as a casual watcher of college ball, i do not now the players in and out like most of you. but i browsed through some of the prospects for the second round and there were a few names that caught my eye: ricky paulding, darius rice, david harrison and herve lamizana. do any of you know how good these cats are? can they solve some of our problems ( height, athleticism, houston replacement, etc.)?

i've seen Lamizana play some games last year for Rutgers & i think he would make a good addition to the Knicks...he has good shotblocking instincts & good athleticism...not very polished offensive game, & sometimes loses intensity on the D, but when he wants it, he brings some nice intangibles, altering opponents' shots, rebounding, defending, etc.

i think he can become a shorter version of Sam Dalembert w/the right developing & coaching.

I like the guy from Xavier... Sato. You could easily get the Spurs #1 for our #2 and cash as they need the cap space (remember unsigned draftees count against your cap) to resign Ginobili and Turko (Gino is early Bird so they need the space).

i have a hard time believeing harrison will drop below 1st round. this draft sure has the most C prospects that i can remeber in a long time and we NEED 1. harrison is a legit 7-0 270 athletic with good post moves who can block shots--not the best rebounder but he should be able to improve. if this guy is anywhere near the end of the draft, i would try to do what it takes within reason to move up
laminzana reminds me of ansu sesay who plays for seattle. kind of a skinny tweener with good length and skills but is like a jack of all trades and a master of none. were kind of set in the SF type position or should i say i dont think there is a a major need there since we already are investing in demarr who is close to what lamizana is but Demarr has more of a defined game. if we have 2 picks its not a bad decision. with only 1 pick or if we do have 2 and we can trade up for a late 1 i would say our number 1 bet is to try and go after a guy like harrison if he is indeed available that late. there are some other interesting c that i have just read about but havent seen. But if we can get Harrison that late in the draft i would have to say thats the best way to go by far. in a draft void euros and HS kids this is a sure fire lottery pick. If you miss on a late one going big so be it, but the risk reward is off the charts.

on another note, Ivan Chiriaev (19 year old 7 foot tall SG from Russia who played for a Canadian HS team this year) has withdrawn from the draft so he can go play in Europe & develop his game some more...that makes him an undrafted FA & he will be free to negotiate w/any NBA team once his Euro contract expires...i'd had my eye on this kid for a few months now...seems his initial hype took a hit after his disappointing showing in front of NBA scouts in the Canadian HS allstar game.