Knicks are picking at 24. No need to waste a pick reaching on a guy like Erick Green.

I dont think Shane Larkin will be available at 24. Pierre Jackson is a decent prospect but the guy is way too small.

Knicks need talent in general.

blkexec wrote:Felton was our break down PG....And you see how he was most value player all season, along with Pablo. We need a mixed breed of Felton and Pablo. Somebody to break down the defense, pass first vision, with an outside jumper.

Sounds like that guy Canaan fits the system. I say we buy a second pick and select the best player available, after we select Canaan, assuming he's on the board.

If we don't add a break down your man player, then we will have the same ISO stagnant offense with Melo and JR.

This player can not be a volume shooter like Melo and JR. Can't have too many players on the same team that needs to hold the ball in order to score.

Man, if only I was 20 yrs younger, I'm exactly what the knicks need. It's frustrating to watch....Shouldn't be so hard to find a role player like that. A younger Pablo type!

The kids i'm looking at are actually a good blend of Felton/Prigs with even more speed and scoring ability while still being able to make the pass. Felton has no court visioin and is only OK at being a breakdown PG. He's more of a guy that needs a Pick to consistently get into the paint and then he's not as deadly a drive and kick guy as i'd like. Felton also isn't as skilled as a kid like Green who already has all the shots in his bag including floaters etc.

NYY1NYK2 wrote:The knicks havent had a fast pg since.......drum roll.....Starbury
duhon,douglas,felton,kidd, priggs

None of these guys are fast....so the offense doesnt run....we walk it up,chuck it up. or walk it up and watch melo

At least you didn't say since Jere...

Nah, I'm not going there! PSYCHE!

nixluva wrote:One thing that really bothered me is that we didn't have a really game changing PG. Speed, Breakdown ability, great jumper, floaters. I want a dynamic scoring PG for this team to take the pressure off the need to always go with either a Melo/JR ISo or a stand still 3. We just didn't get enough from Felton in this regard so it would've helped if we had a PG to come in and give us that punch. It's the kind of effect that Nate had for the Bulls.

I'm hoping for a kid like Erick Green, Shane Larkin or Pierre Jackson type. I'm tired of this team being old and slow at PG. Not being able to get into the teeth of a defense and disrupt what they want to do. The drive and kick game has been missing and really with our 3pt shooting it would make it a priority for our PG's to get into the paint and suck the defense in.

I loved the PG IQ of Kidd and Prigs, but we really needed some raw speed at times. To be honest if I was the GM i'd be trying to get 2 more picks cuz this draft is deep with really solid role players. They're the cheapest way to add talent. A speedy PG, 2 way Swingman and a 2 way Center. No more 1 way players, since we lead the league in that category.

Great post as always, Nix.

Couldn't agree more -- address this PG situation already (gimmie as many break-you-down PGs as you can find -- if we decide to go with 3 PGs again next year, give me 2 additional breakdown points to go along with Ray -- when Ray sits, I want another breakdown PG inserted right away into the mix to keep optimum pressure on the opponent at all times)... And while you're at it, Glen -- address ALL of our needs this offseason, and leave no stone unturned in your search for solutions! The goal should be to field a team next year that's younger, more complete, more dynamic and chock full of viable 2-way players. I'm telling you all, it can be done!!!

I'll take this whole conversation a step further -- I'm all for adding quality cheap talent to the fold....Grunwald really has no choice in my estimation -- we don't have the cap room to add the high-priced household names (or even the middle-of-the-road FAs) -- and even if we did, I'm not convinced that throwing money at marginally better talent is the way to go in the NBA anyway. We've gotten burned on that in the past so many times I can't even count anymore. I say keep it simple and concentrate on adding some young/dynamic league-minimum talent to the mix...I'd definitely explore adding some bargain-bin types -- and there's a slew of these guys out there, I'd say a good 3-5 guys at each position/each area of need: speedy/uptempo PGs; scoring 2s; 2-way athletic wings (good call, I agree totally); scoring forwards; rebounding bigs and a more complete 5-man...It's all out there if we want it. I've talked about specific players ad nauseum over the last week alone... There's a ton of very promising talent out there that's not in the league NOT because they're not good enough, but because there's simply no room for them all! Each team only has 15-man rosters to work with, that's it. And not only that -- there are also PLENTY of very promising players out there that talent evaluators simple miss the boat on year after year imo. And once you get typecast as a player with this weakness or that weakness that isn't 'NBA material' it's very hard to shake that label, no matter how well you play in the DL/overseas, etc. I don't believe in bad labels or stigmatisms -- I believe in keeping and open mind and what my head and my own eyes tell me....We're in the unique position of being a pretty good team yet we're over-the-cap and low on draft picks year after year now. It's pretty hard to go the traditional route of adding talent under these conditions. So what do we do?? Do nothing and roll with the weaknesses or address them by ANY MEANS NECESSARY? You guys know my answer...We will actually have a good 5-6 roster spots open to add players, maybe more. Fill those spots!! Make it happen. As good as Chris Copeland was -- and he was damn good for us -- there's countless other players out there that ARE MUCH BETTER than Copeland that we could add for similar discount money. That's a fact. Guys at every damn postion even. Find 'em & add 'em!!!

