The New York Knicks traded, arguably, the worst draft pick in their history to Houston for the son of Patrick Ewing.
The younger version looks just like his dad but lacks the skills of his father. He has great athleticism, but lacks the intangibles to become a major contributor in the NBA. He will probably get cut after training camp.
But for just a couple weeks, it will be nice to see a No. 33 Ewing jersey running up and down the floor at the Garden.
You would think the son of a legend could fetch a price. In this case, the Rockets landed a goldfish in a sea of bass. They get Ewing’s contract off the books and will obviously have nothing to worry about in terms of Fredric Weis coming across the ocean to mess up their plan. Tracy McGrady has enough posters of his own.
For the Knicks front office, it is a switch of philosophy. They actually made a move for the fans. They traded away a mistake instead of bringing one in.
Weis was the middle man in a six-year run of draft failure for the Knicks which ultimately was a huge factor in their collapse since the turn of the century.
The Knicks drafted 12 players during that time. The only one to make an impact scored nine points and four rebounds a game in his best season.
1996
The Knicks had three first round picks at No. 18, 19, and 21. A great draft here could have created the next great core of players in New York. Instead, they took John Wallace, Walter McCarty, and Dontae’ Jones.
Cleveland had the 20th pick in that draft. They took Zydrunas Ilgauskas. Vancouver had the 22nd pick. They took Roy Rodgers. The Lakers had the 24th pick. They took a small PG out of Arkansas-Little Rock. Enter Derek Fisher.
Notes
Milwaukee traded the rights to Stephon Marbury to the Timberwolves for Ray Allen. Also, Charlotte traded the draft rights to Kobe Bryant to the Lakers for Vlade Divac. If that trade never happens, the Hornets might still be in Charlotte today.
1997
The Knicks had the 25th pick in that draft. They took John Thomas. He is best known for being called while working in an office to help the Nets in the playoffs. Utah picked two spots later. They grabbed Jacque Vaughn.
Notes
This marked the beginning of the Tim Duncan dynasty.
1998
The Knicks had a couple of second round choices this time. They took DeMarco Johnson and Sean Marks. At least Marks is still in the league. He is the only one of the 12 picks that is still on a roster. The pick after Johnson: Rafer Alston. Two picks later: Cuttino Mobley.
Notes
10 comments Last one added 10 months ago — Leave a Comment
Chris Colman 10 months ago
What about Danilo Gallinari, he has a lot of potential but he could turn out to be like Andrea Bargnani which wouldn't be that great.
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chase ruttig 10 months ago
Danilo will be a decent, maybe great NBA player. You can't decide on the future of European players to early, as they need some time to develop into the NBA game. I see Andrea and Danilo leading the Italian invasion in the NBA
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Harris Beringer 10 months ago
They are nothing alike. Bargnani is being asked to play out of position, and was not nearly as proven in Italy. Bargnani is more of a Darko than a Gallinari.
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Michael Wagner 10 months ago
Junior will be given every opportunity to make the Knicks. Good press for a crap team
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David Cohen 10 months ago
Very true. Hope I'm wrong on that. It would be nice for the kid if he could somehow turn into a Renaldo Balkman type and crack the team.
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Joe G 10 months ago
Good analysis, I really enjoyed it.
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David Cohen 10 months ago
thanks man.
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Cool Clyde 10 months ago
"He will probably get cut after training camp."
wtf do you know? total conjecture on your part.
who's to say Donnie Darko won't be making deals left and right
before season starts, there's dead weight on this Knick team
(ie: Jerome James) who probably won't be here come October.
Donnie was targeting Ewing as a late first rounder or 2nd round pick
and almost made a deal for him. As it is, Junior is a freebie, a stroke
of genius on Walsh's part.
Anything that Junior can bring to the table will be a welcome addition,
we're talking defense, hustle, and everything that made Balkmania
a Garden fave. Knicks fans are going to go crazy anytime Junior does
something well, you don't just let a famly intangible like that get away.
I BET JUNIOR MAKES THE SQUAD!
back to smoking under the bleacher's for you.
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Paul Nuzzi 10 months ago
I don't think Junior gets cut, but I would think he spends most of the year in the D-League.(Let him make an appearance at the home opener, then get him out there so he can keep working on his shot) That is the difference between Jr. and Balkman. Balkman was inneligable to go to the D-League b/c he is entering his 3rd yr.
No doubt it is a great little pick up, but would hurt PR wise if he got cut, while keeping James on the roster. I would cut Malik Rose if need be since he won't be kept at the end of this season. We don't want to trade Malik to another team for a guy making 7 mill for the next 5 years anyway do we?
I was feelin pretty annoyed that the Knicks were without a 2nd round pic this year(b/c Zeke gave it away for that Syracuse kid who he then had to cut) This was a nice piece, even if it may take 1 million away from the summer of 2010 cap.
My gut feelin is that Roberson and Jr get a lot of D-League time. Roberson needs to learn to run a team I've read and with Duhon, Crawford and Robinson, with Richardson likely to play some shooting guard too, Roberson is not likely to see tons of time.
As far as a Zach for Darko trade. I would be tempted to take it b/c of the cap flexibility, and the possibility that Darko could be a nice simple back up center. Also, Curry's psychi likely won't enjoy coming off the bench. I would hope that Curry's benching's last year may have triggered a wakeup call as far as rebounding, and maybe defending a little better. You don't have to block shots to be a good defensive center. Bill Laimbeer had a negative verticle, but used good positioning to take charges, and smarts to push post scorers away from their favorite spots. At least taking a page from the Charles Oakley play book and learning to take a charge would be helpful to this team.
All that said, I think Walsh will wait, watch Randolph excel in the D'Antoni offense, and hope to get more at the trade deadline. This offer may still be on the table then, and if nothing else looks good, he takes it.
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Dave Winters 10 months ago
Great Article dude.
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