of the NBA.
Perhaps the Knicks realize that they have had so many miscues in the draft, they decided to just trade future picks. Ever since the McDyess trade in 2002, it seems like they are almost obsessed with trading future picks for marginal players. For example:
· In 2010, the Knicks traded a future pick (2012) to the Rockets for Tracy Mcgrady. It freed up cap space, for the outstanding 2010 free agent class. Instead of LeBron, the Knicks signed Amare and Raymond Felton, two players the Knicks can’t even give away for free right now.
· In 2013, the Knicks traded a future pick (2016) to the Raptors, for Andrea Bargnani. That’s right, the Knicks traded a future pick for a guy Toronto was trying to give away. Andrea Bargnani is known as a shooter, yet only shot 27.8% from 3 this year. He only played 42 games, missing the last 40 games with an elbow injury because he believed he could fly.
The Knicks almost traded their 2018 first rounder
for Kyle Lowry, but decided against it because they finally realized that
giving up future draft picks may be a bad idea, especially when you’re not
competing for a championship. Lowry is a good player, but the Knicks weren’t
winning anything with him. Ok, lets not fool ourselves; the Knicks
probably didn’t want to deal with Masai Ujiri again.
At some point, the Knicks have to start doing
better when it comes to the draft. Maybe one day, they’ll act like
a responsible team. Just like maybe one day, Dr. Dre will release “Detox”. Between
the draft miscues, poor management, Charles Smith’s inability to go up strong
for a goddamn
layup, and John Starks’ 2/18 performance in game 7, it’s no wonder
the Knicks haven’t won a title in 40 years.
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