Bottom line is I'm gonna be devastated if we go into next season with the same old story -- older players, one-dimensional players and the same shortcomings and if the answer is just "we don't have the cap room and we've been low on draft picks." That stock answer is not acceptable to me...It's BS.. I want all of these weaknesses identified and addressed. If you ask me, the best way to go about doing this is to go the Jeremy Lin/Chris Copeland bargain-bin route. What other alternatives do we have where we could address every weakness on this team all at once?

Example -- I completely agree we need more speed/penetration at the point to go along with Felton. Say we go in a different direction at 24, though, and go big or non-point guard. Then what? Nothing changes. The need is still there! Next step is to get into that 2nd round by any means necessary and grab a guy like Pierre Jackson...And if we can't do that, no problem -- step 3: go get the best undrafted and/or bargain-bin point guard out there and bring him in for SL for evaluation in our system preferably and go from there. For me, 2 quality PG options that fit the mold of what we're talking about here are Michael Loyd Jr. and Curtis Jerrells. And that's just tip of the iceberg...Start there and then systematically go position by position, addressing every weakness in sight. Our Summer league squad should be chock full of promising talent 1-13 -- all guys worthy of making the team. Not our draft pick, maybe one or 2 other promising players and that's it. Take the process super serious this summer!!!

Michael Loyd Jr.

Curtis Jerrells

nykshaknbake wrote:Felton has the speed but poor court vision. Whatever we do, we can't trot out the 2 PG set we had last season. We need Shump to lock down the other teams 1 or 2 and we need Stat at the 4 so we have some more size and rebounding up front. Larkin sounds ideal. WHen is he expected to go? Would love to move up to get him.

Larkin will likely be gone. There are other guards tho that have the needed game we're looking for. In fact I think it would be impossible not to find a young quick guard in this draft if you really want one. IMO Gruny has to get another pick or 2 cuz this draft has plenty of solid talent. We don't need a superstar, so this is a PERFECT Knick draft class. These kids are cheap and talented enough to contribute right away. There's no excuse for this team being old and slow at PG next year!!!

knicks1248 wrote:Isaiah Thomas from sac, maybe we can pry him away..I like that kid better then little NATE Dogg.

avg 14 points and 4ast off the bench, he's young has a 1yr exp good kid, probably a pipe dream though..

Is it age and attitude or is it his game that you like better? Numbers wise Nate is better. Nate per 36 numbers are slightly better at 18/6/3. If the Knicks could get Thomas it would be awesome though. Most drafts have Sac taking Burke so you never know.

IF Nate can keep up his 30% assist rate that he has the last couple of years he would be a great get.

Vmart wrote:I don't know how the Knicks will do it but the player that can get the Knicks everything is Monta Ellis. Ellis' game has a lot of Parker in him. He is a high percentage shooter and has a great ability to shoot and penetrate. He is a decent passer too. People kill Ellis for the wrong reasons, he has played on a lot of weak teams.

Yea I said the same things with my sons about looking to get Ellis. He's the kind of guard i'm talking about for sure. We just can't keep going along with Melo as the only real threat and no real speed or scoring from our PG spot. We have to be able to keep the pressure on teams defensively and breakdown guards really make it tough on defenses.

How 'bout Patrick Beverley? The Lakers drafted this kid a couple of years ago I believe but he never stuck -- went over to Europe, honed his skills, reappears in Houston this year and does a great job for them...People out in Houston wanted to see that kid play over Lin eventually. Can you imagine that, after all the money they paid Lin?? Crazy but I can see where people were coming from a little...That kid Beverley earned it..

There's guys out there man -

Durand Scott - He's got the size and handle to penetrate & go get his own shot. He's also got decent size at 6'4" and he plays defense...Not a pure point (none of these guys on this post are really) but that's OK -- we tried to shoehorn Toney Douglas in at PG a few years ago and it didn't really work, though I applaud the Knicks for trying -- I think we could have better luck attempting the same thing again with this kid.. He's flat out bigger and a much better talent than TD across the board. I hope we keep this dude in mind with either a deep extra pick we can come up with somehow (we don't even need cash to come up with a pick in the 50-60 range -- get creative) or for summer league if he goes undrafted.

Terrico White - ditto Scott pretty much. This guy's even bigger than Scott at 6'5". We could get this kid for nothing and he'd immediately up the talent level in the backcourt significantly. He's more of a combo but has PG skills -- he can get the ball up court, he can handle, he can penetrate, he can score the ball and he can get others involved. There's real value here.

Randy Culpepper - I know what some of you will say -- too reckless and out of control, right? Gotta look past that label. Look at the athleticism and talent. It's through the roof, always has been. Then think about our current situation again (over the cap, low amount of draft picks year after year recently, limited avenues to get better/younger and up the talent level, etc)...Focus on the positives a kid like this would bring to the table...The discipline just has never been there. Things change, man. People mature and become wiser...Bottom line is he'd get our primary guys like Melo and STAT (if he can even stay on the court next year) the ball WHILE ALSO supplying a legit scoring threat in moments of need. Melo's screaming for additional scoring anyway and I agree with him. This kid can even play defense. Great ball hawk/ball thief wherever he's played..

Josh Selby - ditto all 3 of the above players.

If we want breakdown-ability guards that can continually get right into the teeth of that defense and make plays either for themselves or others, these 4 all fit the bill and for an over-the-cap team like ourselves, they're all fully attainable. These are the guys we should be thinking about and looking at. How are we getting Monta Ellis?!?