Dear Donnie Walsh,
The New York Knicks are bad. Beyond bad actually. The last thing we need is for you to select a player that turns out to be a bust. People will always remember that first player you pick when you enter into a new organization. The player that you select this June, will be your stamp on the franchise (hopefully).
Luckily for you, there are many capable players in this draft and a bunch of them actually have "star" potential that every executive in the NBA salivates for. So let me do you a favor by giving you some tips and ideas on who you should pick and who you should really (and I mean really) stay away from. The Knicks are currently stated to get the 5th pick in the draft, so I will give you some suggestions on who is projected to be available.
Pick Me!
1. DeAndre Jordan - He is a freshman, 7 footer who has some game changing athleticism.Yes, he didn't really live up to the hype following him to Texas A&M but he has the potential to be a franchise center someday. I would compare him to an Andrew Bynum type of player although he has the frame to add on some weight to maybe even become a Dwight Howard player.
The only drawback to his game would be that he has very little to no experience but look at the mistake Isiah Thomas made in the 2005 NBA Draft by taking Channing Frye (a more polished player at the time) over Andrew Bynum. Andrew Bynum is now a game changing center in the league with a ton of potential while Channing Frye is on the bench in Portland and is labeled "soft" by many players in the League.
If you're thinking about rebuilding (which I think is the right thing to do) then why not build your team with a potential franchise center?
2. Jerryd Bayless - He is also a freshman from Arizona listed at 6-3. Although I didn't have much opportunities to watch him play (because of all the Duke games that seem to be on every weekend) when I actually did see him play, he reminded me of Jay Williams from Duke and also a young Gilbert Arenas. I wouldn't really say that he's a point guard, but hes a basketball player. In the NBA now, it doesn't really matter what position you play or how tall you are.
If you can play basketball, you're going to find a way to win. Jerryd Bayless scored at will against a very elite Pac-10 this year as only a freshman and has the ability to average 20+ in the NBA for many years to come. Although he doesn't have the pass first mentality required in a point guard, that doesn't make him a selfish player though. He is very explosive off the dribble and has some great fundamentals. Even though he didn't have the hype of OJ Mayo in high school, he clearly outplayed OJ in college.
Don't pick me!
1. OJ Mayo - Don't get me wrong people, he has NBA ready game and fame but I just don't see him as a winner. He had a very capable team at USC but barely made it into the NCAA tournament. Wasn't he supposed to lead them deep into the NCAA tournament? Anyway, he reminds me a lot of Stephon Marbury. Yes, the can both play basketball, but not the type of basketball that gives you W's. He will rack up points, assists, and also even rebounds. But the assists that he racks up aren't because he is looking to get his teammates involved.
I call these assists, "fake assists". Also he doesn't really play defense well and although he is a freshman he is a year older than Jerryd Bayless and I wonder if he has much potential left in him to become an elite player at the next level. Even though he is athletic, he doesn't have elite athleticism that would enable him to become a star at the next level. There are also rumors that he didn't really get a long with a lot of his teammates and his teammates were angered by the numerous bad shots he would take (sound familiar Knicks fans?) Stay away from him Donnie!
2. ANY FOREIGN PLAYER IN THE DRAFT THIS YEAR!!! I just don't feel like ther are any elite foreign players in this draft this year, so don't waste any picks on them. I used to be in favor of Nicolas Batum of France, a 6-8 shooting guard, but he hasn't improved much from last year so that raises a few red flags to me. Look at Andrea Bargnani of Toronto.
He was drafted #1 overall with all the hype surrounding him and he's not even a consistent starter for Toronto. I just feel like there are so many college players available this year that it's a too big of a risk to draft a foreign player so high this year.
Well that's it for now, I didn't want to make it too long for you guys to read! I hope you had fun reading my article and some suggestions and comments (bad or good) are welcome!
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3 months ago
bayless outplayed mayo? mayo doesn't play defense? do you even know what the heck you are talking about? Maybe you should write about something else, moron.
from 3 months ago
Most big games during the Pac-10 season, OJ suffered by taking bad shots and turning the ball over 4+ times a game. Don't call me crazy, but I would take Jerryd Bayless over OJ Mayo. But I'm not saying OJ is going to be a bust or anything, he's definitely going to be a great scorer but I just don't see him being a winner at the next level.
3 months ago
Not true. Frye is probably one of the players Walsh would have most likely preferred to be still on the Knicks and not having to contend with the immobility of Curry. Moreover, Bynum has had one good year and the flame has died down with the rise of his knee injury. Last I looked 94% of the fans surveyed in Portland, love the chemistry and team oriented mindset that Frye brings to their team (read the opposite of playerssuch as the Zach Randolph/Carmelo Anthony personna).
from 3 months ago
So you're telling me you would rather have a role player in Channing Frye (who doesn't really have a position really, is he a center? Is he a power forward? If he's a power forward, then where does David Lee go?) over a potential star player in Andrew Bynum? The reason why the "flame" died down was because of his injury. You can't expect the hype of a player to be ongoing when that player is injured for more than half the season. But having said that, I do agree that the Zach Randolph trade was a horrible one for the Knicks and a good one for the Blazers. I would definitely take Channing Frye over Zach Randolph but that wasn't the issue that I brought up in this article. What I mean is Andrew Bynum has so much more potential than Channing Frye and theres a reason why the Los Angeles Lakers rejected trades for Jermaine O'neal and Jason Kidd for this guy.
3 months ago
NO FOREIGN PLAYERS THAT ARE ANY GOOD?? Danilo Gallinari ring a bell? the guy is amazing!
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