Yes it's early but let's speculate a little bit. We 're probably picking under 10 this year and it's a good bet same next year. Based on where you want this knicks team to evolve into, ( not who is likely to be available at our slot), who is your top choice, bottom choice and why?
Top choice: Trae Young
Why: His defensive limitations can be somewhat offset by guys like Frank and a healthy KP. and he's a unique player that will force the opposition to defend him wherever he goes. The only way they are stopping him in college is by gang tackling him and even then he racks up the assists. If his shot is on, then that's great. If it's not, he is still drawing attention and he can usually get by most defenders, finish,get fouled or set up others. The knicks today are fairly static and easy to defend and we really lack ball handlers up and down the roster. I mean how many dribble hand-offs are we going to see this year? We have to get more movement to free up our shooters and that's what Trae will do. In all too short glimpses, you see trey burke doing it and i wish we'd see more of it. Even if Trae's number does not come up orange and blue, I still contend that we need to find more players with at least some of the skills he's brings to the table.
Bottom choice: Luka Doncic
Why: Sure he's great. And I know what's he's done at his age is unprecedented but I think his ceiling is not that high in the nba because of his overall lack of athleticism. I don't think he will be able to get by players or stop them as effectively as he did in Europe and his shot is not exactly automatic. That sounds a lot like Doug mcdermott with more passing flair but without the money 3 ball. We need more skilled athletes at all positions.
The reality is that both of these players probably won't be there when we choose so it will be one of the left over big guys from a group that has some intrigue but is neither a position of great need for us-- or in the league itself-- a penetrating PG like sexton or a flier on an emerging small forward like knox or either of the M. Bridges brothers...maybe Porter if the back news is a little fuzzy and he drops.
It's hard to get too excited or too disappointed about any of these secondary options right now. The analysis coming out of the nba teams is not really there yet. It's still all mock draft chatter. And even as we get closer and ready ourselves to hear all about length and upside , I hope this year we pay more attention to the heads on top of these young men's shoulders when we evaluate.
Donovan mitchell was one of those guys last year that was stuck behind the top tier of talented guards and even as he was taking off in workouts, it was still not enough to overcome some of the early season momentum that draft "gurus" had bestowed upon other players earlier in the year. What was emerging though was that he had a lot of competitive fire and that he had that drive to succeed and perhaps overcome some of that talent gap. That as of this writing, the consensus top pick from 2017 cannot even make free throws, in practice, and the guy drafted 12 spots behind him is tearing it up...now that does get me excited.
