PICK A WINNER
Talent historically available where Knicks, Nets select
The Knicks in their history officially have picked eighth in the NBA draft five times. For those who favor tradition, the No. 8 pick in 1964, stands out. With several territorial picks before the draft, No. 8 became the first choice of the second round. And it produced a pretty fair player in Willis Reed.
For those more focused on the present, the 2009 draft is the sum of all fears. It brought Jordan Hill. Or as he is known to many Knicks fans, “Not Stephen Curry.”
So the Knicks hope for a Reed, not a Hill, in the NBA draft Thursday.
The tale has been well told. The Knicks wanted Curry at eight. The Warriors took him at seven. So the Knicks selected Hill, the Arizona forward who was not Curry.
Nor was he any of a couple other available guys. Picking ninth, right after the Knicks, Toronto grabbed DeMar DeRozan. Later in the first round were two guys whose names have surfaced in Knick camps because of their looming free agency, Jrue Holiday, currently in New Orleans, and Jeff Teague, now in Indiana.
“I went to the draft having talked to [coach Mike] D’Antoni and [owner James] Dolan and they told me if I was on the board, they were going to choose me,” Curry told The Post, recalling his draft night. “So when I was sitting there and Golden State had the seventh pick and the Knicks had the eighth, I was 100 percent confident since I didn’t work out for the Warriors — we had met a couple times — but I never thought it was a place I’d end up. To me, the Knicks was bound to happen. It didn’t, but everything happens for a reason.”
The Nets, meanwhile, have two first-rounders Thursday, neither of which will fetch Markelle Fultz or whoever goes No. 1, thanks to a disastrous trade of Biblical proportions. The Nets currently have Nos. 22 and 27 in the first round, 57 in the second.
The 22nd pick has produced, among others, Norm Nixon (1977), the late Reggie Lewis (1987), Jarrett Jack (2005), Courtney Lee (2008) and Kenneth Faried (2011). The 27th selection has yielded Rudy Gobert (2013), plus Kendrick Perkins (2003) and Arron Afflalo (2007). For history standards, you need not look beyond 1986: Dennis Rodman.
And at 57, two words and one year stand out: Manu Ginobili (1999).
As a Knicks fan you can plot and twist and try to determine how Fultz will drop to No. 8. He won’t. So you hope this year produces another great eight such as Robert Parish (1976), Jack Sikma (1977), Kerry Kittles (1996, although not at the expense of ignoring Kobe Bryant), or Jamal Crawford (2000).
You’ll have fingers crossed they don’t pick Joe Alexander over Brook Lopez (No. 10, 2008); Rafael Araujo over Andre Iguodala (No. 9) and Al Jefferson (No. 15, 2004); DeSagana Diop over Joe Johnson (No. 10) and Zach Randolph (No. 19, 2001); Larry Hughes over Dirk Nowitzki (No. 9) and Paul Pierce (No. 10, 1998); or Randy White over Tim Hardaway (No. 14, 1989).
Beyond Hill in 2009 and the Hall of Famer Reed in 1964, who else did the Knick historically mine at No. 8?
In 2005, they also looked to Arizona at No. 8 with Channing Frye, who played two seasons in New York, averaging 10.8 points, before being traded. Although Danny Granger (No. 17) Monta Ellis (No. 40) and Marcin Gortat (another No. 57), were available, the Knicks did well with their second firstrounder in ’05, David Lee (No. 30).