New York Knicks Could Go Any Direction at the 2015 NBA Draft
The New York Knicks may not have walked out of the NBA draft lottery with a top-three pick, but they did end up with a nice consolation prize: power. With many needs and plenty of potential directions to go in, the team's selection with the No. 4 overall pick could have a domino effect on the rest of the draft.
The Knicks finished the regular season at 17-65, the second-worst record in the NBA and the most abysmal in franchise history. Making matters worse, tough lottery luck will likely force the club to miss out on this year's top big men, Karl-Anthony Towns of Kentucky and Duke's Jahlil Okafor.
Barring something unforeseen, Towns, Okafor and Ohio State's D'Angelo Russell will likely be the first three names called on June 25. That leaves the Knicks with a number of intriguing options and even more questions.
Do they take arguably the best player available in point guard Emmanuel Mudiay? How about fixing the 28th-ranked defense with an intimidating big man such as Kentucky's Willie Cauley-Stein or finding Carmelo Anthony a running mate in Duke's Justise Winslow?
Those are just some of the players who could be in consideration, assuming the team doesn't trade the pick, as Yahoo Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski suggested on Twitter in May. With the 31-year-old Anthony being the club's only star, a move down to pick up more assets or out to acquire proven talent has some merit.
No matter what the Knicks opt to do, team president Phil Jackson said in April he wants to make sure to leave the Barclays Center with someone who will be around for the long haul, per Chris Herring of the Wall Street Journal: "The reality is, we'd like to grow a star through this system that'll be here for 15 years and a career."
The lottery threw a wrench in the Knicks' draft hopes. Now, the team holds all of the cards and is in position to do the same thing to those picking below them.
The Four Favorites
If the Knicks opt to go chalk, residents of the Big Apple might want to learn the correct pronunciation of the name "Mudiay," as he is listed as the fourth-best prospect in this year's class by DraftExpress.
The 19-year-old played in just 12 games for the Guangdong Southern Tigers in China after suffering an ankle injury early in the season but managed to average 18 points, 6.2 rebounds and 5.9 assists in 31.5 minutes per game, according to RealGM.
Those numbers should be taken with a slight grain of salt, though, considering former NBA journeyman forward Shavlik Randolph averaged 32 points and 14.4 boards in the same league during 2012-13.
Mudiay brings elite size to the point guard position at 6'5", 200 pounds, and his possible selection would allow the draft to fall in line with what many mocks are projecting.
However, in his latest mock, Sports Illustrated's Chris Mannix reported the Knicks have their eyes on four particular players: Mudiay, Winslow, Cauley-Stein and Latvian forward Kristaps Porzingis, with the final being Mannix's prediction to end up playing in Madison Square Garden.
While fans may not be as familiar with Porzingis as they are with the other three players, it wouldn't be a complete shock if the Knicks picked him at No. 4. In May, NBA.com's Scott Howard-Cooper wrote about the sweet-shooting big man potentially going in the top three.
While Porzingis has plenty of talent, he's a project, which could be a problem in a city that isn't known for its patience. We all remember Knicks fans serenading Danilo Gallinari with boos in 2008, right? Or how about Kostas Papanikolaou in 2012?
As for Cauley-Stein, his offensive limitations limit the ceiling of one of the draft's best defensive big men. However, B/R's resident Knicks guru Dan Favale believes Willie Trill should be the man for NYC:
"Still, with no consensus pick at No. 4, and with the Knicks in need of an interior presence not named Cole Aldrich, Cauley-Stein appears to be very much in play. And while his inclusion in this conversation is painted as a reach—even, at one time, by yours truly—he's quickly becoming one of the safest possible options.
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Lastly, there's Winslow, who has drawn comparisons to everyone from James Harden to Kawhi Leonard. After working out with the Knicks on June 9, the Duke forward is believed to be "in play," according to ESPN.com's Ian Begley.
Any of the four favorites would fill a need in New York, but the lack of certainty surrounding the selection should have the rest of the draft waiting with bated breath.
Thinking Outside the Box
Mudiay, Porzingis, Cauley-Stein and Winslow aren't the only players who have been linked to the Knicks.
Other names include Murray State's Cameron Payne, Kentucky's Trey Lyles and Wisconsin's Frank Kaminsky. Payne is coming off a productive sophomore campaign with the Racers, averaging 20.2 points and six assists per contest. His player efficiency rating (PER) of 30.1 ranked 12th in the nation, according to Sports-Reference.com.
Payne is projected to go somewhere between the late lottery and the mid-first round, with Bleacher Report's Jonathan Wasserman picking him to land with the Phoenix Suns at No. 13 and USA Today's Derek Bodner forecasting he'll fall to the Milwaukee Bucks at No. 17.
According to Begley, Payne is on the Knicks' radar: "League sources with knowledge of the team's thinking say the Knicks are doing more than their due diligence by working out Payne; they are 'serious' about considering him in the draft, those sources say."
Meanwhile, Frank Isola of the New York Daily News reports New York has eyes on a Kentucky big man not named Towns or Cauley-Stein: "While Towns and Willie Cauley-Stein have garnered the most attention, the Knicks for months have been enamored with Trey Lyles, according to a team source. Lyles is a 6'10" forward out of Indianapolis who Phil Jackson sees as a good fit for the triangle offense."
While splitting time with Towns and Cauley-Stein, Lyles contributed 8.7 points and 5.2 boards in 23.1 minutes. However, his per-40-minutes numbers suggest he could've been more productive in a larger role, with a stat line of 15.1 points and 9.8 rebounds. Lyles also allowed just 86.3 points per 100 possessions, according to Sports-Reference.com.
The club is also scheduled to meet with Kaminsky, the reigning Naismith College Player of the Year, sometime next week, per Marc Berman of the New York Post. Frank the Tank filled up the stat sheet during his senior year with the Badgers, averaging 18.8 points and 8.2 rebounds. He also shot 54.7 percent from the field, including 41.6 percent from three, per Sports-Reference.com.
Most likely, the Knicks would trade down to select one of these three men, but you can never rule out a curveball on draft night. Every year, there is a surprise, whether it is Hasheem Thabeet going ahead of Harden in 2009 or Nerlens Noel falling to No. 6 in 2013.
The New York Knicks aren't strangers to the pressure of draft night, as the NBA's selection process has routinely taken place in the team's backyard. However, after not being in control of much all year, New York will punctuate the worst season in franchise history by holding all of the cards on draft night.
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