The current Knicks front office has enjoyed some success recently while choosing in the latter part of the first round of the NBA draft, uncovering contributing rotation players Immanuel Quickley and Quentin Grimes with the 25th pick in consecutive years in 2020 and 2021.
The jettisoning of Obi Toppin to Indiana on Saturday, however, officially ends a string of three failed lottery picks in a four-year span, beginning with since-dispatched guard Frank Ntilikina in 2017 and forward Kevin Knox the following year.
RJ Barrett has been a solid player and model citizen as the third-overall pick out of Duke in 2019, especially when you consider the injury woes of college teammate Zion Williamson and the off-court issues Grizzlies superstar Ja Morant drafted ahead of him. Morant presently is facing a 25-game suspension to start the 2023-24 season after a social media video surfaced of him brandishing a firearm.
The Ntilikina selection, of course, was the parting gift to the organization by then-Knicks president Phil Jackson, as the eighth-overall selection out of France.
He notably was tabbed ahead of future All-Stars Donovan Mitchell (13th) and Bam Adebayo (14th), among others, largely because Jackson felt he would thrive within the triangle offense.
While the Zen Master was fired barely one week later, Ntilikina averaged 5.5 points and 2.7 assists in 211 games over four seasons with the Knicks before signing with the Mavericks as a free agent in 2021.
Knox was chosen by the Steve Mills-Scott Perry front office regime with the ninth-overall pick in 2018 out of Kentucky, with Mikal Bridges, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Miles Bridges and Michael Porter Jr. tabbed with four of the next five selections.
Knox also never got untracked in New York, averaging 8.2 points in 195 games (61 starts) over 3 ¹/₂ seasons before he was shipped along with a 2022 first-round pick (via Charlotte) to the Hawks in January of last year for Cam Reddish.
Barely one year later, the Knicks packaged Reddish with this year’s first-rounder to Portland for Josh Hart.
Ntilikina and Knox, who finished last season with the Trail Blazers, currently are free agents, while Reddish signed a two-year deal worth $4.6 million with the Lakers.
The Knicks at least made up for the Knox gaffe by grabbing starting center Mitchell Robinson in the second round (36th overall) in 2018.
He was signed to a four-year contract extension worth $60 million last summer.
Toppin was the organization’s first draft pick after Leon Rose was hired as team president to replace Mills, notably chosen four picks ahead of new Indiana teammate Tyrese Haliburton, who went 12th to the Kings and recently signed a five-year max extension with the Pacers.
But Toppin also never got a real opportunity for extended playing time in his three seasons with the Knicks.
The Brooklyn native was stuck behind two-time All-NBA forward Julius Randle, logging 14.7 minutes per game in 201 appearances.
In 15 career starts with Randle sidelined, however, Toppin posted 20.8 points and 5.7 rebounds per game, with a .440 shooting percentage from 3-point range.
The 25-year-old former Dayton star clearly is seeking more consistent opportunities with the Pacers, who shipped the Knicks two future second-round picks.
The trades that brought in Reddish and Hart — as well as the draft-night deal to move Kemba Walker’s contract to the Pistons in 2022 to free up salary-cap space — left the Knicks without a first-round pick in either of the past two drafts.
But they landed Quickley, the runner-up for the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year award, at No. 25 in Toppin’s draft year, and Grimes, who started 66 games last season, in another move to that slot the following year.
The Knicks also picked up rotation fill-ins Jericho Sims and Miles McBride in the second round in 2022.
