TripleThreat wrote:

VCoug wrote: The problem with falling all the way to 8th is we won't have the chance to draft a clean prospect; they've all get red flags.

This is a very very very fair point. Every prospect that will fall to potentially 8th will have pluses or minuses to their game.

Let me try to spin this a different way.

"Limitations" Vs "Red Flags"

If you push 150 percent, train as hard as you can, get all the coaching help you can find, try to maximize your game at every opportunity, but you are just not fast enough, not tall enough, not athletic enough, to me, this is a "limitation" in your game. It's not that you don't care/don't try, it's just that you can work forever and you will just inevitably hit some kind of ceiling or have some part of your game that is a negative trade off.

If you just don't give a F**k, to me, that's a "red flag"

If your team mates hate you, that's a red flag.

If you refuse to do the things you know you should do to help your team win, but you'd rather serve your own interests, that's a red flag.

If you won't be accountable for your actions and behavior, that's a red flag.

I can't speak for anyone else here, I can understand and live with a player who is just too damn slow. Or just too damn short. Or simply cannot outwork a God given limitation in his game.

But I REFUSE to accept anyone who puts on that beloved Knicks jersey, and decides he just doesn't give a F**k. It's not that he can't, it's that he won't. To put on that jersey should be an HONOR. It should be mean dignity and represent the right way to play this game. It should mean teamwork and sacrifice and commitment to winning above all else.

If Dennis Smith Jr puts on a Knicks jersey, it's an open statement that putting it on should mean nothing. It should have no value, no honor. Because the guy just doesn't care. People thought the Jazz were a bit insane for trading off Deron Williams. But despite the talent, the guy just did not care about anything but himself.

To rebuild a franchise, first you must rebuild it's sense of dignity. Players who don't care don't serve that goal or end. Win or lose, play the game the right way. Win or lose, fill this roster with guys committed to playing the game the right way. I swear to God, if the Knicks just do that, just commit to that, the winning part will eventually take care of itself.

From what I can perceive of Phil, Gaines and the Knicks Front Office they will not draft a player with poor character or a lack of drive. It's too important of a pick to choose a player that lacks heart and conviction. I believe Phil wants winning players. Young men that have the right make up. Whoever they end up taking it will be because they are confident that player has what it takes not just talent wise but the right mentality as well.