You look at Sixers, Suns, Lakers, Kings, Magic. These teams are in the lottery every of the last few years, tanking as much as they can in most cases. The Knicks on the other hand were royally screwed with the pre-Phil Jackson era of poor trades with sending out draft picks. We lost two draft picks in the process of these last 4 drafts. Yet, here we are stacking up pretty ok against these complete tank projects.
Lets define real lottery level talent. Players who in a re-draft would still go in the lottery, top 10 to be more precise. Players that are first or second all rookie team caliber for their draft class.
Re-draft 2013-14 class
Giannis
Gobert
CJ
Porter
Shroedor
Oladipo
Noel
Hardaway
We have 8th best player (arguably).
Re-draft 2015-16 class
Towns
Jokic
Porzingis
Booker
Turner
Russell
We have the third best player from this draft class.
Re-draft the 2016-17 class
Embiid
Brongdon
Ingram
Brown
Hield
Saric
Dunn
Hernangomez
Murray
Willy's about in the 8-10 range for this class
Now for this most recent draft lets add Simmons, since he is coming over as a rookie now. A little early to judge, so lets go by draft order plus adding Simmons
Simmons
Fultz
Ball
Tatum
Jackson
Fox
Isaac
Lauri
Smith (lets assume Dennis has proven he deserved to be drafted higher even though it's waaay early)
Ntilikina
So where we stand
Porzingis - 3rd best player of his class
Hardaway - 8th best player of his class
Willy - 8th best player of his class
Ntilikina - 10th pick type of projection
Like I said quietly, despite not having lost two draft picks in 4 years, we have been able to stock up on young talent that would be ranked very well amongst the draft class they entered the league with. I would argue for value, Porzingis (our best player) would only be second to Towns on the trade front. Say what you want about the dysfunction, the poor job Phil/Mills or whomever does, we have quietly put together 4 pieces that would make a good foundation for a re-build. Doesn't mean you win championships with these players in a year or two, but this is what re-building is all about.
Knicks need to be patient and keep drafting well. Lets see how Frank plays. I hope he shows why we picked him at 8. 7 foot wingspan, NBA level athleticims, 6'5 point guards do not grow on trees. He has a rare blend of talent, lets see if he can show why we drafted him. Youngest player in the league next year.