KP has talent to be a top 10 player in the league but is still far from putting all together. At worst KP is a great 3rd option who can stretch the floor and play 5/4. He needs to work on his post game and his defensive strength in post up situations. The floor for KP is what he is doing right now 18/7/2 as a 3rd option. I'm interested to see what he would do as the #1 usage player.

Who we draft is based on where we are. Yes we need a point badly, but you draft best talent available. We may not be able to draft a top 3 PG. If so a 3 or 2 is fine with me. Talent is talent.

We also have some other relatively young athletic in prime pieces I like.

OQuinn - 26 really solid backup big
Holiday - 26 really good backup wing
Kuz - 27 I like this guy he reminds me of Vlade Radmanovic

As vets I like Noah and Lee. Both have good personalities and intangibles. I also like Thomas as a vet. Good attitude and 2-way player.

This would be my team next year

Willy-OQuinn-Noah
KP-Thomas
Young defensive Starting 3-Kuzminskas
Holiday-Lee
Young pass first starting 1-Veteran Steady smart backup 1

I like our 5, 4 and 2 spots. I like Melo, but at 33 he is making so much money and not able to carrry the team anywhere good. We should spread the wealth as depth of the team with a Melo trade. Use free agency to help get some talent as well.

I see us as a competitive .500 type of team next year if we make some solid good moves this summer despite trading Melo and letting Rose walk.

yellowboy90 wrote:Strength and defensive improvement will be the key to KPs and Wllly's (momma spelled it WIlly, Imoma spell it Willy) futures. If Willy can improves as a defender it will help keep him on the floor with KP otherwise they will need to bring in an athletic big that has the ability to defend both big positions so that he can play alongside KP and Willy. Also, even if Willy improves it might still be best to bring him off the bench so the knicks will have a scoring punch while KP rests. I think Willy will become someone you can run the offense through because of his low post ability but most of all he is a passer. Yes, Willy and KP can still play together and close games together but it might be best to keep the seperated to start games. It just depends.

As much as I like Willy, and I can see him becoming a starter on a good team, I'm not sure that would stop me from drafting Lauri Markkanen in this year's draft. I know we need a point guard, but just imagine...

smackeddog wrote:Heralded as a god by the board in his rookie season, blasted for not improving his second year

Is he really being blasted or is that something that you saw Frank Isola post?

EnySpree wrote:

smackeddog wrote:Heralded as a god by the board in his rookie season, blasted for not improving his second year

Is he really being blasted or is that something that you saw Frank Isola post?

Er, it's not his second year yet

Knixkik wrote:I see him becoming a 15/10 guy. A good starter but not a star. KP will get to star level with time. If we find the right PG for these guys, we will rebuild very quickly.

Willy doesn't have the elite hops but he's good at everything else and I suspect he'll refine his shooting and become a very good player for this team. Willy has already improved his defense and rim protection from the start of the year to now. His confidence level is up. He has to learn how much force he needs to play with at this level. Sometimes I think he gets surprised by the physicality of bigs but overall he can match up well already.

Just look at what he's been doing already in his rookie year. He's getting better with the increased minutes.

SPLITS	        GP	MPG	FG%	RPG	APG	BLKPG	STPG	PFPG	PPG
Last 10 Games	10	25.7	.549	9.9	2.3	1.1	0.9	2.8	11.4
February	9	25.1	.571	9.4	2.1	1.2	1.0	2.7	11.0

BigRedDog wrote:

EnySpree wrote:Both KP and Willy arera locked in at the 4-5 for us.... Ron Baker might even be a guy we can look too as a rotation player and possibly a starter at the 2. This draft week bring us at least one more potential starter at the 1, 3 or 2 spot. I believe Melo will fetch another young player if he's traded. We gotta really grasp the fact we are building this thing from the ground floor. This is the way it's gotta be the next two off seasons at least

Baker sucks( maybe a 12th man) and if he is ever a starter on this team then count us in for another lottery

He can be a solid rotation player with his ability to play both guard positions but i never see him as a starter. We have 2 starting caliber players right now in the young core of Willy and KP.

Nalod wrote:Willy is 22. Kid has great passing instincts and moves well without the ball.
What a great pick!!!!!

An interesting side note, with Embiid expected to miss significant time, does Willy have a legit shot at rookie of the year, assuming his minutes increase for the rest of the season? There are very few options. It's one of the worst rookie classes ever. Embiid, while a rookie, is already 23 years old and the only one really putting up numbers. And for all of his potential, it is really looking like injuries could hold him back from playing full seasons.